Source: CNN

Becki Coats was proud of them, but she didn’t want anyone to see pictures of herself with her new grandchild.

“I couldn’t stand thinking about people saying, ‘Oh, my, what happened to you,’” she said. “Well, I’d become a fat, cuddly grandmother who cannot play with her own grandbaby, that’s what.”

Coats weighed 230 pounds. At 49, she was too heavy — and sidelined with herniated disks and a bum knee — to do her job as a firefighter, so her bosses gave her a desk job. But her physical pain was no match for the anguish to come when over the next year and a half her teenage son died in a car wreck, her mother died and she lost a friend to cancer.

“It was just constant bad news. I was told that if I didn’t lose weight, I was going to lose my job entirely,” she said.

Required to attend a work fitness program, Coats learned about Sparkpeople.com, a free fitness social networking site that, like Facebook, relies on its users to sustain it. They provide basic biographical information and weight loss goals and are automatically transferred to Spark Teams, small chat groups bound by similar shape-up goals.

The ad-supported site lets users build their own Sparkpages — which can be linked to Facebook — and have access to the lively written Sparkblog, which offers advice from certified trainers, the latest health articles and studies and recipes.

When Coats logged on she was connected with seven other women in a “40-something with 25 to 49 pounds to lose” message board. She quickly felt a kinship with these women she’d never met.

“They were talking about life — jobs, husbands, their kids, traveling, getting to know each other like they were your girlfriends sitting at your kitchen table having coffee,” she said. “It’s not like you sign on and it’s all about ‘Drop that weight!’

“Here were women who are going to encourage me to get off my butt but weren’t going to judge me if I didn’t look like a swimsuit model in six months,” she said.

Coats and several of the other women in her chat group met for the first time earlier this month to run the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, California. Each ran a different distance, and they met at the finish line.

“It meant a lot to us to do this together, something that each of us never considered that we’d ever do,” she said.

Spark was launched 10 years ago by a wealthy early eBay investor. It is among the best known secrets in the weight-loss world. According to Comscore, it’s the most visited fitness site with 7 million users (162 million page views in January), but Spark has taken a low-key, word-of-mouth approach compared to its big bucks advertising competitors like Weight Watchers.

“Spark is built on a truth that people love feeling like they’re needed on a team,” said founder Chris Downie, who, along with two business partners, sold his late 1990s online auction site to eBay for a reported $72 million and started Spark.

Power Publicity

Here’s what makes sites like Spark and others so popular.  The anonymity between “chatters” serves as a motivator for otherwise exercise phobes.  When you create a chat room among like-minded individuals, whether you are discussing how to make sweet 16 invitations or exchanging recipes, you create a common bond.  But with the anonymity between you and your online friends, you are more open to others’ ideas and comments, whether they are critiquing your idea for talking birth announcements, or offering advice about teen drug use.  You are more likely to listen and join them on a hike or a run when you’ve already established a connection in some other way.

Downie spends much of his day in his Silicon Valley home messaging back and forth with Spark users or reading what people are talking about in the Sparkcafe. (On February 3, among the 798,784 cafe chatters, nearly 10,000 people were involved in a “Should you eat breakfast?” thread.)

“I always had shyness and anxiety as a kid, and I wanted to create something that would allow users to remain comfortably anonymous if they wanted but still connect,” Downie said.

“The key to me is that I felt supported and not judged,” said Jennifer Lang, an upstate New York psychotherapist who is part of the group. After having her fourth child at 41, Lang weighed 228 pounds.

“I had not exercised in 20 years,” she said. “Really. In 20 years. It just wasn’t a part of my life until it had to become my life or else.”

She found Spark while surfing the Internet and joined other Spark groups, including the pointedly named “Mothers with 2-year-olds.” She faithfully filled in her nutrition tracker every day, a function that not only automates calories but tells you when you type in “Dannon yogurt” what the heck’s really in that container and whether it’s really good for you. It also provides ideas for substitute meals. Spark’s software won’t allow someone to program a diet less than 1,200 calories a day.

A year later, Lang is 50 pounds lighter.

Stories like Lang’s and Coats’ are ubiquitous on Spark. CNN.com signed on to the site and messaged with several users who said they’d shed 5 to 100 pounds.

Many said they didn’t even mind being sent the flurry of Spark e-mails they say didn’t strike them as spam. A few examples: “Where to find the nearest running trail near your home” and “5 Ways to Avoid Hitting the Snooze.” A hip and glute stretch video was short and direct, and another e-mail containing a low-cal recipe did not, like so many in its genre, produce food that tastes like cardboard.

As Lang got healthier, Tammy Rones signed onto the women’s chat group as “Marathon Mom,” even though the 49-year-old’s problems with weight and a clubbed foot sidelined her from most sports over the past few years.

“I never got past being that little girl who thought she couldn’t run,” she said, describing how she would watch Ironman competitions with amazement at the monster triathlon. A trainer told her about Sparkpeople.

Shortly after registering, Spark “woggers” (runners who walk) began sending her instant messages, motivating her to join a real-life running club to work on her foot. Months later, in a burst of extra motivation, Rones completed a 2.4 mile ocean swimming competition and 150-mile bike ride. She also started competing in Spark’s online 5K and 10K races where users post their real-life mileage. It might take a week, but in the virtual races, the first one to complete the total distance wins.

“I’ve always had a competitive side, but Spark has given me the chance to appreciate my successes as opposed to comparing myself to everyone else,” Rones said after running the half portion of the Surf City marathon. “I don’t need to look at a magazine anymore and say, ‘Oh I need to strive for that.’ I’m a size 12, not a size 6, and I’m happy with that, that’s OK.”

____________________________________

My Take: I love the idea of urban meet ups, I don’t care if it’s to talk about Greek apparel, how to craft or make custom bowls.  The idea of a bunch of strangers in real time meeting up to share common interests after creating cyber-connections is fascinating to me.

