cnidarian hobnobbed: March 2013

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Global firms eye insurance in SE Asia - The Nation

THE NATION, BLOOMBERG March 14, 2013 1:00 am

Carlyle Group, CVC Capital Partners and KKR and Co are among firms that have made preliminary offers for a minority stake in Thai Life Insurance, Bloomberg said, quoting people with knowledge of the matter.

The unlisted Thai insurer, controlled by the Chaiyawan family, is selling at least a 20-per-cent stake valued at about US$500 million (Bt15 billion), the sources said. Japanese insurers Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co have also expressed interest in the holding, one person said.

The stake purchase, potentially the largest by a private-equity firm in Thailand according to data compiled by Bloomberg, would follow at least two other foreign acquisitions of Thai life-insurance assets in the past six months. About a quarter of the Thai population hold insurance policies, less than in other Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia and Singapore, according to Fitch Ratings.

Barclays is running the sale for Thai Life, Bloomberg's sources said.

Last November, Prudential, through local unit Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand), bought out Thanachart Life Assurance for $550 million, and established a 15-year partnership deal in Thailand's bancassurance business with Thanachart Bank, which has more than 4 million customers and more than 630 branches nationwide.

"We have had a long-standing ambition to significantly increase our presence in Thailand, one of our key target markets in Southeast Asia," Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam said in a statement released after the deal's completion. "This long-term exclusive partnership with Thanachart Bank positions us well for the future and is in line with our multi-channel distribution strategy."

Britain's largest insurer by market value said Thailand's life-insurance market was comparable in premium terms to those of Indonesia and Malaysia. Life-insurance penetration in Thailand remains low, at only 2.7 per cent, representing substantial long-term growth potential.

ING Group's sale of its insurance assets in Thailand to Richard Li, son of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, was completed earlier this year.

The buyers are seeking to take advantage of rising income of Thais after the country's strong economic development.

Sara Lamsam, president of the Thai Life Assurance Association, which covers 90 members, recently forecast 17.3-per-cent growth in insurance premiums this year to Bt459 billion.

He attributed this mainly to demand growth momentum witnessed in 2012 and supporting measures from the public sector as well as life insurers.

Of the total, Bt162 billion will come from new clients.

Last year, premiums expanded by 19.1 per cent from the past year to Bt391.39 billion. Of that total, Bt130.5 billion came from new clients.

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Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Global-firms-eye-insurance-in-SE-Asia-30201900.html

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An Abandoned London Power Station Could Find New Life As a Stunning Roller Coaster

The Battersea Power Station is an iconic London building, but it's been tragically unused since it was decommissioned in 1983. Now architectural firm Atelier Z?ndel Cristea wants to turn that around with a proposal to make the abandoned spot a roller coaster. Where do we sign? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/WB34SEFiC_w/an-abandoned-london-power-station-could-find-new-life-as-a-stunning-roller-coaster

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Sharp drop in US homes lost to foreclosure in Feb.

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2007 file photo, a realty sign stands in front of one of the many homes that are in foreclosure in the Villages of Queen Creek in Queen Creek, Ariz. The number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders fell to the lowest level in nearly six years last month amid a resurgent housing market and rising home prices, the latest evidence that the nation's foreclosure woes are easing, according to new data from foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? While the nation's foreclosure woes persist, new data show they're easing amid a resurgent housing market, rising home prices and efforts by some states to buy homeowners more time to avoid losing their homes.

The number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders last month fell 11 percent from January and declined 29 percent from February last year, tumbling to the lowest level since September 2007, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

Some states continued to see sharp increases in homes lost to foreclosure last month, including Washington, Wisconsin and Iowa. But home repossessions declined both on an annual and monthly basis in a majority of states, including past foreclosure hotbeds such as California, Georgia and Arizona.

All told, 45,038 U.S. homes completed the foreclosure process in February. That's less than half of the 102,000 homes lost to foreclosure in March 2010, when home repossessions peaked, according to the firm's records, which go back to January 2005.

Foreclosures remain at more than double the pace that RealtyTrac considers normal, roughly 20,000 foreclosures a month, the average in 2005. But their national impact has been contained, said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.

"It's definitely safe to say we're past the worst of it at a national level," he said.

Several factors are contributing to the overall decline in completed foreclosures. More jobs and ultra-low mortgage rates are helping the once-battered housing market recover, and the rising demand combined with fewer available homes has helped push home prices steadily upward since last year. They posted their biggest annual increase in six years in January.

Higher home values help restore equity to homeowners, which can help those at risk of foreclosure by improving their chances of refinancing their mortgage to a lower payment or place them in a better position to sell their home.

In the first nine months of 2012, 1.4 million homeowners who had been underwater on their mortgage, or owed more than their home is worth, were moved into positive equity, according to data from CoreLogic.

The tight supply of available homes for sale has created a sellers' market, with many properties drawing multiple offers. That means even bank-owned homes and those in some stage of foreclosure, which typically sell at a discount to other homes, are going for higher prices.

That has given banks further incentive to let homeowners who have fallen behind on their payments avoid foreclosure by authorizing a short sale, when a lender agrees to accept less for a home than what the seller owes on their mortgage.

Last year, sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure rose 6 percent from a year earlier, while sales of bank-owned homes fell 15 percent, according to RealtyTrac.

Meanwhile, states like California, Nevada and Washington have passed laws to increase homeowners' protections from foreclosure. Those laws have effectively delayed the pace of homes entering the foreclosure process, which has helped to thin the pipeline of completed foreclosures in those states.

The combination of fewer foreclosed homes hitting the market and higher prices for those that do sell is good news for homeowners because those properties will be less of a drag on the value of nearby homes.

"They'll have less of a negative impact just because there are fewer selling," Blomquist said.

As of the end of February, 1.5 million U.S. homes were in some stage of foreclosure or in banks' possession, according to RealtyTrac.

Given the monthly pace of home repossessions through February, Blomquist projects there will be 600,000 completed foreclosures this year, down from 671,000 last year.

He also expects the number of homes taken back by lenders to increase later this year, noting that 1.2 million homes entered the foreclosure process in 2012. Typically, about half of those end up as bank-owned homes, he said.

While lenders took back fewer homes last month, the number of properties that entered the foreclosure process in February increased 10 percent from the previous month, RealtyTrac said.

