Philanthropy Notes: March 2013 | Capital Research Center

By Matthew Vadum | March 12, 2013, 10:58 AM EDT

Research Topics:

President Obama finally found a few groups that he doesn?t want to give tax dollars. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has refused to provide aid to more than 200 houses of worship in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions affected by ?Superstorm? Sandy, which made landfall in late October. But ?there?s no constitutional reason why houses of worship, which often are the first to provide timely disaster relief to hard-hit communities, should be categorically banned from receiving relief funds to repair buildings. In fact, continuing the practice of allowing zoos and museums to obtain the funds while shutting out churches expresses precisely the kind of hostility toward religion that the Establishment Clause rejects,? said Daniel Bloomberg, legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Nonprofit leaders warned lawmakers at a congressional hearing last month that tinkering with charitable deductions could have serious consequences, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. ?Substantially limiting the charitable deduction at a time when people are still reeling from the recession, unemployment is high, and charities are facing government cutbacks simply makes no sense,? said David Wills, president of the National Christian Foundation, testifying on behalf of the Alliance for Charitable Reform. The House Ways and Means Committee heard that limiting the value of the charitable deduction would discourage giving and compel nonprofits to cut back on the services they provide to those in need. The committee created 11 working groups to prepare for the tax reform debate, including one focusing on charitable organizations.

Conservatives are still severely outgunned in the world of philanthropy, David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin write in their recent book, The New Leviathan (Random House). As of 2009, ?the financial assets of the 115 major tax-exempt foundations of the Left identified by our researchers added up to $104.56 billion,? or 10 times greater than the financial assets of the 75 major foundations of the Right.

The John S. & James L. Knight Foundation released a statement saying it regrets paying author Jonah Lehrer $20,000 to speak at a conference. Lehrer, an admitted plagiarist, was to speak about a book he wrote on decision making but instead spoke about the scandal last year over his unethical behavior . ?There are important lessons here for all of us as decision makers and supporters of information projects,? said the foundation?s president Alberto Ibarg?en. Foundation partners should not ?think that journalism controversies are too hot for them to handle ? we want to send the message that when things go wrong the best action is to admit the error and get back to work.?

Teach for America founder and CEO Wendy Kopp announced she is stepping down as head of the nonprofit teacher-recruitment group. Kopp will chair the group?s board of directors and remain CEO of its affiliated global network, Teach for All. Current president Matt Kramer and COO Elisa Villanueva will take over as co-CEOs of Teach for America this month.

?GOLDMAN SACHS WATCH

Regulatory changes will soon force Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to severely curtail its participation in its own private equity funds, which provide one of its most lucrative lines of business, the Wall Street Journal reports. The so-called Volcker rule, expected to take effect this summer, was written to prevent banks from making large bets with their own funds. The investment bank will likely have to reduce its investment in the funds to as little as 3 percent, down from the current 37 percent.

Source: http://www.capitalresearch.org/2013/03/philanthropy-notes-march-2013/

the masters warren sapp i robot the big c the visitor king of kings ostara

GOP sends mixed signals on Obama's outreach effort

President Barack Obama leaves the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 12, 2013, after visiting with Senate Democrats in in the first of four meetings with lawmakers this week to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama leaves the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 12, 2013, after visiting with Senate Democrats in in the first of four meetings with lawmakers this week to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? House Republicans are sending mixed signals in agreeing to meet with President Barack Obama for talks over the budget impasse, while Obama is conceding that a political accommodation may be impossible.

On the one hand, many Republicans who long have chided Obama for failing to engage their party on the nation's biggest problems are applauding his newfound outreach ? part of a concerted effort by the president to mend ties with Congress in hopes of reaching a grand compromise on fiscal issues.

On the other hand, neither side is backing down from entrenched positions that have prevented deals in the past ? a status quo scenario that Obama acknowledged could preclude any agreement.

"Ultimately, it may be that the differences are just too wide," he said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"It may be that, ideologically, if their position is, 'We can't do any revenue,' or 'We can only do revenue if we gut Medicare or gut Social Security or gut Medicaid, if that's the position, then we're probably not going to be able to get a deal," he said.

"That won't create a crisis," Obama said. "It just means that we will have missed an opportunity."

The issues separating the two parties are the same as they have been all along ? fundamental disagreements over whether to pair tax increases with budget cuts in an effort to rein in the nation's deficit.

