Suggestions to Make Money Online

Okay, ѕo whаt I am abоut to share wіth yоu іsn’t necessarily goіng tо make yоu rich overnight. Anything іѕ possible, but overnight riches wіll nоt bе promised here. With the right guidance, resources, аnd sоmе reasonable work уоu сan begin tо supplement your income аnd eventually build yоurself a profitable money making business.

Making money online wіll take some time and some ingenuity, but уоu can succeed withоut аny out of pocket investment. I will share wіth yоu іn thіѕ article ѕоmе knowledge that саn change yоur financial future forever, rіght here, rіght now. I will make thіs аѕ simple and brief as possible. Let’s begin.

I want tо offer you sоmе important tips bеfоre I share thіs information . I want tо emphasize tо yоu that the road to riches іѕ nеvеr an easy оnе аnd you wіll want to do ѕome planning bеforе уоu begin tryіng to make money online. Prepare yourѕelf with the tips bеlow before scrolling anу further.

1.Investing Money – Promise tо invest уour first earnings intо turning yоur operation into a functioning Internet business ѕо thаt yоur profits can continue tо grow. These investments may include placing advertisements, buying а domain name, website hosting, logo creation, etc. You will wаnt to kеер track оf yоur business spending so usіng accounting software will alѕо be helpful.

2.Investing Time – Plan out 4 hours оut of the week fоr your online profit plan. I аm nоt ѕаying to takе а wholе 4 hours оut of one day. If уоur busy yоu сan throw іn а few minutes а day here and there, but trу to stay dedicated to making thіѕ work for you. Extra weekend time available?

3. Learning – Never stop learning. Always try to expand уоur knowledge bу visiting websites with information оn business marketing, business planning, etc. Using Google Search іs а great wау to obtain free information on varіоuѕ subjects thаt wіll hеlp уou dоwn the wау аѕ you grow.

4.Confidence – Never give uр faith іn yourself. Do not be scared to trу new things. You wіll need to dо a lot оf writing to make this work. Do nоt be afraid іf уоu аrе not a writer, people lіkе to read what other people write all the time.

So now thаt wе have gone thrоugh some mental preparation, lеt mе share with уоu thе free avаіlаble tools уоu will nееd tо make money online.

1. Finding Products to Sell – You will nееd аt lеаst оnе product to offer, otherwіse it will be impossible tо make money. By dоіng а Google Search fоr “Free Affiliate Programs” yоu can find mаny interesting and unique products to represent online. Some companies еven give уou а free website tо market their products.

2. Get а Free Website – Yes, you cаn run a website fоr free. Down the road уоu wіll want to buy а site, but if you havе nо money tо invest, free iѕ wherе уоu will nеed to start. You can visit http://www.webs.com for а free website; hоwever, I suggest уou trу starting а blog.

3. Customize Your Site – With уour nеw site уou mіght want tо try to customize thе colors аnd appearance, this will hеlp іn thе future wіth search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Engines dо nоt like duplicate designs, ѕо whatеvеr уоu саn do to make thе design mоrе unique will help you, but if yоu dо not have thе experience it is bеttеr tо wait until yоu can afford to hire sоmеоne tо design уоur site fоr you.

4. Start Writing – In yоur site start tо write оn subjects that уоu arе familiar with. It cаn bе аnything frоm cars tо zoo animals. You will want to write at lеaѕt 3 posts a week to your blog. If іt іѕ а website then yоu wіll want to create thrее nеw pages a week with sоmе content. I ѕay аnythіng аbоve 300 words should be good. You сan even write уоur opinion оn recent news аnd events. Before уоu start writing it mау be helpful to loоk up thе popularity оf such subjects by typing іn thе main keyword fоr thе subject in thе Google Keyword Analyzer. Try to find longer keywords that relate tо thе subject аnd add them tо your posts.

Source equicknews

Whitney Houston's funeral: Friends, family, stars will honor singer

Whitney Houston's funeral is invitation-only and attendance will be limited to family and friends, but Saturday's services are set to be seen around the world: They will stream online and be shown on a number of TV networks.

Houston's funeral is slated to begin at 9 a.m. Pacific at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. -- the late pop titan's childhood church.