The monthly gain was the first after three monthly declines. So-called foreclosure starts were down 25 percent from February 2012, with Nevada, New York, Washington and 13 other states posting annual increases.

Overall, Florida posted the nation's highest foreclosure rate, which RealtyTrac measures by tracking the number of properties with foreclosure-related filings. One in every 282 households in the state received at least one filing, or more than three times the national average.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-14-Foreclosure%20Rates/id-c31028b11b8947b39938711d9a08f289

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Obama says immigration bill would help House GOP

President Barack Obama turns to reporters as he leaves Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 13, 2013, after his closed-door meeting with House Speaker John Boehner and Republican lawmakers to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama told House Republicans Wednesday that they would benefit politically more than Democrats would from supporting a comprehensive immigration overhaul, lawmakers present said.

One lawmaker, Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee, said the argument elicited "light chuckles" from the assembled lawmakers, many of whom are skeptical of Obama and of efforts toward overhauling immigration laws that would put an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

The exchange came during a meeting between Obama and the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Wednesday, part of Obama's new outreach to the GOP on budgetary and other issues.

The lawmakers said Obama recounted his own experience in November capturing more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote as he won re-election, and told the Republicans that they stood to gain more than he did from supporting a sweeping immigration law rewrite.

"He said that actually implementing immigration reform would actually benefit ? I'm just stating what he said ? that it would actually benefit Republicans more than it would Democrats," said Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va.

Obama argued "it's in our own best interest" to support an immigration bill, Rigell said.

Rigell and Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., said Obama's comments on immigration came as he sought to dispute lawmakers who might think he's not sincere. Obama said that "his willingness to address immigration, which he argued would benefit Republicans more than Democrats, is an indication that he is sincere," Rigell said.

King said Obama's argument went this way: "Right now he gets 75 percent of the Hispanic vote because Republicans are against immigration reform, so if we vote for it he's not going to pick up any new votes in the Hispanic community and we can."

Exit polls used by the AP actually showed Obama getting 71 percent of the Latino vote in November.

"There's something to it," King said of Obama's argument, though he noted that there's also an argument to be made that legalizing the immigration status of 11 million people would help Democrats; many would likely vote Democratic.

Obama also said that if he were only motivated by getting more Democrats elected in the 2014 midterm elections, he wouldn't be pushing for immigration reform because it's likely in his party's interest to be able to paint Republicans as obstructionists on the issue, according to a person in the room who requested anonymity in order to discuss the private meeting.

Prominent Republicans including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also have argued that Republicans must support immigration reform if they want to win over Hispanic voters. But it wasn't clear that Obama's political argument to House Republicans he's spent years clashing with would win many converts.

"Good debaters typically will present you a false narrative, and he's very good at that," Roe said.

Obama said there probably was only about a nine-month window to get "anything really substantive done" on immigration before election season starts again, Rigell said.

A bipartisan group of senators is working to unveil a comprehensive immigration bill next month, and there's also a bipartisan group in the House that's been working on the issue, though the House is expected to let the Senate act first. Obama has drafted his own immigration legislation but says he will only unveil it if the Senate group doesn't move quickly enough.

Also on Wednesday, Obama discussed his immigration plans with corporate executives. The White House said the 17 CEOs supported the effort embraced by Obama and by the senators, especially a path to citizenship that requires immigrants illegally in the U.S. to pay back taxes, a fine and to fall in line behind people already seeking to enter the country legally.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-13-Obama-Congress-Immigration/id-0fba7c866e5741c69398238eede44aa9

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How to limit targeted ad tracking on iPhone and iPad

iOS gives advertisers the option to serve up targeted ads based on your likes and dislikes. This is done by giving your device a unique advertising identifier that provides useful information to marketers about your habits and likes. Some people don't like this behavior and while you can't completely stop targeted ads from happening, your iPhone and iPad do give you the ability to limit ad tracking.

Here's how.

Launch the Settings app from the Home screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Tap on General and then select About.
Scroll all the way to the bottom and tap on the Advertising section.
Here you can turn the option to limit ad tracking to On by tapping on it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/S0wJAr1uRnM/story01.htm

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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

U.K.'s SRA 'Intervenes' in Law Firm, Tells 250 ... - Legal Blog Watch

U.K.'s SRA 'Intervenes' in Law Firm, Tells 250 Employees to Clear Out Desks

In the U.K., there is a regulator called the Solicitors Regulation Authority. According to its website, the SRA regulates more than 120,000 solicitors in England and Wales, and is charged with protecting the public "by ensuring that solicitors meet high standards, and by acting when risks are identified." It appears that sometimes, the SRA will decide to "intervene" in a law firm, which means that they will walk in and tell all of the lawyers and staff to clear their desks and go home because the law firm has been closed effective immediately.

Such an intervention occurred this week, The Warwick Courier reports (via ABA Journal), when the SRA rolled in to a British law firm called Blakemores Solicitors and shut it down after 50 years in business. According to The Law Society Gazette, all 250 solicitors and employees of Blakemores were called into a mid-morning yesterday and "told to get their possessions from their desks and go home."

The SRA stated that in order to protect Blakemores' clients, former clients and trust beneficiaries, it would "stop the firm from operating, take possession of all documents and papers held by the firm including clients' paper, and take possession of all money held by the firm including clients' money." Visitors to the Blakemores website are now redirected to the website of Stephensons Solicitors LLP, a law firm that the SRA has appointed to handle the intervention.?

According to The Law Society Gazette, Blakemores once had an "innovative and fast-growing"?operation under the consumer brand "Lawyers2you," but it was hit hard by a combination of legal aid cuts and the shrinking of the personal injury market. As recently as 2010, Blakemores' Lawyers2you?received an award for the "Most Innovative Marketing Idea 2010" by consultancy 360 Legal Group.?

Posted by Bruce Carton on March 12, 2013 at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Source: http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2013/03/uks-sra-intervenes-in-law-firm-tells-250-employees-to-clear-out-desks.html

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Canadian house prices could fall 44% with severe - Financial Post

A severe economic shock, such as the kind that hit Japan in the early 1990s and California and Nevada in 2006, would have to knock Canadian housing prices down by 44% to cause securities linked to Canadian mortgages to lose the highest ratings assigned by Moody?s Investors Service.

