Saturday, October 27, 2012

Assassin's Creed 3 most pre-ordered Ubisoft game ever | Video ...

Published: 25 October 2012 4:46 PM UTC

Posted in: PC, PC Games, PS3, PS3 Games, PS3 News, Video Games, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox360 Games, Xbox360 News

Tags: Assassins Creed 3, ubisoft

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin?s Creed 3 has hit a new high point in pre-orders not just for the series, but for their games in general. No numbers were revealed, just that Assassin?s Creed 3 has doubled the amount of pre-orders from the last game in the series ? Assassin?s Creed: Revelations.

Software retailer Gamestop is also very excited for the game, with the president of the company, Tony Bartel stating that ?pre-orders for Assassin?s Creed III at GameStop are nearly 100% higher than last year, putting the game on track to be one of the top titles of 2012. In addition, Ubisoft is offering high quality DLC available at launch to bring even more excitement to this title.?

?Assassin?s Creed III is one of the most anticipated games of the year and this impressive pre-order mark is just a hint of the game?s potential,? said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales & marketing, Ubisoft. ?When players discover the new features, historical period, characters and gaming experience that the development team has worked so hard to create, we?re confident that they will agree that this is the biggest, best Assassin?s Creed game yet.?

It was also announced that the Assassin?s Creed franchise has passed 40 million copies sold globally and that Assassin?s Creed 3 has won over 40 awards since it was announced, including Best E3 Action Game from both Game Informer and IGN. Assassin?s Creed 3 is releasing October 30 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, November 20 on Windows PC and November 18 on Wii U. The game will also have a season pass which will be available for purchase for 2400 Microsoft Points or $29.99.


Article from Gamersyndrome.com

Related posts:

  1. Bonfire Of the Vanities Trailer, Assassins Creed II DLC
  2. Assassin?s Creed III lead designer talks about the ?Tyranny of King Washington? DLC
  3. Assassin?s Creed Brotherhood First Details
  4. Assassin?s Creed II: Discovery 4 iphone
  5. Assassin?s Creed: Brotherhood Beta Exclusive to Sony

Source: http://gamersyndrome.com/2012/video-games/assassins-creed-3-most-pre-ordered-ubisoft-game-ever/

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Friday, October 26, 2012

E-voting could affect accuracy of vote counts in four states

Touch-screen electronic voting machines in at least four states pose a risk to the integrity of the 2012 presidential election, according to a Monitor analysis.

In four key battleground states ? Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, and Colorado ? glitches in e-voting machines could produce incorrect or incomplete tallies that would be difficult to detect and all but impossible to correct because the machines have no paper record for officials to go back and check.

While many state officials laud the accuracy of e-voting machines, mechanical and software failures are not a new problem. What makes the risk more serious this year is that polls project a close election, and e-voting problems in any of the four states in question could affect who wins the presidency.

[RECOMMENDED: 3 views on whether US states should require voter ID]

"No matter how unlikely it seems now, there's a chance that this election will be so close that it could be flipped by a single voting machine problem in a single place in any one of those states," says Edward Felten, a professor at Princeton University in New Jersey who has analyzed e-voting machine weaknesses. "To avoid that, it's key to have a record of what the voter saw ? and that means having a paper ballot or other paper record."

Paper verification of votes has proved to be a vital backstop to ensure that voting-machine software is not corrupt and that programming errors did not affect the accuracy of electronic vote tallies. Voting machines have at times "lost" thousands of votes or even "flipped" votes from one candidate to another, and total breakdowns are not unheard of.

For example:

  • In 2006, some 18,000 votes were electronically "lost" by e-vote systems in a single Florida congressional race with no paper backup or ballots available to review.
  • In May 2011, voters in Pennsylvania?s Venango County complained that paperless electronic touch-screen machines were "flipping their choices from one party to another," according to a report by Verified Voting, a nonprofit group in Carlsbad, Calif., that tracks voting machine use nationwide. After an inconclusive audit of election results, the county simply decided to use paper ballots counted by optical scanners in future elections.
  • In March, an e-voting system in Florida?s Palm Beach County experienced a "synchronization? problem in a municipal election. The election software attributed votes to the wrong contest and the wrong candidates won. Thankfully, paper ballots existed. After a court-ordered recount, results were changed and two losing candidates were declared winners.

More than 1,800 voting machine problems were reported to election protection hotlines during the 2008 general election, according to Verified Voting. Such election failures mattered far less in 2008 because Barack Obama won by a landslide. But this year, the loser might be likely to demand a recount if the winning margin is small. In states that still use Direct Recording Equipment (DRE) ? touch-screen voting equipment that lacks any paper verification ? that could be a problem.

"Without a paper trail there's no opportunity to check, so then you just have to rely on faith that the software is functioning properly and capturing votes properly," says Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting. "Maybe the machine is working OK right now. But if there is a bug or glitch, there's nothing to go back to."

After the controversy over "hanging chads" in Florida in the 2000 election, touch-screen e-voting machines proliferated nationwide as the Help America Vote Act of 2002 helped states pay for new equipment. Most states have since replaced e-systems that lack paper verification with paper ballots counted by optical scanners. While scanners can also fail, the paper ballots are there to be recounted.

But 17 states still use paperless DREs, according to Verified Voting. Among those, four are expected to see election results close enough to potentially demand a recount.

"Most of the country has gone to some sort of paper-based optical or electronic system," says Peter Lichtenheld, vice president of operations for Austin-based Hart InterCivic, one of four major voting machine companies in the US. "In counties that have decided to stay with older direct response equipment [DREs], they've put in people and procedures to make them more secure."

For example, most states now run preelection software tests on the machines to verify that they are counting correctly. The machines are "sealed" against tampering and, increasingly, they are monitored by surveillance cameras even in off-use periods. Memory cards in the machines should retain votes, even in a power failure, but have not always done so.

To critics, however, reliance on electronic methods alone as a backup means that the machines are, in essence, checking themselves. Only a paper document checked by the voter ensures that the vote was recorded correctly and is immune to system failures or even cyberattack.

  • In Pennsylvania, 50 of 68 counties have paperless equipment as their standard voting system, Verified Voting data show. Those machines serve some 7 million of about 8.5 million registered voters statewide.
  • In Virginia, 127 of 135 counties use paperless DREs, accounting for 3.7 million of the state?s 5 million registered voters, according to Verified Voting.
  • Colorado is shifting to mail-in paper ballots, but the transition isn't complete. Jefferson County, the state?s fourth most populous, is using paperless DREs as well as mailed ballots. So many of its 320,000-plus "active" registered voters will vote on the machines ? more than enough to tip a tight race, says Ms. Smith of Verified Voting.
  • In Florida, all counties are required by law to have paper backups for their voting machines by 2014. Even so, a small but potentially significant number of disabled voters statewide still will use paperless touch-screen machines this year. Although only a few thousand votes may be cast on those "accessibility" machines, it could still be enough to throw the race if the state's vote tally were to end up as close as it was in the 2000 presidential election, when George W. Bush controversially won by 537 votes.

State officials stand by the machines.

"These DREs have been one of the more reliable pieces of equipment we've had," says Donald Palmer, secretary of Virginia's Board of Elections, the state's most senior election official. "We haven't had any major problems with them."

In fact, Colorado?s Jefferson County recently had to conduct a recount in a congressional race, in which votes cast on paperless DREs were included. Significantly, both candidates accepted the result although there was no paper to confirm that the machines had recorded the votes correctly.

"We think we have the right processes in place to make sure everyone is able to vote and that their votes count," says Andrew Cole, a spokesman for the Colorado Secretary of State's office.

Still, Princeton?s Professor Felten has put all four states on his top 10 states ?at risk? of an e-voting meltdown. Among the factors going into the the list is the effectiveness of a state?s vote-audit laws.

California, for example, is lauded because its post-election audits draw statistical comparison between paper totals and voting machine tallies to ensure the machines are accurate. In contrast, Virginia has no post-election audit and limited provisions for a recount in state law in case machine vote-count problems are detected. Similarly, Florida state laws are such that a recount may not be permitted even if a machine is known to have malfunctioned.

"Florida's post-election audit law is absolutely atrocious and does not afford the voters any certainty that their votes have been accurately counted," says Ion Sancho, supervisor of elections in Florida?s Leon County. "Because our laws only allow erroneous totals to be corrected on the basis of fraud, a machine could break down, but if there's no fraud, our laws would still not allow us to correct those erroneous totals."

The small number of voters who will use paperless DREs in the state limit the chances of an e-voting meltdown there, he acknowledges. But it is a concern. He notes that the blatant mistake made by e-voting machines in Palm Beach might have never been corrected had that been a statewide election, since there was no obvious fraud. "State law doesn't require it," he says.

"I'm hopeful," he adds, "that we can get through to 2014 without an election disaster like 2000 and finally get rid of all these [paperless] machines once and for all."

COMING NEXT: Are electronic voting machines vulnerable to hackers?

Related stories

Read this story at csmonitor.com

Become a part of the Monitor community

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-e-voting-puts-vote-accuracy-risk-four-183125308.html

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Offline Strategies for Your Online Presence | Business 2 Community

Offline Strategies for Your Online PropertiesEarlier this week I did a little exercise with my undergrad students. First, I gave them a stack of magazines and newspapers and asked them to go through ads to look for how businesses were promoting their online and social presence. I told them to look for what businesses were promoting, and how they were promoting it.

