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Thursday 31 January 2013
Lindsay Makes It To Court
So Lindsay Lohan made it to court this morning and the judge was ever so happy to see her. The way it sounded – she would have been very pissy if Lilo was “too sick” to fly. Sheesh. Her next court date is March 1st, but you don’t have to wait that long for some hot gossip – check out these links! Earsucker has more on the Lilo drama. Cotten Kandi – Rihanna Covers Rolling Stone Says She & Chris Brown ?Value Each Other?. Diva Artist – Chris Brown Spotted with Cast; Frank Ocean to Press Charges. The Great Monkey Suit – Miley Cyrus Doing Yoga In A Bikini. Celebrity Smack – Jason London Says He Took a Beating For No Reason. Pop On The Pop – Justin Bieber’s Believe Acoustic Album Receives Great Reviews. Bumpshack – Miley Cyrus? Steamy Cosmopolitan Cover (PHOTO). Bitten & Bound – Danica Patrick?s Rebound BF is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Gossip & Soaps – Edward Cullen & Bella Swan-Cullen Hold Hands Like There In Love!. Daily Stab – VIDEO ? Adam Levine Saturday Night Live Monologue. Yeeah – Celeb Look of the Day: Anne Hathaway in Floral Prints Amy Grindhouse – This One Time, LeAnn [...]
Wednesday 30 January 2013
'Duh': McCain thinks your questions are dumb, reporters
Arizona Sen. John McCain (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
John McCain heard your question, and he thinks it's really dumb.
While the Arizona Republican senator fielded questions on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, a day after he joined a bipartisan group of senators to announce a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform, one reporter asked how he would respond if the proposed provision that requires increased border enforcement were challenged.
He would oppose it, he said. "Duh."
As part of the outline of principles for an immigration overhaul unveiled on Monday by McCain and seven other senators, any new overhaul would require enhanced border security before illegal immigrants already in the country could begin to seek a path to citizenship. Republicans have insisted that it be a key component of any large immigration bill.
Listen to the exchange between McCain and the reporter here:
Reporter: "How do you feel about not tying border security to citizenship?"
McCain: "What do you mean 'not tying it'?"
Reporter: "Basically your plan..."
McCain: "Didn't you see the press conference? Did you happen to miss it? What do you mean, 'not tying'?"
Reporter: "But if somebody were to come out with a statement saying..."
McCain: "If somebody were to come out that's in contradiction to what we said, we'd say we disagree with it. Duh."
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Investing in 2013: How to Profit from the Expanding REIT Universe ...
Investing in 2013: More REIT Options
The past year or so has seen a rush of companies moving toward REIT status.
Firms in wide-ranging industries including healthcare, timber companies, outdoor advertisers, casinos, data warehouses and digital transmission towers have converted, or will soon convert, into REITs.
In order to become a REIT, a company must fulfill two requirements:
First, it must invest at least 75% of its assets in real estate and get a minimum of 75% of its revenue from rents or other direct real-estate activities.
Second, it must pay out a minimum of 90% of its profits to its shareholders in the form of dividends.
If a company meets these criteria, the government (Internal Revenue Service) will not tax those profits at the company level. But as stated previously, the dividends received by shareholders are taxed as ordinary income.
Besides the tax advantages, there are other reasons as to why are companies are making the conversion to REIT status.
It seems to be a very successful strategy to increase share price performance, making both management and shareholders happy.
Jeff Kolitch, portfolio manager at Baron Real Estate Fund, told Barron's that the average REIT trades at 22 times adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), a measure comparable to operating cash flow. There are many, many stocks that trade below 22 times operating cash flow, so conversion to REIT status gives many stocks an immediate boost.
In addition, the newly-converted companies enjoy the access to large amounts of capital enjoyed by real estate trusts. Equity REITs last year raised more capital through stock and debt offerings than the industry had in at least 12 years. The amount raised last year was also as much capital raised as the prior five years combined, according to research firm SNL Financial.
This trend toward an expanding REIT universe is likely to continue in the months and years ahead.
Adam Markman, a managing director at real estate research firm Green Street Advisors, told Bloomberg News, "The pace of conversions isn't slowing. The more success that we have, the more likely it is we'll see additional activity."
Michael Fitzgerald, a partner at Paul Hastings, has worked on REIT conversions and is also a supporter of the REIT trend.
"This is just the beginning. There's going to be a huge emphasis on tax structuring starting in 2013," he told the Financial Times.
This "tax structuring" should expand the REIT universe even further.
New "Stars" in the REIT Universe
For investors interested in income, some of the new "stars" in the REIT universe are rather intriguing.
The list includes: casino company Penn National Gaming Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN), communications infrastructure firms American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) and SBA Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: SBAC), outdoor advertising company Lamar Advertising Co. (Nasdaq: LAMR), publisher Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), and data service companies Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) and DuPont Fabros Technology Inc. (NYSE: DFT).
Some of the above have already converted to a REIT, while others are still contemplating the move.
Other firms including CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) and Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) are spinning off part of their firm into a REIT. Cincinnati Bell has already done that with the spinoff its co-location business unit CyrusOne Inc. (Nasdaq: CONE). CBS is considering the spinoff of its billboard advertising unit as a REIT. That business accounted for about 10% of its operating profits.
If you're interested in investing in REITs in 2013, check out this latest offer from our Global Investing Strategist Martin Hutchinson, who has a winning strategy to find the best sources of yield.
Related Articles and News:
Source: http://moneymorning.com/2013/01/29/investing-in-2013-how-to-profit-from-the-expanding-reit-universe/
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Microsoft's Newest Office Arrives - Business Insider
The Windows 8 version of Office is officially here.
It comes in two flavors: a cloud version that is delivered over the Internet, Office 365, and traditional software that runs on your PC, previously known as Office 15, now called Office 2013.
Both of these come in a few versions too. Office 365 University is for college students, faculty and staff. It will cost $79.99 for a four-year subscription, which Microsoft points out comes to $1.67 per month.
There's also the Office 365 Home Premium version, which is a single subscription meant to cover a family, or up to 5 users.?Microsoft previously announced that it will cost about $100 a year, or $8.33 per month.