House prices to remain flat for 10 years: TD

OTTAWA ? Canada?s real estate bonanza of the past decade has come to end and the long-term trend as one of the most profitable places to invest is also not encouraging, a new research paper from the TD Bank argues.

Such a house price decline, were it to happen, would be driven primarily by the phenomenal upswing in Canadian home prices over the past decade, Moody?s said.

Canada joins Spain, as well as the United Kingdom and Australia, in the ratings agency?s assessment of countries where growth in housing prices over the past 10 years has driven their values away from sustainable market fundamentals and into ?overheated? territory.

?As with Australia, Spain and the U.K., we expect house prices in Canada to suffer the most due to the misalignment of current house prices with historic fundamentals,? Moody?s said.

The ratings agency released the report Monday that included its housing market analysis, along with request for comment on its proposed approach to analyzing the credit risk of non-insured mortgage pools.

?Moody?s Investors Service is in no way predicting the extent nor the causes of a large scale house price depreciation in Canada,? spokesperson Thomas Lemmon said in an emailed statement.

?Along with many other factors, the home price component of our analysis provides that in order to achieve our highest rating, a mortgage pool would have to be able to withstand a 44% downturn.?

Moody?s is the second ratings agency in as many weeks to seek input on a proposal to change the methodology used to analyze securities linked to mortgages.

Last week, London and New York-based Fitch Ratings unveiled a proposed a two-step model that reduces home prices to a ?sustainable? value based on a number of factors including data provided by Canadian banks. It then further subjects the homes to a ?stressed market? value decline assumption.

Fitch said Canadian home prices are overvalued by about 20%.

Ratings agencies came under harsh criticism in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 for what was perceived as a failure to predict the U.S. housing market meltdown that precipitated it.

Since then, there has been an attempt to strike a balance of thorough analysis with timely analysis, according to Grant Connor, an associate in equity research at National Bank Financial who previously worked on structured finance at Moody?s.

?At the simplest level, a stress case scenario should represent a realistic worst case scenario,? Mr. Connor said.

As with Australia, Spain and the U.K., we expect house prices in Canada to suffer the most

The model proposed by Moody?s on Monday determines house price ?stress? rates, used to assign ratings, by looking at variable factors such as house price and income growth over 10 years, and fixed factors such as monetary policy.

The analysis of housing prices in the event of economic shocks includes data from Finland in 1989, Japan in 1991, and Hong Kong in 1997, as well as Ireland, Nevada, and California in 2006.

The ?variable? analysis assesses how much current house prices have departed from ?sustainable? market fundamentals. The assumption is that, in the event of a severe economic shock, expected demand that has been baked into current house prices will not materialize. In Canada, the growth in house prices over the past 10 years has ??far outstripped? the growth in incomes, according to Moody?s.

?Think of it like an elastic [being stretched],? explains Mr. Connor of National Bank Financial. ?The snap back is going to be a lot harder.?

Moody?s also assesses the ?fixed? factor, which rates how vulnerable the consumer is to economic shocks, whether there is a large oversupply of houses, how effectively monetary policy can alleviate the shock, and how dependent the economy is on the real estate sector.

Canada scores better in this area, said Mr. Connor, because the stability of the country and its monetary policy is taken into consideration. While Canada?s household debt to income ratio is very high, at 154%, Moody?s notes that savings rates are higher than in some jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom.

In addition, Moody?s does not seem overly concerned about an over-supply of housing with the possible exception of the condominium market.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/11/canadian-house-prices-could-fall-44-with-severe-economic-shock-moodys/

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Monday, March 11, 2013

The Bachelor Preview: Who Should Win the Final Rose (and What is the Letter)?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/the-bachelor-preview-who-should-win-the-final-rose-and-what-is-t/

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Remake of the 1981 film Evil Dead plays at SXSW

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Plans to remake the 1981 cult horror film "Evil Dead" may have brought some initial skepticism, but with the original filmmakers behind the scenes and a fresh-faced director and cast to inject youthful enthusiasm, the South by Southwest festival crowd welcomed the reboot with open arms.

Sam Raimi, who directed the original, and Bruce Campbell, who starred in it, produced the new "Evil Dead." Fede Alvarez, a Uruguayan directing his first feature-length film, oversaw a small cast with Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lou Taylor Pucci and Elizabeth Blackmore.

The film reimagines the plot of the first Evil Dead but replaced the original five college students on vacation with five high school friends reuniting to help one of them kick a drug addiction. When they find the "Book of the Dead" in their cabin, a demon emerges to possess the students one by one until only one remains.

Gone is the iconic hero Ash, played by Campbell, with Alvarez taking a more ensemble approach that gives Levy and Fernandez equal time.

The mix of fire-hose blood spray, psychological terror and black humor, though, remain true to the campy original that boiled the horror movie genre down to its essence. Robert Tapert, who produced the original and the remake, said Evil Dead was intended for drive-in movies and crowded theaters, but most fans only discovered it on VHS or DVD years later.

"You need to see this with other people, where you can yell and scream. There needs to be a party atmosphere," he said, in explaining his desire to update it. Festival-goers at South by Southwest played right along, cheering, screaming and laughing in all of the right places.

Alvarez said Campbell recruited him to take on the project after years or rumors that he, Raimi and Tapert were planning to remake the low-budget, indie masterpiece t that launched their careers. Alvarez insisted on making the film without computer generated images, instead taking 70 nights to film it using many of the old-school special effects that Raimi used 30 years ago.

"A good movie is about showing real stuff, if you see something fake you wake up from the movie dream," he said. "The other reason was to make the movie timeless. Today's CGI looks great, but five years from now, you say, 'God, what was I thinking?'"

Levy, who stars in the television series "Suburgatory," called the weeks spent in special prosthetics and covered in slimy fluids "torture."

"It was a really long shoot and it felt like it went on forever," she said.

Raimi screened his low-budget 1981 film at the Cannes Film Festival and eventually signed a distribution deal, however the extreme violence and gore initially earned the film an X rating and it still carries an NC-17. The $375,000 movie grossed $2.4 million at the box office, but launched Raimi's career. He made two sequels with Campbell playing Ash, "The Evil Dead II" and "Army of Darkness." The film also spun off a video game, comic book and musical.