In other words, did they have any calls to action regarding,

?Find us on Facebook?

or links and references to website, Twitter, Pinterest, and the like. Not surprisingly the students didn?t find a lot of this, but they did find some.

The next step of the exercise was to actually check the online properties of those businesses. If they?re promoting their social presence, how well are they using it? They found several great examples. Kohl?s for instance, not only does a great job promoting their online properties, but they are using their properties well. Both their Facebook and Twitter accounts are pretty incredible in terms of marketing and customer service. CVS also has a strong social presence and an app that they promote offline.

Not surprisingly, there were also quite a few companies that were promoting an online presence that didn?t really exist. One local furniture company had a rather small newspaper ad dominated by a big Facebook logo. Sadly, their Facebook page had no updates, and hadn?t been touched since July. All they ever seemed to do was change their cover photo, but never add any other types of content. And then there?s the little gem up there in the picture?

Then we did one final exercise. Since it was nice weather I took the class outside and we took a field trip around town. We walked past a variety of businesses to see if they were doing any on-site promotion of their online presence. We found very little: a few Yelp and Foursquare stickers in windows, a QR code or two, but that was it. I know a lot of these businesses. I know they are doing a good job online. But do their customers know?

We?re really missing out on some great opportunities, especially for local, small businesses and non-profits.

There are two lessons here:

1. If you have a social presence, don?t just promote it online. Promote it offline as well. I?m sure there were plenty of businesses that have a strong online presence, but unless they tell us about it, we?ll never know.

2. If you have a social presence but aren?t using it, don?t waste your time telling us about it. We don?t want to go to a Facebook page or Twitter account that offers nothing.

It?s that simple.

Use it, and promote it.

How are you doing?

Source: http://www.business2community.com/marketing/offline-strategies-for-your-online-presence-0316614

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Facebook Shares Soar 22 Percent In The Wake Of Quarterly ...

Originally from France, Romain Dillet is on track to graduate from EMLYON Business School, a leading French business school specialized in entrepreneurship. He likes the entertainment industry and cultural industries, such as the music industry, quite as much as the tech industry. He now lives in New York and is a writer at TechCrunch. ? Learn More

Wall Street is responding with enthusiasm to Facebook?s earnings. Shares (NASDAQ:FB) are currently trading 22 percent above yesterday?s price. During the earnings call, the company announced that 14 percent of ad revenue are now coming from mobile ads. It is both a meaningful part of Facebook?s revenue and a shift investors were waiting for.

Pre-market went as high as 24.12. Yet, trading at 23.83 a share is still much below the $38 IPO level. It?s a two-month high and an optimistic indicator based on numbers ? and numbers don?t lie. Facebook?s market capitalization gained around 10 billion dollars overnight.

The first quarterly earnings are very important for a public company. It all comes down to listening to investors, inspiring confidence and showing signs of growth. Facebook?s revenue is growing and following a good trend.

But with one billion users, the ability to monetize those eyeballs is the question on everyone?s lips. In particular, the company has to transform itself to become a mobile first company. Usage numbers are soaring on mobile platforms and the company is dedicated to take advantage of that.

Lock-up expirations are coming up soon as well. On November 14, 777 million shares will become available for trading. It could go either way for the stock price.


February 1, 2004

NASDAQ:FB

Facebook is the world?s largest social network, with over 1 billion monthly active users. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks. The original...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/24/facebook-share-soars-22-percent-in-the-wake-of-quarterly-earnings/

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How Two Women and A Girl Are Using Animation to Create a Girls ...

This is not a sponsored post, but as the father of a little girl who is bubbling with confidence I am always on the lookout for ways to nurture that and never let it subside. When Fortune Girls, Inc. approached me I couldn't resist but helping them to share their story. Please continue reading...

How Two Women and a Girl became Fortune Girls

What do you get when you take a girl who has a special gift of drawing, combined with a Mom who discovers her daughter's gift and infuses her professional gift of designing in it, and two Moms who are determined to make a difference in the lives of girls? You get Fortune Girls!

Fortune Girls is the creation of a tween girl Madison Ruiz and her Mom Barbara Clarke Ruiz. It all began when Madison wanted some art on her walls, and her Mom decided to take Madison's drawings, color over them, and the beautiful, bright and whimsical Fortune Girls characters were born! Not long after that one of Barbara's friends, Lisa Osinloye, visited their house and asked, "Why aren't these girls on t-shirts?" This was the question that got the entrepreneurial wheels in motion. Seven Fortune Girls pictures were produced and sold out in one week at a cost of $75.00 apiece. The Fortune Girls were no longer just a hunch, but a viable brand that could used as an aid to empower girls.

Barbara partnered with Co-Founder Lisa, and together they've developed and built a multi-media brand that is dedicated to the empowerment of tween girls age 6-12, building self confidence and self esteem in our girls. Fortune Girls will scale to include a website experience with lots of content and games, television, film, gaming apps for tablets and mobile, music, publishing, dolls, toys, licensing and merchandising deals.

Fortune Girls was named the 'Next Hottest Tween Brand' at the Youth Mega Marketing Event, and reached over 4 million girls through a first of its kind initiative with Girl Scouts USA. Fortune Girls was selected out of hundreds of established brands for the Teen Choice Awards coveted Celebrity Gift Bag. Celebrities and their kids went home with Fortune Girls goodies!

So what is Fortune Girls? Rather, who are the Fortune Girls?

Wouldn't it be great if every girl could grow up believing in themselves and their dreams?

The Fortune Girls brand, co-created by a tween and her Mom, its characters, its concept, its mission? seeks to empower young girls and encourage them to think beyond themselves --- effecting positive change, both large and small, in their local communities and around the world.

Fortune Girls seeks to empower tween girls, ages 6-12, in an online environment via interactive animated characters who promote positive images of girls in the classroom, on the athletic field, spending time with their friends, in their communities and pursuing their dreams.

The Fortune Girls --- Wow Girl Pink, Flame, Cinderita, AyakoLove, Taj, Ashna, Savvy and Margaux will provide guidance and inspiration to get through life?s bumpy roads, help build self-esteem, and encourage our global citizens to have a positive outlook on their lives, goals and achievements all while having fun!

Watch our video to meet the "original" Fortune Girl at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2145929840306

To learn more about Fortune Girls and the powerhouse team behind the brand, please Like us on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/FortuneGirls --- we promise you'll fall for the Fortune Girls as much as we do. And please share this with your friends, family and most importantly the tween(s) in your life!

Thank you and we hope to see you and your Tweens on Facebook!

~ Barbara Clarke-Ruiz & Lisa Osinloye


Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @EPayneTheDad.

Source: http://www.makesmewannaholler.com/2012/10/how-two-women-and-girl-are-using.html

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No Credit Check Payday Loans UK ? Get Fast Approval without Hurdle


Finance | Loans | * Written by William Thomas | Wednesday, 24 October 2012 00:26 | Word Count: 475

Lots of individuals having bad credit profile are living in United Kingdom and they are passing their life with difficulties. Even though you have bad credit scores and need funds immediately then you just need to apply for no credit check payday loans UK without going through any credit check process. These loans are also free from assets as collateral. Thus, you are absolutely free to enjoy these credits without going through any hassle. The strong-point is about these financial facilities to cover up all emergency expenses right on time.


No credit check payday loans UK are useful for the scroungers to make miscellaneous payments. They can be required to pay off miscellaneous expenses electricity bills, grocery store bills, telephone bills, library fees, gas bills, water supply bills, organizing birthday party, home rentals, going on small holiday trip to countryside and the list goes on.


To cover up these above expenses you can borrow an amount ranging from ?100 to ?1500 with no credit check payday loans UK. You are not required to pledge any sort of collateral against the lender for securing the fund borrowed. What?s more you don?t need to exhibit your credit records to the finance providers. You have to reimburse the fund within a time period of 14 to 31 days. As these are short term and unsecured in nature and so the rate of interest is charged a bit high in comparison of the standard finance. For minimizing high rate of interest rate, you just need to make a thorough research online to find out the best lender and then, you can access the better financial deal.


The persons who would like to get hold of these financial facilities should fulfill the eligibility conditions. These certain conditions comprising you need to be above the age of 18 years. You should be a citizen of United Kingdom. You should have a regular source of income in reputed firm at least 6th months. You must have an income at least ?1000 per month and you must have a valid active checking account for last 3 months.


In order to get approval of no credit check payday loans UK right away, you are required to go with online application mode. You are to fill out a simple online application form with the required details related to your name, address, home residential address, telephone bills, mobile number, account number, email id et cetera. You have to submit it on the website of the loan. After confirmation of your details, the fund is transferred directly into your active bank account within a matter of few hours.

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William Thomas is associated with instant payday loans for bad credit, bad credit payday loans and no credit check payday loans. In addition, he is a well known financial consultant and he provides useful information about loans through his articles.

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William Thomas joined FAFY - Free Article For You on Tuesday, 09 October 2012.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Matthew Lynn's London Eye: The most powerful person in the global economy

By Matthew Lynn

LONDON (MarketWatch) ? Who is the most powerful individual in the financial markets? The chairman of the Federal Reserve could make a fair claim. So could the governors of the banks of Japan and England. The chief executive of Goldman Sachs can make a lot of waves if he chooses to, and so can Warren Buffett, or the Saudi oil minister.