I have friends who get online every day to talk with people half way across the world about everything from taking photographs for making kids stationary, to the meaning behind the symbols on a Greek shirt.  Women especially benefit from online communities, particularly when it comes to legal issues.  With other women on line to talk to and share ideas or trade experiences with, they arm themselves with information on how to do things like search for a Passaic County alimony attorney.  Maybe one woman has experience hiring and working with a Hackensack New Jersey divorce lawyer and another is about to start the process but not sure what the costs are, what questions to ask on a first visit, or what to expect going forward.  These online connections build strength, confidence and friendships, and, if the chatters decide to take it a step further and join a reading club at a local Starbucks, run a marathon in Jamaica, or take over a golf course for a three-day convention, I say more power to them.

Other Resources:

E-Memory Makers

Paper is so passé.  Or so they say.  When it comes to creating lasting memories, why not try creating an online memorial website for someone who has passed away.  Or, perhaps you are getting married.  You an also create a great online wedding website that will allow you to share photos and blogs and more with your friends and family for years to come.  The folks at weddingpaperdivas.com will let you create a free wedding album to match your invites.

Source: Associated Press

Democrats struggling to enact President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul may take a seldom-used Senate shortcut. That prospect has infuriated Republicans who, it turns out, have used the process far more than Democrats.

That’s just one hint of the pressures, emotions and uncertainty that Democrats’ use of the so-called reconciliation process would unleash for both sides.

It would put an obscure, appointed Senate staffer — its parliamentarian — in a political crucible for one of the year’s most momentous legislative and political showdowns. It would raise questions about how extensive the legislation would be, due to limitations on the process. And in the end, it may boil down to a physical endurance test as GOP senators try stopping the measure with an endless parade of votes.

After a year that has seen nothing go easily in his health care drive, Obama began building a case Thursday for using reconciliation, sometimes called the “nuclear option.” The process would let Senate Democrats derail a GOP filibuster — delays that take 60 votes to end — and muscle a bill through with a simple majority. Republicans have had 41 Senate seats since their surprise win in last month’s Massachusetts special election.

“I think most Americans think that a majority vote makes sense,” Obama told Republicans Thursday at his daylong health care summit with top lawmakers.

Republicans say reconciliation was never meant for legislation as sweeping as reshaping the country’s health care system. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama’s presidential opponent in 2008, told Obama it would harm the nation’s future, while Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., asked him to “renounce this idea of going back to the Congress and jamming through” a reconciliation bill.

History shows that with the tables turned, Republicans have embraced the process. Of the 22 reconciliation bills Congress has sent a president since the procedure was first used in 1980, 16 were approved by a Republican-controlled Senate, including for President George W. Bush’s big 2001 tax cut.

Democrats have resisted using the process until now, in part because they know it could prompt retaliation.

“It would poison the water for any kind of bipartisanship at all on subsequent legislation this year,” said G. William Hoagland, a former top Republican Senate aide. “On things they might want to do on financial reforms or energy or cap and trade, anything. I just think Republicans will say, ‘OK, you can shut this place down and we’ll come back in November’” after congressional elections.

At a time when some think the Massachusetts Senate race and other recent elections show a distaste for an expensive health overhaul and how Washington works, Democrats worry that using reconciliation could turn off some voters.

“If Democrats rely on reconciliation, there will be those who ask, ‘What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?’” said Robert Reischauer, former chief of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Under Democrats’ current plans, the House would approve the huge health overhaul bill the Senate passed Christmas Eve. A separate reconciliation bill would make changes in that measure to reflect compromises Democrats reached among themselves in January.

Reconciliation bills are supposed to reduce the deficit and may not include provisions “extraneous” to taxing and spending.

But What About Voters? What has voters questioning the bill as it now stands has more to do with costs than anything else.  A Denver criminal attorney wants to ensure his benefits for his family aren’t going to force him to pay large out of pocket expenses for certain services as part of a pay off for a public portion of a new universal health care program.  Meanwhile, personal injury attorney Denver CO for example, is also grappling with state budgets and what potential new taxes will mean.

Analysts say that means Democrats would probably change the Senate bill by improving subsidies, easing a tax on high-cost insurance plans, enhancing prescription drug benefits for the elderly and cutting or increasing Medicare and Medicaid. They could eliminate the politically embarrassing federal aid the Senate approved for Nebraska for expanded Medicaid coverage.

But the rules will make it hard for reconciliation to change Senate language covering abortions and eligibility of illegal immigrants, creating a new board to regulate Medicare rates or establishing wellness programs.

Advising the Senate on which items can be included in the bill will be its parliamentarian.

Technically, the presiding senator — in effect, the Democratic majority — makes the final ruling and can only be overridden by 60 votes — which Democrats no longer have. That could create dramatic showdowns, but parliamentarians are seldom ignored for fear of retaliation when a party falls into the minority.

That means enormous pressure for Alan Frumin, 63, the parliamentarian who has served under Republican and Democratic majorities. He did not respond to a request for an interview.

“You come under enormous lobbying by senators on both sides, staff on both sides,” said Robert Dove, parliamentarian under GOP majorities until he lost his job in 2001 after angering Republican leaders with rulings on budget bills. “The Senate is a political institution.”

The rules allow just 20 hours of debate, but Republicans would still have opportunities for delay.

The time limit excludes reading and voting on amendments or breaks known as “quorum calls.” After 20 hours, an unlimited number of amendments can be voted on without pause or debate — an exhausting process informally called “vote-a-rama.”

There is no limit on the number of amendments, so theoretically Republicans can keep proposing them indefinitely. The question is one of endurance.

“They come to an end not because there’s a procedure for ending it, but because people ultimately get exhausted,” said James Horney, a former Democratic congressional aide. “They just quit doing it, they can’t sit there any longer.”

________________________________

My Take: I’m no “rock scientist” as my young son likes to say, but I’m smart enough to recognize smoke and mirrors shows when I see them.  What all this mumbo jumbo means to me is that Obama and the Dems are going to make room for an onslaught of more GOP amendments that will effectively weaken the current bill, in exchange for being able to shorten the amount of time each party is given to debate the merits of the plan and other issues.

If the politicians were in charge of negotiating our own KY refinancing program, for example, and we were paid for every day they put on another floor show of debates and private “peace summits,”  we’d all be wearing the most expensive Tee Shirt designers latest creations and sipping cocktails on the terraces of our Andalucia properties.  But let’s face it: working out a Louisville KY FHA loan with a lender doesn’t involve political sweetners and there are no political lobbyists running around for he designers schmoozing us into wearing those  T shirt designs.  The process is ours alone to go through with the rules and regulations in place to guide us.