Raimi later directed Hollywood blockbusters including the first three "Spider Man" films, "The Gift" and the recently released "Oz The Great and Powerful."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-09-US-FILM-SXSW-Evil-Dead/id-1b5f3aece3fc4ed2bcca269fb1af7780

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In Kenya, dancing, doubt, and sighs of relief as Kenyatta wins presidency

Uhuru Kenyatta got 50.07 percent in an election that stood in sharp contrast to the 2007 vote, which saw deadly outbreaks of violence. His opponent has said he'll challenge the results.?

By Fredrick Nzwili,?Correspondent / March 9, 2013

Kenya's President-Elect Uhuru Kenyatta waves to supporters after leaving the National Election Center in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, March 9. He won 50.07 percent of the vote to be Kenya's next president.

Ben Curtis / AP

Enlarge

Uhuru Kenyatta is poised to become the country's next leader, in an election that has raised concerns about vote-rigging and whose results are being challenged by opponent Raila Odinga.?

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Supporters of Mr. Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding president, celebrated his election victory with singing and dancing after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission declared that the Jubilee Alliance Coalition candidate had won 50.07 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff. The election saw a record turnout estimated at 82 percent. Some said it may also be the highest turnout ever in Africa.

Even as the celebrations by supporters got under way, however, Mr. Odinga?s Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) told a news conference that he will immediately challenge the results in the Supreme Court, saying democracy was on trial in Kenya.

?The figures in some of my strongholds were reduced, while those of [Kenyatta's] Jubilee were increased,? said Mr. Odinga, citing as an example Dhiwa Constituency in his stronghold of Nyanza County.

For many ordinary Kenyans, however, the declaration of a winner after a tense week of tallying votes came as a relief, given the backdrop of the previous election in 2007, which erupted into violence that killed more than 1,100 people.??

?The President elect is leader for all, and I think he has been elected through a fair contest. Those who have lost the election should concede. I did not vote for Kenyatta, but I will support him. He is my president,? says John Otieno, a young auto-parts dealer who had traveled to Nairobi from the western city of Kisumu, about 350 kilometers (210 miles) away.??I urge all Kenyans to unite and accept the polls. I want the president to embrace all parts of Kenya, even the regions that did not vote for him."?

?Tabitha Ndigirigi, a longtime trader and CORD supporter, was not so charitable, arguing that there had been fraud in counting the votes.

?The win is not authentic. I challenge it. I think the vote has been stolen,? says Ms. Ndigirigi.

But Peter Mwangi, a security guard in Nairobi who voted for Odinga, says he thinks lodging a suit would be futile. Although he is disappointed, he is joining the celebrations.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/DgqdIvXJA70/In-Kenya-dancing-doubt-and-sighs-of-relief-as-Kenyatta-wins-presidency

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz Says Gabby Giffords Is 'Doing So Well'

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., DNC Chair and close friend of former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, said "Gabby is doing so well." Wasserman Schultz joined ABC News in a web exclusive after her appearance on the "This Week" roundtable Sunday, discussing her political career and personal motivations, Chuck Hagel's selection as defense secretary, in addition to sharing news about Giffords.

"Gabby is doing so well. She's made tremendous progress. She continues to make progress," Wasserman Schultz said. "She's given a couple of short speeches. We saw how incredible she was during her testimony in front of the United States Senate. She's started an organization with her husband, Mark Kelly, Americans for Responsible Solutions. And they're advocating all over the country for a responsible approach to dealing with gun violence and gun safety."

Read More Below:

What are your political plans for the future? Would you consider running for president?

"Well, you know, I was just reelected to my fifth term in the House of Representatives and it is such a privilege to represent my community in South Florida in Washington. I'm focused on doing the best job I possibly can for them. At the same time, President Obama asked me to take on another term as chair of the Democratic National Committee, so I'm focused on that for right now and trying to get a handle on this deficit and continue to get the economy turned around. You know? we'll address my future plans down the road."

What motivates you to do the job you do, every day?

"Well that's easy - my three incredible children. I have twin thirteen year-olds and a nine-year-old. And they really are my motivation to make the world a better place, to help make other people's lives better. That's what my public service has been all about and, you know, I look at all the decisions that I make through the lens of being their mom."

How do you feel about President Obama's selection of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary?

"I think President Obama's selection of Secretary Hagel, who was just confirmed by the Senate, was a wise one. Secretary Hagel is going to represent the United States very well across the country. I think the combination of his experience as a United States senator and also, his background as a Vietnam veteran and the first enlisted soldier to rise all the way to the post of Secretary of Defense is going to serve our troops well."

Lightning Round: iPhone or Blackberry ?

"Actually, Samsung Galaxy."

Favorite movie this year?

"Lincoln, for sure."

Comfort food?

"Baked potatoes."

Like "This Week" on Facebook here. You can also follow the show on Twitter here.

University of Miami geologists to address the mystery of an evolution gap in reef corals

Public release date: 11-Mar-2013
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Contact: Annette Gallagher
a.gallagher1@umiami.edu
305-284-1121
University of Miami

National Science Foundation funds UM project to study the evolution of corals along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic

One of the greatest mysteries of modern coral reefs is how they evolved from ancient corals. A critical knowledge gap has long existed in the record of coral evolution. This evolutionary gap occurs during a period of dramatic fluctuations in sea level and changes in the Earth's climate between 1 and 2 million years ago. During this period many "old" corals went extinct, and the modern reef corals emerged. To fill this key temporal gap and understand the evolutionary and ecological transition to modern Caribbean reefs, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded a University of Miami (UM) project to study corals along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. It is one of the few areas that contain a record of coral reefs from this period of climatic change.

"Our preliminary fieldwork has indicated that the Dominican Republic contains rocks that bridge this critical reef evolution gap," said James Klaus, lead investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, at the UM College of Arts and Sciences. "The Dominican Republic is a valuable site because it was submerged for a long period of time, and has now been uplifted to make the coral-rich deposits accessible."

The NSF grant is $250,000 for two years. During that time, the team will work to pinpoint the evolutionary transition from the now extinct coral Stylophora, to modern reefs dominated by the genus Acropora (staghorn and elkhorn corals) and evaluate how reef ecosystems respond to climate change.

"These corals work in concert to construct the reef edifice, and just below the living surface form the underlying limestone rock," says co-investigator Ali Pourmand, assistant professor in the Division of Marine Geology & Geophysics, at the UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "To geologists and paleontologists, these limestones represent just the latest growth, and what lies beneath may provide clues to both the past and future of coral reefs."