Among those attending are Houston’s ex-husband, Bobby Brown (the father of her only child, daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown), her “Bodyguard” co-star Kevin Costner, cousin Dionne Warwick, Ray J, Brandy, Alicia Keys, Tyler Perry and CeCe Winans, Bobbi Kristina's godmother.

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston, 1963-2012

Houston’s godmother, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder are expected to sing tributes, and her longtime mentor and producer, Clive Davis, will speak.

Houston died Feb. 11 in Beverly Hills at age 48. Her body arrived in New Jersey late Monday. She will be buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, N.J., where her father was interred, according to her death certificate.

Although the singer's family canceled plans for a large public memorial, Houston's publicist later announced that the service for family and friends will be made available for television and Web streaming.

BET and sister network Centric will cover the funeral during its special "Live: The Homegoing of Whitney Houston,” starting at 8:30 a.m. Pacific. The network will also air “BET Remembers Whitney,” a one-hour special honoring the singer, after the live coverage ends. On the special, BET News correspondent Bevy Smith interviews Houston’s industry friends and colleagues, including gospel singer Kim Burrell; Kelly Price, who shared Houston’s last public performance; Faith Evans; Ledisi; and India Arie.

 E! announced it will broadcast live and online without interruptions from inside the church, and CNN will broadcast and stream the event on its website beginning at 8 a.m. Pacific. The CNN special “Whitney Houston: Life, Death, Music” will be anchored by Piers Morgan, Soledad O'Brien and Don Lemon.

Fans can also watch Fox News, HLN and MSNBC for live coverage. Our television blog, Show Tracker, has a complete rundown of the listings. And you can follow The Times' coverage here.

Source  Los Angeles Times

Bihar interested in buying electricity from Nepal

Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar has said Nepal could be the richest country in South Asia if it tapped water resources. 

Talking to Nepali journalists at his residence on Saturday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the Bihar government was ready to buy the surplus electricity from Nepal.

Both Nepal and India need to solve the problems of inundation which both countries suffer a lot every year, he said. 

The visit of Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai from Nepal to Bihar was very significant and would be remembered for long by the Bihar people.

Responding to a query regarding the problems Nepalis are facing because of Indians at border, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said although it was the issue to be addressed by the central government, Bihar government would also investigate into this internally. 

Similarly, responding to another question, he said the Naxalites problem was caused of poverty and illiteracy in India and it would fizzle out with development wave. 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar further said Indian government had no policy to support the armed groups waging struggle in Nepal staying in India and would never help too.

About the miraculous development in Bihar, he said Bihar prioritised health, education and employment for development.

Moreover, he said the Bihar government was ready to be a partner in the development initiatives in Nepal and expressed confidence that democracy would be strengthened with constitution writing and conclusion of peace process in Nepal very soon.


Source Himalayan Times

‘Jerseylicious’ is back with bigger, badder battles and hairstyling backdrop

SOME VIEWERS may look at “Jerseylicious” as another reality show that overinflates ordinary drama, in this case involving a beauty salon, and blows it up into silly fun, in this case playing off the stereotype of everything about Jersey girls being overinflated in the first place.

Nor can there be any denying that the fourth season of “Jerseylicious,” which kicks off Sunday, is overrun with Jersey girls and pumped-up drama.

There’s enough eyeshadow in this hour to throw the whole planet into darkness for a week.

On the action-adventure side, there’s a showdown between Gayle Giacomo, who owns the Gatsby salon in Green Brook, and Cathy Giove, who along with Anthony Lombardi is opening a rival salon. That’s not really a spoiler because it would only have been surprising if Gayle and Cathy did not eventually have it out.

The gratifying part is that they do it at a party, in front of a lot of people they’d both like to impress.

The funny part is that by having this catfight, maybe that’s exactly what they accomplish.

Where would Teresa Guidice be today if she hadn’t flipped that table? Probably not on “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Just saying.

Anyhow, my point here is that some viewers may see all this as just another cheerfully low-budget reality show. Some viewers, after three seasons, may not be immediately able to tell Olivia, Tracy and Gigi apart.

Me, I see it all as educational TV, because when I was growing up, I missed all this stuff.

And I don’t mean this is about me. I mean it’s about every guy who had the same deprivation, the same total void in our education about beauty salons.