Exhibit A: the House GOP's new budget proposal, crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who ran against Obama as the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee but broke bread with him last week as the president initiated his congressional "charm offensive."

Ryan and House Republicans, who were to meet with Obama at the Capitol on Wednesday, put forward their 2014 budget fully mindful that it would be dead on arrival at the White House and in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The plan, which the White House immediately panned, doubles down on longstanding Republican proposals to slash funding for programs Obama and Democrats sorely want to protect. It includes a repeal of Obama's health care law ? a major component of his legacy ? and Medicare changes that would shift more of the cost to future patients.

At the same time, Obama hasn't budged from his insistence that any budget include new tax revenues ? the key sticking point in February's failed attempt to avert $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that both parties agreed made for bad policy. And Senate Democrats were to unveil a counterproposal Wednesday that aides said would raise taxes by almost $1 trillion and would use savings to repeal the automatic spending cuts ? a nonstarter for House Republicans.

The resolve from both sides to dig in their heels on the most contentious issues raises an important question about Obama's efforts to make nice with Republicans: What's the point?

The president, who was returning to Capitol Hill Wednesday for more discussions, said in the network interview that he was searching for the "common-sense caucus."

Earlier, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters, "We're not naive. There are disagreements and obstacles. But the president is at the head of this effort because he believes deeply in it."

In reaching out to lawmakers, Obama hopes to attract more moderate elements from both parties in Congress to deal comprehensively with the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance. The fence-mending campaign started with a dinner Obama hosted last week at a hotel near the White House for a dozen Senate Republicans and continues this week with the House GOP meeting Wednesday and a pair of closed-door sessions with House Democrats and Senate Republicans on Thursday.

In interviews and on Sunday talk shows, many Republicans on the receiving end of Obama's overtures have praised the president for making an effort ? even if they feel it's too little, too late.

"We welcome it," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday. "I told the president on Friday I hope he'll invite all of our members down for these dinners."

But other Republicans are refusing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt.

Fueling their reluctance is the not-so-distant memory of being hammered by the president on a near-daily basis amid last month's fight over the automatic spending cuts; Obama claimed Republicans alone were responsible for blocking a deal.

"All of a sudden there's a pivot literally overnight, where he wants to come to the caucus and everyone should get out the drums and pound them and sing songs," Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who chairs the House GOP's campaign committee, said in an interview. "It doesn't work like that in any relationship I've been in."

White House aides say Obama is also sensitive to the fact that for Republicans looking ahead to the 2014 elections, appearing too chummy with a Democratic president could inflict more harm than good ? especially for Republicans from conservative states who fear a primary challenge from their right.

A House leadership aide said that Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, believes Obama's outreach is genuine but that GOP leaders perceive it to be geared mostly toward boosting Obama's own standing. The aide was not authorized to discuss publicly internal GOP deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House argues it's the opposite. Freed from the need to run for re-election, aides said, Obama feels more flexibility to strike deals with Republicans that include provisions that liberals in his own party might not want, such as an adjustment for Social Security cost-of-living increases. Obama proposed the idea Tuesday in a meeting with Senate Democrats, but it's not included in the plan Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., was to unveil Wednesday.

Murray's proposal would raise taxes by almost $1 trillion over a decade and cut spending by almost $1 trillion over the same period. But more than half of the combined deficit savings would be used to repeal the spending cuts that began to hit the economy on March 1 and are set to continue through the decade.

The president will release his own budget proposal in early April, although aides are playing down its significance because prospects that Congress will take up his plan are negligible.

___

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-13-Budget%20Battle/id-1221c6cc956241cf9e0dda309b983156

amber rose nascar nba trade deadline diane lane drew peterson Argo bonnaroo

Bill Introduced to Re-Legalize Cellphone Unlocking - Ina Fried ...

Democrats and Republicans may not agree on much these days. But the notion of allowing consumers to unlock their cellphones appears to have some bipartisan support.

A bill was introduced Thursday that would make it once again legal for consumers to unlock their cellphones in order to switch carriers.

Democratic senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal, along with Utah Republican Mike Lee, put forth the Wireless Consumer Choice Act, which would direct the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that the right to unlock phones is preserved. Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, is making a similar move in the House.