The downloadable-software versions also come in different versions: Office Home & Student 2013, Office Home & Business 2013, and Office Professional 2013. Those will cost $139.99, $219.99, and $399.99, respectively.
If you need Office for more than one computer in the house, it's obviously less expensive, at least at first, to buy the cloud version for $99 a year than to buy Office 2013 for multiple computers.
While it's true that you can also get a scaled-down version of Office for free via?Microsoft's SkyDrive, these new versions of Office are set up to work with Windows 8 touch devices.
Google Apps, which competes most directly with Office 365, is free for schools. For?businesses, it costs $50 per user per year.
Microsoft is releasing new business versions of Office 365 for Windows 8 on February 27.?
Don't miss: How 15 Tech Tycoons Spend Their Fortunes
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-office-15-office-365-2013-1
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Tuesday 29 January 2013
Mali rebels torch ancient library in Timbuktu
Thousands of residents came out to celebrate after French and Malian troops entered the town of Gao on Sunday, with a parade of motorbikes honking their horns and people weeping in disbelief. Lindsey Hilsum of the UK's Channel 4 News reports.
By Adama Diarra and Richard Valdmanis, Reuters
GAO, Mali - French and Malian troops on Monday sealed off Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, but fleeing Islamist rebel fighters torched several buildings in the ancient Saharan trading town, including a library of priceless manuscripts.
Without a shot being fired to stop them, 1,000 French soldiers including paratroopers and 200 Malian troops seized the airport and surrounded the centuries-old Niger River city, looking to block the escape of al-Qaida-allied fighters.
The retaking of Timbuktu followed the swift capture by French and Malian forces at the weekend of Gao, another major northern Malian town which had also been occupied by the alliance of Islamist militant groups since last year.
A two-week intervention by France in its former Sahel colony, at the request of Mali's government but also with wide international backing, has driven the Islamist rebel fighters northwards out of towns into the desert and mountains.
A French military spokesman said the assault forces at Timbuktu were being careful to avoid combat inside the city so as not to damage cultural treasures and mosques and religious shrines in what is considered a seat of Islamic learning.
But Timbuktu's mayor, Ousmane Halle, reported that fleeing Islamist fighters had torched a South African-funded library in the city containing thousands of priceless manuscripts.
"The rebels set fire to the newly-constructed Ahmed Baba Institute built by the South Africans ... this happened four days ago," Halle Ousmane told Reuters by telephone from Bamako. He said he had received the information from his chief of communications who had traveled south from the city a day ago.
Nic Bothma / EPA
A French soldier in Mali on Sunday.
Ousmane was not able to immediately say how much the concrete building had been damaged. He added the rebels also torched his office and the home of a member of parliament.
The Ahmed Baba Institute, one of several libraries and collections in the city containing fragile ancient documents dating back to the 13th century, is named after a Timbuktu-born contemporary of William Shakespeare and houses more than 20,000 scholarly manuscripts. Some were stored in underground vaults.
The French and Malians have faced no resistance so far at Timbuktu, but they face a tough job of combing through the labyrinth of ancient mosques and monuments and mud-brick homes between alleys to flush out any hiding Islamist fighters.
"We have to be extremely careful. But in general terms, the necessary elements are in place to take control," French army spokesman Lieutenant Thierry Burkhard said in Paris.
Timbuktu member of parliament El Hadj Baba Ha?dara told Reuters in Bamako the Islamist rebels had abandoned the city. "They all fled. Before their departure they destroyed some buildings, including private homes," he said.
The United States and European Union are backing the French-led Mali operation as a strike against the threat of radical Islamist jihadists using the West African state's inhospitable Sahara desert as a launch pad for international attacks.
In the first installment of Rock Center's Hidden Planet series, Richard Engel travels to Mali, on the edge of the Sahara desert, to discover the city of Timbuktu.
They are helping with intelligence, airlift of troops, refueling of planes and logistics, but do not plan to send combat troops to Mali.?
In Gao, crowds celebrated the arrival of French forces. Many smoked cigarettes, women went unveiled and some men wore shorts to flout the severe sharia Islamic law the rebels had imposed for months. Youths on motorcycles flew the flags of Mali, France and Niger, whose troops also helped secure the ancient town on the Niger River.
"Now we can breathe freely," said Hawa Toure, 25, wearing a colorful traditional African robe banned under sharia for being too revealing. "We are as free as the wind today. We thank all of our friends around the world who helped us," she said.
About a dozen rebels were killed in Gao, while French forces suffered no losses or injuries, the?French defense ministry?said.
Youths in Gao said there were still some rebels and rebel sympathizers around, but they were being found. "Yesterday, even, we found one hiding in a house. We cut his throat," one man said, asking not to be named. "Today we found another and we brought him to the army."
A third northern town, the Tuareg seat of Kidal, in Mali's rugged and remote northeast, remains in rebel hands.
Related:
Jihadists leave trail of destruction, brutality
PhotoBlog: Eerie photo of French soldier in Mali upsets military officials
Analysis: Why France is taking on Mali extremists
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Painful memories for survivors of Rhode Island club fire
One of the worst nightclub fires in history has claimed a terrible toll in the southern Brazil city of Santa Maria, with at least 233 dead by the most recent count.
By Stephen Singer, The Associated Press
Argentina, a year later. Thailand in 2008. Russia in 2009.
For survivors of a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, the fire in Brazil that killed hundreds Sunday is the latest in a series of reminders that no matter how far away, those who ignore the lessons of their tragedy can pay a horrible cost.
On a cold night in February 2003, the rock band Great White took the stage at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. During the show, pyrotechnics set fire to flammable soundproofing foam that lined the walls and ceiling, killing 100 and injuring 200.
Over the decade since, survivors have come together time and again over news of similar disastrous fires overseas.
"We're very tight," said Todd King, one of the survivors. "You can't put into words what we saw."
He said he was woken up Sunday morning by a storm of text messages from others who survived the Rhode Island fire, asking, "Can you believe this is happening again?"
