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The preparation of WBCS (Mains) should start before or at least concurrent with WBCS (Prelims). aspirants never get enough time after the declaration of WBCS (Prelims) results. Further, while WBCS (Prelims) is only a screening test, it is on the basis of their performance in WBCS (Mains), on which mainly depends the final outcome of their efforts. Strategically, therefore, the preparation for the WBCS examination should start about one year in advance and aspirants should think about appearing in the WBCS (Prelims) only when they have had a strong grip over the WBCS ( Mains) subject matter. WBCS aspirants should be mentally fully prepared to bear the strain of this one-year-long exam; and second, candidate should have (or develop) a sound expression (written as well as verbal) in the medium (language) they want to appear with. Once they have obtained these two qualifications, other issues regarding preparation for the exam can be handled better and easily.
- One Indian Language Paper (100 marks)
- One English Essay, Composition etc. Paper (100 marks)
- One General Knowledge paper (100 marks)
- One Constitution, Five Year Plan papers (100 marks)
- One Arithmetic, Test of Reasoning Paper ( 100 marks)
- Four Optional subjects papers (100 marks each)
While studying for the prelims, one should study the "general studies" really well! If one do this, he can use the same knowledge to give the mains exam. It will reduce your study load for the mains exam a lot! When studying for the mains exam, and a lot of the "General Knowledge paper" and "Constitution, Five Year Plan papers"syllabus will be covered!
How to choose the first optional subject?
On the first thought of appearing in the WBCS examination, the first issue is the selection of optional subjects. In a way, selection of right optional subjects is the most crucial step. Post-graduates in any discipline, generally prefer taking up their parent subject for optional. Though such selection is quite logical, aspirants with any science discipline as their base subject must ponder over the issue more seriously. Maths, Physics, Chemistry etc., optionals for main must be opted for, only if one is out and out thorough with the subject. Aspirants with a science subject must judge themselves correctly regarding their own capability. Some of the social sciences (e.g. History, Economics , Public Administration) opted by quite a significant majority can, however, be a much safer bet, particularly for those (ordinary science graduates) who do not have any specific parent subject or for those who are not able to develop confidence in their parental subject. In either case, the formal preparation must start from the basic fundamentals, even if a person is already a post-graduate in that subject.
How to choose the second optional subject?
To select the second optional subject, one must decide on basis of two factors:
- The availability of study material/books etc. on the subject you select.
- The amount of interest the aspirant has in that subject!
Study material is generally a problem! So one should keep a look out for good books etc. that cover the syllabus of the optional subjects he selects. The second optional subject could be something like "history" or "geography" or "Anthropology" etc. if he can mug-up a lot of facts! On the other hand, if one have interest in some other subject and he can find enough study material on it, he should definitely go for that subject.
Here is the link to the mains syllabus of these subjects!Please Note: There are many languages listed about as optional subjects. In case of these languages, the syllabus consists of literature etc. that is written in that language. You can check out the syllabuses here.
It is also important to remember that the level of questions asked is of the Masters level examination. The questions have an added spin in order to bring out the grasp of the candidate with regard to the basic concepts of the subject. Hence, if one chooses subjects in which he does not have a basic grounding, it would be advisable to start from simple books. After getting the grasp of the basic concepts, start with higher level study material. Here again, reflections on basic concepts and their application in real life is important. For best preparation and a success plan, it is suggested that the candidate make a habit of beginning his study by writing answers to two questions each day, one each from two optional subjects. Questions should be chosen from previous years' papers and the answer writing should be preceded by study on the subject.
What is the "Indian Language paper" all about?
However, if aspirants are from a non-English medium school, they have on thing in their favor. The "Qualifying Indian Language paper" will be easy for them!This paper is just like the English language paper. It is designed to prove that the aspirants have a good command over some Indian language. One can give this paper in one of the following Indian languages:
- Bengali
- Hindi
- Nepali
- Urdu
- Essay writing.
- Precis Writing.
- Composition.
- Translation from English to the Indian language.
What is "English Essay etc." paper? What do they ask in that paper?
The paper will consist of:
- Essay writing.
- Precis Writing.
- Composition.
- Translation from the Indian language to English.
If they have not studied in an English language school they will have to take some effort to master the English language. They can do this by reading a lot. They need to read and try to properly understand what they read. Keep a dictionary and English grammar book with them always. Keep referring to in with any new word they come across. Interact with fluent English speakers. All this will give them control over the language.
In this paper, one will be required to write an essay on a specific topic. The choice of topic will be given. They should keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange theirr ideas in orderly fashion, and to concisely!
Just to give an idea, here are the topics of the 2008 English Essay type paper.
Write an essay on ANY ONE of the following topics: ( The candidates are expected to keep closely to what is strictly relevant to the topic in question and write to in an organized way. Credits will be given to precision and exactness of expression)
- Global warming as a threat of civilization.
- Secularism and India
- Impact of globalization on India.
- Panchayeti Raj as implemented in India.
- The role of poets in a traditional society.
So, how to tackle the essay type paper?Read a lot of essays. Read as many essays as one can get his hands on. One good source of high-quality essays, are the essays published in the Competition Success Review or Employment News. Try to get a hold of these magazines. It is full of useful information!
Make sure read only "great" essays by "top" authors! This will give a feel of how essays are written. Also try to get a good book on writing Précis. There will be many available in local book store. There is pattern or way in which you Précis must be structured. All this can be learnt from a good book on writing Précis.
Finally, practice! Write essays and Précis on challenging topics and get them read by friends and colleagues or teachers who have a degree in the English language. They may be able to give some good pointers to improve presentation on performance.
What is the "Composition and Translation from Bengali / Hindi / Urdu /Nepali into English " all about?
The section of the paper is designed to prove that the aspirants have a good command over the English language.
What is the "General Knowledge and Currents Affairs paper" and "The Constitution of India and the Five-year Plans"all about?
For the main examination, the study should be done in more detail.
To study current affairs, it is essential to read one national newspaper and the Competition Success Review. When he is studying the round up of national and international affairs, efforts should not be merely taking up the information but also to understand the issues involved. Go into the background of events.
With regard to Constitution of India and Five-years Plans the books published by the NCERT are the best source of study. Take up the text-books for classes IX, X standards. The reference books of Sen, Sen & Mukherjee are also good source of study.One important aspect of the WBCS (Mains) Exam is that the questions do not ask for mere information as a reply, but seek analysis backed with arguments from the candidates. . Usually, one gets the impression that one knows everything but thoughts do not flow out naturally as one puts pen to paper. Hence, writing down the answers is an important aspect of the preparation. Another thing is that the candidate must carefully read the questions in order to make out what the examiner is asking. Having done that, it is important to organise one's thoughts before writing and the sequence of the answer should be from the most important/potent aspect to less important aspects.
With regard to the General Knowledge, the books published by the NCERT are the best source of study. Take up the text-books for classes IX, X standards. India year book and the Manorama Year Book are also good sources of study.
What is the "Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning" all about?
With regard to the Arithmatic, the books published by the NCERT and books duly approved by WB Board of Secondary Education are the best source of study. Take up the text-books for classes IX, X standards. Practice problems repeatedly is only solution to get marks from this paper.
This section- Test of Reasoning – tests the person's logical faculty. This faculty includes understanding, insight, sensing and perceiving the underlying principle or pattern that is concealed in the questions of different kind. With regard to the Test of Reasoning, the book written by R.S.Agarwal is one of the best sources of study.
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subset: commoncrawl


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by Mark Garcia November 22, 2013
It's true, that most drowning or near drowning accidents happen during the summer, and most of those in the early part of the summer, when the weather gets hot. So, naturally, pool owners tend to let down their guard a bit during winter.
Accidents do still happen during winter (20%!), and particularly during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.
If your home will be host to guests during the holidays, whether for a small holiday party, or a holiday feast with a family as large as mine, be vigilant with pool safety, so your guests make it home safely.
Here in the south, we don't winterize the pool, like northern pools. If you have a safety pool cover on your pool for winter, you can rest easy, but without this or other strong layers of protection, an open pool is a dangerous pool.
Before company arrives, make sure that you have secured the pool, or the doors leading to the pool. Door and Gate Alarms can be installed on doors that lead out to the pool, and padlocks can be popped onto fence gates. If you have an automatic pool cover - use it! Don't open it up, so people can see how pretty your pool is, safety is more important. Pool Alarms are another great way to increase your pool safety.
Infographics are a great, visual way to display information. Here's a winter pool safety guide for Australian pool owners, (who are now enjoying summer). Just as appropriate for Americans, all of us want to avoid any pool accident, large or small, summer or winter.
Image Credit and Thanks to Royallifesaving.com.au and Essentialbaby.com.au and Aquavistaglass.com.au
Thanks for Reading!
Mark Garcia