Fundamental to the study is the ability to tell the ages of the corals. To help with this age assessment, the team will utilize a recently established geochemical laboratory that couples a laser sampling device and mass spectrometer to produce high-precision age dates of the corals.

"Being able to tell time in these rocks is our biggest challenge," says Donald McNeill, co-investigator of the project and senior scientist in the Division of Marine Geology and Geophysics, at the Rosenstiel School. "We need to put the evolutionary changes in a time context to link them with sea level and climate changes that were happening both locally and globally."

The research team will develop an integrated model of coral reef development for the critical time gap that includes the controlling factors of climate change, sea level, tectonics, and the maximum growth rate of dominant reef builders. The findings will provide a valuable record of tropical climates and the growth of coral reefs.

###

About the University of Miami

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of our diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. http://www.miami.edu.

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University of Miami geologists to address the mystery of an evolution gap in reef corals

Public release date: 11-Mar-2013
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Contact: Annette Gallagher
a.gallagher1@umiami.edu
305-284-1121
University of Miami

National Science Foundation funds UM project to study the evolution of corals along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic

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About the University of Miami

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uom-uom031113.php

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Real Estate Site Trulia Files For $150M Follow-On Offering For More Acquisitions, Possibly Mergers

Get ready for some more M&A activity in the real estate sector. This morning, the real estate search engine Trulia announced that it is looking to raise up to?~~$100.3 million~~?$150 million in a follow-on offering, with "some or all of such net proceeds to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, products, services, technologies, or other assets." Trulia went public last year, and currently has 23.6 million monthly active users. Update: today's follow-on filing is an amendment that includes the partial release of some shares owned by "certain officers and directors of the company" that were previously locked up. A spokesperson says that it is for $150 million, with $100 million going to company reserves.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wcSsEvdNi9w/

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Hello world - DIY Home Improvement, Remodeling & Repair Forum

Hi everyone, I greet you from Utah. Take me to your leader.

I am John. I have an amazing wife and we just had our first child. I work as a city planner. I am loving life. As I enjoy home improvement, I thought signing up for this forum would be a good idea.

I look forward to joining this community!

Source: http://www.houserepairtalk.com/f39/hello-world-15681/

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Triple Dip ? March for Meals 5k, Colorectal Cancer Awareness 5k ...

Triple Dip March 2013 004

One of the most difficult aspects of trophy hunting is choosing the right race. I mean, nothing is more frustrating than carefully calculating the factors of rurality, small attendance, the undercard event, ?and poor publicity only to have Joe McSpeedy home from college come out in his singlet and blow it all to hell. Of course, what if you didn?t have to choose? What if the stars aligned for three races to be perfectly geographically and temporally spaced to allow for the rarest of rare among the obsessively race addicted ? the triple dip?

John Gasque, who runs our Tour de Columbia, first pointed this out to me a few months back. Sure enough, on March 2, my birthday weekend no less, ?a possible triple dip had shaped up. The March for Meals 5k at Riverbanks Zoo was at 7:30, a new race called the Colorectal Cancer Awareness 5k was at 8:30 at Maxcy Gregg park, and Race Judicata was at 10 at Hand Middle School. ?It was going to be tight, but physically possible, to get all three in. The main logistical factor was the March for Meals -Colorectal transition. March for Meals has a brutal course that will either produce a slow time or physically destroy you?possibly both. ?There?s about 10 minutes minimum between the Zoo and Maxcy Gregg. So even blasting out the MFM 5k, hauling ass into downtown, finding a parking spot and picking up the race packet was going to take at least 45 minutes. Notice I failed to mention physically recovering from a grueling 5k effort. Ain?t nobody got time for that.

With the triple dip in place, I sent out the opportunity in the Columbia Running Club newsletter in attempt to get some takers. Sure enough there were a few others that were also psychotic enough to give it a try. ?Gasque, James Hicks, and Cheryl and Tommy Outlaw were on board. Valerie Selby, Henry Holt and Carol Caulk were also interested but were going to double dip instead. I offered five bonus Tour de Columbia points to anyone finishing all three.

And lets not forget Trophy. He gets wind of my triple attempt and sees a prime opportunity to end his 4 year losing streak in 5ks, and signs up for Judicata, the 3rd race. Well, I figure if he?s going that route, by all means people should know about it. The week prior I made sure the showdown was prominently featured in the newsletter and on the CRC facebook page. Pretty soon Trophy realized he had gotten himself into a lose-lose situation? ? win and its because I was weakened by three 5ks, lose and its an even greater shame.

Besides beating Trophy, my main goal was to break 20 minutes?in March for Meals, the last Columbia race I had yet to accomplish this. I also hoped to at least pick up some age group placements in the other 2 races.

I arrrived at March for Meals about an hour early, and the place is already packed?excpet no one?s in the zoo. Everyone is in the outside parking lot that I was goign to use for my quick getaway. It takes me a few minutes but then I realize the problem ? a very long train is just sitting there on the tracks blocking the entrance. No one can get in. I run a mile warmup and come back, and there?s no movement of the train. I stroll up to the entrance road, and Annie the RD is trying everything humanly possible to get this train moving. The bad part is that she knows it will delay the start, probably to 8:00. I?m already panicking, because there?s no way to make it to Colorectal in time with a late start. Luckily a few minutes later she tells us she can probably get things going at 7:45. Man this is going to be close. This race has already had some bad luck ? it had to be postponed last year because of a tornado watch.