"I'm surprised nobody has learned," he said.
Another Rhode Island survivor, Victoria Eagan, said she and others noted that each of three earlier fires was caused by indoor pyrotechnics igniting with material in the building. Investigators have just begun their work in Brazil, but witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.
"I had the same reaction as the other three times," Eagan said Sunday. "We're doomed to repeat history and I wish they could learn."
In the year after the Rhode Island fire, a flare ignited ceiling foam at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people.
Indoor fireworks were blamed for a fire at a club in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2008 in which 66 partygoers were killed.
And another indoor fireworks display at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152 people in December 2009.
In Rhode Island, the Station fire brought about sweeping changes to the state's fire code with one intent: Never again.
Sprinklers are now required in nightclubs and bars with occupancy limits of 100 or more, nightclub workers must be trained in fire safety and more money was set aside for fire safety classes in schools.
Rhode Island also banned pyrotechnics in all but its largest public venues and local fire marshals were enabled to order immediate repairs and write tickets for violations.
Eagan said the changes were necessary in Rhode Island.
"I wish it would spread to other countries," she said.
A deadly blaze overseas does not seem so distant because of the Rhode Island tragedy, Eagan said.
"It's a tragedy that hits close to home," she said. "It's maddening to see it happen again."
In an emailed statement, the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, which is building a memorial to those affected by the 2003 fire, compared the two fires.
"One cannot help but notice the similarities between this tragedy and the Station nightclub fire that occurred nearly 10 years ago," the group said.
RELATED: Brazil nightclub inferno: Locked door trapped patrons?
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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kuttarpora: Stacy: layanau: grange genna: Reference and Education
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Monday 28 January 2013
Shopping and Product Reviews: Treatment for Hyperpigmentation
It is clear that skin is one of the body parts that need special concern if we want to look gorgeous. A lot of people really care about their skin condition so that they try to do anything to make the skin look beautiful and smooth. However, we also realize that it is getting hard to take care of our skin because of the situation that we have to live every day. It means that we have to be smart enough to make the skin beautiful for real.?
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Oftentimes, tight activities force us to get contacted with the open air with unfriendly exposure of the sun. This condition brings serious risks especially if we care about the healthy skin we dream about. Besides consuming nutritious food with rich vitamin E, taking skin whitening cream should be the best solution to minimize the risk of Hyperpigmentation, skin problems such as dark spots, brown spots, and aged spots that are caused by the sun exposure. Actually there are a lot of cream products to treat the condition. However, choosing the best products with the best results must be the best option for us. In this case, getting recommended information about the best products must be the basic thing to do. As stated above, the Hyperpigmentation is one of today?s most common skin problem faced by a lot of us. To make sure that we can handle the problem, recommended cream like face whitening must be the best option. For this, the linked websitea are the recommended one to go for the best whitening products. We can get much more information about the common skin problems we potentially get as well as the products we need as the treatment. Just visit the websites by clicking available links and find the best products for skin on the websites.Source: http://b1b2kombonganandes.blogspot.com/2013/01/treatment-for-hyperpigmentation.html
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Pay Per Click Advertising ? Tips for Newbies | PrimeView
Pay per click is a form of online advertising that you, the advertiser, only pay for when someone clicks on your ad. You start by opening an account with the search engine you want to appear on, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and other advertising providers in the internet. Ads appear on the search engine results page (SERP). This is a relatively new development in the world of marketing that has taken shape because of a need for businesses to be able to advertise their products and services strategically in a seemingly wide internet landscape.
So as a PPC newbie, below are some tips to get the best result of your PPC campaigns:
1. Maximize Quality Score
It?s best to launch your PPC campaign with many ad groups, ideally with 5 to 15 keywords per ad group. Upon writing and ad copy include or insert a keyword as possible while still getting your message across. This helps you to get a good Quality Scores, which is important to the success of your campaign.
2. Bid on your Brand Terms
Don?t spend money bidding on your brand name, because chances are you already rank number one for your brand organically.
3. A/B Ad Testing
This is the most useful features of PPC advertising; the ability to test ad copy messaging and see what resonates best with your audience or gets the most conversions.
4. Track Conversions
It?s a simple script that needs to be embedded on the thank you page or other page that indicates a visitor taken a desired action. It?s important to track conversions because it gives you an insight into how the performance of your ads relates directly to the business.
5. Management
Pay per click advertising is something that should be very hands on. If you?re not managing it on a constant basis you?ll be losing out on opportunities to improve, capitalize on successes, and increase the chance of spending money on fruitless campaigns.
Pay per click advertising can be very effective depending on the way you perform the process. We at PrimeView have a dedicated PPC team that will safeguard you against common PPC mistakes; provide their experienced insight and much more. Our company has created various PPC packages at different price points so you can choose the one that best fits your company?s needs and maximize the effect of your PPC campaign.
Source: http://www.primeview.com/blog/pay-click-advertising-tips-newbies/
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Sunday 27 January 2013
Experts warn obesity will soon reach pandemic proportions | The ...
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:12 EST
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Obesity has become a global pandemic that could leave more than half of all adults worldwide overweight within two decades, experts said, calling for urgent action beyond just blaming people for lacking willpower.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, health, nutrition and fitness experts said the world?s increasingly deadly obesity crisis needs to be tackled with the same determination policy-makers once took to fighting smoking.
With our food more and more unhealthy and our lives increasingly sedentary, answers are needed to address a crisis that is driving up diabetes, boosting heart disease and already killing 2.8 million adults per year, they said.
The current figure of 1.4 billion adults already overweight globally is set to soar, Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, told a panel on obesity at the annual gathering of the global elite.
?In another 20 years, if things continue to increase the way they are, it may well be that 50-60 percent of the world?s adult population will be overweight,? Fried said.
?If this were an infectious disease we might call it a pandemic. It?s not regional, it?s global, it?s increasing rapidly, it?s continuing to escalate ? those are the basic definitions of a pandemic,? she said.
The first step to resolving the crisis, the experts said, is overcoming the instinctive reaction many have to obesity ? blaming the obese themselves instead of the conditions around them.