All the years I was growing up, I went to a barber. My Dad’s barber, at Central Barber Shop. He was named Patsy. Years after I left town, I read that Patsy was arrested for running numbers.

It was a different world. So “Jerseylicious” is all new information to those of us who don’t realize it’s a big deal when Olivia the makeup artist tries to do hair, or that there’s a special art to blowing out extensions.

Some of the other dramas on the show this season are more universal, like Anthony getting itchy for his new place to open, or Gigi and Tracy figuring out what to do about being unemployed.

See, they were worried about job security at Gatsby, so they talked to Anthony and Cathy about working in the new place, and when Gayle found out at the end of last season, she fired them.

On the brighter side, Gigi’s boyfriend Frankie is back. If you think the girls in this show are Jersey stereotypes, take a glance at Frankie.

“Jerseylicious” may be overstating Jersey things slightly. But say this: What the show promises, the show delivers.

Source daily news

Iran's nuclear ambitions could lead to 'Middle East cold war', says Hague

The Middle East could be the battleground for a new cold war, if Iransucceeds in acquiring nuclear weapons, Britain's foreign secretary has warned.

William Hague said the world would face the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since the invention of the atomic bomb, which would be a "disaster in world affairs".

Hague's comments come as officials in Washington expressed fears that Iran is ignoring economic sanctions, increasing the likelihood of Israel and or the US attacking the Islamic Republic this year.

Hague insisted that the UK did not currently support military action against Iran but added "all options must remain on the table".

"[The Iranians] are clearly continuing their nuclear weapons programme," Hague told the Daily Telegraph. "If they obtain nuclear weapons capability, then I think other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons.

"And so, the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented would have begun with all the destabilising effects in the Middle East. And the threat of a new cold war in the Middle East without necessarily all the safety mechanisms. That would be a disaster in world affairs."

Hague's desire to give economic sanctions time to work is reflected in Washington. However, officials in key parts of the Obama administration are increasingly convinced that sanctions will not deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear programme. They believe the US will be left with no option but to launch an attack on Iran or watch Israel do so.

The president has made clear in public, and in private to Israel, that he is determined to give sufficient time for recent measures to bite deeper into Iran's already battered economy before retreating from its principal strategy to pressure Tehran. These measures include the financial blockade and the looming European oil embargo.

But there is a strong current of opinion within the administration – including in the Pentagon and the state department – that believes sanctions are doomed to fail. They also believe their principal use now is in delaying Israeli military action, as well as reassuring Europe that an attack will only come after other means have been tested.

"The White House wants to see sanctions work. This is not the Bush White House. It does not need another conflict," said an official knowledgeable on Middle East policy. "Its problem is that the guys in Tehran are behaving like sanctions don't matter, like their economy isn't collapsing, like Israel isn't going to do anything.

"Sanctions are all we've got to throw at the problem. If they fail, then it's hard to see how we don't move to the 'in extremis' option."

The White House has said repeatedly that all options are on the table, including the use of force to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, but that for now the emphasis is firmly on diplomacy and sanctions.

But long-held doubts among US officials about whether the Iranians can be enticed or cajoled into serious negotiations have been reinforced by recent events.

"We don't see a way forward," said one official. "The record shows that there is nothing to work with."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed this week that Iran had loaded its first domestically-made fuel rod into a nuclear reactor, and he also threatened to cut oil supplies to six European countries. This was read as further evidence that Tehran remains defiantly committed to its nuclear programme.

If Obama were to conclude that there is no choice but to attack Iran, he is unlikely to order it before the presidential election in November, unless there is an urgent reason to do so. The question is whether the Israelis will hold back that long.

On Friday, the US and EU expressed optimism at the possibility of a resumption of talks with Iran. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said a letter from Iran to the US and its allies was "one we have been waiting for".

But other US officials complained that the latest Iranian offer to negotiate with the UN security council appeared to contain no significant new concessions. They believed that renewed talks would likely steer discussions away from the nuclear programme.

That view was strengthened by Iran's increasingly belligerent moves such as the botched attempts, which were laid at Tehran's door, to attack Israeli diplomats in Thailand, India and Georgia. Such moves are compounding the sense that Iran is far from ready to negotiate.

Feeding into the considerations are the timing of the US election, including its bearing on Israeli thinking, as well as the pace of Iranian advances in their nuclear programme.