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Perfect In Case of Slips or Falls
Get Security and Protection for Yourself or Your Loved ones with our Medical Alert Systems.
Stay Safe in Your Own Home.
Don't Delay – Call Today for More Info!
Call hours – Open 24/7
You've probably seen the ads on TV and in magazines: How do you get help in a medical emergency when you're alone at home? The makers of medical alert systems promise that their products will come to the rescue, whether you've fallen and you can't get up or you're experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, stroke, or seizure. The ads are reaching a receptive audience: Sales of med-alert services are growing as the baby boom generation ages.Medical alert systems were introduced in the 1970s as simple push-button devices worn around the neck. They summoned help by signaling a base station connected to a home phone line that would alert a call-center operator. Today's systems are still wearable, but you can also mount help buttons throughout the home that allow for two-way voice communication with call centers. Some offer motion-sensitive pendants that can detect a fall and place a call for help.
Who needs one? Most buyers purchase a system for an aging parent who lives alone so that they can get help quickly if needed. That person might be at a heightened risk for falls because of poor eyesight or memory changes, says Barbara Resnick, Ph.D., professor of nursing at the University of Maryland and past president of the American Geriatrics Society. The systems can also be useful in nonemergency situations where the user doesn't need an ambulance but does need someone to come to their aid. The call center will alert a preselected relative or friend who can come over and assist.
Benefits of Medical Alert System in Paonia Colorado
These types of emergency systems have many benefits associated with them. One of the main benefits is that they provide help to individuals when they cannot get to a telephone to call emergency medical services. Since the medical alert devices are worn on their wrists or around their necks, all they have to do is to reach up and hit the designated button and they will be contacted with the medical alert company right away. This convenience is one benefit of the medical system.
Another benefit to the medical system is that it provides independence to individuals who may not have been able to live alone without such a device. By having this type of system in place, if the individual is a senior citizen they will feel confident in living alone as will their family members who know that a medical alert system is right by their side.
Medical alert devices are also quite reasonable in cost. Depending on the type of system one orders, they may have to pay for the devices in addition to a monthly monitoring fee. The prices will vary from company to company in Guam but overall the price is reasonable and is usually around $30 per month. When viewing everything that one gets for this price it can easily be justified and seen as a great deal.
Paonia Medical Alert System
Paonia Medical Alert System
7 out of
10 with
203 reviews
Questions about the Personal Emergency Response System
Does the medical alert system come with other services? Some medical alert systems come with additional services such as medication reminders, glucose monitoring reminders, and the like. It's good to know what other services can be included with the purchase of your services, so make sure you ask what's included.
7. What happens if something goes wrong with my equipment? Most of us hate reading the fine print. I challenge anyone out there to read the "terms and conditions" of the 5 or 6 medical alert devices you want to evaluate (gives me a headache even thinking about doing that again). So that in mind, I would encourage anyone making a decision on a particular device to ask; What happens if your system goes down? Does someone come out to fix it? Will they send you another one asap? Do you need to send the dysfunctional system back? etc. Also, one other point… when you have narrowed down your choice, read the fine print by looking up the terms-and-conditions of the particular provider on their websites.
8. Does the medical alert system include "automatic fall detection"? Medical alert systems have come a long way in the last 5 years. Today's advanced systems can detect when a user has fallen automatically. It's all in the advanced algorithms developed by brilliant engineers and embedded into small devices which are saving lives everyday. These smart-systems can distinguish (in most cases) between when someone has actually fallen, and when someone has decided to sit down abruptly. "The big three" that (currently) offer automatic fall detection are Halo Monitoring Systems, Wellcore Personal Emergency Response, and Philips Lifeline with auto alert.
9. Am I purchasing these devices, or leasing them, or neither? Goes back to my prior suggestion about reading the fine print… Find out (ahead of time) whether the equipment is yours or not. What happens if you no longer require the equipment? What happens if you damage the equipment?
10. What is my total yearly cost? This gets down to "brass tax"… How much does this cost me each year (total cash outflow). Enough said.
Nearest Medical System to You In Delta County 81428
How to pick the right one in CO
As the population ages, the range of services for seniors increases. The medical alarm is one of those pieces of technology that has grown in popularity. Where there were once only a few businesses offering medical alert systems, there are now dozens. So, how does one choose the best medical alarm out of the many options available?
One of the most important features of a medical alarm is the monitoring service. If an individual has made the decision that they need an alert system, then they have made the decision that they may need outside help in case of an emergency. If the monitoring system fails or is unsatisfactory, then the alert system is inadequate. A monitoring system should be a monitoring centre, not be a direct call to 911. Many people who utilize medical alert systems simply require outside support such as a friend or family member, not emergency services. A monitoring service can provide this support. Secondly, the provider of the medical alarm should own the monitoring service. This way, the professionals who answer the alarm are qualified by the standards of the medical alarm company.
Medical alert systems should be easy to install. Most should take a matter of minutes to set up. If a system's set-up seems too onerous or complicated, then the company has not fully considered the needs of their clientele. The installation should be easy or provided free-of-charge. They should also provide long-term, 24/7 technical support.
Another element to consider is the company's history and reputation. There are companies who have been in the business of medical alert systems for decades. These companies know their business and are more likely to have proven equipment. The company that only started offering medical alarms in the past couple of years is less likely to thoroughly understand the needs of their clients. The new company is also less likely to have amassed positive testimonials – do a simple Google search to find out what others say about the company and the services offered.
How a Medical Alert System helps you?
If you are looking for a medical alert system to protect an elderly loved one, be sure to do your homework. There are a lot of companies out there that offer personal emergency response systems with a number of features and benefits that are very useful and others with serious limitations. For example medical alert phones may be a practical solution for your elderly loved one if they are comfortable with the technology and you believe that they are not in a great risk of falling in becoming incapacitated. A medical alert phone is more or less a wireless phone that you can program with an auto dial feature. It allows the user to carry the telephone around and be able to present auto dial button and be connected with friends, relatives or emergency response professionals but it does require them to be able to access the telephone, operate the telephone and communicate with the person that they're calling.
The trouble with these medical alert phones is that in the event of a sudden illness, fainting or slip and fall the elderly user may not be able to find, use or even remember that they have the phone. On the plus side, these systems are cheaper than medical monitoring systems as there is no monthly monitoring service to pay for. By getting your senior citizen a reliable mobile phone and preprogramming personal contact numbers into autodial you pretty much accomplish the same effect. We're not knocking these phones we just want to point out that while they give the user access to a telephone service remotely the system is only as strong as its weakest link.
When an elderly person falls chances are they are going to be disoriented. If they are too confused to find and operate a remote medical alert phones they will not be able to use this system to summon help.
A more practical solution is a medical alert system that can be activated using a pushbutton that is worn around the neck as a pendant or on the wrist like a watch. These medical alarm systems will allow your parent to maintain an independent lifestyle because you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that they can get help simply by pushing a button.


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WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. government spent millions of dollars searching for people it believes are tied to terrorist groups and sought intelligence jobs, documents indicate.
Among other things, the CIA found a segment of job-seekers whose backgrounds indicated "significant terrorist and/or hostile intelligence connections," the document, provided to The Washington Post by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, indicated.
The terror groups cited most often were Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaida and its affiliates, but the connections weren't described in the document, the Post reported Sunday.
Concern was high enough last year that the NSA planned to launch at least 4,000 investigations into potentially suspicious or abnormal staff activity after examining employee keystrokes at work, the Post said. Behavior that could spark suspicion included employees downloading documents or accessing classified databases they don't typically use in their job, two people familiar with the employee activity monitoring software told the Post.
The multimillion-dollar search for insider threats suffered from delays in recent years and uneven implementation across agencies, budget records indicated. Also, the detection systems never picked up that Snowden copied highly classified documents from different parts of the NSA's networks.
Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then Moscow, where he remains after being granted temporary asylum.
An NSA spokeswoman told the Post that contract workers such as Snowden, weren't included in the plans to re-investigate 4,000 security clearances.
CIA officials said the number of applicants ultimately tied to terrorist networks or hostile foreign governments was "small" but didn't provide an exact number or why the larger group of applicants raised alarms.
"Over the last several years, a small subset of CIA's total job applicants were flagged due to various problems or issues," one official told the Post. "During this period, one in five of that small subset were found to have significant connections to hostile intelligence services and or terrorist groups."