?Consumers shouldn?t have to fear criminal charges if they want to unlock their cell phones and switch carriers,? Lee said in a statement. ?Enhanced competition among wireless services is the surest way to increase consumer welfare.?

The move follows the White House decision this week to weigh in on the side of consumers? right to unlock their cellphones, following a petition effort.

?Consumers who have purchased a mobile device, and aren?t bound by a service contract, should be able to use it on another network,? said Blumenthal. ?This legislation is common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring healthy competition in the market.?

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has already voiced support for consumers? right to unlock their phones, and said his agency will explore what role it can play in ensuring their right to do so.

Many carriers, including AT&T, allow customers to unlock their device once they have fulfilled the terms of their contract. However, the CTIA, a trade group representing carriers, supported the Library of Congress position that consumers shouldn?t be able to unlock the devices on their own.

Meanwhile, Sina Khanifar, who started the White House petition drive, is expanding his effort to take on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act itself ? the law under which the Library of Congress determined unlocking to be illegal in the first place.

Source: http://allthingsd.com/20130307/bill-introduced-to-re-legalize-cell-phone-unlocking/

colton bo ryan the last waltz earth day activities mel gibson splunk dark shadows

Personal computer Education and IT Certifications | CulturaPopulara ...

In the competitive world of the net, laptop or computer coaching is needed to gain skills and knowledge in order to get the validation you need to have to be recognized as an professional IT expert confronting all these possibilities and profession challenges that have by no means been greater than right now.

An IT certification is a typical a prerequisite to get a job or a salary enhance, hence expert certifications are a necessity and not just a marketing and advertising approach to sell determined software or useless courses. Each personal computer instruction and IT certification are the very best way to demonstrate your expertise and expertise in any given technical field to present to prospective employers.

Pc training is possible by way of formal education attending a single of the a lot of colleges or university providing both IT and pc science programs. There are a lot of other institutes offering personal computer instruction on-line and personal computer based coaching items and courses for Web Development, Microsoft Workplace, and a variety of Details Technology certifications amongst other individuals.

Laptop or computer coaching online and personal computer based instruction products also provide on-line support from specialist instructors, which make it less difficult to find out with no even leaving the comfort of your residence. From study guides, practice exams, to audio education, video education and on the internet instruction. Pc education delivers distinct specifications and levels of studying to concentrate on anyone?s demands.

On the other hand, IT Certifications not only lets you demonstrate undeniable expertise on diverse IT locations but also a document that credits your qualifications enhancing your curriculum vitae whether or not if obtaining a new job or engaging in a new technique-wide deployment.

Additionally, employers are a lot more most likely to employ job candidates with IT Certification credentials considering that it is a way to make certain that they are acquiring leading qualified pros with proven proficiency in their technology area.

For businesses, this is as clear as water, certified pros give them competitive benefit more than other firms in the identical field rising customer satisfaction, minimizing network downtime, and pushing their services to higher levels. A particular person with computer instruction and IT certification translates into an outstanding return on their investment.

In the United States, some of the colleges and universities offering each personal computer education and IT certification are Berkeley College, University of Phoenix On the internet, Kaplan University, AIU On the internet, Capella University, Strayer University Online, Kennedy-Western University, DeVry University, Westwood College On the web, just to name a couple of.

Some firms specialize in on the web certification, coaching and employee testing offer you cost-free tools on-line to measure your abilities and determine if you need to have to achieve particular pc training ability or if an IT certification is needed to create your skilled career. my facility security officer training

In: 2 | | Link ????? 5 vizualizari

Source: http://culturapopulara.ro/?p=29337

amber rose nascar nba trade deadline diane lane drew peterson Argo bonnaroo

Discovery of 'executioner' protein opens door to new options for stroke ALS, spinal cord injury

Discovery of 'executioner' protein opens door to new options for stroke ALS, spinal cord injury

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Oxidative stress turns a protein that normally protects healthy cells into their executioner, according to a study released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Alvaro Estevez, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine, led the multi-university team that made the discovery, which could eventually help scientists develop new therapies to combat a host of conditions from stroke to Lou Gehrig's disease

Researchers have long known that oxidative stress damages cells and results in neurodegeneration, inflammation and aging. It was commonly believed that oxidation made a "crude," demolition-like attack on cells, causing them to crumble like a building in an earthquake, Estevez said. However, the latest findings show that oxidation results in a much more targeted attack to specific parts of the cell. Oxidative stress damages a specific "chaperone" cell protein called Hsp90. It plays a role in up to 200 different cell functions. But when a form of oxidative stress called tyrosine nitration modifies that protein, it turns into the cell "executioner" shutting it down.