Other Resources

If You Had the Money

Ever wonder what it would cost you to even think about owning one of those beautiful Villas in Marbella?  Well, you can browse the latest properties for sale (or lease) along the Spanish Riviera, as it’s known, at http://www.andalucianproperty.com. This site will give you some great basic information about how to get started and what steps you need to take to make sure you’ve got a thorough understanding of Spanish property laws.

Source: Reuters

A Haitian judge is expected to continue with taking testimony accusing two U.S. missionaries of child kidnapping charges who are meanwhile being held in jail.

Investigative judge Bernard Sainvil said that before freeing Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter he wanted witnesses that he had already examined in the Dominican Republic to give their testimony in Haiti.

“The Americans will have to stay in jail while I hear those people … the hearings will take place Monday and Tuesday, and they won’t be released before I finish,” Sainvil told Reuters.

“The people I met in the Dominican Republic all confirmed statements made previously … by the Americans. The statements played in their favor,” he added.

Uncertain Road Ahead

Although much of the testimony against the two U.S. workers seems to lean in their favor, that they were trying to help child victims of the Haitian quake by transporting them across the boarder into the Dominican Republic, there is no telling how this judge will would. But, the case seems to be leaning toward release.

It’s not as if we are dealing with a NJ sex crimes lawyer and children in the U.S. That would be straight forward. Nor are we talking about the transporting kids over the Canadian border and considering provincial offenses. The D.R. and Haitian republic are not easy to understand from the legal perspective and it will be interesting to see how these cases work out.

Sainvil said on Tuesday that Silsby and Coulter could be released this week.

They were among 10 Americans arrested on January 29 on charges that they tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper documentation after the devastating January 12 earthquake.

Eight were released last week, but Silsby, the group leader, and Coulter, her assistant, were held in detention for further questioning.

They have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying they only wanted to help orphans left destitute by the quake.

But they had no Haitian identity or exit papers for the children. Many of the children had living parents who acknowledged turning them over to the missionaries in the belief they would have better care in the hands of the Americans.

Haitian President Rene Preval estimates the magnitude 7 earthquake killed about 300,000 people.

______________________________________

My Take: I’m still not sure I understand what gave these Americans the idea that they could transport kids that don’t belong to them across the border without a governmental nod of approval, or at the very least, permission from the family members. In many of these cases the kids had not seen their parents since the quake, as reported by several news agencies. It doesn’t take your typical Ocean County criminal attorney to automatically figure that somewhere in here some laws were violated. Whether you want to call it kidnapping or not, kids were relocated without consent or country clearance, and that’s just got to be something these guys will have to stand up and face charges on.

Even if these were legitimate aid workers out of New York, I’d be willing to bet that they’d need the help of a pretty solid NY employment contract lawyer to help navigate the laws of working down in Haiti and how they apply to children.

You can bet if the these had been church workers from Long Island accused of drunken driven or some other form of abuse, they’d be calling on thier Cornwall impaired driving lawyer. But it’s difficult to say whether laws in Haiti would apply to the law in the United States as understood by your typical NY Long Island harassment lawyer, or child advocates for that matter.

Other Resources:

Business Sense

Need a good source for managed print services? Going online for your office supplies and tech support services these days makes sense. Whether it’s cloud computing and graphic design, or copy editing or Web page creation services, you can find endless sources online to fulfill these and other business needs. Click here to read a story about Lexmark recently being selected serve as provider of managed print services for one of the biggest manufacturers and distributors of service engines and fuel systems.

Source: New York Times

Cash-strapped homeowners facing foreclosure may seek a short sale as a way out from under an otherwise bad financial situation, in which their homes are sold for less than the mortgage amount, with the balance typically forgiven by the lender.

But with short sales beyond the reach of some homeowners — they typically won’t qualify if they have a second mortgage on the home — another foreclosure alternative is emerging: “deeds in lieu of foreclosure.”

In this transaction, a homeowner simply relinquishes the property, turning over the deed to the bank, in exchange for the lender’s promise not to foreclose.  In a straight foreclosure, a lender takes legal control of the property and evicts the occupants; in deeds-in-lieu transactions, the homeowner is typically allowed to remain in the home for a short period of time after the agreement.

More borrowers will at least have the chance to consider this strategy in the coming months, as CitiMortgage, one of the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders, tests a new program in New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.

Citi recently agreed to give qualified borrowers six months in their homes before it takes them over. It will offer these homeowners $1,000 or more in relocation assistance, provided the property is in good condition. Previously, the bank had no formal process for serving borrowers who failed to qualify for Citi’s other foreclosure-avoidance programs like loan modification.

Citi’s new policy is similar to one announced last fall by Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage company. Fannie is allowing homeowners to return the deed to their properties, then rent them back at market rates.

To qualify for the new program, Citi’s borrowers must be at least 90 days late on their mortgages and must not have a second lien on the home.

That policy may be a significant obstacle for borrowers, since many of the people facing foreclosure originally financed their homes with second mortgages — called “piggyback loans” — or borrowed against the homes’ equity after buying them.

Partly for that reason, Elizabeth Fogarty, a spokeswoman for Citi, said that the bank had only modest expectations for the test. Roughly 20,000 Citi mortgage customers in the pilot states will be eligible for a deed-in-lieu agreement, she said, and of those, about 1,000 will most likely complete the process.

As is often the case with deed-in-lieu settlements, Citi will release the borrower from all legal obligations to repay the loan.

In some states, like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, banks can legally retain the right to pursue borrowers for the balance of the loan after a foreclosure, a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. That is one reason why housing advocates say borrowers should carefully weigh these transactions with the help of a lawyer or nonprofit housing counselor before proceeding.

Avoiding Bankruptcy
A key motivator for turning over a deed is to avoid having a foreclosure on your credit report.  Foreclosure says to lenders that you are a risk and make it very difficult to qualify for a mortgage loan down the road.  As is the case with a bankruptcy, you want to avoid this form of financial surrender at all costs if and wherever possible.  As an SC bankruptcy lawyer about the long-term ramifications of a filing on your credit report, and his or her answers will most certainly match those from any other state bankruptcy attorney: prepare for a long road back to financial stability and forget about credit for the next seven to 10 years.