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- 12th of never
After only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay is forced to return to work to investigate a grisly murder in which the prime suspect is a rising star in the San Francisco 49ers.
- And the mountains echoed
Each of the varied characters tells his or her version of the same story of selfishness and selflessness, acceptance and forgiveness, but most important, of love in all its complex iterations.
- Birds of paradise lost: stories
The thirteen stories in this collection shimmer with humor and pathos as they chronicle the anguish and joy and bravery of America's newest Americans, the troubled lives of those who fled Vietnam and remade themselves in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- By blood
In a story within a story within a story, each with vaguely unreliable narrators, three people explore their own "mysterious origins" as well as their current life situations.
- The bughouse affair: a Carpenter and Quincannon mystery
Victorian-era San Francisco-based Pinkerton detectives Sabina Carpenter and John Quincannon have their hands full with two parallel cases that soon converge.
- A constellation of vital phenomena : a novel
Marra's complex debut intertwines the stories of a handful of characters at the end of the second war in bleak, apocalyptic Chechnya. Though the novel spans 11 years, the story traces five days in 2004 following the arrest of Dokka, a villager from the small Muslim village of Eldar.
- Dying words: a novel
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Graydon Hubbell is the obituary writer for the paper. When he is diagnosed with a rare blood cancer, he is forced to confront his own mortality.
- A history of the present illness: stories
These stories take readers into overlooked lives in the neighborhoods, hospitals, and nursing homes of San Francisco, offering a deeply humane and incisive portrait of health and illness in American today.
- The impossible lives of Greta Wells
Greta Wells decides to undergo electric shock treatment after the death of her beloved twin brother and the abandonment of her long-time lover. During the course of the treatment she finds herself repeatedly sent to 1918, 1941, and back to the present. In one scenario her brother is alive, but masking his true identity, in the other her lover is now a devoted husband. Each reality has its own losses, its own rewards; each extracts a different price.
- Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour book store
Clay Jannon, an unemployed web designer takes a job at a 24 hour book store where he stumbles upon a mystery about a secret society and the missing book store owner. Sloan balances a strong plot with philosophical questions about technology and books and the power both contain.
- Murder on the house
Building contractor Mel (short for Melanie), Turner and another contractor spend the night in a haunted house to be renovated as part of the bidding process. Not only do the ghosts distract but tragically, at the same time, someone kills the elderly owner in the garden.
- Old and cold
In this offbeat, downplayed thriller from noir king Nisbet a homeless 62-year-old hit man occasionally takes on a $5,000 murder contract to finance another binge of bitterly cold martinis in his favorite San Francisco bar. Details of the contract drop and the kill never become as important as the interior monologue
- The orphan master's son
This novel accomplishes the seemingly impossible: an American writer has masterfully rendered the mysterious world of North Korea with the soul and savvy of a native, from its orphanages and its fishing boats to the kitchens of its high-ranking commanders
- Untold damage
Estranged from his wife and daughter, former undercover cop Mark Mallen has spent the last four years in a haze of heroin. And when his best friend from the academy, Eric Russ, is murdered, all the evidence points to Mallen as the prime suspect.
- The wanting
Lavigne's second novel confronts the moral questions surrounding religious extremism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The novel's literally explosive opening takes place in Jerusalem in 1996, as a bomb goes off outside renowned architect Roman Guttman's office.
- A Working Theory of Love
Neil Bassett is working on a project at Amiante Systems whose scientists are using Neill's father's voluminous diaries to create a personality for the first "intelligent" computer capable of passing the Turing Test (able to fool a human user 30 percent of the time into believing that it is human). Neill spends his days in "conversation" with his dead dad.


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His Neck
Small bites on his neck can amp up blood circulation. Give him sweet, short besitos while whispering naughty things in his ear. By the time you're done, he'll be begging you to take it to the next level.
His Inner Thigh
The skin in this area is super sensitive. Gently massage it by running your fingers up and down getting super close to his package but not quite. It's the tease every guy loves even if he doesn't know it!
His Stomach
A massage around the navel speeds up the blood circulation down there. Kiss and lick around it while rubbing his inner thigh. He will be so turned on and ready to rip your ropa right off!


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Hire Heavy Metal Band in Greater London
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About: THE SELF TITLED are one of the UK's most prolific new Rock & Metal bands on the scene. The band Re-formed in 2010 and has played non-stop with an impressive array of live shows already on its CV. They have played with bands such as Kobra And The Lotus (Gene Simmons Band), Breed 77, Forever Never,
Recent review: Completely professional, entertaining, audience wowing performance. Already ticketholders are asking if you are coming back next year - Paul Nicholl, Event Director
About: The Reaper is a rock band aged 13-16 creating a bit of a storm around the country and a product of Witchwood School of Rock. They are: Joey Kenny (14), Harry Winks (13), Joe Landles (16) and Callum Woodward (15). They've had a busy couple of years, with many festival performances which included tak
About: Clubland Entertainments are an Entertainment Agency based in Lancashire and Cumbria. We have been established for over 20 years. We provide all types of entertainment throughout the UK including DJ'S, Singers, wedding entertainment, Live Bands, Comedians and after dinner speakers.
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WASHINGTON — Steven T. Miller, the acting Internal Revenue Service commissioner, failed to tell Congress that Tea Party groups were being inappropriately targeted, even after he had been briefed on the matter.
The IRS said Monday that Miller was first informed on May 3, 2012, that applications for tax-exempt status by Tea Party groups were inappropriately singled out for extra, sometimes burdensome scrutiny.
On June 15, 2012, Miller wrote a member of Congress to explain the process of reviewing applications for tax-exempt status without mentioning the controversy.
Representative Charles Boustany, a Louisiana Republican, had raised concerns with the IRS about complaints that Tea Party groups were being harassed. Boustany specifically mentioned Tea Party groups in his inquiry.
But Miller gave a generic response. He said that when the IRS saw an increase in applications from groups that were involved in political activity, the agency ''took steps to coordinate the handling of the case to ensure consistency.''
Miller did not mention that in 2011, those materials included a list of words to watch for, such as ''Tea Party'' and ''patriot.'' He also did not disclose that in January 2012, the criteria for additional screening was updated to include references to the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
''They repeatedly failed to disclose and be truthful about what they were doing,'' said Representative Dave Camp, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.
Camp's committee is holding a hearing on the issue Friday and Miller is scheduled to testify.
On Monday, President Obama said he first learned about the issue from news reports on Friday. He denounced the targeting of conservative political groups as "outrageous'' and acknowledged that people are properly concerned about the practice.
The president said those responsible must be held fully accountable. ''I've got no patience with it,'' he added. ''I will not tolerate it and we will find out exactly what happened.''
The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was ''inappropriate'' targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see whether they were violating their tax-exempt status. In some cases, the IRS acknowledged, agents inappropriately asked for lists of donors.
The agency blamed low-level employees in a Cincinnati office, saying no high-level officials were aware.
But a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by the Associated Press says senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting Tea Party groups as early as 2011. The Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration is expected to release the final report this week after a yearlong investigation.
The Senate Finance Committee said Monday it will join a list of congressional committees investigating the matter.
''We need to know who knew what and exactly what mistakes were made,'' said Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who leads the finance committee. ''The American people have questions for the IRS and I intend to get answers.''
When members of Congress repeatedly raised concerns with the IRS about complaints that Tea Party groups were being harassed last year, a deputy IRS commissioner took the lead in assuring lawmakers the additional scrutiny was a legitimate part of the screening process.
That deputy commissioner was Miller, who is now the acting head of the agency.
In several letters to members of Congress, Miller went into painstaking detail about how applications for tax-exempt status were screened. But he never mentioned that conservative groups were being targeted.
Only one of Miller's letters obtained by the AP came after his May 2012 briefing. However, many people working under him knew as early as June 2011 that Tea Party groups were being targeted, according to the upcoming report by the agency's inspector general.
In one 10-page response to Congress in April 2012, Miller said a revenue agent uses ''sound reasoning based on tax law training'' to determine which applications for tax-exempt status need additional scrutiny.
Camp and other members of the Ways and Means Committee sent at least four inquiries to the IRS, starting in June 2011. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, sent three inquiries. And Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House oversight committee, sent at least one.
None of the responses they received from the IRS acknowledged that conservative groups had ever been targeted.
''They really failed to disclose to us what they were up to, even though we obviously had a concern that they were targeting taxpayers for their political beliefs,'' Camp said. ''Given all of that attention, they had an obligation and duty to come forward with this information.''


text:
How to Get Started in Writing
Writer's Digest Books, 1986 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 220 pages
Tells how to write articles, columns, and books, prepare manuscripts, deal with editors, and write for a specific audience
What people are saying - Write a review
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Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
acceptance adventure American anecdotes Arlington army asked Avenue Bailey's Crossroads become called Centreville Christmas column Copyright Dewey Dody Smith E.B. White editor Elements of Style Excerpt experience fact feature fiction filler guidelines for SASE happened how-to humor ideas interested kind of writing later Length living look magazine manuscript Mary Shelley material Modern Maturity mother mystery narrative hook never newspaper nonfiction nostalgia novel P.T. Barnum paperback Pays plot poem publication published query letter reader Reader's Digest recipe remember reprinted Robert Louis Stevenson rose hips sand science fiction sell Senior Scribes short story sure syndicated tell things thought tion tipping told trip Washington women words Writer's Digest writer's guidelines written wrote York young Yozo


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Liberty News
Sweet land of Liberty: Williams Stadium hosts Celebrate America
Thousands ascended on the Liberty University campus Sunday for Celebrate America, Thomas Road Baptist Church's annual celebration of America's independence.
Held every year on the Sunday before July 4, Celebrate America is one of the largest public events at Liberty University. Admission is free.
The festivities began at 3 p.m. in Williams Stadium, with carnival slides and bounce houses for kids, food, games and music. A car show featuring antique vehicles and specially customized cars and trucks began at 4 p.m. in the parking lot of Liberty's newest eatery, Doc's Diner.
Just after 7 p.m., motorcycles roared in to Williams Stadium for the annual Thunder on the Mountain parade, followed by a musical celebration at center field, featuring country, rock, Motown, big band and patriotic music. As it does every year, the church honored veterans with special music and commemorative medals.
As the music ended, guests were treated to a spectacular fireworks display.