Obama has publicly said that there are no differences with Israel on Iran, describing his administration as in "lock step" with the Jewish state.

But the US and Israel are at odds over the significance of Iran's claim to have begun enriching uranium at the underground facility at Fordow, near the holy city of Qom, and therefore the timing of any military action.

Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, has warned that Iran cannot be allowed to establish a "zone of immunity" at Fordow, where it is able to work on a nuclear weapon deep underground and protected from Israel's conventional weapons. Earlier this month, Barak said Israel must consider an attack before that happens.

Source guardian

Federal agents arrest Amine El Khalifi; he allegedly planned to bomb Capitol

Federal authorities on Friday arrested a 29-year-old Moroccan man in an alleged plot to carry out a suicide bombing at the U.S. Capitol, the latest in a series of terrorism-related arrests resulting from undercover sting operations.

For more than a year, Amine El Khalifi, of Alexandria, considered attacking targets including a synagogue, an Alexandria building with military offices and a Washington restaurant frequented by military officials, authorities said. When arrested a few blocks from the Capitol around lunchtime on Friday, he was carrying what he believed to be a loaded automatic weapon and a suicide vest ready for detonation .The gun and vest were provided not by al-Qaeda, as Khalifi had been told, but by undercover FBI agents who rendered them inoperable, authorities said.

They said Khalifi had been the subject of a lengthy investigation and never posed a threat to the public. On Friday afternoon, he made an initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, where he was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against federal property. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Khalifi “allegedly believed he was working with al-Qaeda,” said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Khalifi “devised the plot, the targets and the methods on his own.”

In several recent terrorism sting operations, critics have accused federal investigators of provoking suspects and, in some cases, suggesting possible targets or tactics. Legal experts say the FBI sometimes walks a fine line in such cases.

“You want to be very sure that the narrative is not substantially provided by the government,” said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, who studies terrorism sting operations. “There’s a lot of gray area in these cases.”

But officials said Friday that Khalifi, who allegedly conducted surveillance on the Capitol and engaged in methodical planning, was no unwitting victim.

Khalifi arrived in the United States when he was 16 and was living as an illegal immigrant in Northern Virginia, having overstayed his visitor’s visa for years, officials said. In 2010, he was evicted from an Arlington apartment after having failed to pay rent.

The landlord of that apartment, Frank Dynda, a retired patent lawyer, said, “He was getting mysterious packages labeled ‘books,’ but I didn’t think there were books in them.”

Dynda said he thought Khalifi was “suspicious and hostile,” and Dynda reported Khalifi to Arlington police. Two officers visited Dynda’s apartment building soon after the report but told him there was no reason to pursue the matter, he said.

It was unclear how Khalifi came to the attention of federal authorities. According to the criminal complaint filed in court Friday, a confidential source reported to the FBI in January 2011 that Khalifi had met at a residence in Arlington with individuals, one of whom produced what appeared to be an AK-47 assault rifle, two revolvers and ammunition.

Source Washington post

Bird flu still a menace in Asia and beyond

Thought bird flu was gone? Recent human deaths in Asia and Egypt are a reminder that the deadly H5N1 virus is still alive and dangerous. Vietnam is also grappling with a new strain that has outsmarted vaccines long used to help protect its poultry flocks.

Ten people have died in Cambodia, Indonesia, Egypt, China and Vietnam since December during the prime-time flu season when the virus typically flares in poultry. In Vietnam, authorities can no longer rely on the latest poultry vaccine in the north and central regions where new virus strains have been detected.

Source Bostan.com

Europe is in dire need of lazy spendthrifts

Germany's economic success over the past decade is largely due to exporting more than it imports. Who will it sell to now?

Greece's economic crisis is a gift from heaven for the German government. The country is the ideal conservative dystopia of an irresponsible government financing a supposedly overblown welfare state by ever increasing debt, where workers enter retirement in their mid-50s, the dead continue receiving pension payments and public employees earn bonuses for arriving punctually at work. Never mind that, exceptions aside, public expenditure as a proportion of GDP is lower in Greece than Germany and the average Greek works longer hours and retires only half a year earlier than the average German. That did not stop those stories from being widely reported by the German media. It strengthened the moral tale of the hard-working Germans being abused by lazy southerners. The tale is convenient because it diverts attention from Germany's responsibility for the eurozone's current economic woes.