?In 30 years, the percent of the world?s population that is overweight or obese has doubled,? Fried said. ?There?s no evidence that there has been a collective global loss of willpower.?
The blame rests instead with the easy availability ? and relative cheapness ? of higher-calorie foods and increasing urbanisation that has led to less active lifestyles, the experts said.
Lisa MacCallum Carter, Nike?s Vice-President for Access to Sport, said obesity was linked to an ?inactivity crisis? as a result of urbanisation.
She said significant amounts of daily exercise from incidental movement had been lost, with for example people now sending emails instead of walking across the office to talk to a colleague.
She cited research showing that Americans are now 32 percent less active than in 1967, and if current trends continue they will be 50 percent less active by 2030.
In just half a generation, she said, the Chinese had also become 45 percent less active.
At the same time, the foods we eat are becoming less healthy, with fattier, higher-salt and artificial products easier to produce and distribute, the experts said.
?The ways we see markets working are accelerating these trends very rapidly,? said Marc Van Ameringen, executive director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
Some governments, as in the United States, are encouraging this by subsidising industrial food production, as with corn syrup, which is widely used in prepared foods as a sweetener and thickener, he said.
?Look at the money that goes into producing corn and corn-syrup products, compared to the subsidies that go into producing fruit and vegetables,? he said.
Fried said some policy-makers have taken encouraging steps to fight obesity, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of her native New York.
His crusade against junk food has seen the city ban the sale of supersize soft drinks and require fast-food restaurants to label menus with calorie information.
The experts said steps like widespread calorie-labelling laws, limits on portion sizes and increased taxes on unhealthy food would make a difference.
Paul Bulcke, the CEO of Swiss food giant Nestle, said too much blame was being laid on food companies.
?It is a very complex problem,? he said. ?Yes, we are attacked, but that comes a bit from a society that wants to blame.?
He said Nestle supported ?meaningful labelling? of its products and that governments had an obligation to increase nutritional education.
MacCallum Carter of Nike said more had to be done to restore physical activity to daily life.
?On the nutrition side this problem is being looked at in a very sophisticated way,? she said. ?But we?re certainly not resolving the physical activity crisis.?
The experts said children needed to be involved in sport and individuals, companies and governments needed to work together to boost physical activity, for example by redesigning urban spaces to require more walking.
?We have a health emergency, it is global and it is of huge dimensions? We can only solve it together,? Fried said.
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Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/27/experts-warn-obesity-will-soon-reach-pandemic-proportions/
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Sundance: Filmmaker Pelosi shoots first, asks permission later | The ...
Courtesy | HBO Former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey is the subject of the documentary "Fall to Grace."
In "Fall to Grace," filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi profiles former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, who resigned in 2004 after declaring himself a "gay American."
The short film ? screening in Sundance?s Documentary Shorts Program II and airing on HBO in March ? tells how McGreevey left politics behind to do good works. After resigning, he attends divinity school with a goal of becoming an Episcopal priest while he spends time working with female inmates at a New Jersey correctional facility.
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?Fall to Grace?
The last screening of Alexandra Pelosi?s short documentary about former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey will be Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8:30 p.m. at the Holiday Village Cinema 1, Park City. It?s part of the Documentary Shorts Program II.
"Maybe it?s just because I?ve been around politicians all my life and I?m fascinated by the life cycle of the politician," said Pelosi, the daughter of U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Jim doesn?t have anything nice to say about politicians. He?s a recovering politician."
"Fall to Grace" isn?t so much about politics or even a whitewashed profile of McGreevey, but instead unfolds a story of faith and redemption.
Pelosi said she knows Sundance audiences might be suspicious of McGreevey?s motives. "I have all these snarky, New York media-type friends ? the kind that work at HBO ? who say things like, ?Well, why would he do this?? And he?s doing something. Which is more than most people are doing."
The backstory of her short film is worth a documentary all by itself. Pelosi?s work certainly fits in the model of a shoestring Sundance indie film. Her biggest expense during filming was the $1.75 train fare from her apartment in New Jersey to meetings with McGreevey at the correctional facility.
"If you don?t have a camera crew, it costs nothing," Pelosi said. "It was a zero-expense project. It was just getting on the train and going to the jail."
When she needed to hire an editor, she sought support from HBO. Despite her track record of making nearly 10 HBO documentaries during the past decade by herself, officials weren?t convinced a McGreevey documentary was a good idea before they saw her footage.
"When I looked at just a little bit of it, I immediately endorsed it," said Sheila Nevins, the president of HBO documentaries. "She?s a filmmaker sprite, and she?s a very fine documentary filmmaker."
Added Lisa Heller, HBO?s vice president of documentaries: "She?s a one-woman show. I mean, we have people who go with big crews and a lot of support. She?s out there on her own, and it is shocking how high quality her material is when it comes back."
story continues below
That?s Pelosi?s style, to shoot first and ask permission later. "People still don?t take me seriously," she said. "The camera?s rolling in their face and they still don?t realize it?s going to end up on HBO."
She?s also underestimated because of her shoestring filming methods. "When [subjects] see an old mom with a camcorder, they?re not intimidated or afraid," said the 42-year-old Pelosi. "When my kids have events at their schools, the parents have nicer cameras than I shoot my documentaries with. So if someone sees me filming, they don?t think, ?There?s a documentary crew. What are they doing? Did they get permission to be here???"
She started her filmmaking career on advice from Karl Rove, the former aide to President George W. Bush. Working as an NBC News producer during the 2000 presidential campaign, the daughter of the first female speaker of the House would often whip out a small, hand-held camera.
"Karl Rove would walk by and see me filming, and he?d say, ?Oh, I get it. It?s better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission,??" Pelosi said. "And then I would just keep going until someone would tell me to turn it off. And, ironically, no one ever told me to turn it off."
The footage from the 2000 campaign became her first documentary, "Journeys with George," which she submitted to Sundance. When it wasn?t accepted, "That broke me. I was like, ?OK, I?m not going to be a filmmaker.??"