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Bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries (MCI) is stable and "well prepared" with sufficient cash following its recent emergence from bankruptcy which saw the company reorganized with a new majority stockholder, according to President and CEO Tom Sorrells.
National Bus Trader magazine reported that the No. 1 manufacturer of buses in the U.S. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April.
"The completion of our financial restructuring is a major milestone in the 76-year- history of MCI," Sorrells said. "I am particularly pleased that, given a very challenging economic backdrop and tight credit markets, we were able to complete the process in just seven months.".
MCI, with headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill, is a leading manufacturer of intercity coaches. MCI bus shells also are converted into high-end Class A motorhomes.
An investment fund managed by Franklin Mutual Advisers LLC has become the company's majority shareholder through the conversion of third-lien secured debt into common stock and the issuance of $200 million in preferred stock, according to the magazine.
The company was at one time owned by Greyhound Corp., and most of MCI's $420 million in debt that was wiped out in the pre-negotiated bankruptcy was accumulated in a spinoff from Dial Corp., which acquired MCI from Greyhound in the mid-1990s. Because bus sales were on the increase, debt payments were taken from operating revenue until MCI's bankruptcy.
MCI emerged from bankruptcy with $230 million in financing through $75 million in revolving credit arranged by GE Capital and $155 million in a second-lien loan through a group of lenders.
"We have secured a strong new financing package … to enhance the company's post-emergence capital structure," Sorrells said. "With a strengthened financial base, we are well positioned to take greater advantage of the market opportunity and further grow our business."
Even as overall bus sales declined while MCI Was in bankruptcy, a few days after emerging from bankruptcy, MCI was reported to have increased its market share to 60.2% of the bus market, according to National Bus Trader.


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Around Town (10-14-13)
Fall Veteran Mini-Job Fair
The Merced EDD Veterans Services will hold a Fall Veteran Mini-Job Fair from 9 a.m. to 1p.m. Thursday at 1205 W. 18th St. This event is open to the public. Call (209) 726-5407 for more information.
Harvest Revival
Bethesda Apostolic Faith Church will hold a Harvest Revival at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 30, 31 and Nov. 1 at 1822 Canal St. Pastor David Rhone of Los Angeles will be the speaker. Call (209) 726-0533 for more information or transportation.
Trunk-or-Treat festival
ATWATER – The first Baptist Church of Atwater will hold a Trunk-or-Treat Harvest Festival from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31 at the church, 1683 Fifth St. There will be games, prizes, bounce houses and treats. Call (209) 358-3545, ext. 301.
Master Gardeners Program
The University of California Cooperative Extension Merced County Master Gardeners Program is taking applications for the 2014 Master Gardeners Volunteer Training Course. Applications are due by Oct. 31 and classes will be held the UCCE Merced Office at 2145 Wardrobe Ave. starting on Jan. 8, 2014. Call (209) 385-7403 or go to http://ucanr.edu/sites/mgmerced.
Livingston Halloween Fun-Fest
LIVINGSTON – Livingston Self Storage will hold its Halloween Fun-Fest from 3 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 31 at 2370 Walnut Ave. Dress up, decorate a pumpkin and take it home, and enjoy face painting, a coloring station and refreshments. First, second and third place winners for the costume contest. For ages 0-5 and 6-10. Call (209) 394-6158.
Chapel holding Harvest Festival
ATWATER – The Valley Christian Chapel will host a Harvest Festival from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31 at 1201 Cedar Ave. Free food, games, Trunk and Treat and hay rides. A donation of a can of food is being asked for to help families in need in our community.
Pharmacy Technician Training
Merced College is offering a Pharmacy Technician Program online. This program can be started at any time and will prepare you to stand out in today's competitive job market. For more information call (209) 384-6224 or go to www.mercedcommunityservices.com.
Kamangar Center Anniversary
The historic Merced Theatre will celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Art Kamangar Center with a special on Pick-A-Brick and Take-A-Seat program now through Dec. 1. Engraved bricks will be installed in the sidewalk on Martin Luther King Way next to the theater, and auditorium seats will have an individualized brass nameplate on the seat arm. For more information, call (209) 722-3266 or go to www.mercedtheatre.org.


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Photo Challenge: Give Me a Sign
Signs, signs, everywhere you look there is a sign. Street signs, store signs, stop signs, even signs of the times- wait, wasn't that a Prince Album?
For this photo challenge, take a look around and capture what crazy, quirky, or mysterious signage you might see. Don't be afraid to get creative with your photo-making skills and show us your best image that utilizes a sign.
Oh... and no snaps of your old Prince Albums please.
Closed 19 September, 2011
RSS for photos in Photo Challenge: Give Me a Sign


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Please call us at 800-423-6171 if you have questions.
All product orders $49.95 and over will receive FREE ground shipping!!!
Flat rate shipping now available for all orders under $49.95!!!
Shipping to Alaska or Hawaii? Please call 800-423-6171 before you place your order on-line.
Since the 1930's, generations of Americans have known and loved Stuckey's as a venerable roadside tradition. Now, in addition to visiting us on your next car trip, you can shop with us right here on the information highway. But first, why not take a few moments to relive the rich Stuckey's history or share some of your fond Stuckey's memories?


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WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama told Christian ministers Friday the Easter holiday held special meaning for him this year because of his recent trip to the Middle East.
"This year, I think was particularly special for me because right before Easter I had a chance to feel that spirit during my trip to the Holy Land," Obama said during the annual Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House. "And I think so many of you here know there are few experiences more powerful or more humbling than visiting that sacred earth."
Christians who walk where Jesus walked experience "blessed moments," said Obama who visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem during his visit to Israel.
The Easter season is a chance for Christians to "remember the tremendous sacrifice Jesus made for each of us ... [and] recommit ourselves to following His example to loving the Lord our God with all our hearts and all our souls and with all our minds, and to loving our neighbors as ourselves," Obama said.
"So this morning, let us pray that we're worthy of his many blessings, that this nation is worthy of his many blessings," Obama said at the end of his remarks. "Let us promise to keep in our hearts, in our souls, in our minds, on this day and on every day, the life and lessons of Christ, our Lord."
About 150 pastors and other Christian leaders attended the event Obama began in 2010, the White House said.
When introducing Obama Vice President Joe Biden spoke of unity and mutual support, and that the "essence" of the Obama administration is to "look out for the least among us."
"When it comes down to it, we all know that we're connected by much more than divides us, although the focus is always on what divides us," Biden said. "As we move forward as a nation, I do believe we're going to be judged on how we answer ... that call of moral responsibility, to whether we stand up for those who have the least among us, whether we act on their behalf."


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Worldwide, about one in 800 babies is born with Down syndrome, which is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome.
In this segment of the Healthy Children show on RadioMD, pediatrician Marilyn Bull, MD, FAAP, comes on the Healthy Children show on RadioMD to discuss how parents expecting a child with Down syndrome can prepare.
Segment 1: Down Syndrome: What New Parents Need to Know


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We were privileged to have been able to catch-up with Mr. Keiichi Ishizuka who is Deputy Senior General Manager - AMC (Alpha Mount Camera) Division, Digital Imaging Business Group of Sony Corporation. Previously from Konica Minolta, he has been with Sony since May 2006 and has been working with cameras since 1978. Over the last 10 years, he has specialized in designing interchangeable lenses. In fact, he was one of the few involved in developing the Dynax 7000 for Minolta, the world's first autofocus camera. A man of vast experience in this field, we were most interested in getting his thoughts about Sony's Alpha lineup and finding out more about the new A700 DSLR.
HWZ: Having inherited the Konica Minolta legacy, where do you see the Alpha line moving towards?
Mr. Keiichi Ishizuka: Konica Minolta cameras number around 16 million pieces in the market right now and this is its legacy. We also have an excess of interchangeable lenses in the market and so many customers that have accepted Konica Minolta. So based on this established technology and reputation we put Sony's strengths and electronics inside the camera body and try and maintain the current strengths of the system. This is our strategy.
HWZ: Can the Alpha put up a strong fight when pitted against other brands?
Ishizuka: Firstly, we aim to bring new products and a level of satisfaction to customers who own our cameras. Secondly, we bring new technology that only Sony can provide. We develop the image sensor and engine and the LCD panel. We are the only manufacturer that can devise technology for the entire device. We also have collaboration with Carl Zeiss for our lenses.
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Thrive Industries necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 183 diseños de 37 diseñadores freelance.
Thrive Industries
Thrive industries is a central brand of several entities. These individual companies include, education, training, consulting, coaching and publishing. The word thrive will be used across all of the individual brands. The basic mission of this company is to help individuals and businesses thrive. Here is some of our core values, be real, have fun, be challenged and continue to grow. Those are just a couple of the core values that define our business.
My target audience is businesses and individuals that want to improve themselves and there businesses. This audience will generally be tech savvy, but not always. This audience not only whats to thrive but they are willing to take action.
I am open to different colors but I tend to like blues and greens. I am open to different designs but I tend to lean towards clean and simple.
The word "Thrive" must be able to be used across different divisions.
Must function in a web and print environment. It will probably be used over a white or light back ground.
I need to be able to use the same logo or variation of the same logo for my blog, thethriveblog.com
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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NP-34 Notepad
NP-34 Notepad
Haute Papier's Executive Notepads are the perfect addition to any desktop! They're designed to include your personalized monogram or name and flat printed on a super smooth white stock. You're sure to love the feel as your pen glides over the paper! Each single pad contains 75 sheets and double pads contain 150 sheets.
This design can be customized to have two different ink colors and be printed on any of our pad sizes/thicknesses
Pad sizes are as follows:
Small Notepad - 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Skinny Notepad - 3.5 x 8.5 inches
Large Notepad - 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Square Notepad - 7 x 7 inches
Letter Notepad - 8.5 x 11 inches
Please place your order below by selecting whether you'd like a single or double thick pad and in which size. Once you've added the item to your cart, you'll be prompted to enter your personalization along with ink colors.
You'll receive a color digital proof within 24 business hours that you will need to approve and then we'll move forward into production. Your order will ship within 5-7 business days from final proof approval. Need this item sooner? Please contact us for rush availability and fees.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to call a member of our team at 866.740.4222.
For large quantities please contact us for pricing.
To view all of our available ink colors, please visit our ink color gallery.