Finally the train starts moving and we all get into the zoo at 7:30,? right when the race was supposed to start. I grab my bib and painfully watch minutes tick away at the start.? At 7:46 we get the go ahead to start, which is amazingly quick considering the amount of people registered. With the start I take off like a maniac, as every second is going to count in getting downtown in time for race #2.? Plexico and two kids blast out from the front , along with a crossfit guy behind them. I lag behind mr crossfit and try to tightrope that fine line between optimal speed and complete bonkapalooza. You have to blaze the flat part of this course. Why? Because a good part of mile 2 is a tightly winding 12 percent grade through a mountain on the other side of the river from the zoo.?You?re doing well to do 8 minute pace up the worst part of it. I mean, there?are freaking steps on this thing. ?My first year doing this race I didnt know about the mountain and about puked up a lung trying to climb it. Luckily crossfit guy wasnt quite prepared either, and I pass him on one of the staircases. By the time I reach the top I am sucking some serious wind. They then make you dip a little and run up another incline. Awesome. Following this torture is a complete freefall on a paved road down the other side. There is no elegant way to go down this thing, especially since the mountain climbing has just obliterated you. I basically flop myself down the hill, feels like I?m beating my quads with a sledgehammer. Back over the bridge and you have to wind through the back alleys of a number of animal exhibits. One of these is the elephant area. I assure you when you?re breathing at maximum capacity, elephant poop is 100 times more unpleasant. I can see the two kids ahead of me, but I can tell I probably wont be able to catch them. I have no idea what my pace is, because my new Garmin went into power save mode waiting at the start. As I approach the final stretch in the parking lot, I can make out low 19?s, so I blast it hard and finish in 19:45, a course record by 30 seconds (though dates back to 2011). Goal number one reached. I had no idea at the time, but also managed 4th overall and 1st in AG. I am half delirious, but as soon as I stumble past the finish, I turn around, grab my camera from Trophy (who came to watch) and a water, and?start walk/jogging to my car. And I am just toast. I jump in the car still gasping for breath and take off..departure time 8:09 from the zoo.

After flying down the highway?, ?Huger, and Blossom St, I pull into Maxcy Gregg right at 8:20. I had to make myself a parking spot on the grass, and run another quarter mile to the packet pick-up. Of course everyone?s done with that so I?m able to get my bib immediately, and ?just in time at 8:25. Whew. So I made it, barely. Did I mention I was still wrecked from March for Meals? ?I was. Like ready-to-jog-the-Colorectal wrecked. I lined up still sweating from MFM and all the stress in getting downtown. Somehow Gasque and James made it there in time, having even less time to work with. Gasque was smart as he had done early packet pick up and didnt have to deal with that aspect. He?s an experienced double dipper. At the start I realize there?s no elite people at all. A trophy hunter?s dream. Except this trophy hunter is at 40 percent tops, so all I?m thinking about is finishing.

Until the race starts of course. Lead guy , who looks pretty fit, jumps out and starts gapping the field very early. OK, so an unknown ringer, I thought.? His friend, a shorter guy is back quite a bit in second, and a girl/guy tandem is running together right in front of me. I take off probably close to 7 minute pace, just figuring I need to tempo this run and save some for the Trophy showdown. Problem is that a mile into the race, lead guy has slowed down and I can easily see the pace car. And even in my weakened state, I start getting manaiacally competitive again. I pass the couple and start ramping up the pace . OK, just hang out here and you?ll be good. But damned if the other guys start falling back a bit. After a 7 minute first mile, I hit mile 2 at like 6:30. Lead runner is still in range and number 2 is looking back . Probably can hear the sasquatch footfalls. I start closing in on number two but he actually kicks it in some in the last half mile. After ramping it up into near actual 5k pace, I back off because I know I have third in the bag (letting cars in behind me) and my legs are jello anyway.? I cross in 20:23 3rd overall, 1st in AG.

There was actually plenty of time between Colorectal and Judicata, especially since the two races are so close together. I made sure to rehydrate and actually eat a little. Still pretty obliterated from March for Meals but the Colorectal tempo-ish run seemed to flush out some of the lactic acid. ?Instead of speeding down the road in a half delirious state, I was able to leisurely make my way to Shandon.

Trophy was already there, preparing for his big moment. The Diesels have showed up to document the showdown. Pretty meager crowd for this one. ?The Color Run had a couple thousand people and presumably some people who do actual road races, and between this and the two other races, Judicata was left the scraps. This race is always a crapshoot. On one hand the course is awesomely flat and they usually have nice gift certificates for awards. On the other hand, the race is put on by a group of law students, that changes each year, ?most of whom have no idea what they are doing. Last year they did 20 year age groups. In 2010 they had a volunteer leading everybody the wrong way.

At the start Plex is there for his double dip, and to assure that the Trophy-Blue Shoes challenge doesnt end up being a fight for the win. ?Gasque, James Hicks, and the Outlaws are there to complete their triple dipping as well. Henry Holt, Valerie Selby and Carol Caulk are the also there for their second race of the morning. ?Geary, Travis Moran and Amanda Charlton are on board to make sure we keep up the pace. ?CRC members Ashley Horton and Bryn Schiele are there, along with The State?s Otis Taylor, who has been gearing up for his first half marathon (Columbia Marathon half) the next week.

With the starting gun, Trophy blasts off like its a 400 meter race. Knowing my only goal is to beat him, and not knowing how my endurance is going to hold up, ?I tuck in behind him and let him set the pace. ?After a half mile I pull even with him , engaging in a little Billy Tisdale psychological warfare. ?In the distance I can see Jen and Diesel, ?so I pass Trophy and start throwing down. This is not what I wanted to do, and possibly a recipe for disaster, but my tendency towards being an attention whore apparently overrides any sense of race strategy. ?My new Garmin is still giving me trouble, so apparently I let it power down again and its not on. ?The mile marker has a guy reading times and he yells out a 6:04. ?? Pretty sure the mile mark or the time is wrong. ?In either case, Trophy is behind me. ?Our absolute sprint/kick is pretty similar, ?and he?s definitely going to win that battle after my 3 5ks, so I feel like I have to have a nice lead near the end. ?Plexico is already in another zip code, but Travis is running not too far ahead in 2nd. I use him as a pacer and try to reel him in as much as I can. Surprisingly, once the initial pain of ramping back up to race pace is done, I feel relatively OK. Relative to wanting to die, at least. ?I?m able to hold the same pace through the second mile. ?About 2.25 miles in, I see Plex pop out of a side street ahead and I realize something isnt right. I know there?s a turn off to the right at some point but I don?t see anything marked and Travis is going straight, following Ryan. Damned if I?m turning right on one of these streets just to have Trophy beat me on a misdirect, so I just follow the two ahead of me. ?We turn left at the end of the next block and realize were back on the right course. Another right and its just a straightaway to the finish. Nothing helps me more than a glimmer of red clock digits, so I blast into a world of pain as usual. Travis? kick apparently is pretty strong because he?s able to hold back the rabid bear behind him. In the last block I do take one cautionary look back just to make sure Trophy isnt going to stealth blue shoe me. ?Luckily, nobody is there. ?The clock tells me the course is ridiculously short, low 17?s, so I coast on in. Finished in 17:37, 3rd overall, 1st in AG. Informal garmin survey had the distance in the 2.9?s, so probably a decent time for me anyway, but I guess I?ll never know.