Ms. Fogarty said Citi had no specific timetable for rolling out the program nationally.

Among the other major lenders, there is no formalized program for deeds-in-lieu. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, for instance, generally require borrowers to try a short sale before considering a deed-in-lieu transaction.

A deed-in-lieu is better for banks than a foreclosure because it reduces the company’s legal costs, and it is better for the homeowners because it is less damaging to their credit score.

Banks may also end up with homes in better condition.

J. K. Huey, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo, says his bank usually offers relocation assistance — often $1,000 to $2,500 — as long as the borrower leaves the property in move-in condition after a deed-in-lieu transaction.

“The idea is to help them transition in a way where they can keep their family intact while looking for another place to live,” Mr. Huey said. “This way, they only have to move once, as opposed to getting evicted.”

_____________________________

My Take: Foreclosures from Los Angeles to New Jersey are rampant and I believe they are expected to get worse.  Every sector of the economy, from sellers of used copiers to the highest paid Monmouth County sex crimes lawyer, has been hammered by the economic fallout that can be directly tied to the wild and wooly days of no-doc mortgage loan approvals.  Even expensive North Carolina personal injury attorneys are feeling the pinch of the ongoing crisis, and, like many small business owners out there, they are having to opt for buying used digital copier instead of that brand new Cannon imagerunner, as well as foregoing other tech upgrades in order to stay afloat.

I would imagine that if you are a Bergen County NJ divorce mediator chances are likely that you are pretty busy.  Ditto for any Passaic County divorce lawyer, as foreclosures in the Garden State are also very high and reports are suggesting more couples are facing divorce over financial trauma right now more than any other issue including infidelity.

Other Recourses:
If you’re in New Jersey and need the services of a solid Monmouth County criminal defense lawyer but are low on cash, visit www.lsnj.org/omls/index.htm.  These guys can help you find a lawyer who will help you with broad range of issues, in some cases even on pro-bono satus.

Source: Reuters

Specialized tours that cater to your whims, such as for Zumba, wine tasting, or een volley ball, are on the rise.

Travel industry experts say these so-called affinity tours are as fast growing as they are far flung.

“It’s really a specialized week that we offer to customers,” said Kate Moeller of Club Med. “I would say if we compare an affinity week to the week prior and after we generally see a 25 to 50 percent increase in that week.”

Moeller said among the global resort group’s offerings are a food and wine experience in the Dominican Republic, a volley ball clinic in Florida and a Zumba fitness and music festival in Mexico.

Most of Club Med’s affinity weeks take place during the industry’s slower, or shoulder, seasons of spring and fall.

“We do it when people are less apt to travel,” Moeller said. “It’s also when consumers can get the best deals.”

It seems no interest is too niche to be ignored. A recent week in Mexico was devoted to food bloggers.

“People who signed up for this were able to meet with different food bloggers and take seminars,” Moeller said.

“We have relatively small properties so we’re able to cater to individual needs. Our resorts typically only have about 300 rooms,” she explained.

Group Think:

Just as on land the high seas are drawing groups of like-minded folks together that you’d normally not think of as the cruising type.  But there’s nothing like a four-day cruise on the azure seas of the Mexican Riviera to get a Phoenix AZ hair doctor contingency together.

Where else could you talk about your success in Phoenix hair restoration without the distractions of phone and e-mail?  Think about what a group of Arlington carpet cleaning executives could accomplish on a ship with nothing but the horizon and revolving banquets to attend?

Terry L. Dale, president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) an association of cruise lines, says affinity cruises are part of a rising trend in group travel.

“Multigenerational travel, food and wine cruises, destination weddings/honeymoons are all popular,” Dale said. “In the case of small ships, it is not uncommon for an affinity group of some sort to charter the entire vessel and plan a customized itinerary.”

Margie Jordan, CEO of ASAP Travel, said her Florida-based company is changing to accommodate the growing market.

“This is an area near and dear to my heart,” Jordan said. “By the end of the second quarter of 2010, my agency will deal primarily with affinity groups.”

She believes it is suited to the economy and a less expensive way to travel.

“You pretty much nail down your expenses before you leave home. And when you’re going to a country where the dollar is strong you pay for the trip up front with a great exchange rate.”

Jordan defines the affinity experience broadly to include a wedding in the Dominican Republic or senior citizens seeking safety in numbers.

“They get to see the world and they’re escorted,” said Jordan, who has group trips to South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania in the works.

But she admits affinity tours are not for everyone.

“If you’re the type who prefers to have your privacy and you want to do off-beat travel, this probably would not be the best opportunity for you,” she said.

Moeller agrees: “Not everybody wants to participate with pro volley ball players in clinics, not everyone wants to go to a food blogger camp.”

Or maybe they just haven’t found their niche.

______________________________

My Take: I’m not a big fan of cruises myself.  But it I was going to take one, I’d sure as heck not want to be with a group of people I work with or that are connected to my hobby of choice, which happens to be hiking in the Sierras.  I’d much rather join my fellow hikers on the trail and around the campfire than on the deck of a big ship set for sail to the middle of nowhere.

I do have a friend who runs a very successful SEO company and he has been on these specialty cruises.  He says it’s not a bad idea for networking purposes.  He’s been on cruises with fellow tech and SEO gurus where everyone does their best to focus on like topics and shared interests, but eventually things start to shift.  Maybe it’s the fresh air.  Maybe it’s all that rich food.  But according to him, the propensity is to start moving away from talking all about what you do back on dry land and on to something else.  But that’s probably the point: get like minds together who have a common interest and the rest of the cruise if more socially cohesive?

I know if you run a Silver Spring cleaning services, or a company that focuses on cleaning VA homes for the wealthy, you get a lot of opportunity to talk to clients about cruises.  The wealthy customers love to go on cruises and they can certainly afford it.