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Adams Universal Revolution Hammered Copper Timpani
26 in. With Fine Tuner
(26 in.With Fine Tuner)
Sku #499003000903907
Individual Timpani
- Write a Review
45 day price guarantee, 45 day return policy, 100% secure shopping
Adams Revolution Series Timpani have a number of patented developments that combine truly professional performance sound quality with an innovative balanced action pedal system, height adjustment system, wide range hand-fine tuner, and a removable, folding base for true portability. For the first time ever, calf heads can used on a balanced action pedal, and an octave can be achieved from each drum with the range tuner. There has never been a more practical, portable, high-quality instrument.
Revolution Hammered Copper timpani are available in standard 20, 23, 26, 29 and 32 inch sizes and with or without the fine-tuner. Drums include tuning gauges, short nylon drop covers, and mutes. The base and bowl of the Revolution Series separate without tools making them the most portable high quality drums available.


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The search found 1 result in 0.06 seconds.
Maisha+ focuses on sharing experiences and lessons in reaching out to the hard-to-reach community populations in Sub Saharan African with HIV and AIDS interventions. In this issue: -Towards zero HIV infections, discrimination and AIDS deaths for hard to reach communities -Violence against women contributing to spread of HIV -Supporting Associations of people living with HIV in Uganda -Challenges in addressing traditional beliefs and practices in HIV and AIDS among the Maasai -Working with sexual minorities in Rwanda -Stop the discrimination! -testimony from a victim of assault


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The Fly Free Zone Collar creates an actual "fly-free" zone several inches from the cow's face and neck, and protects goats from biting and disease-transmitting flies, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. Collar is 38". Read More
Fly Free Zone Collar for Cows
The Fly Free Zone Collar creates an actual "fly-free" zone several inches from the cow's face and neck, and protects goats from biting and disease-transmitting flies, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. This collar is durable, long-lasting, hassle-free, and comfortable, and features the latest 100% all-natural formula that is even more effective than other products available on the market today. Fly Free Zone collars dramatically improve the cow's quality of life with eco-friendly, safe ingredients. The Fly Free Zone Collar contains ingredients that generate a long-lasting deterrent effect against pests, including: citronella, cottonseed oil, phenylethyl-propionate and lanolin. Endorsed by Arnold Scherpenborg, the inventor of the Fly Collar products, who says "I have never seen a Fly Repellent as safe, effective, and animal friendly as the FLY FREE ZONE™ products."
Fly Free Zone Collar for Cows Key Benefits:
- creates a "fly free" zone around the cow's face and neck
- protects cows from flies, fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes
- easy-to-use, comfortable, and long-lasting
- 100% natural insect repellent
- one size fits all
Directions for Fly Free Zone Cow Collar:Prior to use, wipe the inside of the collar with a clean towel. Attach the collar around the cow's neck, with the perforated side out, attaching loosely so that 2 or 3 fingers fit between the collar and the neck. Remove the collar before bathing.Size: 38"
- Brand: Fly Free Zone
- Type: Insect
- Form: Collar
- Insect Type: Flies,Gnats,Mosquitoes
- Ingredient: Citronella,Cedar Oil,Penny Royal
- Size: 38"
Reviews (4)
"Fly Free Zone Insect Repellent"
Didn't fit my steers neck.
"Waste of money"
Complete waste of money for me. One size fits all - goats? My cows' necks are larger than this. There was maybe 1" of velcro to attempt to hold the collar on the neck. The cows rubbed them off overnight.
"measure your cows neck!"
Will not fit a 2 yr old Jersey cow.
I have 2600lb brown Swiss Oxen and the Fly free zone collars work great. They are small for their big necks, I just added man's suspenders to give me the length to go around their necks. I told my friends about them and they loved them too. They really work!! Purchasing more again this year.
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Collar and Leg Bands on Sale
$17.99 to $24.99


text: In the traditional manner of the Jewish faith, each Passover food has a symbolic meaning taken from history. For many, Charoset represents the mortar used to bond the clay bricks that built the structures for the homes and buildings within the cities of early Egypt. The color of the mixture attempts to resemble the colors of clay. This is important as a way to symbolize the hard work and dedication of the enslaved Hebrews as they worked to build a better life. Charoset is served on matzoh flat bread or other kosher foods and vegetables as a dipping sauce or topping.