The tale goes like this: while Greeks wasted their time on the beach drinking Ouzo, Germans implemented painful economic reforms. Indeed, in the 2000s Germany deregulated its labour markets, reduced real wages to increase competitiveness, shrunk the public sector, cut pension entitlements and implemented a debt break into the constitution. After almost a decade of dismal economic growth and heavy belt-tightening, Germany has negotiated the 2008 global economic crisis successfullyalmost without employment losses, has since grown strongly and now registers the lowest unemployment rate since 1991. If southerners would have just followed the German model, the whole crisis could have been avoided.

Actually, Germany's good performance in the 2008 global economic crisis and after is hardly due to belt-tightening but to the adoption of a large fiscal expansion package in the crisis and generous government subsidies for companies to safeguard employment. That such a pragmatic strategy could also help today's eurozone crisis countries has not even been considered by the government. Having supposedly had good experiences with austerity itself, Germans believe the same bitter medicine could lead even lazy Greeks to economic success – if only wholeheartedly applied.

But can it? Last week the Greek parliament passed its fifth austerity package in just two years. Greek austerity is especially harsh. Although Greece is in its fourth year of a severe recession with real output down by 12% since 2007, the fiscal deficit as a proportion of GDP has been reduced by seven percentage points, a historically almost-unique achievement. But those policies were self-defeating. The debt-to-GDP ratio has exploded, government bond yields have stayed sky-high and both measures of business and consumer confidence are in freefall. The unemployment rate now stands at 21%. Young people are especially hard hit: unemployment among those aged younger than 25, already high before the crisis, stood at 40% in 2011. Consequently, company bankruptcies, suicide rates and crime have risen.

Heavily influenced by the German finance ministry, the solution of the troika (the EU Commission, the IMF and the ECB) to austerity's failure is even more austerity. Together with the EU Commission and the ECB, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble still strongly believes in the confidence-creating power of fiscal austerity, although they have been proved wrong. Those beliefs underlay all of the troika's growth forecasts upon which the goals for deficit reduction were based. Since there was no upswing in confidence, growth fell precipitously and the government systematically missed the agreed goals.

All this was predictable – and actually predicted. In a 2003 study that analysed 133 IMF austerity programmes, the IMF's independent evaluation office found exactly the same scheme of self-defeating austerity caused by the underestimation of its disastrous effects on economic growth.

Unimpressed by those facts, German policy-makers have begun blaming Greek ineptitude for the failure to consolidate the budget. This is why they have proposed a budget viceroy for Greece and an extra account for Greek tax incomes dedicated to service the public debt, far away from the government's reach. Because Germans believe their belt-tightening in the 2000s was such a success, its failure in other countries has to be due to those governments' moral flaws.

However, both the tale of the successful German reforms and their prescription to the rest of the eurozone are based on a fallacy: the fallacy that every country can export more than it imports. A closer look at Germany's economic experience for most of its eurozone membership reveals that only trade surpluses were keeping Germany from economic collapse. Half of Germany's dismal economic growth of just 1.7% on average between 1999 and 2007 – the second lowest in the eurozone – was driven by trade surpluses. Those are, by definition, the deficits of someone else.

Far from being a growth engine, the reforms of the 2000s depressed German internal demand and thus imports, much the same as they do in Greece nowadays. They also depressed German loan demand and squeezed bank profits. At the time, the southern economies were the perfect solution for Germany's self-inflicted economic problems. German banks could expand their business by lending them the money to purchase the goods that Germans could no longer afford themselves. Manufacturers and banks were happy. Germany's beggar-thy-neighbour policies only worked because others pursued the exact opposite policies.

This is why the eurozone-wide adoption of austerity cannot work. Greek demand for German goods is small, but Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and Irish imports amounts to a large share of German exports. Germany's flawed policies for the eurozone are bound to backfire. Europe is in dire need of new lazy spendthrifts. Unfortunately, today nobody is willing to play that part.