But measured by what they can actually do, the most powerful person will soon be the president of the European Central Bank, the Italian banker Mario Draghi.

In the last few weeks, we have seen an extraordinary expansion of the European Central Bank?s powers. It can now set interest rates, control financial markets, and effectively dictate tax and spending policies across what remains ? despite its current difficulties ? the world?s largest single economic bloc.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will soon have more power over the economy than anyone else.

But history suggests that when you concentrate too much power in a single pair of hands, and even worse when the person who wields that power is not limited by any form of accountability, the results are catastrophic.

In the medium term, handing so much power to Mario Draghi will end in tears.

In the last few weeks, the ECB has vastly expanded its influence over the lives of the continent?s citizens. Back in the summer, Draghi promised he would do ?whatever it takes to save the euro.? What it took, it turned out, was a series of measures to put himself in charge of everything.

Step one was the bond-buying plan, the so-called OMT, or open market transactions.

By intervening directly in the market to buy the bonds of any country that runs into trouble, the ECB will effectively have the power to turn on and off the financing of national governments across the euro zone. If they need help, countries will have to apply to the ECB for aid, and submit to strict conditions. Issues, such as labor laws, breaking up monopolies, privatizing industries, setting pension and welfare payments, and deciding on tax rates and state spending programs, will all have to be negotiated with officials from the ECB.

Step two, taken at an otherwise low-key summit of European Union leaders last week, was to create a banking union, with the ECB as the lead regulator. So Draghi and his team will now take on responsibility for controlling banks right across the single-currency area as well. Nothing will happen in the financial markets for 17 countries without it getting the nod from Frankfurt.

/conga/story/misc/markets.html 221098

Add in the task of setting interest rates, and the new powers make the ECB president by far the most powerful figure in the financial world.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke only gets to set rates for the United States. He doesn?t decide how much Alabama can spend on roads, or whether Boston needs to loosen up its trade union laws. Likewise, the governors of the Bank of Japan or the Bank of England are mere clerks by comparison. Neither can do anything apart from decide interest rates and print money, although the Bank of England is getting back power to regulate the City of London.

Even most political leaders often don?t have the kind of power the ECB president is being handed. They have parliaments and parties to answer to. They face regular elections. Read their memoirs, and the constant complaint is how little power they have, not how much.

But the ECB president will suddenly be able to control not just interest rates, but pretty much all the key economic variables for the world?s biggest economic area.

Is that wise?

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B39085726-1D31-11E2-B624-002128040CF6%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

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Iran weighs tougher line in stalled nuclear talks

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows an illustration as he describes his concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions during his address to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. Iran is considering a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions. Such a gambit outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews could push Iran's atomic program far closer to Israel's "red line." (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows an illustration as he describes his concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions during his address to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. Iran is considering a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions. Such a gambit outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews could push Iran's atomic program far closer to Israel's "red line." (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE- In this April, 9, 2007, file photo Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks at a ceremony in Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, 300 kms 186 (miles) south of capital Tehran, Iran. Iran is considering a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions. Such a gambit outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews could push Iran's atomic program far closer to Israel's "red line." (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007 file photo, an Iranian technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran. Iran is considering a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions. Such a gambit outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews could push Iran's atomic program far closer to Israel's "red line." (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

(AP) ? Iran is weighing a more confrontational strategy at possible renewed nuclear talks with world powers, threatening to boost levels of uranium enrichment unless the West makes clear concessions to ease sanctions.

Such a gambit ? outlined by senior Iranian officials in interviews this week ? could push Iran's nuclear program far closer to the "red line" set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for possible military options.

But it also suggests that economic pressures and diplomacy have pushed Iran to the point of considering an ultimatum-style end game in efforts to seek relief from the U.S. and European sanctions, which have targeted Iran's vital oil exports and its ability to use international banking networks.

Mansour Haghighatpour, deputy head of Iran's influential National Security Committee in parliament, told The Associated Press that the hardline negotiating formula under consideration would put Western negotiators on notice that failure to ease sanctions could open the way for uranium enrichment above 20 percent ? currently the highest level acknowledged by the Islamic Republic.

That would mark a dramatic move toward the threshold for warhead-grade material at about 90 percent and certainly bring a sharp escalation in calls for military action from Israel and others in the West. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons, but there have been suggestions it could ramp up uranium enrichment for future projects such as nuclear-powered submarines.

"The West now has a chance to strike a deal with Iran," Haghighatpour told the AP in an interview. "Perhaps we may need to produce nuclear fuel for large commercial vessels that need 60 percent purity."

There are no immediate plans to resume nuclear talks between Iran and a six-nation group including both Tehran's foes and allies: the permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany. Full-scale negotiations have been on hold since the last round ended in stalemate in June.

At the time, the West stuck to its major demands: Iran must stop enriching uranium to 20 percent purity, shut down its underground Fordo enrichment site and ship its 20 percent stockpile out of the country. In return, Iran was offered civilian plane spare parts and 20 percent-enriched nuclear fuel for its medical research reactor in Tehran.

But there was no move to ease sanctions ? which have grown even tighter since the last negotiating session.

To Iran, the proposed package was a nonstarter. Many compared it to swapping diamonds in return for peanuts.

So far, Iran has publicly repeated its positions that it was willing to bargain over 20 percent enrichment as part of step-by-step moves to lift sanctions. Iran also wants an international pledge that it has the "right" to make its own nuclear fuel ? at least at lower levels for its energy-producing reactor.

The tougher line outlined by officials has not been made public, and it's still unclear whether it will be adopted as a negotiating position. But the fact it's under review suggests Iran is eager for a sweeping deal to lift sanctions and could try to jolt the West with a now-or-never choice: Roll back the sanctions or face a stepped up Iranian nuclear program.

"The West feels sanctions are biting and this is forcing Iran to return to the negotiating table. That's wrong. We never left the table. Sanctions have been harmful but will never make us give up our nuclear activities," said lawmaker Hossein Naqavi, spokesman for the parliament's Security Committee. "Pressures, sanctions and military threats won't make us retreat."

The White House has indicated it would be receptive to landmark one-on-one talks with Iran in parallel with the wider diplomatic process. Iranian officials this week said the country had no plans to meet directly with Washington envoys. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi predicted the stalled talks with world powers could resume as late November, after the U.S. presidential election.

Haghighatpour, the security committee official, said Iran would have never increased the level of its uranium enrichment from 3.5 percent to 20 percent if the West had provided fuel for the research reactor, which produces isotopes to treat cancer patients.

"Some 850,000 Iranian patients need nuclear medicine every year. We wanted fuel for our research reactor but the West refused. We had no option but to increase enrichment to 20 percent and make it ourselves," he said. "It's the same today. They can reach a deal with us now or face a new situation."

Many Iranian lawmakers and conservative clerics have said in recent months that Iran should enrich uranium to higher levels for proposed vessels such as nuclear-powered oil tankers. Iran currently has no such ships.

Nuclear-powered vessels other than warships are rare, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has said in the past that nuclear-powered merchant ships would be uneconomical.

But Iran's deputy navy chief in charge of technical affairs, Adm. Abbas Zamini, said in June that Iran has begun "initial stages" of designing a nuclear submarine. The West has raised concerns that Iran might cite submarine and other nuclear-powered vessel construction as a justification for producing weapons-grade 90 percent enriched uranium.

Nuclear submarines are powered by fuel ranging from 20 percent purity to more than 90 percent. Many U.S. submarines use nuclear fuel enriched to more than 90 percent, the same level used to build atomic bombs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-24-Iran-Nuclear/id-430f17bd50704a839892369d9c9d78fe

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Fiction: writing characters of another race | 80,000 words

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I feel a lot of pressure to do the polite thing and say fiction writers should write whatever they want. This pressure stems from the fact that I am inherently insulting writers by limiting their imaginations and telling them their imaginations *are* limited when it comes to imagining race. I?ve been told as much by writers when I broach the topic of writing characters of another race.

One specific response to my wariness about writers writing characters of another race has been, ?That is such bullshit! That?s the PURPOSE of fiction?we?re supposed to make anything up, and nothing is off grounds. Why can?t I, a white woman, write from a black person?s point of view?? (This writer is married to a Famous Writer whose long awaited book includes characters of different races; said Famous Writer is white and writes from a black person?s point of view in his most recent novel).

Here?s the thing: writers often do each other a disservice by being polite instead of speaking their truth. We don?t make each other better by offering up platitudes. We make each other better by offering up our specific truths and subsequent challenges.

And well?it?s been awhile since I pissed people off, so I guess I?ll take a risk here and say that I don?t think writing characters of another race should be any sort of dalliance. If it is in any way, don?t write them. Writers should tread very carefully and thoughtfully (as they always should) when writing another race, because there is the added weight of social responsibility in that very act.

If you think social responsibility doesn?t belong in fiction, then that?s another place we might differ. Ever read Arthur Golden?s Memoirs of a Geisha? It?s bad. It?s so bad that the geisha upon whom he based the book sued him for misrepresentation. And speaking of geishas, ever read Breakfast at Tiffany?s by the brilliant Truman Capote? Even Capote misstepped with the Japanese American Mr. Yunioshi (and don?t even get me started on the movie?s (and Mickey Rooney?s) very shrill and racist representation of the character with coke bottle eyeglasses and buck teeth). Or the recent controversial book The Help by Kathryn Stockett?criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of its characters of color. These are only one of many books in which writers wrote outside of their race and failed, because of writerly thoughtlessness.