"The concept that a protein that is normally protective and indispensable for cell survival and growth can turn into a killing machine, and just because of one specific oxidative modification, is amazing," said Maria C. Franco, a postdoctoral associate at UCF's Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. She co-wrote the study. "Considering that this modified protein is present in a vast number of pathologies, it gives us hopes on finding new therapeutics approaches for several different diseases."

For example, researchers could devise a drug that stroke patients could take at the onset of their symptoms to prevent more healthy cells from dying, thus limiting the damage of the stroke. Because oxidation is linked to inflammation, researchers believe tyrosine nitration could also be related to other health problems including heart disease, cancer, aging and chronic pain.

"These are very exciting results and could begin a major shift in medicine," said Joseph Beckman, from Oregon State University Environmental Health Sciences Center, a collaborator on the study. "Preventing this process of tyrosine nitration may protect against a wide range of degenerative diseases."

"Most people think of things like heart disease, cancer, aging, liver disease, even the damage from spinal injury as completely different medical issues," Beckman said. "To the extent they can often be traced back to inflammatory processes that are caused by oxidative attack and cellular damage, they can be more similar than different. It could be possible to develop therapies with value against many seemingly different health problems."

###

University of Central Florida: http://www.ucf.edu

Thanks to University of Central Florida for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 35 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127130/Discovery_of__executioner__protein_opens_door_to_new_options_for_stroke_ALS__spinal_cord_injury

i want to know what love is courtney mercury retrograde bath salts heart shaped box lucid 2012 ncaa tournament bracket

Accounting

Any accounting system should first be appropriate for the accuracy of illustrating the activity required in the easiest method that can provide the necessary information in accordance with good practices.

Accounting under generally accepted accounting principles is not a requirement for any small company or individual, but doing so is usually the most appropriate, it will save you from converting or modifying categories for taxes and save your accountant many hours.

Any program will follow GAAP I'm sure. But then comes the simplicity of entry and consolidating statements, all are not equal in that respect. If you have some accounting knowledge some simple programs like Quicken can be used. There are also RE programs for non-accountants. I suggest you look to any program with an accounting type and see what fits your needs, what works well for one may not be appropriate for you, so having someone who can see where your skill level is might help.

I used MAS 90, simple for an accountant, it can go from basic to very technical costing applications, cash flow analysis and other accounting issues that the average investor would never need, it's also pretty pricy. Just saying, the complexity of your system should be appropriate for your operation, so don't get more than you'll need.

Lastly, I think you have a mess. A simple accounting system will have property accounts, income and expenses and a general ledger for espenses that are not attributed to a particular property, as well as other income like interest income and accounts for your escrows.
If you are puttingb deposits in with rents in one checking account, you may have problems if you have some tenant crying about misapplication of thier money, even as an individual, state law governs escrow accounts.

As to title, have no idea how that was broken down as you could have all the family or certain members in title.

With 10 properties I'd say you're missing tax advanatges of have these properties in an LLC or business entity and then breaking out interests of the properties to each family member. There is nothing that you could possibly do among family members that can not be properly accounted for in manner consistant with GAAP.

I just don't see your system being the easiest, most appropriate or accurate but I do understand that it is easily understood by all concerned. Your methods may not be compliant with your legal obligations. I really suggest you get with an accountant, get rid of all the checking accounts and have one operating account and one escrow account, then have a captial account for each family member on the books, if anyone needs money to them, write a check to them. :)

Source: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/84495-accounting

football schedule jo paterno dead south carolina tuskegee airmen mike james red tails red tails

Michelle Obama Exclusive: First Comments on Oscars

The produce section in a Springfield, Missouri Wal-Mart may be as far from the Oscars as you can get, and yet that was where we chatted with First Lady Michelle Obama about some of the criticism surrounding her unprecedented appearance at the Academy Awards.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/michelle-obama-oscars-lets-move-and-her-bangs/1-a-524798?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Amichelle-obama-oscars-lets-move-and-her-bangs-524798

doj dept of justice weather chicago swizz beatz mpaa south carolina debate lauren scruggs