Trophy did finish about a minute later (18:32, 5th overall) . ?In addition to this being a no-win situation for him, ?I should note he had been sick in the week leading up to the race and less than 100% on race day too. ?Victory is still sweet though.

Gasque, James, and the Outlaws all completed their triples, along with Henry Holt, Carol Caulk, Valerie Selby and the Plex doubling up. ?The Lightning brought home two easy wins. They did correct the age groups down to 10 year increments?until age 50, where apparently they just gave up ?and lumped everyone from 50-98 in the same group. ?WTF? ?Something tells me were going to have to have a meeting with these guys next year if they want to be on the Tour de Columbia. ? I did win a 20 dollar gift certificate to the Tropical Grill downtown, which I doubt I?ll make it to ? so let me know if you want it!

http://runningtime.info/2013/030213R.htm

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/13COLORECTAL.TXT

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/13JUDICATA.TXT

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Source: http://tourdeblueshoes.com/2013/03/10/triple-dip-march-for-meals-5k-colorectal-cancer-awareness-5k-race-judicata-5k-3213/

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NRC: 2 years after Japan, US nuke plants safer

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2013 file photo, Allison M. Macfarlane, the chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, talks about her tour of the troubled San Onofre Nuclear Power Station in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. The plant, located between Los Angeles and San Diego, hasn't produced electricity since January 2012 after a tiny radiation leak led to the discovery of excessive wear on hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water. Macfarlane said in an interview that the agency won't let the San Onofre plant reopen until regulators are certain it can operate safely, which may take several months. She says performance of U.S. plants is "quite good.'' Macfarlane says all but five of the nation's 104 reactors were performing at acceptable safety levels at the end of last year. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two years after the nuclear crisis in Japan, the top U.S. regulator says American nuclear power plants are safer than ever, though not trouble-free. A watchdog group calls that assessment overly rosy.

"The performance is quite good," Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane said in an interview with The Associated Press.

All but five of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors were performing at acceptable safety levels at the end of 2012, Macfarlane said, citing a recent NRC report. "You can't engage that many reactors and not have a few that are going to have difficulty," she said.

But the watchdog group, the Union of Concerned Scientists, has issued a scathing report saying nearly one in six U.S. nuclear reactors experienced safety breaches last year, due in part to weak oversight. The group accused the NRC of "tolerating the intolerable."

Using the agency's own data, the scientists group said 14 serious incidents, ranging from broken or impaired safety equipment to a cooling water leak, were reported last year. Over the past three years, 40 of the 104 U.S. reactors experienced one or more serious safety-related incidents that required additional action by the NRC, the report said.

"The NRC has repeatedly failed to enforce essential safety regulations," wrote David Lochbaum, director of the group's Nuclear Safety Project and author of the study. "Failing to enforce existing safety regulations is literally a gamble that places lives at stake."

NRC officials disputed the report and said none of the reported incidents harmed workers or the public.

Monday marks the two-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that crippled Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. U.S. regulators, safety advocates and the industry are now debating whether safety changes imposed after the disaster have made the nation's 65 nuclear plants safer.

New rules imposed by the NRC require plant operators to install or improve venting systems to limit core damage in a serious accident and set up sophisticated equipment to monitor water levels in pools of spent nuclear fuel.

The plants also must improve protection of safety equipment installed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and make sure they can handle damage to multiple reactors at the same time.

Macfarlane, who took over as NRC chairwoman last July, said U.S. plants are operating safely and are making progress on the new rules, which impose a deadline for completion of 2016 ? five years after the Fukushima disaster. "So far, industry seems to be cooperating," she said.

The NRC has been working closely with plant operators "to make sure they understand what we are requiring and that we understand about their situation as well," Macfarlane said.

Even so, the U.S. industry faces a range of difficulties. Problem-plagued plants in Florida and Wisconsin are slated for closure, and four other reactors remain offline because of safety concerns. Shut-down reactors include two at the beleaguered San Onofre nuclear power plant in southern California, which hasn't produced electricity since January 2012, when a tiny radiation leak led to the discovery of damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.

Macfarlane said the agency won't let the San Onofre plant reopen until regulators are certain it can operate safely, which may take several months.

Joseph Pollock, vice president of Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade association, said plant operators are "working aggressively" to meet the 2016 timeline set by the NRC and have already spent upwards of $40 million on safety efforts. Utilities have bought more than 1,500 pieces of equipment, from emergency diesel generators to sump pumps and satellite phones, Pollock said, and the industry is setting up two regional response centers in Memphis and Phoenix.

The industry expects to meet the 2016 timeline "with the current understood requirements," Pollock said. If the requirements change or new regulations are added, "then obviously we would have to review that," he said.

Even before the new rules are completely in place, the NRC is considering a new regulation related to the Japan disaster: requiring nuclear operators to spend tens of millions of dollars to install filtered vents at two dozen reactors.

NRC staff recommended the filters as a way to prevent radioactive particles from escaping into the atmosphere after a core meltdown. The filters are required in Japan and throughout much of Europe, but U.S. utilities say they are unnecessary and expensive.

The Nuclear Energy Institute said filters may work in some situations, but not all. The group is calling for a "performance-based approach" that allows a case-by-case determination of whether filtering is the best approach to protect public safety and the environment.

"We're not against filtering. It's how you achieve it," said Marvin Fertel, the group's president and CEO.

The filter issue has ignited a debate on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers from both parties have sent out a flurry of dueling letters for and against the proposal. Twenty-eight Republicans in the House and Senate, joined by more than two dozen House Democrats, have sent letters opposing the requirement as hasty and unnecessary.

A dozen Democratic senators and five House members have written letters backing the requirement, which they say will ensure public safety in the event of a Japan-style accident. The five-member commission is expected to vote on the issue in the next few weeks.

"It's not the time to be rash with hasty new rules, especially when the NRC has added 40-plus 'safety enhancements' " to its initial requirements following the Japan disaster, said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the committee, said the filters were needed to protect the 31 U.S. nuclear reactors that have similar designs to the ones that melted down in Japan.