The irony was that Bush "used to say to me, ?We?re going to go to Sundance!??" It became a refrain, with Bush comparing Pelosi to filmmaker Michael Moore. "But he used to call me Roger Moore because he would mix it up," Pelosi said. "Then I didn?t get in, and that was sort of crushing. After that, I never applied again."
Until this year, when Pelosi submitted "Fall to Grace" to Sundance the same way every other filmmaker does ? sent off the film and hoped for the best. "People assume because of my last name I know people," she said. "I don?t know anybody. I don?t even know who to call."
Pelosi is thrilled the TV network is paying her way to the festival. "I couldn?t even pay for the airfare to go to Sundance," she said. "And do you know how much the hotels cost?"
Plus there?s the expense of finding baby sitters for her 5- and 6-year-old sons. "I can?t be gone for a week," she said. "I don?t have a nanny. I have to raise my own kids. They?re already mad I?m going to Sundance. I?m, like, ?You don?t understand. I?ve worked my whole life to get to Sundance.? It was something I always dreamed of. And here I am reborn at the age of 42.
"And my kids are, like, ?Who?s going to pick us up from school on Monday???"
spierce@sltrib.com
Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Fallout Icarus City: The Faction Wars
Icarus City, a land once known as "New York City" for a time and "New Amsterdam" even before that. When the bombs fell, civilization fell with it. Humanity has since then tried to pick up the pieces but with little success. Humankind will always go to war, to the bitter end.
The future of Icarus City will be decided by the hands of several warring factions. Tensions have grown recently as the various factions spread their influence throughout Icarus City, war is inevitable. As all factions prepare for battle, few will see the outcome. Who will win? Fate will decide.
I've been wanting to do a faction roleplay for a while, as well as a Fallout roleplay. This could be very interesting to see how the story goes. This will be a collaborative effort with everyone working together to make the best roleplay possible.
http://www.roleplaygateway.com/roleplay/fallout-icarus-city-the-faction-wars/
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Saturday 26 January 2013
Rugby team poised to return to action | Kaleidoscope - UAB Campus ...
Posted on Jan 26, 2013 in Sports
Seems as though there is a club at UAB for just about everything?including rugby. For those of you who do not know, rugby is a sport very similar to football that has been played since the 5th century. It is very popular in European countries, especially in the United Kingdom, but has also gained popularity and recognition throughout the entire world, including the United States.
Rugby popularity is growing world wide. It will be one of the sports added to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. MCTCampus
Rugby has many rules and loopholes for the rules, and it is sometimes referred to as ?football without padding.? Rugby was banned in England for a while due to its violence and subsequent injuries. It sounds pretty intense, and now it?s offered right on our campus!
The rugby football club is just one of the many clubs on campus that is considered a club sport. Members in the club can meet-up to engage in athletic competitions, and even compete against other schools.
This spring, the club has 19 players on its roster, one of the largest numbers this club has seen in all its time at UAB.
They have big goals for this season as well, and have already begun practicing for this year. They practice three times a week: one practice is held on campus, and the other two are held at Ramsay Park, where they collaborate with The Vulcans, Birmingham?s men rugby club.
The season starts soon for the boys. As part of the Dixie Rugby League Collegiate Rugby Conference, they are faced teams from schools like Belmont, Bryan College and Sewanee. They will play Free-Hardman on January 26 at home. Then they will play Harding on February 2 in an away game. They will play against the University of North Alabama on February 9 at home. After these games, they will compete in a few friendly matches throughout the months of March and April. So far, they have just enjoyed a closer working relationship with the campus recreation center and the USGA.
Last spring, the UAB rugby club qualified for playoffs but had to forfeit this opportunity due to the loss of several players. However, the team has big goals to achieve in 2013, including winning and qualifying for the playoffs again this year. They hope to proceed further in the playoffs than just the preliminary competition. Pablo Sierra, an experienced player on the team, said he hoped that the club could ?grow as a team and as a UAB club organization by gaining new members and becoming a bigger part of the UAB community.?
Right now the club is looking to recruit more members. They need people who are tough emotionally and physically and who are willing to work to improve their strengths and strategies, willing to work as a team, and desire healthy competition in an athletic atmosphere. If this sounds interesting to you, then join this club! It is open to both males and females and you just need to attend a practice or meeting to show your interest.
Rachel Thorton
Staff Writer
rht93@uab.edu
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? ? Simply right click the ebook title above, and choose Save As to save to your desktop!? You can find more FREE Natural Health, Wellness and Pet Ebooks at Remedies4.com!About Dee Braun
Dee is an Adv. Certified Aromatherapist, Reiki Master, Adv. Color/Crystal Therapist, Herbalist, Dr. of Reflexology and single mom who is dedicated to helping others any way she can. One way she chooses to help is by offering information on the benefits and uses of natural health and healing methods for the well-being of both people and pets. Dee also teaches Aromatherapy, Reflexology and Color/Crystal Therapy at the Alternative Healing Academythe lion king suzanne collins cherry blossom festival nc state erika van pelt pat robertson hunger games trailer
'Game of Thrones' actor Wilko Johnson on his terminal cancer: I feel ...
Andre Csillag / Rex Features via AP file
By Us Weekly
Fans will be happy to know that Wilko Johnson is in very good spirits after doctors diagnosed him with terminal pancreatic cancer. The "Game of Thrones" actor and Dr. Feelgood bandmember shared the heartbreaking news on Jan. 10 on his Facebook page, and is now opening up about how he's doing now.
In an intimate interview with Radio 4's Front Row (via BBC), Johnson, 65, explained that he went to the doctor after feeling a lump in his stomach, which he initially ignored. When his doctors gave him the shocking diagnosis, he explained, it strangely energized him.
PHOTOS: Stars who have battled cancer
"We walked out of there and I felt an elation of spirit. You're walking along and suddenly you're vividly alive. You're looking at the trees and the sky and everything and it's just 'whoah,'" Johnson said. "I am actually a miserable person. I've spent most of my life moping in depressions and things, but this has all lifted."