Speaking of cleaning, if you are in the state of Maryland and need to find a solid, reputable housekeeper, try to find a maid services MD that also focuses on using green cleaning products and equipment.  This is a trend you can trace back a few decades to the Green King himself, Ed Bagley Jr.: He started a green cleaning supplies company years ago and it is now run primarily by his daughter.

Other Resources:

Moving to New York?  Consider taking a New York defensive driving class once you get there if you plan to drive.  The safety courses are a great way to acclimate yourself to the rules of the road in the Big Apple.

Source: Dallas Morning News

Model Cindy Crawford is extending her brand with a new line of fine jewelry priced from $79 to $299 that will be exclusive to J.C. Penney beginning in April.

The One Kiss by Cindy Crawford collection will launch with 45 pieces. Necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings are made from sterling silver and gold-plated silver featuring a henna symbol that means “to kiss.” Some pieces have diamonds, smoky quartz, lemon quartz, garnet-colored rhodolite and deep purple iolite.

This is the 44-year-old model turned entrepreneur’s second venture with Plano-based Penney. Last year, Penney started selling her Cindy Crawford Style brand of home furnishings and accessories, a line that offers window coverings to recently added outdoor furniture.

Crawford isn’t just lending her name, said Pam Mortensen, Penney’s senior vice president and general merchandise manager for fine jewelry. “She really has a customer focus. It’s a true collaboration. Everything in the line is something she would wear.”

In an interview, Crawford said she visits Penney’s headquarters every other month. “I feel like I’m in business school,” she said.

Star Power
Crawford isn’t the first famous model or actress to delve into the retail world.  Products ranging from wickless candles and wall mats to sofas and perfume are being sold under the names of some of the fashion and movie world’s most beautiful women.  Former model Kathy Ireland has a firmly established line of furniture and home décor products ranging from sofas to window coverings, and even former Charlie’s Angle Jacklyn Smith has a retail clothing line she’s been running successfully through K-Mart.

Working with Penney to bring merchandise with style but at affordable prices speaks to her blue-collar upbringing in DeKalb, Ill., she said. “I don’t want to put my name on a line that only a few people can afford.”

Penney plans to promote the jewelry heavily for Mother’s Day. Crawford said the symbol resonated with her because of its meaning. It’s a universal love symbol, yet “also appropriate for children to give to their mothers or good friends to give to each other,” she said.

As a luxury category, jewelry sales were hit hard during the recession. It recovered some at Christmas, but that’s all the more reason to give shoppers an affordable alternative, Mortensen said. “We may add gold later in the year, but silver jewelry has been hot sellers at Tiffany and David Yurman for years.”

This isn’t Crawford’s first jewelry connection. She worked with Kay Jewelers for several years and is associated with Omega watches.

One Kiss is Penney’s first exclusive fine jewelry brand, but one of several throughout the store in recent years as Penney steps up its style.

This fall, Penney will add Liz Claiborne-branded merchandise throughout the store under an agreement announced last year, Mortensen said. It will include a line of Liz watches.AT A GLANCE One Kiss products

____________________________________________

My Take: I’m not a big fan of brand names, but I do think it’s pretty savvy of these former glamour girls to take their hard-earned money and create a business with it.  Looks, after all, will fade, but money has staying power.  I know the business model for some of these companies they are starting is pretty formatted and, in many cases, they drop their names on a product line and sit back and watch the sales figures.  But with Crawford, the products sound like high-quality and she sounds like she’s pretty involved in the R&D development process, which makes her seem smarter than the average supermodel.

I’ve got no idea how you can make money off of selling candles, but there are some great new wickless candles from Scentsy that are fun to sell as home-party products.  You get your girls together and have food and drinks and make sales in the process.  Moms are making legitimate living’s selling Silpada jewelry and weaving in their home life around their “jobs.”  It’s never been easier to become an entrepreneur, thanks to the Internet and the new franchise business models out there.

Speaking of franchises, if you are thinking about buying a franchise and are scoping out locations to build a new store from the ground up, you might want to think about hiring an experienced construction software company to help.  What a good construction estimate software plan can do for you is help you figure out your construction costs in advance so you don’t waste money needlessly, save time on your plans and create the most efficient hard box location you can.

Other Resources:

Start Body Workouts:
Ever wonder how modes like Cindy Crawford stay in such great shape?  They’re making 50 the new 40 through a whole host of inside-out techniques, like yoga, Pilates and the Alexander Technique.  What is the Alexander Technique?  Good question.  It’s actually a pretty long-established form of breathing and posturing study that helps people open up the spine and joints for better health.  Singers, dancers and even musicians are fans.

School Support:
Does your kids’ school have a good wall graphics design and logo on the gymnasium floor?  They make excellent padded wall mats that you can have custom designed to feature your school’s mascot or even a product, like Cindy Crawford jewelry or J-Lo’s perfume.  Click here for some ideas: www.sportsgraphicsinc.com/Side-Liners.html.

Source: New York Times

New York parades are known for their flamboyance and bombast, and whether it’s the Macy’s balloons, the outlandish Puerto Rican Day, or the Carnival celebrations, tens of thousands of residents turnout for them in high style.

But now, the Police Department is demanding that parade marchers take it down a notch.

On Monday, the department announced that starting on April 1, the city’s parades must cut the distances they cover by 25 percent — and also not be more than five hours long. The scaled-down celebrations will cost $3.1 million less for police presence, the department said, and will help it avoid cuts in “essential police services,” like investigating crime and terrorism threats.

Citywide, parade organizers quickly did the calculations while digesting the news.

Would Macy’s have to ax the Dora the Explorer balloon? Would Carnival organizers have to hold back throngs of bikini-clad women from shimmying down Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway? Would marching bands have to take up speed walking?

None of the answers were immediately clear. Actually, one was. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade may be the city’s biggest, in terms of national recognition, but it already clocks in at under two hours, according to a spokesman, Orlando Veras.

Mr. Veras said that it was too early to determine a possible new or shortened route for the parade. But he said that Macy’s would work closely with the police to hew to the new rules.

Last year, he said, the Macy’s parade bypassed Broadway for the first time in its history because portions of it are now closed around Times Square. “Like I said, we’re used to change here,” Mr. Veras said.

But other parade organizers wondered just how the police would put the new rules into effect. All parades in the city must receive permits from the police, which specify the route and start time of the event.