To be frank, failing at writing characters of another race?and by failing I mean being thoughtless and insincere and not aiming to understand or empathize?comes off like doing Blackface. The only ?successful? Blackface I?ve ever witnessed is Robert Downey, Jr. in ?Tropic Thunder? and that was done completely as satire.

Literature should strive to tell the truth, and by turning a blind eye to social responsibility (and I?m not talking about making heroes out of our own race or other races?but about being genuine and authentic and multi dimensional and true), writers do harm with their writing. Thoughtlessness should be the last thing writers convey about any matter, and I don?t think thoughtlessness about racial identity should be excused.

I think that it?s nearly impossible to understand another race without BEING the other race, but if you are determined to write a character of another race, at least do the research. Travel. Live abroad. Live the life of. And still, realize you don?t assume the life of.

There was one woman in my MFA program years ago who insisted she could and should and would write whatever she wanted. This, after a heated class discussion in our craft of fiction class (incidentally taught by a writer of color) about writing outside our race. In that discussion, the class was divided between writers who felt that writing outside of our race was a singular matter of imagination versus writers who pretty much felt, ?Noooo waaaay.? During that discussion, another (white) writer even went as far as to say, ?Writers of color are so lucky. Your stories are so much more interesting. I wish I were a person of color as a writer. You have an advantage.?

I replied politely (I regret this), and murmured ?That?s not true.?

The writer who left the class saying she was determined to write a character of another race? She wrote a first person POV piece where a Chinese male protagonist spoke Ching-Chong-ese (ah-so!) and submitted it to workshop. The professor-of-color leading that workshop was not amused. Classmates were horrified. I am not sure she proved her point.

I can?t help but notice that it?s mostly white writers who get angry when I say I have deep misgivings about writers writing chars of another race. (The woman who wrote the Ching-chong-ese piece was also white). I am not sure why this is. Why this need to appropriate race?

There is also the corollary thought that since minority culture has to live within the majority culture, it might be more possible for minorities to write majority characters?i.e., white expats living abroad in for example, Asia, might have better understanding because their lives are immersed in another culture. Or people of color in the United States might have better understanding of white culture. Not necessarily so, but possibly so.

In my opinion, the majority culture has a harder time understanding the minority on a deep level required for synthesizing great fictional characters than it is for the minority to understand the majority population. I don?t think Korean people in Korea, for example, understand mainstream (white) American culture. But vice versa? Perhaps. And people of color in America? Perhaps.

Maybe for some of you, the above is a matter of fact. It is definitely a matter of fact for me. But every time I bring this point up to someone in the majority (white) culture, I am often met with indignant surprise. And that disturbs me; that someone thinks they understand but does not.

This is not to say that ex-pats living abroad don?t have a minority experience in which they can absorb a new culture. To that end, I think most women write men better than men write women. (Maybe that?s the downfall of Arthur Golden?he not only failed while writing Memoirs of a Geisha at representing and writing Asian characters?he failed at writing female characters).

So take a minute before you think you have ?the right? to write characters of another race. It isn?t ?a right.? But you could make it an act of privilege and do right. And good luck.

Source: http://czilka.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/fiction-writing-characters-of-another-race/

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Rheumatoid Arthritis - Natural Help

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Rheumatoid arthritis is a potentially debilitating autoimmune condition, generally affecting the hands, feet and wrists causing pain, stiffness and swelling in the joints. It is caused when the immune system attacks the synovium (cell lining inside the joint) and can cause permanent damage to the joint, cartilage and bone. Flare ups can happen without warning leaving the sufferer feeling fatigued and generally unwell.

Rheumatoid arthritis generally first occurs between the ages of 40-70 and is three times more common in women than men. There is evidence to suggest that oestrogen may be involved in the development and progression of the diet although this has not been conclusively proven.

Although there is no known cure orthodox medicine can relieve symptoms or slow the progress of the disease through medication. Joint surgery is sometimes offered to correct joint deformities where appropriate. However there are many natural methods you can try. A supplementation programme using herbs that help stem inflammation and aid the body to detox, along with a natural anti-inflammatory diet, should see some relief in this condition. It is a good idea to keep a journal to record the foods you eat to monitor the severity of your symptoms.

Below are some initial recommendations you can try but by no means an exhaustive list. Please feel free to email me if you would like further advice.

Natural Nutrition
An anti-inflammatory diet is recommended comprising of healthy and wholesome foods. Salmon, sardines, herring, anchovies, flaxseed, hempseed and walnuts are a great source of anti-inflammatory Omega 3s. In addition, other anti-inflammatory fats include extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, hempseed oil and walnut oil.
Fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants are important. Onions, garlic, peppers and dark leafy greens, blueberries and strawberries contain inflammation-fighting carotenoids, vitamin K and vitamin E.

Refined carbohydrates are pro-inflammatory. Refined flour, sugar and foods high on the glycaemic index exacerbate inflammatory conditions. Omega-6 fats are inflammatory because they are metabolised into hormone-like compounds that actually promote inflammation and are found in corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut and soybean oils. Keep foods as natural and unprocessed as possible.

Add ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic and onions to everyday meals to fight inflammation. Pineapple contains bromelain a chemical which prohibits swelling. Celery contains over 25 anti-inflammatory compounds, as well as providing massive amounts of potassium. Try celery seeds either raw or cooked.

Reduce Stress
The mind/body are interlinked and any prolonged negative emotional state can cause physical symptoms and aggravate existing conditions. Eating well will help balance blood sugar and hormone levels which in turn will help to keep your moods stable. Daily meditation can halt any negative mental chatter, lift mood, calm the pain experiencing areas of the brain and boost the coping areas.

Super Supplements
Turmeric ? A great natural pain reliever as well as being anti-inflammatory. Turmeric contains Curcumin and Curcuminoids which act in the same way as prescribed NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Turmeric needs to be supplemented to reap the full benefits but can also be used topically and added to food.
Nettles ? I use Nettles A LOT, both personally and in clinic. Nettles amazingly contain boron, magnesium, calcium iron, phosphorus, beta-carotene, vitamins A, B, C and D, protein and silicon. Nature really knew what she was doing when she created this humble plant.
Omega 3s ? Vitally important for a strong immune system and fighting inflammation. There are vegan options available (such as flax) especially important if you are sensitive to animal fats.
Burdock Root ? Burdock contains anti-inflammatory fatty oils and is great as a natural pain reliever.
Aloe Vera ? Aloe Vera boosts the immune system and energy levels, providing the body with the right agents to restore and repair itself.
Omit food intolerances
There are foods that are known to trigger inflammation such as animal fats, dairy, wheat, red meat, alcohol and fried foods. However before embarking on an elimination diet, I recommend having a food sensitivity test, either through a qualified Kinesiologist or a saliva test can be carried out via post.

Fancy a Cuppa?
Many teas contain bioflavonoids and polyphenols that reduce inflammation and limit free radical production and are a natural pain relieving sedative. Try Fennel, Hop, Ginger, Rosemary, Alfalfa and Green Tea.

Exercise
Gentle stretching within your limits (try a Yoga class with a qualified instructor who can guide you) opens the joints and aids the distribution of synovial fluid which lubricates the joints.

Complementary Therapies
Holistic healthcare cannot cure arthritis. It can, however, in certain cases, relieve the symptoms and promote overall health and wellbeing. Always check any therapist is fully qualified and insured and ask whether they have experience in your condition. Most credible therapists will be happy to answer any questions you may have and refer you on if they feel you would be better trying a different modality.

The above is not intended to replace medical advice.

Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/rheumatoid-arthritis-natural-help

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Forrester: Windows 8 Will Just ?Stop The Shrinking? ? Won?t Take Hold Until 2014

windows8Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett predicts that Microsoft's Windows 8 will get off to a slow start in 2013, but will take hold in 2014. Windows 8, Gillett argues, will keep Microsoft relevant on the PC, but it will remain "simply a contender in tablets, and a distant third in smartphones." Windows 8, he says, will "simply stop the shrinking," but it won't be a fix.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ULWWKVPFK5Q/

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Armstrong doping disaster spoils memories

Thirteen years ago, on an idyllic summer?s afternoon, I stood by the side of a road in the cheesemaking region of Cantal and watched Lance Armstrong speed by, tucked into the peloton, on his way to his first victory in the Tour de France.

It was 1999. A year earlier the Tour had been in tatters, devastated by a doping scandal that had seen police and judges raiding riders? hotel rooms in the middle of the night, seizing drugs. Armstrong?s successful arrival on the scene after overcoming cancer ?is symbolic of the way the Tour de France is emerging from its own battle against disappearance,? said the tour director at the time.

His victory would be ?highly symbolic of the combat he fought against death, and that we are fighting against doping,? promised Jean-Marie Leblanc.

[Think you know Europe? Take our geography quiz.]

It turns out that Mr. Armstrong beat the Tour de France organizers just as he had beaten death. Today the International Cycling Union (UCI), accepting evidence gathered by the US Anti-Doping Agency that Armstrong was a serial drug-taker, stripped the US ?champion? of all his titles.