Johnson opted not to receive any chemotherapy after he learned such treatment could only prolong his life by two months. With about 9 or 10 months to live, according to his doctor, the star says he plans to live his life to the fullest until the end. The musician is scheduled to perform a farewell tour with shows beginning February in France.
PHOTOS: Celebrity health scares
"If the cancer kicks in before that, then I can't go on stage. I'm not going to go on stage looking ill -- I don't wanna present a sorry spectacle!" he said. "I'm not hoping for a miracle cure or anything. I just hope it spares me long enough to do these gigs -- then I'll be a happy man."
PHOTOS: British stars
The talented star says he still "bursts into tears" thinking about his late wife, Irene, who died of cancer eight years ago, but has managed to keep his spirits up when thinking about his own death.
"Right now it's just fantastic -- it makes you feel alive," Still, he observed, "This position I'm in is so strange, in that I do feel fit and yet I know death is upon me."
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Friday 25 January 2013
Use These Multi-level Marketing Suggestions To Your Plan | Mike ...
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Are tattoos/body modification becoming more acceptable and - Fluther
I?m studying to be a clinical psychologist, so I have limited my tattoos to areas that are easily hidden. However, I really despise and oppose discrimination against body modification. As long as my tattoos are not obscene, why should it matter if I have them? I would like to get some ink on my ?ditch? a.k.a the inside of my elbow, but am wary because of the profession I?ll be in eventually. I?m not worried about my piercings, I can take them out whenever it is appropriate. Please tell me I won?t actually be turned down for some art on my body? All I can ever find on Google is hearsay from people who seem to be about 13 years old. Does anyone have some concrete advice to ease my conservatism with tattoos?
22 Answers
I reported to a VP, and knew several persons at my level who had tattoos. No big deal to have them, it was always considered good judgment to have them in places that were concealable if a client were to be present. It is not that the firm cares, they just get nervous about putting you in front of a stuffy client if you can?t easily conceal it.
Probably depends on the job setting. Web design firms, internet start-ups, television, the entertainment fields probably more so than banks, law firms or real estate offices. Just as the racial and gender make-up of organizations seems to reflect the period in which the industry started and developed. More modern businesses from television to internet seem to have more diversity and more younger people.
And, @desiree333, just as you can remove piercing jewelery, you can wear long-sleeved clothing if you feel it necessary to conceal them.
On another note about going into a therapy field, ethically, if a practitioner cannot relate to a patient [such as someone who could not deal with aspects of your appearance] it is common that they will recommend them to someone else and choose to work with persons with which they can build a therapeutic rapport.
When I was hospitalized recently for COPD, I did notice several nurses and technicians with tattoos and piercings. I would not have been surprised to see same on a young doctor.
Discrimination of this sort sucks and is pointless, but it?s still a reality we have to deal with. There?s no laws protecting against body art discrimination, so I think you would do best to assume it will be considered unprofessional until you get that job.
I?m on the academic track, and I am already prepared to cover up my tattoos (forearm and bicep) whenever necessary. I have the suspicion that visible tattoos for women are slightly more commonly acceptable than for men, but this might just be from my very strange vantage point within the humanities.
@anartist Yes, long-sleeved clothing is an option. I would actually be surprised if a patient chose to end sessions with me because of tattoos. That would be unfortunate. Either way, I will never be heavily modified on my arms/chest/neck. The majority of my tattoos will be on my legs/feet anyways.
@bookish1 Wow! I did not know that there?s no law protecting people from that? How ridiculous. I would definitely cover-up during an interview and the first few months. I guess if I decided to expose them after awhile my employer wouldn?t really do anything about it?
Yes, up to a point. In a lot of older line businesses, customer-facing positions don?t do well with visible tats or more than a modicum of ear piercings.
It?s your choice to make permanent changes to your body, but expecting everyone else in the world to accept your decision is pretty dogmatic. Brandings okay? extreme body mods? genital bisection? One could argue well that such mods are not healthy and are done by people with way too many self loathing issues. And if I were a business owner, I should be able to not allow such statements be publicly nade by an employee representing my company.
I believe they are much more acceptable today than they were 20 years ago but most people, at least in the professional world, prefer them to be concealable in a business setting.
Chances are that if you have a Maori Facial Tattoo and are not living in New Zealand, you will face some descrimination when you apply for a professional position.
Sorry,
@zenvelo Ouch. Basing your discrimination on other people?s appearance does not sit well with me. What if someone you were interviewing had obvious breast augmentation? Would that be ?healthy? enough to represent your company?
You don?t know a person just by looking at them. Their piercings and tattoos could have religious significance. Unless a body modification is obscene or offensive you shouldn?t be so quick to pass judgement.
People don?t realize how expensive and time-consuming it is to design and get tattoos. The people that you look at and decide are ?self-loathing? or criminals are actually very intelligent human beings with thousands upon thousands of dollars invested on their body in the form of beautiful art.
I think it really depends on the job. I normally don?t have a problem, but when my waitress had an infected tongue piercing and was leaking puss that she wiped with her bare hand, I left the restaurant mid order and never went back.
IMO It is a good idea to get them where they can be covered if necessary.
@desiree333 : I think that instead of attacking you, @zenvelo was just being realistic. We all have to live in this world, which is full of people who are not-us.
I show my tattoos when I?m hanging out with friends, or when I?m going to class or teaching my own students, but I?d never go to an interview or important meeting without covering them up. I like to dress pretty fruity when I have a choice in the matter, but I dress more conservatively for initial meetings or interviews, because there?s still a lot of homophobia and femmephobia out there, and I don?t want people judging me before they get to know me. Just because you believe that people shouldn?t make hasty judgments about you does not mean that they will not.
@bookish1 I completely agree with you. Yes, people should be realistic and cover-up during interviews and professional settings. I just get a little riled up when people are discriminatory, especially in such a harsh tone.
I just wanted to comment on the ?genital bisection? thing: That is clearly a personal choice and I see no reason why/how an employer would know about that? Unless some ethical boundaries are being crossed.
@desiree333, @bookish1 Just trying to think of the situation where this question comes up?? ? Reflecting upon your desire to become a teacher, have you, or are you, considering a genital bisection??