“I personally was wondering, how are they going to do this?” said Arthur Finn, co-chairman of Heritage of Pride, which produces the LGBT Pride March, traditionally a six-hour event. “If it’s 5 o’clock and ten of thousands of people are on the street, are they going to say, ‘O.K., you’re going to have to go home now?’ ”

Madelyn Lugo, a spokeswoman for the Puerto Rican Day Parade, said her organization had already shortened its march by two hours, starting at 11 a.m. and now ending at 5 p.m., at the Police Department’s behest. Before that, she said, each marching group or organization could invite hundreds of marchers. Now, she said, the cap is 50 people each. “It’s going to be hard because of the amount of participants we have,” she said. “I don’t think we can accommodate those people in five hours.”

Norman Siegel, the civil rights lawyer, said the new restrictions should be challenged in court. “New York City should not be balancing its budget by cutting historical First Amendment activities,” he said.

Hidden losses

New Yorkers love their parades.  The sexy costumes and music are only one part of the festivities.  But it’s also the attendees who make up part of the energy, even if they are bound by miles of crowd control barricades for some events and do nothing more than stand on the curb and be good solid spectators.

Shorting the parades will mean a few things to a lot of people, namely, less mesh railing in some neighborhoods, fewer post-parade cleanups, and of course a lot less hoopla.

Several city officials, however, said cuts to parades made sense, given the dire financial times.

Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler noted that his boss, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said that New Yorkers could not afford a tax increase and that “we can’t take our eyes off the ball when it comes to keeping crime low.”

He added that whittling the size and duration of parades was preferable to downsizing the Police Department.

Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., the Queens Democrat who is chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said, “It sounds like a reasonable attempt to cut overtime costs at an agency which has no place left to cut.” And Councilman James Vacca, a Bronx Democrat and the chairman of the Transportation Committee, said it was “something we should talk about” as long as the cuts were “implemented with some sensitivity.”

But Mr. Vacca also suggested that the city show some flexibility, rather than applying a blanket 25 percent cut — perhaps 10 percent for some, and 30 percent for others, depending on the significance of each parade.

One major marching event that will not be immediately affected is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which takes place on March 17, before the new rules take effect. The parade has a particularly eminent grand marshal this year: Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissioner.

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My Take: I’ve got nothing attached to the idea of shortening New York’s street festivals and parades.  We’ve got our own version of them out here in Los Angeles.  There’s the Rose Parade and it’s miles of city barricades and drunken New Year’s Even revilers that over the streets of Pasadena each year, and, on the opposite end of town, the impossible traffic jams caused by the throngs of crazies in outrageous Halloween costumes walking the streets of Santa Monica Boulevard.  It’s all madness, but it’s the best part of our madness and shortening the length of these events, whether they are in L.A. or New York, probably won’t make them any less exciting or maddening, depending on how you view the.

Personally, I’d like to see the city of New York do more about it’s traffic problems as a way to cut costs.  If more people were to learn to drive NY streets a little more efficiently, it would be faster to get from one end of town to another.  Even a boost in motorcycle driving school NY courses would be helpful, because perhaps more people would ditch the cars and put smaller “vehicles” on the road, like mopeds and fuel efficient street bikes.

By the way, a lot of these festivals and parades are getting so exclusive and expensive you need the best concert tickets scalper in America to get a couple of seats.  Some sport tickets to the best games in town are easier to get than Rose Bowl seats after a certain time of year, and many buy their seats on a mark up of some $40-$100 dollars from face value.

Other Resources:

Need a lift?

If you are in Florida and need to find a good Destin plastic surgeon, you can check the credentials and get referrals at www.plasticsurgery.org/.  You’ll want to make sure that, before you pay money for that Panama City Florida face lift that your doctor’s credentials are valid and he or she is reputable.

Source: CNET

While the Winter Olympics have created a whole host of headaches for games organizers, the computing systems used to keep the events up-and-running haven’t been among them.

In fact, things have been pretty quiet inside the low-rise building in east Vancouver where the technology operations are headquartered.

Click here to view The Olympics’ ‘mission control’ (photos)

“In here, our objective is to be bored,” said Atos Origin’s Magnus Alvarsson, one of those in charge of overseeing the Olympics’ IT setup. And from where he sits, just outside the computer-filled room that is the equivalent of NASA’s mission control, things have been just about as uneventful as he could hope for.

Among the biggest problems have been minor things such as people forgetting their password or moving computers from one location to another at a venue. “It shows up on our monitoring that someone is unplugging something,” Alvarsson said.

His team also had to move some wiring at the luge site when the course was rerouted after the death of a Georgian athlete.

“They moved the start point a little,” he said. “We had to re do a little bit of cabling.”

Although the Games are still just a few days old and workers continue to monitor things, Alvarsson said his thoughts are starting to turn to the process of taking out the massive amounts of computing and networking gear installed at spots throughout Vancouver and Whistler.

“We know that the solution we put in place works,” he said. “Now it has to be something very unforeseen like an outside agent or a power outage for there to be a technology issue.”

In the Back Up Category

It’s one thing to have everything on the ground, that is technology for the visitors attending the Olympic games, to run smoothly.  You don’t want to hear about things like faulty ticket sales or credit card processing errors that keep visitors’ tickets from being validated.  These things make visitors angry.

But from the inside out, running the Olympic games events has got to be the tech challenge of a lifetime.  Where else will you find yourself, as a tech worker, with more managed security services issues to possibly contend with should the systems fail due to say a blizzard or an unexpected outage of some kind? For the information technology operators at the games, network security software has to represent a top priority.

Sure there have been controversies over cauldrons, weather woes, and snow-lacking slopes, but Alvarsson said nothing has been in his domain, not even the glitch in the opening ceremonies that left part of the Olympic cauldron unable to be lit.

“I’m very happy to say we have nothing to do with the hydraulics,” he said. “We only deal with the information technology.”

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My Take: I think it’s pretty amazing that, despite the death of the Georgian luger that more problems haven’t happened at these games, given the heightened security we are living under, and the threats from what seems to have been some pretty unpredictable weather patterns.  I would imagine if the Olympics were being held in a Chicago location right now, the would not be dealing with a lack of snow, but might be having a lot of trouble with server colocation issues and down time due to harsh weather.