The filters "world reduce the amount of radioactive material released into the environment" in a severe nuclear accident, Boxer wrote in a letter signed by 11 fellow Democrats. "These technologies have been demonstrated in nuclear plants around the world."

Boxer, whose committee has held seven oversight hearings since the Japan disaster, has asked the NRC to report to her on the agency's progress implementing the post-Fukushima safety reforms.

"It is vital that U.S. nuclear power plants fully incorporate the lessons learned from this disaster," she said.

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter; https://twiitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-10-Nuclear%20Safety/id-5aaccd527b3648f38b4bd0d1304e2d55

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Complaint against MobileStore.in - Not delivering phone purchased ...

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is with regard to my MobileStore.in order number - 3110386187374. I placed this order on 25th of Feb 2013 for an HTC One X plus Black with an accessory. But the order got placed for the white color. It could be their system or me that the order got placed for wrong color.

If you go to the link - The Mobile Store: Buy Online at Lowest Prices in India - Mobile Phones, Tablets, Cell Phones, Accessories, Batteries, Bluetooth, Chargers and more
and click on the phone name - it takes me to HTC One X plus black color. I want the mobile in black color and not in white.
On the same day (25th of Feb 2013), I made a request for change in color of the phone.

I called their call center a number of times to check the status of the order and to request for the change in color, but most of the times I get the response that the concerned team is not available. When I called them I got no definite response from their team and no one else seems to bother about the same and are always ready to take up the complaint but no action has been taken yet.

I was supposed to gift the phone to my Father on his anniversary which I could not.

Please find the complaint numbers below:
msco10012547 - change of color and no follow through with the complaint
msco10012822 - non delivery
msco10012824 - no follow through with the complaint and customer

As a customer I really regret going to their website and trying to purchase an item. Things and delay can be understandable when an action is taken or at least a communication is made to the customer about no action being taken yet. I am calling their department twice daily but getting no satisfactory answer. Recently they told me that the black color phone is out of stock and I will get the order whenever the phone is available with no definite date. When I forced them to call their supervisor (initially they did not want to), their supervisor (which I think they were lying about) told me that if I cancel my order it will take 3 weeks to get my money back as I chose to pay by EMI option. I am not sure what to do, as the amount will be reflected in my credit card statement soon and I don't even have the product. And if I cancel the product, they might not return my money the same way they are not dispatching the phone.

I am working in a private company and I have to waste my time while I am working because I have to deal with their team daily.

Kindly help me with my order as the money that I have paid is a huge amount to me.

Thanks and regards,
Manan Garg

Source: http://www.consumercourt.in/online-shopping/125464-complaint-against-mobilestore-not-delivering-phone-purchased-25th-feb-2013-a.html

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Afghan leader alleges US, Taliban are colluding

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sits among the audience prior to his nationally televised speech about the state of Afghan women in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March, 10, 2013. Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave as planned by the end of next year. Karzai says two deadly suicide bombings on Saturday show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to help show that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a nationally televised speech about the state of Afghan women in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March, 10, 2013. Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave as planned by the end of next year. Karzai says two deadly suicide bombings on Saturday show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to help show that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, left, is greeted by members of the U.S. Army and Marines during his visit to the Kabul Military Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 10, 2013. Hagel is on his first trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, Pool)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave ? an allegation the top American commander in Afghanistan rejected as "categorically false."

Karzai said two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday ? one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province ? show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to demonstrate that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014.

"The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents," he said during a nationally televised speech about the state of Afghan women.

Karzai is known for making incendiary comments in his public speeches, a tactic that is often attributed to him trying to appeal to Taliban sympathizers or to gain leverage when he feels his international allies are ignoring his country's sovereignty. In previous speeches, he has threatened to join the Taliban and called his NATO allies occupiers who want to plunder Afghanistan's resources.

U.S. and NATO forces commander Gen. Joseph Dunford said Karzai had never expressed such views to him, but said it was understandable that tensions would arise as the coalition balances the need to complete its mission and the Afghans' move to exercise more sovereignty.

"We have fought too hard over the past 12 years, we have shed too much blood over the last 12 years, to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage," Dunford said.

Karzai also denounced the arrest of a university student Saturday by Afghan forces his aide said were working for the CIA. It was unclear why the student was detained.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said in an interview with The Associated Press that the CIA freed the student after Karzai's staff intervened, but that Karzai wants the alleged Afghan raiders arrested. The president issued a decree on Sunday banning all international forces and the Afghans working with them from entering universities and schools without Afghan government permission.

The Karzai government's latest comments and actions come as it negotiates a pact with the U.S. for the long-term presence of American forces in Afghanistan and just days after an agreement to transfer a U.S. prison outside of Kabul to Afghan authority fell through. They also came during U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's first visit to Afghanistan since becoming the Pentagon chief, a trip made in part to meet with Karzai. Hours after Karzai's speech, their joint news conference was canceled by officials citing security concerns, though officials said the two men still planned to meet privately.

Karzai said in his speech that any foreign powers that want to keep troops in Afghanistan need to do so under conditions set forward by Afghanistan.

"We will tell them where we need them, and under which conditions. They must respect our laws. They must respect the national sovereignty of our country and must respect all our customs," Karzai said.

Karzai offered no proof of coordination, but said the Taliban and the United States were in "daily negotiations" in various foreign countries and noted that the United States has said that it no longer considers the insurgent group its enemy. The U.S. continues to fight against the Taliban and other militant groups, but has expressed its backing for formal peace talks with the Taliban to find a political resolution to the war.

Karzai said he did not believe the Taliban's claim that they launched Saturday's attacks to show they are still a potent force fighting the United States. "Yesterday's explosions, which the Taliban claimed, show that in reality they are saying they want the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan," Karzai said.

In the incident at the Kandahar university Saturday, presidential spokesman Faizi said the raiders fired shots as they grabbed student Abdul Qayoum, and blindfolded him before taking him for interrogation at a CIA post that Taliban leader Mullah Omar once used as a home.

The CIA could not be reached for comment.

The CIA has trained an Afghan counterterrorist force several thousand strong, known as the Counterterrorism Pursuit Team, which works mostly in insurgent strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan. U.S. officials say they work in concert with the Afghan intelligence service, but Karzai frequently complains he lacks oversight over their operations.

____

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Heidi Vogt contributed to this report from Kabul.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-10-Afghanistan/id-e7f8ac9e6c3c474a86fa8321ff384e07

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