Even back in 1999, people suspected something was wrong. ?Armstrong is very strong, too strong, incredibly strong,? commented one French TV journalist the evening that the US rider won a punishing stage in the Alps.

But that could be dismissed as sour grapes, as an American charged into a sport long dominated by the French and swept all before him, ?winning? a record seven Tours.

And we all wanted to believe in Armstrong, from the UCI ? for whom he was a magnificent money-spinning mascot for his sport ? down to the lowliest spectator standing by the side of the road who admired his comeback courage.

Well, not all of us. My (French) wife never believed Armstrong was clean. She never believed that any of the top riders were clean. In argument after argument over the years I called her cynical, pointing out that my hero had never failed a drug test. Now I know that she was just clear-eyed.

Everybody who followed Lance during his ?glory days? will have his or her own way of feeling disappointed now that the truth, it seems, is out. (Armstrong has not acknowledged any guilt but says he will not challenge the USADA report.)

For me, the news has tainted some of my happiest memories of reporting in France. I used to love covering the Tour, driving halfway up an Alp one July afternoon, parking my car near a steep hairpin bend, picnicking sociably with whomever I found parked next to me (and there were always crowds of families waiting for the Tour to come by), sleeping in the car, and then the next day enjoying the hoopla of the publicity caravan before the riders themselves came by, just an arm?s length away, thighs straining, sweat pouring from their chins, teeth gritted.

It was an annual treat for me, the most fun I have ever had at work. And watching these men at the outer edges of endurance even inspired me to take up cycling myself: I had a go at one of the Tour?s mountain stages in 2005 and I spend my weekends now cycling up and down mountains. (You can imagine what my wife thinks about that?.)

Lance Armstrong, whose feats excited a lot of interest in American newspaper readers, was my passport to this kind of fun, and now that we know he was cheating, it feels almost as though I was piggyback cheating by having that fun.

Even at the time though, I realize, I could not entirely ignore my wife?s doubts. That evening in July 1999, as I dictated my article over the phone to my editor, I ended it with something the spokesman for Credit Lyonnais bank, the Tour?s leading sponsor, had told me.

?We cannot be certain that a scandal won?t drop on our heads,? he said. ?I have just one hope: that the rumors about Lance Armstrong are not true.?

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fans-lance-armstrong-doping-saga-spoils-memories-174746249.html

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Monday, October 22, 2012

O'Towne Tavern - Kids eat FREE - Monday Night Football | Upper ...

Trump: ?I have something very, very big concerning the President'

Trump (Comedy Central)

Donald Trump, the real estate mogul, reality TV star and de facto leader of the "birther" movement, says he is planning a "big announcement" about President Barack Obama.

"I have something very, very big concerning the president of the United States," Trump told "Fox & Friends" on Monday during a phone interview. "I will be announcing it sometime probably Wednesday and it's going to be very big."

"Will it change the election?" co-host Gretchen Carlson asked Trump.

"Possibly," Trump replied. "It's very big?bigger than anybody would know."

Trump?who has been live-tweeting during the presidential debates?said he would likely make the announcement on "the Twitter."

The "Celebrity Apprentice" host was supposed to deliver a "big surprise" at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., but Hurricane Isaac forced the GOP to cut his appearance from the truncated schedule. The "big surprise"? A video featuring an Obama impersonator who Trump predictably fired.

[Hat tip: Mediaite]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/trump-announcement-obama-133419054--election.html

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Home Improvements That Make Cents | Susan Stivaletta Your #1 ...

What will boost your home?s value? You want to add a sunroom but will that bring in the biggest bang for your buck? How about a new bathroom? It?s a common question that many homeowners ask. What will we get back when we sell? This can be a hard question to answer but luckily Bankrate.com and Remodeling Magazine has come up with a list of the worst home fixes for the money.

Here are the six improvements that ranked dead last nationally when it comes to getting those renovation dollars back at resale.

1. A Home Office-The standard home office renovation is this year?s biggest loser in the resale value sweepstakes. Nationally, homeowners spent an average of $28,888 and can expect to recoup about 45.8 percent at resale, according to the report. If you want to enjoy a home office opt for something that is easily converted back into a bedroom or den.

2. Backup Generators-This only usually brings about negative thoughts like does this home loose power often? On average, when homeowners have a heavy-duty backup power generator installed, they spend about $14,718, according to the report. The average amount of the price recovered at resale time: 48.5 percent.

3. A Sunroom-While the thought is sitting and enjoying a sunroom may sound lovely to you but the addition of a sunroom is often more than you can recoup. The national average for a sunroom addition is $75,224, according to the report. Homeowners can expect to recoup about 48.6 percent when they sell.

4. A Master Suite-It is the price tag of this addition that can also leave sellers in the red. For a super-deluxe master suite addition ? which adds square footage and uses only top-dollar materials ? the average cost is about $232,062, according to the report. Sellers can expect to recover about 52.7 percent at resale.

5. An Extra Bathroom-Wait kitchens and bathrooms sells houses or that?s what people say. Bathroom additions are very expensive. For a moderately outfitted addition with synthetic stone or plastic laminate surfaces, plan on the cost about $21,695, according to the Remodeling report. Go upscale, with finishes like premium marble or fine tile, and you can easily spend in the neighborhood of $40,710. You can plan on a return of about 53 cents on the dollar.
Look for less-expensive way to get the same results. Try reconfiguring your existing space to add a bathroom for less.

6. A Dream Garage-The price tag for a top-of-the-line detached two-car with all the trimmings is about $90,053, according to the report. This is a garage that is completely top-of-the-line. You can expect to recover about 53.6 percent of that when you sell. Instead go for function over form and stick the basic garage if you plan on a garage project.
?

Source: http://www.susanstivaletta.com/blog/home-improvements-that-make-cents

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Analysis : Killing of security chief raises fears for Lebanon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Beirut car bomb that killed a top Lebanese security official will probably prove to be the most destabilizing attack in Lebanon since the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.

What is less clear - and this is something that instills fear in a society still scarred by its 1975-90 civil war - is whether the attack was a reprisal or the start of a campaign of violence by Damascus and its allies, suspected by many Lebanese of trying to spread Syria's conflict across its borders.

Lebanon, which has yet to fully overcome its own wartime sectarian divisions, is too fragile to withstand being enveloped by a Syrian conflict that is beginning to mirror Lebanon's own slide into fratricidal bloodletting.

Wissam al-Hassan, the security official who died with seven others on Friday, was buried with full honors in an emotional state funeral on Sunday at the Rafik al-Hariri mosque, the heart of the former premier's reconstruction legacy in central Beirut.

The funeral turned into a political rally against Syria and its local allies in Lebanon.

Hassan is thought to have been targeted because in August, after a carefully planned sting operation, his Internal Security Forces intelligence unit arrested a former Lebanese cabinet minister close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The minister, Michel Samaha, is charged with transporting Syrian-assembled bombs to launch attacks on sectarian targets in Lebanon. Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, were indicted with Samaha in a humiliating blow to Assad and an unprecedented move against Lebanon's dominant neighbor.

EVIDENCE UNCOVERED

Hassan also led the investigation into Hariri's murder and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, although both deny the charge. An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder.

"There is a probability that this will be the start of a new period in which we will see more assassinations, bombings and other problems," said Sarkis Naoum, a columnist and Syria expert.

"Sectarian incitement is on the rise in the country and the killing of Wissam al-Hassan brought things to a head. We may be entering a very dangerous cycle. Anything might happen."

"It is not possible for the Syria conflict not to have implications on Lebanon. The Lebanese have entered the Syria war - one side is with the Assad regime and another is against it. They are fighting each other by proxy," Naoum said.

Tiny Lebanon, with its combustible sectarian mix, is being dragged into the Syria crisis with its rival Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims fighting on opposite sides.

Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah group backs Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-based Alawite sect, in his fight against the Sunni-led insurgency. Lebanon's Sunnis and allied Sunni powers, notably Saudi Arabia and Turkey, support the Sunni rebels.

The killing of thousands of Sunnis in Syria has angered Sunnis in Lebanon and across the region.

Hassan's attacker did more than just kill Lebanon's most powerful intelligence brain, who collected data on all major players and uncovered several plots in recent years. The killer performed a public execution that sent a warning to all those who dared challenge Syria in Lebanon.

INNER CIRCLE

Some analysts said the devastating attack against Hassan's anti-Syria investigative establishment bore important similarities to the blast that targeted Assad's inner circle of security officials in Damascus in July.

"Whoever did this attack wanted to deliver a message that they can reach anybody, that they can hit the highest level of intelligence," said Beirut-based commentator Rami Khouri.

"Whoever did it wanted to say 'we can still strike'."

Opposition politicians and ordinary people at Martyrs' Square saw Syria's hand in the bombing.

"Wissam al-Hassan has one enemy - Bashar al-Assad," said Beirut MP Nouhad Mashnouq, a leading member of the March 14 opposition bloc led by Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain ex-premier.

Mashnouq said the cases Hassan had brought against Samaha and Mamlouk were actions against Syria unprecedented in the history of Lebanon.

Despite the accusations from Lebanese politicians, both the Assad government and Hezbollah condemned the bombing.

The immediate destabilizing effect of Friday's blast can already be seen on the streets. Angry mourners tried to storm Prime Minister Najib Mikati's offices in central Beirut after the funeral, breaking through a security barrier and scuffling with police who fired in the air in response.