Source guardian

Phil Mickelson holds halfway lead in California's Northern Trust Open

NORTHERN TRUST OPEN - SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD

• -6: Phil Mickelson (USA)
 
• -5: Pat Perez (USA)
 
• -4: Jimmy Walker (USA), Matt Kuchar (USA), Carl Pettersson (Swe), Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Jonathan Byrd (USA)
 
• -3: Marc Leishman (Aus), Spencer Levin (USA), Bubba Watson (USA)
 
• Selected others: -2 Justin Rose (Eng), Retief Goosen (SA); -1 Ernie Els; Evs Luke Donald (Eng); +2 Padraig Harrington (Ire); +3 Sergio Garcia (Spa).

Phil Mickelson continued his excellent recent form to retain his lead at the Northern Trust Open after thesecond round in California. 

The American left-hander, who won this month's Pebble Beach Pro-Am,shot 70 to reach the halfway mark at six under, the leader by one shot.

Mickelson's second round featured two birdies, an eagle and three bogies.

He holds a one-stroke lead over Pat Perez, who carded a 65 to finish at five under.

Mickelson said: "I probably didn't play the greatest today, but I was able to kind of salvage a good round and had a good break on eight where I holed out from the fairway; that was a nice little bonus.

"With 36 holes to go, I'm right in the thick of it.

"I've got to go out and shoot some low scores, because they're out there. But I gave myself an opportunity.''

Australian Jarrod Lyle also shot a 65 to leave him in a group of five golfers two strokes out in third, along with America's Jimmy Walker (66),Matt Kuchar (69) and Jonathan Byrd (70), and Sweden's Carl Pettersson (70).

Perez, 36, and Walker, 23, both managed six birdies in their rounds.

England's Justin Rose is now two under after shooting another 70 andLuke Donald is level par after carding 72.

The tournament is Donald's first on the US PGA Tour in 2012, and the world's top-ranked golfer is struggling to find his form. Donald missed the cut at the event last year.

Source BBC

Obama raises funds in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO -- A lucrative trip to raise campaign cash in California this week brought President Barack Obama to the Bay Area, where he shared his message with crowds of supporters and made an unscripted appearance at a San Francisco restaurant.

"I'm here not just because I need your help, San Francisco. I'm here because this country needs your help," the president exhorted the crowd during a Thursday night speech at the packed Nob Hill Masonic Center, citing the support he had in 2008. "The campaign was not about me -- the campaign was about you."

Speaking to a crowd of 2,500, Obama said it is important to believe in free markets and entrepreneurship and to ensure that anyone who works hard should have the chance to get ahead, so everyone should do their fair share and play by the same set of rules.

"Taking care of each other is not a Democratic or Republican ideal but rather an American ideal," he said, "Our politics may be divided ... but most Americans understand we're greater together. We rise or fall as one nation, that's what people understand. ... That's what this election is all about."

The president's stop in San Francisco followed several fundraising events in Los Angeles. After landing at San Francisco International Airport about 12:30 p.m., Obama mingled with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and other top state officials and greeted well-wishers, including a 44-year-old cancer patient from Cayucos.

He then made a surpriseappearance at a dim sum restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown before meeting with about 20 supporters at a swank hotel and dining with 70 more at novelist Robert Mailer Anderson's Pacific Heights home. Ticket cost to the events: $35,800 per person. There, Al Green performed a rendition of "Let's Stay Together" -- the song with which Obama recently made headlines by singing a few bars at a New York City campaign event. This time, Obama refrained from singing.

At the Nob Hill event, Obama spoke about his administration's rescue of the U.S. auto industry, and the 200,000 jobs created recently. He also talked about cutting out middle men from the student loan process to increase young Americans' access to higher education and addressed health care reform legislation.

Citing his repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Obama said "to serve the country you love, you shouldn't have to hide who you love," receiving a huge ovation. He also noted that no Americans are fighting in Iraq anymore and "bin Laden isn't around anymore."

At least two protesters were removed after standing up and yelling about ongoing fighting in Afghanistan and oil drilling. "I love it, that's what San Francisco is all about," the president said. "People are not afraid to share their ideas here."

Obama acknowledged that he has made some mistakes, but "real change is hard, and it takes time, it takes more than a single term, it takes more than a single president."

Entry to the Nob Hill Masonic Center event cost as little as $100 or as much as $7,500 for a photo with the president. Attendees were serenaded first by former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell, who performed an acoustic set including the Soundgarden hit "Black Hole Sun," the rock standard "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?" and John Lennon's "Imagine." Cornell also sang "I Will Always Love You," the song made famous by recently deceased diva Whitney Houston.