I do not believe I have ever been asked that question at a job interview!.
Response moderated (Spam)
As a clinical psychologist, you?ll be working independently, yes? If so, it probably wouldn?t be a huge problem. I work as a bank teller, and visible tattoos are big no-no?s. Why? Doesn?t really matter, it?s just how it is. The real world kind of sucks like that.
Body modification is a choice. If you choose to dye your hair neon pink, you?re going to be judged and probably denied certain jobs because many people would not take you seriously in a professional setting. Sorry, but that?s just how it is. It?s just as easy to choose to not have tattoos (or have them in easily concealable locations) as it is to choose to have them. The repercussions of the latter are something you?ll have to accept.
On a side note, I had no idea what genital bisection was until I saw it here and googled it. I understand most tattoos and piercings, but that?s just?WHY?!
@desiree333 I think @zenvelo is being very realistic and he didn?t make the rules. As @livelaughlove21 says, the real world is what it is. Answers contrary to your opinion are not insults, they are just different views from yours and by asking the question one would think you?d presumably wanted to hear those as well so that you can have a more realistic picture of the whole issue.
@nofurbelowsbatgirl I like KVD better w/o tats. I just like a clean canvas.
@livelaughlove21 I too had to look it up. I still haven?t recovered from what I found.
Oh good God, who dreamed up genital bisection? That?s wrong on so many levels.
No, tattoos, piercings, and other body modifications aren?t accepted in a traditional, conservative professional setting. I?m not arguing whether this is fair or unfair; I?m just stating the reality.
If you can keep your ?body art? hidden, it?s nobody?s business except your own. But, if you go to a job interview with visible tattoos, or if you don?t remove the jewelry from facial piercings, smart money?s betting that you won?t get the job.
I?ve been on the other side of this fence; i.e. with professional firms interviewing job candidates. I once saw a young woman get rejected?mocked, actually, as soon as she?d left the office?for having worn an ankle bracelet. If she weren?t capable of dressing appropriately for her interview, she couldn?t be trusted to wear the right ?uniform? for client meetings and on-site assignments.
Things may be very different in more relaxed fields, such as graphic arts, entertainment, and software design. But, if you hit the pavement with your MBA degree, hoping to land a more conventional business position, your visible body modifications will considerably hinder your efforts.
I once worked in the customer service department of a high-visibility company (you probably saw the ads and infomercials on TV). Although this was about 5 years ago, and the published dress code required that tattoos be covered. I found it interesting, because we had no visual contact with customers or the public in general.
@PaulSadieMartin I?ll have to agree with you on this one, in my area it wouldn?t be acceptable in business settings.
A few thoughts about tattoos (from an old fogey who detests tattoos):
(1) Fads come and go, but a tattoo is permanent. Long after tattoos have ceased being cool and popular, you?ll still have the same designs inked onto your body. If you want to express your independence and rebel against social norms, load your iPod with some loud, obsenity-riddled hip hop music. Someday, you?ll erase the music; the same can?t be said for a tattoo.
(2) You?re a changing, growing, ever-developing person?each of us is?but a tattoo is permanent. What seems clever and attractive today might seem very silly to you in a few years.
(3) Your body is also constantly changing. If you?d like to get a tattoo on your torso, how will that artwork look after several pregnancies and births (ladies) or when your tight abs turn into middle-age spread (gentlemen)?
(4) Tattoos seem to be addictive. After someone get?s his/her first tattoo, that person?s likely to go back for another tattoo. And another. And another. What started off as a small, subtle adornment grows into a mess of ink.
(5) The generations ahead of you (before tattoos were cool) and behind you (when tattoos are passe) will think that you?re trashy. It won?t matter if you?re not the least bit trashy; you?ll look the part. I?m a baby boomer, and I grew up seeing plenty of WWII veterans who?d been tattooed during the war. Almost all of them regretted what they?d done (the deeds of drunken sailors on shore leave); all of them looked low-bred and ignorant.
Yeah, I know that I won?t convince anyone who?s in the market for a tattoo. But, I?ve given it my best effort!
@PaulSadieMartin I have one little dot, I won?t say what it signifies, but some Americans may know, but it?s biker gang related from my angry teen period. What it signifies to me now breaks my heart every time I think about it, I was so misguided and angry. But it is a good reminder of how we?re always evolving for sure.
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Obama chooses trusted adviser and national security aide Denis McDonough as chief of staff (Star Tribune)
Thursday 24 January 2013
COBE Presents International Business Summit | College Of ...
The Boise State University College of Business and Economics will present an international business summit focused on the rise and trends of global business on Feb. 8. The event is free and open to the public.
The summit will feature distinguished guests from the Idaho business community and national academic leaders from the field of international business. Highlights include a keynote address from Bill Whitacre, CEO of J.R. Simplot Co., who will offer insights on his company?s evolution as a global enterprise. A panel discussion follows with Mark Durcan, CEO of Micron Technology; Joe Rottman, Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education (CUIBE) secretariat; Joe DeGano, Rekluse Motor Sports; and Vera Zdravkova, distinguished Boise State international business alumnus. Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little will moderate the discussion.
The summit begins at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Skaggs Hall of Learning on the first floor of the Micron Business and Economics Building. For more information or to register, visit cobe.boisestate.edu/internationalbusiness, send an email to intbus@boisestate.edu or call 426-4205.
The summit is the cornerstone event of the national CUIBE conference titled, ?Trading Up in the Great Exchange: Educating for the Global Economy.? It will be held Feb. 7-9 at Boise State and feature workshops and events to elicit discussion on best practices in international business education. Participants include more than 20 top-ranked university IB programs, Boise State IB students and prominent Idaho companies.
The role of international business education will be explored, including its value in the globalized business environment, its impact on regional economic growth and its future as an increasingly important field of study.
CUIBE is a national organization of international business programs and schools, most of which are ranked within the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report. Boise State has been a full member of CUIBE for four years.