"Mikati leave, get out," chanted hundreds of protesters. They also chanted slogans against Assad, whom they accused of being behind the killing of Hassan.

The protesters blame Mikati's pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian-dominated coalition government for failing to provide security or respond effectively to the killing.

UNREST SPREADING

Displeasure with Mikati came as spreading unrest raised fears among Lebanese that their country could slide back into the sectarian strife that haunted them for decades.

Mikati, a Sunni Muslim whom many see as unwilling to confront Hezbollah, said he had offered to step down, but that President Michel Suleiman asked him "to stay on to avoid letting Lebanon slide into turmoil".

Syria's civil war is already being played out on the streets of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, where fighting has erupted between Sunni fighters and Alawites.

The Syrian unrest has often spilled into Lebanese border villages with Assad's forces shelling them, saying they were being used by rebels to smuggle in fighters and arms.

Officials close to Hassan, who had been under threat since he pushed for Samaha's arrest, said he was using more than one safe house and that only two close associates, including the one who died with him, knew about his movements.

They suspect that Hassan's movements were followed after his return on Thursday night from a trip abroad.

"There is a contentious history between Wissam al-Hassan and Syria, Iran and their Lebanese allies (Hezbollah)," said one security source, who declined to give his name. "All the espionage and intelligence services of the world are present in Lebanon and they pay huge sums of money for information and there are many Lebanese guns for hire."

"TERRIBLE BUT NOT UNEXPECTED"

Khouri, a Middle East affairs specialist, said the Hassan assassination was a logical extension of what has been happening in Syria over the past 19 months.

"There has been a steady increase in violence and now we are going to the next step of assassinations, bombings and maybe clashes. It is terrible but it is not unexpected," he said.

Hassan was killed because he was leading the investigation that led to the prosecution of some important figures, he said.

"It certainly reminds people of a string of assassinations that followed Hariri's killing," Khouri said.

Some analysts said the perpetrators of the bombing - which also wounded more than 80 - clearly aimed to push Lebanon into a new round of violence. But although sectarian tensions are high, Lebanese factions have no desire to return to civil war.

Despite persistent calls by Hariri and others for Mikati to resign, many politicians and Western envoys sought compromise, arguing that high-level resignations and political turmoil in Lebanon were precisely what Hassan's killers intended.

Lebanon's sectarian-based politics are further complicated by regional hostility. While the main Lebanese opposition has long been aligned with Washington and Saudi Arabia, Mikati's governing coalition is endorsed by Iran and Syria.

The bombing also heightened fears among Western powers - which have criticized Assad and called on him to step down - that the Syria war could ignite conflict across the region.

Augustus Richard Norton, a Middle East specialist at Boston University, said it was too early to say who carried out the bombing.

"However, there is no doubt that al Hassan's death will bring smiles to the face of Bashar al-Assad and his cohorts," he wrote in a commentary.

Hassan, a Sunni who opposed Syria and Hezbollah, was laid to rest next to Rafik al-Hariri, whose assassination in a similar manner seven years ago sparked widespread protests that ultimately forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 20 years of military and political dominance.

But despite the military pull-out, Assad retained influence through his Lebanese allies in Hezbollah.

(Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-killing-security-chief-raises-fears-lebanon-182412973.html

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ESTATE PLANNING FOR ALZHEIMER'S - My Alzheimer's Archive of ...

To the reader. This is not a normal post following the sequence I have been presenting. At the same time it fits in. It is a repeat of two posts I have made one in October of this year and the second in August of 2009. I am posting it for Perpectives News Letter:

Perspectives is published by

Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center?

University of California, San Diego?

9500 Gilman Drive- 0948

La Jolla, California ?92093

Phone: 858-622-5800 ? ? ? Fax: 858-622-1012

Email: lsnyder@ucsd.edu

Editor:

Lisa Snyder, MSW, LCSW, Clinical Social Worker

In their News Letter for Summer of 2012 Vol 17 No 4 an excellent article appeared talking about the need for estate planning. He talks about getting a lawyer and how to find one. This offering is a sequel?telling?you what to do when you find one and why it is so important.

I am sending this to perspectives for publication as a sequel in the event they do not have one from another writer cursed with the same calamity as I was. I am posting this for their ease in using it.?


?The scariest thing to me about having Dementia, Alzheimer?s disease (AD) or whatever else it may be is contained in the foregoing title! In this blog in the past I have discussed the cost of the out of pocket medical and care expenses to the degree that it qualifies as one of my major issues. I do because in my view: 1.??? Their cost this high cost has the potential of breaking my wife and me as my care needs go any length of time.? a.???? ?As federal and state laws now are I will be ok because Medicaid will pick up such gaps that I cannot financially cover. b.??? It is my wife who will suffer. Her gaps will not be covered. If we have spent down to the poverty level that qualifies me for Medicaid that means we are jointly without sufficient funds for her to live on for any amount of time. There are no programs for her. ?She is effectively out in the street! c.???? Always keep this in mind. Whichever spouse will incur the cost of care, the estate that must be paid down to qualify that spouse is the joint and several obligation of both spouses. (Joint and several is the lawyer?s long way of saying the obligation of both spouses!) 2.??? Medicaid is under attack in Congress and is subject to state administration where the State has the ability to set policy for who qualifies and what those qualifying get. I live in a state, Minnesota, where the administration of Medicaid is far more sensitive to needs than too many other states. Between the federal government and too many states Medicaid cannot be trusted to continue to provide an alternative. (Medicare and Medicaid are two different programs. I believe people can get very confused by this and make mistakes, particularly those of us with Dementia and our harried caretakers. Why is this? I suspect for some nefarious reason!) 3.??? The cost of care is very high, in many cases confiscatory.?? a.???? Those families having more assets than the poverty level set by government must pay all care cost, all medical costs not paid by Medicare and its supplemental coverage if carried by the family.???? b.??? Between Nursing Home expense, Assisted Living expense and Home Care cost this can easily eat up the financial and retirement holdings of a family that would be otherwise secure. Home Care or Nursing Home care has a real average of approximately $100,000 a year. c.???? How many couples, who have the joint obligation for these expenses has $500,000 put away for retirement? I could continue on this topic for pages, and have in other essays. I refer you to: both of these titles are essays I have written on this blog in the past. Note they titles are in hypertext, click on then to go there. A roundup of a many of this issues can be found at: Much of it was based on the analysis I did in: The estate planning essay was written in 2007 initially and posted a number of times, the last time being in 2009 and can be accessed by clicking on its hypertext?d title that appears immediately above this. The? rude truth about the financial problems that exist with any disease needing care, particularly true of all the Dementia?s is set out in this essay. I prepared it after seeing an elderly law specialist after diagnosis in 2006. I spent 43 years as a practicing lawyer and did many wills, probate many estates and did Estate Planning. In my circumstances I did not trust myself to do it. I went to my old partner and asked him to find the best Estate Planning Lawyer and Elder Law Specialist in the Twin Cities and the two of them set my wife Diane and I up to face our catastrophe. I have posted an essay that appeared in the ?New Old Age? column of the New York Times this past week. (Oct 11, 2012) It validates all I have said about the cost and the extreme risk it puts us at. I strongly recommend its reading. It says it all in a different, clearer and far more succinct way than I do.

It is entitled:?The High Cost of Out-of-Pocket Expenses

In hypertext, click on title to go to my Archive to read it. It is worth reading in every way. I cannot keep quiet about this. I see our nation, the pure stupidity of the politics relating to aging, the duplicity of so many from Wall Street to?Money Changers related investment programs and companies as well as Fund Raisers skimming enormous profits off the top leaving little or no funds to help. They build the complexes pay all the fees and do not have enough pay the help to care for the patients. All of this cries to heaven for vengeance. I hope they hear there because we do not hear here https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjekgXOq6wYRm3mf7DNN98MLcVNC9t_AnPt1nvcM6drJtXULS_nnDYyJ8M1czZuOe4Ph20tX_kZwXKtrSPx_H_6EG6ynjuEM8Jbpc4UtNbEnyKvYEW6mKgR5pOfk_y6D9BaxIvgws0wzV/s400/Blank.jpg
A COMPENDIUM ON ESATED PLANNING FOR ALZHEIMER?S DISEASE The Diagnosis of Alzheimer?s Disease (AD) produces a Paradigm Shift in your life that compares to little that has preceded it in its breadth and abruptness!

When AD hits it affects everyone around you. You have it; your spouse must to deal with it; your loved one?s need to accept it. These are but the tip of what is a never ending list of a new and different permanence in your life.

One of the most difficult issues of many that need attention is the financial affairs of you and your spouse. Your life is going to be decidedly different; the roles between you and your spouse are going to change significantly.

As it concerns your financial affairs, how you own and what you own may have to be changed to protect it from being unnecessarily drained because of the care needs of your illness. This requires planning; it is called Estate Planning.

Your Estate comprises whatever property you and your spouse own or to which you have the absolute power to direct (like a trust fund). This includes everything from your bank accounts, insurance policies, homestead, personal property around your home, car, anything having value.

It is important to review this with your attorney and a financial planner should you have one. The purpose of it is to make sure you qualify for all financial support for which you may be entitled before incurring the Cost of Care. The Cost of Care for AD is enormous and can literally confiscate all of your funds leaving your spouse with little or nothing to live on.