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UBS news
UBS reports third quarter net profit of CHF 1,671 million
- Net profit in third quarter of CHF 1,671 million, Financial Businesses contributed CHF 1,654 million. - Net new money of CHF 20.5 billion in total, with strong CHF 16.7 billion from wealth management clients worldwide. - Solid asset-based revenues, with record management fees, slowdown in trading returns. - Annualized RoE at 24.5% (27.4% excluding goodwill), EPS up 5% from third quarter 2003 (up 7% excluding goodwill). - Cost/income ratio for Financial Businesses, down from previous year, remains near historically low levels.
Quarter ended
% change from
Year to date
UBS (including Motor-Columbus)
CHF million
Operating income
Operating expenses
Net profit
Financial Businesses
Operating income
Operating expenses
Net profit
UBS reports net profit of CHF 1,671 million in third quarter 2004. This includes the fully consolidated results of Motor-Columbus, an industrial holding of which UBS now owns a majority 55.6% stake , and which contributed net profit of CHF 17 million. Excluding this participation, UBS's Financial Businesses net profit was CHF 1,654 million in third quarter, down 2% from third quarter 2003 and 16% lower than second quarter 2004.
Despite the anticipated slowdown in trading opportunities, UBS generated solid revenues in third quarter, thanks to the scale of its invested asset base - which totaled CHF 2.3 trillion on 30 September 2004. Operating income for the Financial Businesses was CHF 8,456 million, down slightly (1%) from the same quarter a year earlier. Revenues rose in the wealth and asset management businesses, reflecting strong inflows of net new money and higher market levels, prompting rising asset-based revenues and, in particular, record portfolio management fees. The private equity portfolio has now provided a positive contribution to Investment Bank results for four consecutive quarters.
These positive effects were offset by a drop in trading-related revenues, with equities and fixed income trading both experiencing declines of around 20%.
"Being a major player in the world's securities markets means that our Investment Bank's revenues will reflect prevailing market opportunities," said Clive Standish, Chief Financial Officer. "All the more important, then, that we balance that volatility with strong fee and commission revenues - which represent more than half of our operating income."
In third quarter, net new money for UBS as a whole was CHF 20.5 billion. Wealthy individual clients worldwide contributed CHF 16.7 billion - which means that during the first nine months of this year, UBS's wealth management businesses have gathered a total of CHF 46.1 billion in new assets, corresponding to an annualized growth rate of 5%.
UBS experienced another excellent credit result, posting a net credit recovery of CHF 14 million in third quarter 2004, compared to a recovery of CHF 42 million a year earlier.
Total operating expenses for the Financial Businesses decreased 1% to CHF 6,265 million as personnel expenses were pushed down 6% by lower accruals for performance-related compensation, especially at the Investment Bank.
Headcount in UBS's Financial Businesses was 66,894 on 30 September 2004, up 965 from the beginning of the year. Increases were seen in the Investment Bank, which saw staffing growth across business and support functions, as well as in Wealth Management, reflecting continued hiring of client advisors.
Consolidation of Motor-Columbus
From this quarter onwards, UBS is fully consolidating the results of Motor-Columbus, a Swiss holding company whose most significant asset is a majority ownership interest in Swiss-based electricity provider Atel. Earlier this year, UBS increased its stake in Motor-Columbus to 55.6% in order to protect the value of its existing investment and, as a majority shareholder, divest it profitably in the future. Motor-Columbus results will be reported in a separate Industrial Holdings unit, helping UBS to preserve full continuity in the presentation of its core financial businesses.
The Industrial Holdings unit contributed CHF 17 million to UBS's net profit in third quarter (1% of net profit). It represented 16.7% of operating income, and 20.6% of operating expense in the quarter.
Brand campaign successful
One of the key elements in UBS's growth strategy is the firm's investment in building a strong brand. Earlier this year, UBS launched the "You & Us" global advertising campaign, showing how UBS delivers global financial resources through personal client relationships based on intimate understanding. A recent analysis of the first results of the campaign found that awareness of UBS is rising in all regions, and particularly in the US. UBS's target clients remember and appreciate the advertising - which represents an important step in the firm's long-term commitment to build a distinct profile in the highly competitive financial services industry.
In the first nine months of 2004, market conditions for UBS's trading-related businesses have swung considerably - from an exceptionally favorable first quarter to the rather tough environment in third quarter. In that context, UBS's diversified business mix has paid off, helping the firm to capture the revenue opportunities in equity and fixed income markets when they were buoyant, with the wealth and asset management businesses providing a counterbalance when trading conditions normalized.
While global economic fundamentals look rather positive, market participants are currently unsure about how long the current growth will last. "Despite the uncertainty that continues to weigh on financial markets and which may again dampen levels of investor activity, it looks as though 2004 will turn out to be one of UBS's best years," said Clive Standish.
Financial ratios
Annualized return on equity for the first nine months of 2004 was 24.5%, compared to 16.6% a year earlier. Basic earnings per share were CHF 1.60 in third quarter 2004, compared to CHF 1.53 a year earlier. The cost/income ratio was 74.2%, compared to 75.1% a year earlier.
Performance against UBS financial targets
(pre-goodwill and adjusted for significant financial events)
UBS sets its financial targets and evaluates performance in terms of adjusted results, excluding significant financial events and excluding the amortization of goodwill and other intangible assets.
UBS's performance against financial targets shows:
- Annualized return on equity in the first nine months of 2004 was 27.4%, up from 19.2% a year earlier and well above the target range of 15 to 20%. The increase reflects higher net profit combined with a lower average equity resulting from continued buyback programs and increased dividend, outpacing retained earnings.
- Basic earnings per share were CHF 1.86, up 7% from CHF 1.74 in the same quarter a year earlier, driven by a reduction in average number of shares outstanding through ongoing repurchase of shares.
- The cost/income ratio for UBS's Financial Businesses was 71.5%, an improvement from 72.2% in the same period last year, and near historical lows. The decline was driven by performance-related compensation falling faster than revenues.
For the quarter ended
Results from the Financial Businesses
Wealth Management & Business Banking
The Wealth Management unit reported a pre-tax profit of CHF 855 million in third quarter, down 3% from second quarter 2004. Operating income was slightly lower (-1%), as higher asset-based fees and interest income were more than offset by declining transaction income, which reflected lower client activity levels as a result of the usual slowdown experienced in summer. Operating expenses rose slightly (+2%) because of, among other factors, the continued implementation of UBS's expansion plans in Europe and Asia.
Gross margin on invested assets in third quarter was 101 basis points, down by 3 basis points from the previous quarter, reflecting seasonally low levels of client activity. Net new money inflows totaled CHF 11.4 billion, up from CHF 8.2 billion in second quarter. The International Clients business reported CHF 11.0 billion in net new money, with a CHF 3.2 billion inflow recorded by the European wealth management business. Net new money from Swiss clients was CHF 0.4 billion. Overall, when combined with the record inflow in first quarter of this year and a strong performance in second quarter, clients have invested CHF 35.8 billion of net new money with UBS for the first nine months of this year - corresponding to an annualized growth rate of 7%.
The Business Banking Switzerland unit recorded a pre-tax profit of CHF 517 million, up CHF 9 million from second quarter. Total operating income declined slightly (-1%), reflecting lower interest income and brokerage fees, partially offset by a divestment gain from the sale of UBS's participation in the Noga Hilton Hotel in Geneva. The fall in income was more than compensated by lower operating expenses, mainly a reflection of lower consumption of IT and insurance services from other business units.
Business Banking Switzerland's loan portfolio, at CHF 139.7 billion on 30 September 2004, was up from CHF 138.8 billion on 30 June. Net new mortgages stood at CHF 1.0 billion, as clients continued to take advantage of the interest rates. This increase was partly offset by the ongoing workout of the recovery portfolio.
Global Asset Management
Global Asset Management's pre-tax profit in third quarter 2004 was CHF 105 million, down 26 million from second quarter. Operating income was nearly unchanged (-1%) from second quarter, as the impact of weakening equity markets offset the effect of inflows of net new money on the asset base. Operating expenses rose by 5%, owing to a CHF 30 million provision for the consolidation of the Americas business.
In the Institutional business, net new money totaled CHF 3.0 billion in third quarter, down from CHF 7.6 billion in the previous quarter. Strong inflows were recorded in equity mandates in Europe and in alternative and quantitative investments as well as the real estate business. This was partially offset by a wider industry trend away from asset allocation products, particularly in the UK.
In the Wholesale Intermediary business, net new money inflows were CHF 1.0 billion, up from an outflow of CHF 4.6 billion a quarter earlier. Strong inflows into fixed income and asset allocation funds more than compensated for the CHF 2.6 billion outflow in money market funds, which continued to be redirected into FDIC-insured deposits at UBS Bank USA.
Most funds show a strong relative performance over three-year, five-year and ten-year periods. Invested assets for the Business Group totaled CHF 601 billion on 30 September, up from CHF 595 billion on 30 June 2004, driven by strong inflows of net new money and the weakening of the Swiss franc against the euro.
Investment Bank
The Investment Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of CHF 714 million, down 19% from the same period last year and 23% lower than second quarter 2004. Markets - well off their buoyant pace at the start of 2004 - saw conditions slow significantly at the end of second quarter, with low volatility and restrained investment activity stretching into July, August and September.
Operating income in third quarter 2004 was CHF 3,155 million, down 7% from a year earlier (down 20% from second quarter 2004).
Investment banking revenues were up 1% from third quarter a year earlier. Growth came from advisory revenues in the Americas and Asia Pacific regions, as well as equity underwriting, but was partially offset by lower debt underwriting revenues, as issuance was restrained by increases in interest rates over the quarter. Compared with the exceptionally strong level achieved in second quarter, investment banking revenues were down 31%, as widespread market uncertainty and the usual summer slowdown lowered demand for capital markets and M&A transactions.
Income from the equities business decreased 6% from a year ago. Strong revenue increases in prime brokerage and derivatives were offset by adverse currency effects and lower returns from proprietary trading. Equities revenues fell 15% from second quarter 2004 because of the flat markets experienced in summer, when both customer activity and volatility were low. Fixed income, rates and currencies revenues were down 15% from last year. Credit default swaps hedging the loan portfolio recorded negative revenues of CHF 75 million, an increase from negative CHF 192 million a year ago. Compared to second quarter 2004, fixed income, rates and currencies revenues fell 21%. Slower performance in this business area compared to the peak environment at the turn of the year was driven by the continued low levels of market activity. Additionally, low volatility again affected trading returns and limited client demand for derivatives. While the yield curve is still historically steep, it has gradually flattened. In addition, gains from positions taken in the rates business were lower than the strong performance in previous quarters.
Market risk for Investment Bank, as measured by the average 10-day 99% VaR, was CHF 376.0 million in third quarter 2004, up from the second quarter average of CHF 331.4 million. Interest rate exposures continued to be the main risk driver for the increase.
Operating expenses in third quarter 2004 totaled CHF 2,441 million, down 3% from third quarter 2003, driven by lower personnel expenses, partially offset by rising general and administrative expenses. Compared to second quarter 2004, operating expenses fell 20%, partly as a result of the prior-quarter impact of high operational risk costs.
Wealth Management USA
In third quarter 2004, Wealth Management USA posted a pre-tax profit of CHF 43 million, up from CHF 16 million in second quarter 2004. The improvement reflects the end of merger-related retention payments, completed in second quarter.
Before acquisition costs, third quarter 2004 pre-tax profit was CHF 169 million, 10% lower than a quarter earlier, reflecting lower levels of transactional revenues due to a decrease in client trading volumes. This was partially offset by higher lending revenues, which were up 6%, reflecting the positive impact of UBS Bank USA in Utah, and higher income in the Municipal finance business.
Net new money showed renewed strength, with inflows of CHF 5.3 billion in third quarter, up from CHF 2.2 billion in the previous quarter. The strong asset gathering performance in third quarter, which outperformed the result in first half 2004, provides evidence of the benefits of the new support tools introduced to enhance the productivity of financial advisors. It also reflects significant and tangible results from the success of the Private Wealth Management initiative, which targets high net worth clients in the US.
Zurich / Basel, 2 November 2004