The imprinted shirts and other items for sale at the Olympic games all have to be handled through retail accounts that depend on computerized credit card processing systems.  It wouldn’t be a picnic if those computers went down and merchandisers lost money.  That would also apply to the local eateries who rely upon their restaurant merchant account to process all kinds of online data, including food checks, inventory, and even their reservations.

I imagine that Olympic games visitors who are doing a lot of time wandering around Vancouver in their downtime, are buying souvenirs from the games and other places to take back home as corporate gifts or gifts for their family and friends.  Imagine the flood of revenue pouring into the shops and restaurants in and around the event themselves?  They’ve got to be happy for the business, even if it’s temporary, right?

Speaking of temporary, if you’ve been struggling to make ends meet the last couple of years, one way you might have access to extra cash is through your whole life insurance policy.  A lot of people buy their policies and make their monthly premiums and forget about them.  But for those who do have policies that allow you to borrow cash or build up equity, it’s worth a call to your broker to see what may or may not be accessible.

If you don’t own a life insurance policy but want one, you might want to consider getting a few term life insurance quotes and find a policy with premiums that fit your monthly budget.  You can always switch your plan to a whole life plan later on.

Other Resources:

Kid Cash

College savings plans have taken a beating in the economic slowdown, with many parents having to tap funds they would have normally set aside for their kids in order to make ends meet.  If you have kids and are just starting out, check out Gerber’s (yes, as in the baby food) Grow-up Plans, which allow you to set aside money each month for your child which can be used by them later on to either keep building on, use for college or even a first-time mortgage.  It’s their money to spend how they want it when they turn 18 or even later.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Many Americans can expect to experience a little sicker shock as they begin receiving health insurance bills this year showing that few have satisfied their plan’s annual deductible and could be responsible for a hefty portion of the bill, if not all of it.

That’s especially true for patients who go out of network — that is, use a doctor who doesn’t accept their insurance or is not part of their managed-care plan.

I know this firsthand.

My portion of a bill from an out-of-network physician — for an hourlong checkup that included lab work, an EKG and chest X-ray — recently came to just over $1,000.

Regardless of the amount, all bills should be read carefully.

“Much of a doctor’s bill and insurer’s explanation of benefits can seem indecipherable, and often they are,” says Tom Billet, a senior consultant on healthcare issues in the Stamford, Conn., office of benefits consulting firm Watson Wyatt. “Reviewing the doctor’s bill to be sure they didn’t add in services you didn’t have, and reviewing the insurer’s document to make sure the charges match what’s in the doctor’s bill, could save some people some money.”

In my case, a review of the bill found no blatant mistakes, padded charges or unjust refusals by the insurer. But it did find that the doctor’s office had charged for separate lab tests done with just one blood draw. The insurer flagged and allowed only a bundled test, the fee for which was much lower than the individual tests on the doctor’s bill.

Reviewing medical bills and reimbursement notices — and challenging them if necessary — is crucial. Billet and other consultants offered these suggestions:

Pay attention to the details.

Whether or not you’re insured, the doctor’s office should give you an itemized bill accounting for any professional encounters and tests. Make sure you received all the services for which you were billed.

After breaking a toe several years ago, Billet was told he didn’t need an X-ray because the treatment — taping the toe to its neighbor — is the same regardless of what the films show. But Billet’s bill included an X-ray charge.

Even if you receive the bill in the office — and must pay before leaving — take the time to look it over and fix any mistakes. As Candy Butcher, chief executive of Medical Billing Advocates of America in Salem, Va., notes, getting a refund can be difficult. If the bill is complex, ask to take it home to review before making payment arrangements. If the office balks, ask if paying a small percentage of the bill will suffice.

Get What You Pay For Just as if you were paying for the services of an expensive Austin TX divorce law attorney or for a whole team of Redwood City CA criminal attorneys, you should always ask for proof of what you’ve been asked to pay for.  Why would you visit a doctor or an ER for that matter, obtain treatment and promise to pay for it without a written document showing what was done and how much it cots?
Learn the terminology.

Insurers offer glossaries in their handbooks and on their websites explaining such terms as “deductible” and “co-payment/co-insurance.” It’s good to be comfortable with the terms, Billet says, so that you can explain discrepancies or overcharges. For example, people who are used to paying a flat-fee co-payment can be confused if they switch insurers and are now paying co-insurance, or a percentage of the fee. “Understanding the terms helps put you on a more equal footing with the insurance representative when you have your conversation,” Billet says.

Read the remarks.

Insurers include number codes, typically explained at the end of the document, to let you know why they refused a particular charge. Dr. Geni Bennetts, formerly a pediatric oncologist and now a billing advocate based in Napa, says a common reason for refusal may be that a physician simply billed for generic lab tests and that the insurer needs to see specific tests listed, such as “lipid panel” or “complete blood screening” to determine whether the charge is eligible. In those cases, check with your insurer to see how a more detailed breakout would be resubmitted. The doctor’s office may have to redo the numbers before the bill can be resubmitted.

Use customer service.

Don’t hesitate to call your insurer about a charge you think should have been paid, or paid at a higher rate. For example, many insurers now charge a large share of an emergency room bill if there was no actual emergency — sometimes a hard thing to determine at the time.

“If you think you had medical care that was justified but your insurer turns you down, call customer service, but then also ask for a supervisor if you think you’re not being well served,” says Helen Darling, head of the National Business Group on Health, an association that helps large corporations tame high healthcare costs. Other encounters worth an appeal to customer service include an appointment with an out-of-network specialist if the plan’s network did not have someone with the same specialty or an emergency room visit for chest pains that turned out to be gas if the patient had a family history of heart disease.

No satisfaction from customer service? Insurers allow appeals, usually within 90 to 180 days of the date of payment for a denied claim. Check the manual or customer service number to find out how to file an appeal.

Consider a billing advocate.

For particularly expensive bills, such as for a major operation or long hospital stay, for which you paid completely out of pocket or got little reimbursement, billing advocates may be able to go to bat for you. Advocates may charge by the hour or take a percentage — often 20% to 30% — of any money they are able to reclaim from the insurance company. A few firms offer this service free to their employees. More likely, the person who handles insurance at your company can refer you to a billing advocacy firm; so too can a hospital’s patient advocate office.