What follows is an outline of points I learned in 1977 when I consulted with my attorney who brought in a specialist in Elder Law to work with him. In turn they worked with my financial planner and my tax accountant.

I was a practicing lawyer for 43 years. I did not trust myself even though I had sufficient training and expertise in it. I needed someone. A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. A person not a lawyer who does the same has a pair of fools serving her/him.

What follows are the circumstances as I recall them and noted them at the time. This is dated, things may be different. What they were then was appalling, what they may be now will probably be worse if changed at all.

You need to protect your estate. What was accumulated was from your own efforts at saving for retirement. It needs to be preserved as much as possible to care for you and your spouse for the rest of your life expectancy. That is only fair when you have undertaken this effort and accumulated protection by your own efforts.

Like so many my spouse and I saved for our own retirement and funded a reasonable life for the rest of our days. In the planning for retirement we did not include funding the occurrence of the catastrophe of one of us becoming afflicted by AD.

The special circumstances of having AD as it regards your finances are these. If you look at AD occurring in three stages, Early, Mid, and Late Stage, you know this. In Early Stage you can get along well on your own in most instances. You will normally start to need help as you reach the Mid and Late Stage. It starts with the need of intermittent home care to help you and to relieve your caregiver spouse.

Companion care will run $20 to $25 an hour. A qualified health care person runs $30 to $35 an hour. (Minneapolis MN approximate) This is not bad once and awhile. A regular use adds up quickly, such as: 8hrs a day @ 20 = $160.00. Monthly is $4,866.66, annually is $58,400. If 24 hour care is required simply multiply those numbers by three and get daily $480, monthly $14,595.88 annually $175,200.

This simple calculation takes Cost of Care out of the ballpark and directs you towards Assisted Living or Nursing Home Care.

The savings there are substantial. Assisted Living Costs amount to an average in Minneapolis of $6,000 a month $72,000 a year. Nursing Home Costs amount to an average in Minneapolis of $7,000 a month $84,000 a year.

Is it unreasonable to estimate the Cost of Care will equal $75.000 to $100.00 a year?

If not supplemented by outside help how long can the normal retirement savings withstand such a drain of cash resource before it runs out leaving the surviving spouse in poverty and the afflicted spouse on Medicaid?

This is the issue you needed to address as does every one of the middle class.

Who of you in the middle class who have industriously saved enough to cover retirement have not saved enough to cover catastrophe?

The subject of this paper is to point out the significant reality in our community of those who are afflicted by AD.

The rich will probably have enough to weather the financial storm. The poor have Medicaid available to them to cover this cost. The middle class have nothing but what they have on their own.

Before they can get any help the middle class need to reduce their estate to the threshold level to qualify for Government Aid. In 2007 the conditions and circumstances were as follows:

I.?? Funding the Cost of Care:
  1. When a family requires health care service for an Alzheimer?s patient the cost is not insured unless the patient has long term health care coverage, then it is covered to the amount and the time the insurance company agrees to pay in the policy.
  2. Without the coverage the cost is the families?, no other.
  3. If the family cannot pay, they can apply to the state for payment of the cost.
  4. To do this there are qualifications set by the government. They are called eligibility requirements.
  5. Among those at least as they apply to me are the following:
    1. I must first deplete (pay out entirely) all of the property that I have excepting:
??????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? $3,000.00 ????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? My Homestead ??????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? My household goods and personal goods
    1. I can?t have an income greater than $79.00 per month.
    2. This includes everything that is in my name. The income from my deferred (IRA and like kind) retirement accounts are included in that.
  1. My wife is financially responsible for my medical needs and all other expenses of living I have including nursing home, assisted living and home care before the government can be made responsible.? If she has funds of her own other than mine those funds need to be depleted before I am eligible. The rules for the spouse in my case I am told are these:
    1. My wife?s separate estate must be no more than $102,000.00 (2007).
    2. Her income must be less than $1,650 in some cases less than $2,489 in other cases per month.
  2. We can keep our home, that is exempt at least to a value of $500,000 or in some cases $1,000,000.00 should my wife live in it while I am receiving services.
8.???? Should I require health care service, whether it is home care to help my wife, some form of day care or assisted living, nursing home or otherwise, we pay this until our funds between us do not exceed $105,000.00 plus our homestead. This requires we pay out all our retirement investment funds, cash values of all of our insurance policies, anything and everything unless we have annuities that pay income only without any beneficiary for the balance of principal if any at the end. (There are certain exceptions, but the foregoing is the net effect.) 1.???? Shelter the Estate so the Government does not eat up the spouse?s share of the Estate needed by her/him to survive me.

The history of the ?Spending Down Your Estate? as it is often called is this:?

Years ago the older farm couple would go in to see the lawyer and have him transfer the farm to the kids. Their reason: ?You don?t want the to go to the county when you go into the nursing home.?

In the insular culture of the family farm community this was done consistently, although often counseled against by the family lawyer. It did have its margin of safety because the kids would be shamed and shunned by the community if they did not honor their parents. In this way the county paid the bill and the farm passed on to yet another generation.

Initially the County placed an Old Age Assistance Lien on the real estate owned by the applicant once the State started paying for assistance. The lien was collected when the applicant died. The reason farm couples started to stop by the lawyer?s office before they went to the nursing home was to make sure they didn?t own anything the County could put a lien on.

As this practice expanded the State placed a time limit before which the transfer had to be made or they could enforce a lien against the property even though it was transferred to a child. They called these ?Look Back Rules.? Each couple of years more limitations were introduced and ?Look Back? time extended on the practice which was called: ?Spending Down Your Estate.?

To consider sheltering your estate you must be aware of the ?Look Backs? and the other limitations in force against sheltering.

Most estates are not sufficient to cover the Catastrophic Cost of Care that will come with AD. How quickly can an estate pay an extra 75 to 100,000 a year addition to the budget to cover this Cost of Care?

There are two alternatives other than sheltering that are too often too complicated or unacceptable to moral values. One is Divorce the other is Doctor assisted suicide allowed in a few states. I will discuss each of these in a later paper as they do not bear discussion on the money nuts and bolts discussed in this paper

SHELTER OR ROLL THE DICE DOING NOTHING!?

One has but the two foregoing options, Shelter or Roll the Dice. To roll the dice can be euphemistically called Self Insuring.:

Shelter

The following are the rules the financial and legal advisors said were applicable in 2007 when I evaluated sheltering our estate:
  1. Our estate needs to be spent down in some way for my eventual eligibility.
  2. This needs to be done five years before I make an application for Medical Assistance.
  3. This means spending down to $3000 for me 102,000 for my wife etc. etc.
  4. Specifically they said:
The time limit for spend down is now five years. Any transfers made less than 5 years before the application for medical assistance for any health care costs such as home health care, assisted living or nursing home will be included in tallying the overall estate to determine the total assets of the individual needing the aid and the eligibility of the family to qualify for aid.? In other words spend down must be completed more than 5 years before application for benefits if your estate exceeds the $105,000 referred the in section I above. There are methods available each with their respective pitfalls. The only reason for us to consider any of them was to protect such funds as needed for my wife so she can live out her years in a minimal state of financial comfort. The methods of spend down we could consider were:??
  1. We could transfer our estate to our kids and trust them to take care of us and take care of my wife after I have passed on. (Transfer the Farm)
    1. To do that each or our children?s families could have a stake in how the funds entrusted are used. This is money which they will eventually inherit if not spent for our care. Our children and their families have their own personal needs. Do we place them in a personally compromising situation?
    2. We could pick but one of them to gift to. Would the others have a gripe? It would be hard not too much as I would like to think they wouldn?t.
We could put it all into an irrevocable trust (irrevocable means we give up all incidents of both ownership and control of the funds in the trust). The only control we could exercise is the language used in the trust. Any language we use however cannot control the free exercise of discretion by the trustee. (There are nuances through which we can have some direction but it is rudimentary and not really enforceable.)
    1. Should we do this we could name one or more of our children trustee(s). This has complications.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? First of these is who do we choose at the expense of the others? ????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? If we choose them all does it become unworkable? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? Where each of them has a beneficial interest (right to ultimately inherit anything left) what consequences does this create, particularly in the gift & estate tax arena? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? iv.???? There are tax and control consequence if we transfer directly to a trust and spell out our beneficial interest. (This means if we spell out in the trust document what the trustee must pay us in the course of the trust.)
    1. We could use our children or someone whom we absolutely trust and transfer our funds outright to that person trusting such person to then set up a trust for our benefit.? This could be an individual whom we know we can trust, or a trust department at a bank which would give us a level of objectivity and a minimum of bias.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? This involves two transfers. The first is to the person, relative, friend, bank outright! Then we trust that person to create the trust that we want. Then the second transfer is made by that recipient to the trust ????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? We relinquish control and rely on trust. This in itself has its risks. ???????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? We pay a gift tax on the transfer from us, subject to exemptions, and a second gift tax consequence on the second transfer into trust. Once the exemptions are used they can?t be used again. ???????????????????????????????????????????????? iv.???? We can do a number of transfers to children, grandchildren, to reduce the amount transferred and benefit from any rate or exemption advantage on individual transfers to family under gift tax rules. ????????????????????????????????????????????????? v.???? Whether into one or more trusts with one or more trusted person as trustee or a bank or trust company there is still substantial risk. That risk is whether or not that person or entity receiving the ?gift? then setting up the trust with the funds we give them will do so as we ask them to do. Will that person in creating the trust (acting as Settlor) secure the funds for us, provide for the two of us as our need arises, show no bias for either Mom or Dad, and provide the funds go to our requested beneficiaries on our deaths?? ???????????????????????????????????????????????? vi.???? This places a big order on any person. A third party not family offers one set of risks family members altogether different but as many risks. ?????????????????????????????????????????????? vii.???? A transfer to a bank or trust company has its own set of risks, starting with one bias built in. That is to keep the sums in trust as much and as long as possible. The fee of the trustee is measured more or less by the amount entrusted and resulting responsibility along with the time the trustee serves. The reasons against this kind of a transfer are these: If we do it more than five years before application Medical Assistance cannot ?Look Back? and de-exempt it. It is not part of our estate any longer and enough time has passed prohibiting Medical Assistance questioning it. But, there is nothing to assure the government will at some point in the future decide such transfers are not allowed and make that disallowance retroactive to the time we might have set up such an intricate set of transfers. At that time it is too late and our claim to use of the money is long gone! Certainly, looking at the direction regulation has taken in the changes it is made this is a reasonable expectation. Investment of more money in Homestead
  1. The next shelter possibility we looked at was selling our home and buying one substantially more expensive than ours, doing it in my wife?s name and protecting a bulk of our funds in this way.
    1. If done more than 5 years before application for care, if the spouse not needing the care continues to live in the home, then the home is exempt and its value is exempt. No old age assistance lien, no other claim against it can be made. Only problem that might arise is what happens if that spouse dies before the recipient??
    2. We did not attempt to answer this question for this reason. It just did not make sense for us to put more money into a home which would by its nature incur greater living cost and its value would be dependent on the real estate market.
    3. Look at what that market is doing now! I am certainly glad we did not take this alternative though it sure seemed a viable one.
(This was written before the housing bubble burst in 2008. Cryptic?)
  1. This left us the most complicated alternative to deal with. Putting it into annuities. They are protected to the extent that they are ?income only? annuities.
    1. We were told the rules regarding them were these:
??????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? I can buy an annuity with funds in my name or over which I exercise control. This makes the annuity exempt from medical assistance claims. Technically this means the unpaid principal of this annuity is not an available asset for claim by medical assistance. The only claim of medical assistance is against the installments as they are paid back to me. ????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? To set such an annuity up these requirements must be met: 1.???? The annuity needs to be payable in fixed installments amortized equally over my life expectancy so it is paid out completely with no remainder holding over for a beneficiary. 2.???? Should I die prematurely then my wife can be the beneficiary of what remains to have been paid out. 3.???? It does have this benefit. If I die before the annuity runs out my wife gets the remaining assets free and clear of a claim by medical assistance. 4.???? If she is not living then the State is the secondary beneficiary. There can be no provisions for family other than my wife. 5.???? The income stream paid out of it is treated as an available asset subject to pay for care. The principal is not an available asset and as such it is exempt. 6.???? To minimize risk I am told to string the payments out as long as possible, hope this will be longer than your life and shorter than your wife?s life. 7.???? I can do this at anytime before or after application and medical assistance ???????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? My wife can buy an annuity and that will be exempt from medical assistance claims and exempt from being figured into our total estate when calculated for eligibility should I apply for Medical Assistance. To do this these requirements must be met: 1.???? It must be purchased by my wife before I apply for Medical Assistance 2.???? The advisors told me it must be ?Amortized over life expectancy of annuitant (me), payable within time of amortization (this it the time of the life expectancy of annuitant) or earlier if Insurance Company agrees in initial annuity? 3.???? This means it is set up to be paid out completely with no remainder holding over for a beneficiary. 4.???? The company is not precluded from paying back earlier than limiting payments to the life expectancy time over which it is amortized. If they are willing they can pay early. It is optional with them and their interest is to hold as long as possible and earn on the money deposited. 5.???? The income from the annuity is exempt along with the principal invested in the annuity. 6.???? The Annuity amounts to the purchase of an income stream. The advisors went on to point out: a.????? To avoid having the transfer of funds into such an annuity treated as a transfer of assets subject to the five year look back rule, b.???? The annuity must be created and funded before the application for Medial assistance ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? Recommendation is do it 60 days at least before, so application can be processed and there is time to get money out of investment and into annuity. ? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? The benefits of this is: It allows annuity planning with the ability to wait and only engage the planning if and when it is needed. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? In that way free use of the funds exist until near the last minute. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? iv.???? Once the funds are paid in they belong to the company. The only right my wife has is to the installments which include return of the principle with 1 ? 3% interest paid on the unpaid principal balance in the annuity, no more! 7.???? In either case the annuity shall meet the following requirements according to the advisors: ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? It be a commercial annuity, ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? Begin payments as soon as possible under the contract, ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? Make fixed payments on a monthly basis, ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? iv.???? Be projected to return all of the assets in the annuity to the annuitant over his/her life expectancy ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? v.???? Amortized over life expectancy of annuitant, payable within time of amortization or earlier if Insurance Company agrees in initial annuity ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? vi.???? Name the State of Minnesota as the secondary beneficiary following a surviving spouse.
  1. The downside of annuities are the following:
    1. Principle is given up in exchange for a guaranteed income stream. My wife can be the beneficiary of mine; I can be the beneficiary of hers. If either of us is dead it goes to the State. There is no further inheritance
    2. If the annuity has a pay out for ten years the rate of return on principal is not likely to exceed than 1.5% per annum after deducting cost of administration commission etc.
    3. If for 20 years it doubles to 3% per annum.
    4. In the event of an unexpected death there are complications.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????? i.???? If my wife dies before me it can come back to me, that part I don?t use goes to the state on my death. ????????????????????????????????????????????????? ii.???? If I die first my wife?s use of the funds are limited to the installments and the balance if any goes to the state. ???????????????????????????????????????????????? iii.???? The only advantage of an income stream annuity is it written for payment for a lifetime based on life expectancy and if the beneficiary lives longer there is a gain.
    1. A difficult twist (Catch 22) occurs if the AD patient stays sufficiently lucid to not need assistance and the spouse for whom the funds have been sheltered becomes in need of Medical Assistance. Access to the principal is denied the AD patient and the installment payments goes to payment of medical assistance for the wife
    2. If Annuity is a valued way to shelter it seems it should be done by the person who is not potentially needing medical assistance. That spouse can have free use of the funds so long and until it is funded into an annuity before medical assistance application is made.
    3. The value to the spouse potentially needing medical assistance is it can be done anytime. If the payments are extended far enough into the future at the lowest possible amount, the surviving spouse is entitled to the unpaid installments should the medical assistance spouse die before the annuity fully pays out.
  1. The final issue: How to get the money into my wife?s hands so she has the freedom to use of the funds, and, to decide when to annuitize these funds.
    1. There is no application of the five year look back rule on transfers to your spouse. If however, funds are transferred to the spouse and the transferred funds are used by spouse to buy an annuity there might be some gray area invoking the 5 year look back rule. I am not sure of this nuance.
    2. Deferred Income Accounts (IRA like) are subject to income tax if transferred.
    3. Should the spouse take advantage of the Homestead Exemption and funds need to be transferred to her this should be done more than 5 years before to avoid application of the 5 year look back rule.
The purpose of the rules regarding Medical Assistance are meant to make sure the funds are available for those truly in need of assistance and avoid folks gaming the system when their estates can afford medical assistance. The fault of the rules as we review them is they overlook the limited estate of those like us who in paying for their medical assistance potentially exhaust their estate at the expense of one of the partners owning the estate. That is what we have to look at and assess. Our current conclusion is there is not much we can do. What we can do is advocate. Advocate about the overall cost to society for this epidemic soon to become. Advocate for controls of some kind on health care expense. Explore alternative care methods that can provide economy of costs. There are many of these alternatives and more that I haven?t read about or thought of. They range from in-home supportive care to group home care, privately, by co-ops, by social/charitable organizations, etc. Others are Day Care facilities, Pools of volunteer or public/private funded workers trained to help, whether giving respite, nursing service, companionship or any number of services that would be helpful are needed. There exists a great need for Government to step in with some tools to aid in everyone economizing the cost of the care that will be needed. These include tax deductions, exemptions, credits, rebates when taxable income is not sufficient to provide a return for a deduction, exemption or credit. They can be grants in aid from government, corporations, and eleemosynary (altruistic, philanthropic?) groups. Any number of public/private ways exists for us to act as a society and ease the individual predicament in dealing with this coming crisis. If nothing more eligibility requirements in light of high costs of medical assistance, insurance exclusion, and validation of separate need of both spouses needs to be reviewed. The rules as they are stop half way. They make the spouse responsible for the other spouse?s costs but offer no relief if there is not enough to go around after paying them. My purpose in doing this paper in this detail is to invoke conversation. We all need to talk about this! The foregoing has been written by me with the understanding of the technical matters of having practiced law for 43 years. This is not, however, legal advice and should not be relied on as such. I am not a lawyer; that was in a past life. I let my license expire to force myself to retire. I have not kept up in the field these more than three years I have been retired. This is not more than my understanding of what I was told, advised and counseled after my diagnosis of AD.

Source: http://ic-mike.blogspot.com/2012/10/estate-planning-for-alzheimers-he.html

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