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Latest News
North Korea, in transition, could draw further into shell
WASHINGTON — With the passing of North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il, experts said Monday, the nuclear-armed nation is likely to retreat into greater seclusion from the world while the political transition sorts itself out.
"The leadership will be in a hunker-down mode for at least the next couple of months or possibly longer," said Peter M. Beck, a longtime North Korea watcher and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Pyongyang's propaganda arm wasted no time in labeling Kim Jong Il's third son, Kim Jong Un, a Swiss-educated man thought to be 27 years old, as a "great successor" and a "distinguished leader of the military and people." But North Koreans are as unfamiliar with Kim Jong Un as the rest of the world is.
His name was mentioned in public for the first time only 15 months ago, when he was promoted to a four-star army general despite a thin leadership record. His father never explicitly and publicly endorsed him as successor.
"We know very little about him. He was brought into the public eye in September of last year, and this is not enough to give him legitimacy," said Ruediger Frank, a North Korea expert at the University of Vienna.
In a sign that North Korea was sealing itself off for a period, the nation said it wouldn't accept foreign delegations for Kim Jong Il's funeral Dec. 28 or a national memorial service the next day, when guns will boom, sirens will wail and three minutes of silence will descend on the last Stalinist state in the world.
Television images showed North Koreans weeping and falling to the ground to lament the passing of the 69-year-old strongman known as the dear leader.
President Barack Obama and other world leaders turned their eyes to North Korea, which conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, aware that the transition could bring opportunity for new engagement — or lead to deadly provocations on the Korean peninsula.
The White House said Obama had spoken with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to reaffirm Washington's "strong commitment to the stability of the Korean Peninsula." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet Monday with Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, and senior administration officials also spoke with their South Korean counterparts and with top officials in Russia and China, the other members of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, the White House said.
Asked whether the Obama administration considered Kim's death an opening, White House spokesman Jay Carney said it was "much too early to make any kind of judgment like that." Carney said North Korea was in a period of "national mourning" and that it was premature to make any assessments about the new leadership.
"We will judge the North Korean government by its actions," he said.
Unlike his father, who had 15 years to prepare to take over North Korea, Kim Jong Un had less than two years. Experts say that after an initial period of calm, a rocky transition may unfold.
"North Korea is entering a new era of uncertainty, with profound and unsettling implications for all the countries in the region," Charles K. Armstrong, the director of Korean research at Columbia University, wrote in a statement for the Asia Society.
Just where Kim Jong Un might take North Korea — toward reform or more hard-line policies — is unclear. Seeds of reform are already present in a country that's no longer the utterly closed society it remained for decades after World War II.
For one thing, cellular telephones are now prevalent. As of Oct. 1, the nation had 809,000 registered cellphone users, according to Orascom Telecom, the Egyptian company brought in as a 75 percent stakeholder in koryolink, a national cellular service provider. Within weeks, that figure is expected to top 1 million — which would be about 4 percent of North Korea's 24.5 million population — and although they can make and receive only domestic calls, experts note that it's a far greater number than can be monitored individually.
"It's not Twitter. It's not Facebook. It's not the Internet. It's not the means to reach a lot of people at the same time," said Frank, the scholar in Vienna. "But it helps with the exchange of information. It's clearly a factor."
"North Koreans are more easily able to communicate with each other," Beck echoed, noting the presence also of illegal radios tuned to South Korean broadcasts.
Kim Jong Un, who's the grandson of deceased North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, is familiar with new technologies, according to those who have known him, including a Japanese sushi chef who worked as a personal cook for the Kim family for more than a decade.
The chef, who goes by the pen name Kenji Fujimoto and returned to Japan in 2001, wrote in one tell-all book that the heir apparent drove a Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, smoked French cigarettes, listened to South Korean pop music, played basketball and enjoyed computer games.
The Nautilus Institute — a research center with offices in San Francisco, Seoul and Melbourne, Australia — issued a statement Monday saying Kim Jong Un is "likely to be more open to rapid, structural change in the economy. Whether he can bring along his senior advisers in embracing the notion of structural change is another matter."
The possibility looms, however, that Kim Jong Un won't easily consolidate his grip on the nation, prompting him to radical action to burnish his credentials.
"We may see provocations of the kind designed to enhance his leadership and his image," said Paul B. Stares, a conflict prevention expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Only two months after Kim Jong Un's name was first mentioned in public, with his installation as vice chair of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, North Korea embarked on a deadly artillery attack on a front-line South Korean island.
News reports in South Korea routinely say that Kim Jong Un played a role in the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23, 2010, which killed two marines and two civilians and led to fears of war.
The attack came after the sinking of a South Korean warship that March, killing 46 South Korean sailors, which plunged inter-Korean relations to their lowest point in years.
Among the inner circle of the Kim family, experts are watching Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who's likely to rule behind the scenes as Kim Jong Un trains on the job. Jang is married to the late dear leader's sister, who's also powerful.
"He might act as a caretaker of his nephew. Or he might use the opportunity to take power for himself," Frank said.
Jang is one of four top leaders with interlocking complementary titles. The others are army Vice Marshal Kim Yong Chun, state security chief Gen. U Tong Chuk and O Kuk Ryol, vice chair of the National Defense Council.
(Johnson, who reported from Mexico City, was McClatchy's Beijing bureau chief from 2003 to 2009 and visited North Korea in September 2007.)
On the North Korean border, a tale of two economies
North Korea succession plans prompt fear of turmoil
North Korean shelling turns South's shrugs into worries
Follow Tim Johnson on Twitter


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In 1945, WS Graham wrote to Sven Berlin about Alfred Wallis's paintings: 'It's like the work of the angel in the man and both not knowing each other very well.' In the following year, Graham would write his poem 'The Voyages of Alfred Wallis', which begins with the lines:
Worldhauled, he's grounded on God's great bank,
Keelheaved to Heaven, waved into boatfilled arms,
Falls his homecoming leaving that old sea testament,
Watching the restless land sail rigged alongside
Townful of shallows, gulls on the sailing roofs.
Only Graham could begin a poem with 'worldhauled', an invention, a conflation, heavy and labourious. In it we also see 'wordhauled': the idea that language is also heavy, difficult to fathom. Hard to know what Wallis might have made of it (the poem was written four years after his death); he was a man of simple words. He had no formal education. The only book he had read was the Bible (hence 'God's great bank, / Keelheaved to Heaven … leaving that old sea testament'). He had no training as an artist. Painting was something he took up 'for company' when his wife died. Everyone knows the famous story of how Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood came upon Wallis and his paintings by accident, as they walked past his open door on Back Road West during a drawing holiday in St Ives in 1928; subsequently, how Wallis's strange naïve pictures of boats askew, his spatially-challenged seascapes altered the course of British modernist painting. Hard to know what Wallis would have thought of his fame, the fact that his paintings have travelled farther than even a seasoned mariner could imagine, or that his rough works – mostly house paint on cardboard or wood – command five figures in auction houses (Wallis died in the poorhouse at Madron).
Graham's poem predates the kind of fame Wallis was to achieve, although Berlin was already at work on the first serious monograph. Graham explained to Berlin in another letter that Wallis represented 'a symbol of that energy which manifests itself in all kinds of places, so often when it is shouted for and encouraged by all the gear and disguise of "rolling eye" etc. – not appearing – and at times appearing, as in Wallis, seemingly "in spite of".' A typically Graham-like sentence, full of energy, stops and starts, a snaking trail of (il)logic. Kind of like Wallis's landscapes, which are never accurate maps of a place, but are born out of 'what used to be … what you will never see any more' to use Wallis's description. A life lived on the sea, already in the past when Wallis started painting, reconstructed from memory. That's why nothing is to scale in Wallis's paintings; apart from the fact he lacked the formal training of perspective, the huge waves ready to engulf the boat are exactly how they looked to the young mariner; the tiny houses hugging the harbor already in the distance as the schooner pushes out to sea.
Back to Graham. He had been reading the great Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer when he wrote his tribute to Wallis. The strong compound constructions of words come partly from this:
Sitting day-long
at an oar's end clenched against clinging sorrow,
breast-drought I have borne, and bitternesses too.
I have coursed my keel through care-halls without end
over furled foam, I forward in the bows
through the narrowing night, numb, watching
for the cliffs we beat along.
Graham would have been deeply affected by those lines, a poet who spent his entire life next to the sea, and who understood Wallis's great respect for its power to both lull and destroy. Graham ends his Wallis poem like this:
Falls into home his prayerspray. He's there to lie
Seagreat and small, contrary and rare as sand.
Oils overcome and keep his inward voyage.
An Ararat shore, loud limpet stuck to its terror,
Drags home the bible keel from a returning sea
And four black shouting steerers stationed on movement
Call out arrival over the landgreat houseboat.
The ship of land with birds on seven trees
Calls out farewell like Melville talking down on
Nightfall's devoted barque and the parable whale.
What shipcry falls? The holy families of foam
Fall into wilderness and 'over the jasper sea'.
The gulls wade into silence. What deep seasaint
Whispered this keel out of its element?
'Over the jasper sea' is one of the most beautiful images in Graham. Wallis would have known it well. It comes from a hymn:
Hark tis the voice of angels
Born in a song to me
Over the fields of glory
Over the jasper sea.
Alfred Wallis: Ships and Boats is at Kettle's Yard until 8th July
I will be running a writing workshop looking at the influence of Wallis on poets such as Graham, Merwin, Clemo and Christopher Reid on Sunday 10th June


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As Labor issues become more complex, AICP offers its members the opportunity to have questions and concerns about labor agreements and employment issues addressed in small gatherings throughout the course the year. The small group format offers an opportunity to meet and discuss any labor issues and questions in an informal setting, and allow for interaction and discussion. Topics covered may include commercial contracts and work rules. Open only to AICP members, and limited to 20 attendees, invitations are sent out two weeks prior to the roundtable.
For more information, please email email@example.com.


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11 August, 2010
LufbraI remember seeing U2 at The Marquee prior to this gig but the Student Union building at Loughborough was a custom built venue for bands and made for amazing shows - we saw Joy Division, The Buzzcocks, Undertones. Pretenders - vintage years to be a student. U2 were brilliant - I seem to recall the support was Clare Grogan's pop band altered Images which was fun to witness but a total contrast to U2.... I Will Follow was the highlight but I've always loved Out Of Control too and my lasting memory was of ringing ears and Irish blarney from Bono. No photo just great memories


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Happy Friday! Many of you seem to have tried and loved this shrimp with spicy garlic sauce recipe that I first posted in September 2010. As a nod to this recipe becoming one of Appetite for China's most popular ones on Pinterest, here is an updated photo and recipe. This easy recipe takes about 5 minutes of cooking time, perfect if you're out and about all weekend. I hope you enjoy it!
When I was living in China, ordering a dish of something coated in spicy garlic sauce was usually a gamble. Take pork or eggplant for example, two Sichuan dishes usually cooked with this sauce. The dish could be either perfectly manageable, or, if the chef was overly generous with his chili oil, throat-burningly spicy. Having your throat burnt isn't necessarily bad, per se (after all, you did go out for Sichuan). But when your meal also includes mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, and boiled beef in chili sauce, it would be nice to have a little reprieve.
In the U.S., shrimp with garlic sauce in Chinese restaurants is rarely very spicy, even if the entree is marked with a big red star or chili pepper on the menu. I wanted to strike a balance with this recipe. Instead of using a lot of chili oil, like in Sichuan cooking, or a tiny squeeze of hot sauce like many restaurants here seem to do, I used a good amount of Huy Fong (Red Rooster brand) chili garlic sauce instead. (You can use any brand of chili garlic sauce or regular chili sauce.)
Of course, because this dish is all about the garlicky taste, nothing beats freshly sautéed garlic. There is nothing wrong with adding garlic on top of garlic. You'll want to start with sautéing a few cloves cloves, crushed or chopped. Then add the shrimp and the sauce, and the entree will be done in, seriously, 5 minutes.
Shrimp with Spicy Garlic Sauce
Serves 4
- 1 1/2 pounds uncooked large shrimp
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
- 1 pinch freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- Peel the shrimp, leaving the tail segments intact. Devein the shrimp if you choose.
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, and sugar and set aside.
- In a wok or large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook until both sides are pink, about 2 minutes on each side. Add the sauce mixture and stir so the shrimp is fully coated. Season with black pepper.
- Remove from the heat and garnish with chopped scallions. Serve with rice or vegetables.