Deal with doctor’s office.

My biggest blunder: I should have asked the doctor if I could have the lab work done at an in-network lab instead of at his office. Less convenient for sure, but billing specialists say I could have saved $400 or more.

Even if I’d decided to stick with the in-house tests, doctors often will give a discount to patients paying in full, perhaps as high as 35%. In my case, that would have been over $350. Butcher says I likely would not have had to bring it up with the doctor at all; many office managers are authorized to adjust bills for patients. And they’ll often discount a bill even for patients paying in installments.

______________________________________

My Take: I don’t think I know anyone who actually sits down and reads, let alone scrutinizes their insurance plans’ fine print.  I’d rather play the casinos online with my free time because it would take a lot of it to figure out what every word and angle in my HMO handbook from work actually means.  I’d have to hire an Austin divorce attorney if I really knew what my husband’s benefits plan outlined, what his deductibles are and what’s left over because he never brings any of the information home.

I like the idea of hiring an advocate to go to bat for you if you think you have a valid claim about a deductable charge on your medical bill.  Have you visited an ER for an infection or some kind of minor illness on a weekend when you couldn’t get to a doctor and needed care?  It’s rough.  Hospitals, ERs in particular, are notorious for making you wait 7 hours in the crowded waiting room all night, dragging you in to see a doctor at 5 a.m. when you’re so tired you’ll agree to just about anything.  Then, you get the bill, which always includes a lot of mumbo jumbo about tests and CBC counts and you have no idea what’s covered and what you’ll have to pay for until your insurance company sends you the bad news.

Speaking of lawyers, there’s a great new service on line called 123defender.com in Los Angeles, where you can get quick access to an affordable Los Angeles drunk driving lawyer if you’ve been arrested on DUI charges.  I’m not sure if they are in cahoots with Los Angeles injury attorneys, but you can certainly ask.

There’s a similar service that is more national called lawywers.com where you can find a DUI lawyer Redwood City, for example, or a Dallas nursing home abuse lawyer in just a few clicks.  I have a relative in Dallas that was injured in a car accident and she found a great Texas car accident law firm on the site that helped her get her case through the system pretty quickly and now she’s waiting on a settlement.

Other Resources:

Goin’ to Vegas?

Free online casino games are a great way to learn how to master a card game, like Black Jack, Let it Ride or even Poker and Craps.  They allow you to learn tips and tricks from experts online, memorize the rules and hand options, and even give pointers on strategizing so you by the time you get to the tables, you actually know what you’re doing, which can help you win more and have more fun.

Source: Reuters

Americans have many questions about how health reform legislation pending in Congress, and chief on their list is how will affect the U.S. employment-based health benefits system?

The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) recently asked that question of more than a dozen experts from a wide range of specialties at a day-long conference, and—not surprisingly, given the sharp disagreements that exist over health reform—got a wide range of answers.

But on one point there was general consensus: Imposing a tax on health benefits (such as the proposed tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans) is likely to cause major cuts in health benefits and might result in structural changes in the employment-based benefits system.

Employers “will go ahead and cut benefits if that’s what it takes to avoid an additional tax,” Beth Umland, head of health and benefits research for the Mercer consulting firm, told the EBRI conference, citing a recent Mercer survey. Her comments were widely echoed, including by representatives from organized labor, management, and other groups.

Roll Back the Extras
Although it wasn’t explicitly said, Americans can probably count on employers to nix what if any benefits they now offer that cover so-called alternative medicine benefits, which may or may not include gym membership reimbursements.  Many employers don’t’ even know how to answer the question What is the Alexander technique?  But you can bet it, and those great Pilates workout sessions you’ve been taking at the gym won’t be covered by your plan anymore, if cuts are put into place as expected.

And a common disappointment voiced at the forum was that the initial effort in Congress to reform the delivery and cost of health care in America gradually became focused on just financing and coverage of health insurance.  ”Overall, the problem of high cost isn’t being fixed by healthcare reform,” said Bruce Pyenson, principal and consulting actuary with Milliman, Inc., a New York-based consulting firm.

These and other comments were made at EBRI’s biannual policy forum held in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10, 2009, on the topic, “Employers, Workers, and the Future of Employment-Based Health Benefits.” The forum brought together a wide range of economic, benefits, management, and labor experts to share their perspectives at a time when major health reform legislation was being debated in Congress, and their presentations are summarized in the February 2010EBRI Issue Brief, online at www.ebri.org.

______________________________________

My Take: As usual, more news is no news when it comes to the great health care debate in Washington.  How long have we been waiting for lawmakers to take our concern seriously when it comes to providing us with affordable, quality healthcare?  We don’t all need expensive Phoenix hair restoration, Pilates online videos, or the classes we can’t afford anyway to learn the Alexander technique New York style.  Some of us just want plain old basic coverage for doctor’s visits, the dentist and to of course cover us in the event we suffer a long-term illness or a traumatic injury.

It makes no sense to me why we can’t have affordable healthcare in the U.S.   When you think about the amazing things that can now be done medically to improve our lives and to live longer ones, it’s not clear why we can’t comprise a system that will allow us all to stay healthy and take better care of ourselves.  And I’m not just talking about Phoenix AZ hair loss treatments, plastic surgery or other forms of elective-style surgery.  I’m referring to the simple procedures and basic care that keep us healthy and productive.

I get the argument for eliminating coverage for people who’s lifestyles may or may not be considered healthy or are found to put their employers’ at risk because of their choices outside the workplace.  For smokers, I’d say give them all free one year supplies of the NJoy NPRO.  They say electronic cigarettes can help wean even hard-core smokers off the hard stuff: tobacco.  Think of the money to be saved by employers on healthcare coverage if all their workers kicked the habit?

Other Resources:

Say What You Mean

Tee shirt designers know a lot about marketing.  Why not come out with some really cool T shirts that would appeal to the masses to do a lot of crazy things to improve their health and, at the same time, call for health care reform?  Nothing gets to the masses faster than a great logo on a healthy body.