This entry was posted in All News Stories, News. Bookmark the permalink.Source: http://cobe.boisestate.edu/blog/2013/01/24/cobe-presents-international-business-summit/
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Top senators: Tentative deal to curb filibusters
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate's senior Democrat and Republican reached a tentative agreement Thursday to impose modest limits on the filibuster, the delaying tactic that minority parties have long used to kill legislation.
The deal would reduce ? but not eliminate ? the number of times opponents can use filibusters on legislation and limit the time spent debating some bills and nominations. If acceptable to most lawmakers, the Senate was expected to approve the restrictions later Thursday.
The pact does not represent a dramatic reworking of Senate rules and leaves the minority party with far more power than it has in the House, where procedures allow a united majority party to muscle through its priorities.
But it could streamline some of the Senate's work and it would avoid what could have been prolonged, nasty battling between the two parties if Democrats ? frustrated by the GOP's growing reliance on the delays ? tried ramming through more decisive changes.
The curbs on filibusters fall short of what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., initially said he favored months ago. He wanted to completely ban the tactic's use when the Senate tries to begin debating a measure, and he threatened to use Democrats' majority in the Senate to simply impose it.
That tactic is called the "nuclear option" because of the bitter partisan warfare it would likely trigger in the chamber, potentially halting almost any business the Senate tried to conduct.
The restrictions also fall far short of what some of the Senate's newer Democrats were demanding. Their proposals included requiring filibustering senators to actually debate on the chamber's floor, a practice immortalized in the film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" but seldom used in recent years.
The No. 2 Senate Democratic leader, Richard Durbin of Illinois, said this week that Democrats lacked enough votes to force that proposal through the Senate.
Durbin said Thursday that the tentative deal was "great for the Senate," and said lawmakers who wanted tighter curbs would have to settle for less.
"That's how this world works," Durbin told reporters. "People start aspiring at very high levels, then you get a negotiation, then you reach something called compromise. And I think we are at that point."
Tight restraints on filibusters were championed by less-senior Democrats like Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Tom Udall, D-N.M, frustrated with the chamber's often glacial debates and the ability of the minority ? these days Republicans ? to kill bills with less than majority Senate support. It takes the votes of 60 of the 100 senators to halt the delaying tactics.
More veteran lawmakers like Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., were reluctant to stifle the tactic, mindful that his party could find itself in the minority after any election and would want to be able to use the maneuvers.
"It is bipartisan, it will give great momentum to working on a bipartisan basis here in the Senate and it will get rid of the major roadblocks that gridlock this Senate," Levin said of the tentative deal.
But at least one long-serving Democrat expressed dissatisfaction, saying the pact would continue to let lawmakers in the minority force those in the majority to get 60 votes to prevail.
"It stands the principle of majority rule on its head," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
The liberal group Common Cause, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the filibuster, criticized Reid for the agreement, saying the senator "has gone missing in the fight for filibuster reform."
Democrats say Republican use of the tactic has become almost routine and far too frequent. Republicans say they use it because Reid often blocks them from offering amendments.
As part of the agreement, filibusters could be avoided when the Senate tries beginning debate on a bill or nomination. In return, the majority leader would have to allow each party to offer at least two amendments ? addressing a major complaint of Republicans that their amendments are often shut out.
In addition, once the Senate votes to limit debate on certain nominations ? district court judges and administration posts below Cabinet level ? the debate would be limited to two hours, far below the 30 hours now allowed. The proposal was aimed at speeding the time spent on such nominations.
In addition, instead of three separate opportunities for opponents of a bill to wage filibusters to block a Senate vote allowing the chamber to try writing compromise legislation with the House, there would only be one such filibuster allowed.
According to the Senate Historian's Office, there were 73 "cloture" votes to end filibusters in the two-year Congress that ended earlier this month. There were 91 such votes in the Congress that served in the two previous years, and 112 in the two-year Congress before that.
Those are the three highest number of cloture votes in any Congress since the Senate started allowing such votes to end filibusters nearly 100 years ago.
___
Associated Press writers Jim Abrams, Stephen Ohlemacher and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.
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NCAA announces problems with Miami investigation
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) ? The NCAA has found what it calls "improper conduct" committed by former members of its own enforcement program during the Miami investigation, and will not deliver the long-awaited notice of allegations against the Hurricanes until an external review is completed.
NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the findings Wednesday. The sports governing body said former enforcement staff members worked with the criminal defense attorney for former Miami booster and convicted Ponzi scheme architect Nevin Shapiro "to improperly obtain information ... through a bankruptcy proceeding that did not involve the NCAA."
The NCAA did not name the attorney involved. Shapiro has been represented by Maria Elena Perez, a Miami graduate. Perez did not immediately return a request for comment from The Associated Press on Wednesday.
One key person in the investigation has been former Miami equipment-room staffer Sean Allen, who was deposed by Perez as part of Shapiro's bankruptcy proceedings. If the NCAA found that it could not use the information gleaned in that particular deposition, that would figure to be a major victory for the Hurricanes.
Miami had no immediate comment.
"I have been vocal in the past regarding the need for integrity by NCAA member schools, athletics administrators, coaches, and student-athletes," Emmert said. "That same commitment to integrity applies to all of us in the NCAA national office."
The Hurricanes' athletic compliance practices have been probed by the NCAA for nearly two years. Allegations of wrongdoing involving Miami's football and men's basketball programs became widely known in August 2011 when Yahoo Sports published accusations brought by Shapiro, who is serving a 20-year term in federal prison for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme.
This would figure to be another significant issue for the NCAA and its enforcement department. Among the others pending:
? A California case filed by former Southern Cal assistant football coach Todd McNair, who said the NCAA was "malicious" in its investigation into his role in the benefits scandal surrounding Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Frederick Shaller said he was convinced the actions of NCAA investigators were "over the top."
? Earlier this month, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, represented by Gov. Thomas W. Corbett, claimed the NCAA overstepped its authority and "piled on" when it penalized Penn State for the Jerry Sandusky scandal last summer. The governor asked a federal judge to throw out the sanctions, arguing that the measures have harmed students, business owners and others who had nothing to do with Sandusky's crimes.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ncaa-announces-problems-miami-investigation-180419822--spt.html
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