San Francisco 49er Vernon Davis told the crowd Obama is a great leader who saved the auto industry and knows what it means to give 100 percent every day to fight for victory.

Outside the event, about 100 to 150 protesters stood carrying signs and chanting in opposition to Obama's stances on marijuana, war, oil drilling and other issues.

Source mercurynews

Jennifer Hudson: NAACP Image Awards 2012

Jennifer Hudson poses backstage at the 2012 NAACP Image Awards with fiance David Otunga and their son,David Jr., on Friday (February 17) at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The 30-year-old singer picked up the Outstanding Album Award and also hit the stage with Ne-Yo to perform “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

Jennifer recently took to her Twitter page and called her Whitney Houstontribute at the Grammys “the greatest honor of my life.”

FYI: Jennifer is wearing a Maria Lucia Hohan gown with Giuseppe Zanottishoes and Amrapali and Sutra jewelry.

Source Just Jared

Obama Raised $11.8 Million for Campaign in January

    President Obama raised about $11.8 million for his re-election campaign during January, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, amid signs that overall fund-raising by Mr. Obama and Democratic committees and “super PACs” has fallen behind that of their Republican counterparts

Mr. Obama remains the presidential race’s top fund-raiser: His total haul for the campaign so far is $151.4 million, slightly ahead of the pace he set in January 2008, during a hotly contested Democratic primary. He also raised $17.3 million in January for theDemocratic National Committee.

But Mr. Obama’s January total was less than a third of the $36.8 million he raised during the same month four years ago. (He also spent a third as much this time around as in January 2008.) Over all, Mr. Obama, the leading Democratic super PACs, and the party’s three federal campaign committees raised at least $366.1 million in 2011, compared with the roughly $409 million raised by the Republican presidential candidates, the top Republican super PACs and the Republican Party’s campaign committees.

In a sign of the White House’s concern about Republican fund-raising, Mr. Obama reversed himself this month and instructed administration and campaign officials to aid in fund-raising for Priorities USA Action, a super PAC founded by two former aides. This week, Mr. Obama began a three-day fund-raising swing on the West Coast that was expected to yield more than $8 million, with events in Los Angeles and San Francisco, among other cities. Several other big fund-raisers are scheduled for early next month in New York.

The release of President Obama’s numbers are the starting gun for fund-raising in 2012, as the candidates for president begin filing monthly reports of their finances with the Federal Election Commission, along with those super PACs that have opted for monthly filing schedules in the election year. Formal filings are due by midnight on Monday.

Mr. Obama’s fund-raising for this re-election cycle has surpassed that of President George W. Bush, one of the Republican Party’s most prolific fund-raisers. At the same point in 2004 — as an incumbent facing re-election — Mr. Bush had taken in about $145.6 million for his campaign. With no primary to fight, Mr. Obama ended January with close to $76 million in cash on hand, far more than any of his Republican rivals are likely to report.

Mr. Obama has also exploited one of the perks of an incumbent president: the ability to raise checks for his party’s main campaign committee in amounts of up to $30,800 per donor per year, far more than the $5,000 his campaign can accept from each donor for the cycle.

The Democratic National Committee raised $117 million in 2011, ahead of the $105 million raised by the Republican National Committee, according to a study released on Friday by the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonpartisan research organization. The D.N.C.’s haul was more than the Republican National Committee raised in 2005 and 2003, when Mr. Bush was president.

More than a third of the D.N.C.’s donors in 2011 gave the committee more than $30,000, suggesting that Mr. Obama helped significantly buoy its fund-raising.

The Republican National Committee raised almost half of its money from donors giving $200 or less, compared with 27 percent for the Democratic National Committee, according to the study. That finding suggests that while Mr. Obama continues to raise significant amounts for his campaign from Democratic grass-roots donors, Republican grass-roots donors are turning to the Republican National Committee while the party’s presidential candidates duke it out in the primary.