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Veen family
Veen, a Dutch Mennonite family, which had its origin in Zuidveen between Steenwijk and Giethoorn in the province of Overijssel. Its ancestor as far as known was a certain Luitjen (Luutgen), who came here to dig peat. His son Hendrik Luitjens was a lay preacher ca. 1730-d. 1757 of the Zuidveen congregation of Danzig Old Flemish Mennonites, as were his relatives Wicher Egberts serving until ca. 1767 and Reinder Pieters 1764-d. 1802. In the 18th century some members of this family moved to Zaandam. This branch adopted Veen as its family name. Willem Veen (1716-1795) left Zuidveen and settled at Purmerend. His son Hendrik (1763-1846) moved to Sneek, where he was a tanner. This Hendrik had four sons: Anthony (1792-1872) was the founder of a large grocery store at Sneek; Willem (1795-1851), who accompanied the Napoleon as a "garde d'honneur" in his campaign to Russia in 1812-13, was later a wine merchant at Sneek, as was his brother Lambertus (1809-1899). The other son was Pastor Pieter Hendricsz Veen.
To this family also belong Lambertus Jacobus Veen (Sneek, 1863-Amsterdam, 1919), a publisher at Amsterdam, Egbertus Veen (Sneek, 1853-Baarn, 1944), a banker at Sneek and for many years a deacon of the Mennonite congregation, and Egbert A. Veen (Sneek, 1870-Zaandam, 1952), a director of the Verkade factories at Zaandam, deacon of the Westzaandam congregation and trustee of the Schoorl Brotherhood Home. Wicher Veen, b. 1920, pastor of IJmuiden 1949-55 and Amsterdam-den Ilp since 1955, also descends from this family.
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1878): 17-33.
Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de vereenigde Nederlanden. Amsterdam, 1806: 82.
Veen, E. A. Een Friesch Koopmangeslacht: het geslacht Veen. Amsterdam, 1947.
|Nanne van der Zijpp
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Veen family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 17 Oct 2019. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Veen_family&oldid=133628.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Veen family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 17 October 2019, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Veen_family&oldid=133628.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 800. All rights reserved.
©1996-2019 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


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The core of the middle class belief system is that anything is attainable through hard work, whether it's a good education, home ownership or a healthy retirement fund.
But that mentality has changed, especially since the recession.
Fifty-nine percent of Americans are afraid of "falling out" of their class in the next few years, according to a Heartland Monitor poll released today, and middle class Americans are now feeling more anxious than aspirational.
A majority "believe that being middle class today means keeping up with expenses and holding a steady job while not falling behind or taking on too much debt," according to the survey. "Just 43% think that middle class means having the opportunity for financial and professional growth, buying a home, and saving and investing for the future."
Here are a few more highlights from the survey of 1,000 US adults:
*Almost all Americans (85%) consider themselves a part of an expanded definition of being middle class that includes upper middle class (12%), and lower middle class (26%)
*Americans believe a typical middle-class family makes between $60k and $65k per year – actual estimates indicate the median income for an average family of four is $68,274.
*More than half (52%) of Americans say the biggest risk factor for falling out of their economic status is losing a job or income source
*50% of all Americans and 51% of the middle class consider higher education to be the most effective way to protect and earn middle-class standing
*At least 40% of middle class Americans believe paying for a child's college education, retiring comfortably, and having enough money to weather a health or income emergency. only realistic for the upper class
While overall Americans are in a better place than they were during the recession, most actually got poorer during the early part of the recovery, with the unemployment rate still at 7.7%. The skyrocketing cost of college tuition also makes achieving the "middle class ideal" more difficult than ever before.
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We live in a world of apologies and atonement. Each time a politician or public figure says something that could be remotely construed as offensive, the person's comments are instant fodder for television pundits. Few will forget what Rush Limbaugh said about the now-famous Sandra Fluke. East Haven mayor Joseph Maturo inspired a dialogue about race – and tacos – after a quip he made to a reporter. But should we get so hung up about these spontaneous comments?
Noting this, comedian Bill Maher declared today, Sunday, the "National Day of No Outrage." In a New York Times op-ed last week, he gave instructions: "One day a year when you will not find some tiny thing someone did or said and pretend you can barely continue functioning until they apologize."
Maher's reason for sounding off against pseudo-offensive comments stems from a joke Robert De Niro told about first ladies last week at a Democratic fundraiser. He said, rather simply: "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?"
(MORE: How to Talk to Young Black Boys about Trayvon Martin)
And as soon as De Niro's comments hit the airwaves, the pundits began squawking, leading to a copious clearing of blame. Michelle Obama's press secretary called the comment "inappropriate" and Newt Gingrich called it "inexcusable." The backlash, expectedly, resulted in De Niro issuing an apology: "My remarks, although spoken with satirical jest, were not meant to offend or embarrass anyone – especially the first lady."
But Maher claims that the actor's joke was hardly deserving of such backlash, which inspired him to call for the "Day of No Outrage." His message invokes a "sticks and stones" mentality that one's words can be easily taken back. A simple and humorous joke about politicians' wives – one of Maher's so-called "tiny thing[s]" – is hardly worth crying over in comparison to the larger issues of today.
We're in the midst of an assault on women's rights – a controversy, to be sure, that Rush Limbaugh helped stoke. The battle over mandatory insurance reimbursement for contraception and some states' requirement to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion have caused understandable outrage nationwide. The murder of the unarmed 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin in a Florida subdivision has roiled millions into protest. The alleged sexual abuse of more than a dozen young children by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has led to a major national dialogue about the handling of child abuse. And that's just in the U.S. There are hundreds of other examples outside our borders. Perhaps Maher is right in calling for society to tone down the outrage for "tiny things". That way we can appropriately direct our offense to situations that truly require it.


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If you've completed all your applications and most of your requirements, by now you should start receiving some financial aid award letters from the universities and colleges you applied to. Essentially, the letter aims to tell you how much financial assistance you can expect from the university, plus how much you'll have to cover on your own.
Understanding the financial aid award letter is important if you're going to select the one that's best for your situation. By analyzing the contents properly, you will be able to establish which institution can give you the best education possible for the least out-of-pocket cost. Of course, there will be other factors to consider when choosing your school, but at the very least the financial assistance offered is an important matter to think of.
Most of these financial aid award letters are different in template, format, and style. (Here are two examples of financial aid award letter formats currently in use: example 1 , example 2 .) However, learning to read these letters properly means you just have to know what you're looking for. There are certain key items to look out for, and then you can use these to compare and determine which aid package is best for you.
Cost of Attendance
This is the first thing to look for the moment you open the financial aid letter. Usually, this will refer to the tuition fees, miscellaneous fees, and room and board expenses. Some letters will include other possible expenses like the cost of personal items, food, textbooks, and even transportation.
The cost of attendance will help you identify exactly how much money is needed to cover your schooling. Just one reminder: not all letters will discuss all of these expenses clearly. There are certain surprises costs of college that not all families are aware of and come as a shock later down the road. If you need more information, don't hesitate to call the student office or check the university website.
Financial Aid Package
This refers to the percentage of the cost of attendance that the university can cover for you.
This is very important, because this is how you establish the level of financial aid that you can get and whether or not you can afford to go to the school.
There are two types of financial aid that can be included in your package:
1.) The first one is sometimes called "gift aid", e.g. grants and scholarships. This means you usually don't have to pay back the amount paid on your behalf. You should use this free money first before using the second type, which requires you to put in a bit of "effort".
2.) The second type includes loans and work-study programs. You have to pay back the loans, and these can come from state financial aid programs, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or a loan from the university. Remember that the loan will have to be paid back under a loan repayment plan, no matter if you finish your studies or not. As for the work-study program, it's self-evident. You will have to work for the university part-time in exchange for financial aid.
When applying for either, it is important to do everything you can to maximize your financial aid award.
Expected Family Contribution
Now this makes things a lot more clear. The EFC will tell you how much your family is expected to contribute to the cost of your education. Remember that the EFC can increase over the years, so take this into consideration. The EFC across schools will likely be consistent, since they do use the information gathered by the FAFSA.
If you do think that there's any information lacking from the financial aid award letters, you can always call the student office to clarify things.
Are you expecting a financial aid letter soon? Visit our CU Select Tool to help find a credit union near you that can help cover any of the Gaps or EFC needed this coming school year.