Source New York Times

New Load Shedding Schedule(From Feb 13) Nepal

Effective from February 13, 2012. Load-shedding will take place on the given time inside the Kathmandu Valley and 5 minutes after the given time outside the Valley. Depending upon the condition, load-shedding could increase/decrease by one hour. The load-shedding will be two more hours in the areas of the feeders where 40 to 50 per cent of electricity leakage is recorded. The load-shedding will be three more hours in the areas of the feeders where more than 50 per cent of electricity leakage is recorded. Group/Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Group 1 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 Group 2 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 Group 3 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 Group 4 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 Group 5 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 Group 6 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 Group 7 11:00-17:00 21:00-01:00 10:00-15:00 19:00-24:00 09:00-13:00 17:00-24:00 05:00-13:00 18:00-23:00 04:00-11:00 15:00-21:00 04:00-10:00 14:00-19:00 03:00-09:00 13:00-18:00 For Lamahi and areas west of it, and for Duhabi and Anarmani Sub-stations, Nepal Electricity Authority will publish the load-shedding schedule at local level. There are separate load-shedding schedules of industrial feeders where electricity are supplied from Nepal Grid: 19:00 to 07:00 every day in industries where electricity is supplied from 66KV Hetauda Birgunj. 18:00 to 06:00 every day in industrial feeders of 11 KV. 06:00 to 18:00 every day in industrial feeders of 33KV. 20:00 to 08:00 every day in Hetauda Cement, Udayapur Cement, Everest Paper Mill and Bhrikuti Paper Mill. 19:00 to 07:00 every day in Maruti Cement. 19:00 to 05:00 every day in all industrial areas of Nepal Government. RELATED INFORMATION Feeders inside Kathmandu Valley Substations Consumers Group 1 Consumers Group 2 Consumers Group 3 Consumers Group 4 Consumers Group 5 Consumers Group 6 Consumers Group 7 Patan/Patan 66 KV Mangal Bazaar Pharping Patan Ring Road Sainbu Radio Nepal, Pulchowk Jawalakhel, Chapagoan Bhaktapur Byasi Katunje, Nalinchowk Nagarkot, Brick Teku Tripurshwor, Tahachal Kalimati Thankot Pulchowk Bhimsenstan Kirtipur Baneshwar Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Bagmati Imadol, Gothatar Godavari-1, Conference Hall New Airport, Dhobikhola Old Airport Lubhu Sankhamul Purano Chabahil Jorpati Naxal, Airport Dhobikhola, Danchhi Battisputali, Tangal Pashupati Naya Chabahil Sankhu Om Hospital Sundarijal Kapan Lainchaur Keshav Mahal Gairidhara Lazimpat Kings Way Thamel Samakhushi Balaju Naya Bazaar Nagarjun, Swoyambhu Bishnumati, Maharajgunj-1 Dharmastali Syuchatar Tahachal Thankot Kalimati Kalanki Ropeway Balambhu, Swoyambhu Banepa Dhulikhel Sanga Nala, Khawa Aspatal, Khopasi, Panauti Thapathali Thapatali Sanepa, Teku, Patan K 2 Kamaladi Asan Mahaboudhha Durbarmarg Bagbazaar Maharajgunj Budanilkantha Bansbari Baluwatar, US Embassy Gongbu, Dhapasi Golfutar Thimi Balkumari Thimi Sallaghari Sundhara Khicapokhari Tripureshwor New Road Bhotebahal K 3 Bhrikuti Mandap Kalikastan Anamnagar Putalisadak Panchkhal Piple, Palachowk Melamchi Panchkhal Feeders outside Kathmandu Valley Substations Consumers Group 1 Consumers Group 2 Consumers Group 3 Consumers Group 4 Consumers Group 5 Consumers Group 6 Consumers Group 7 Hetauda – – Uniliver, HID – Bhainse Chaughadha – Parwanipur – – Dabur, Krishi Himal Iron, Simara Birgunj, Gramin Nitinpur Parwanipur Chandranigahapur – – Harsha 33 KV – Nijgadh 33 KV Chandranigahapur Dakshin – Dhalkebar – Malangawa, Janakpur-2 33 KV – Janakpur-1, 33 KV Cosmos Cement, Sindhuli, Mahendranagar 33 KV Lalgadh Godar Majuliya CT-1 CT-2 Janakpur Cigarette Factory Ring Mahendranagar Pidari - Lahan – Bisanpur 33 KV – Rupani 33 KV, Bastipur Lahan, Jahadi – Thadi Jaljale 33 KV – – – Diktel Gaighat

Source myrepublica