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Cited: AP/Reuters

The 2010 Nobel peace prize will be awarded to one a record 237 nominees the sheer according to a Nobel official earlier this month.  This surpasses last year’s record of 205 nominees which was comprised of 199 individuals and 38 organizations according to Geir Lundestad, the committee’s permanent nonvoting secretary.

“The long-term trend has been upwards. Not every year, but almost every year, we have a record,” Lundestad told The Associated Press. “I also think there’s a short-term trend. There’s a renewed interest in the prize after it went to President (Barack) Obama last year.”

Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for, among other achievements, bringing the U.S. into the fight against global warming and for supporting multilateral diplomacy.

The fiercely secretive Norwegian Nobel Committee refuses to name candidates, but nominators sometimes announce their picks. This year, known nominees include a Russian human rights group, a Chinese dissident and the Internet.

Those with nomination rights include former peace laureates, members of national governments and legislatures, selected university professors and others.

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A Norwegian politician nominated Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and Memorial — a prominent rights group she works with — while a Princeton philosophy professor put forth Liu Xiaobo, a recently jailed Chinese dissident.

Lundestad said the committee reached a final count after its first meeting of the year, on March 9.

At that meeting, the five-member panel added its own nominations to those put forth by others, he said, though he noted that “they did not add particularly many this year.”

The 2010 laureate will be announced in mid-October, and the prize will be given out on Dec. 10 at a ceremony in Oslo.

Last year’s recipient, President Barack Obama has named 10 charities to share his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize, with causes ranging from wounded veterans to Haiti’s earthquake survivors and education for minorities.

“These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students and veterans and countless others in need,” Obama said in a statement.

He had vowed to donate the prize money to charity after unexpectedly winning the prestigious prize last year and his selection included some politically important domestic constituencies.

The White House said $250,000, the largest single amount, will go to Fisher House, which houses families of wounded veterans while they receive treatment.

This was followed by a $200,000 donation to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, set up by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush at Obama’s request to help survivors of Haiti’s January earthquake.

Following is a breakdown of Obama’s donations:

$250,000 to Fisher House, a national nonprofit organization providing accommodation for families of patients receiving medical care at military and Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.

$200,000 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, which was set up in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake to help survivors.

$125,000 or to College Summit, a national nonprofit organization to increase college enrollment rates.

$125,000 to the Posse Foundation, which awards scholarships to promising public high school students.

$125,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

$125,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

$125,000 to the American Indian College Fund.

$125,000 to the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation.

$100,000 to AfriCare, which promotes health, food security and access to water primarily in Africa.

$100,000 to the Central Asia Institute, which provides education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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My Take: Well, at least he gave most of the money to American organizations.  I think he should have given it to America in general and help with the national deficit.  I realize it would not have been much of a scratch on how much the deficit really is, but it would have helped.  Or better yet, give it to the Medicare fund, which the government stole money from, oh excuse me, borrowed money from.

In his position, he really didn’t need the money.  It’s not like he has to buy a banquet tablecloth from the next White House banquet or anything.  No matter what, I think he did the right thing in giving the money away.  I know I would have been hard-pressed to do it myself.  In my case, I would need to buy quality table cloth, even if I didn’t need it

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Security around the Globe

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Learning to Relax

The Alexander Technique is a process for learning changed stressful patterns which limit the functioning and cause pain.  In a series of one-on-one lessons with a certified teacher, a student of the Alexander Method develops the skills to execute any action with minimized strain and maximized balance.  This is one reason why Alexander technique sports and fitness is good for athletes.

Cited: ABC News

The Mouse House has renewed its relationship with Starz while Showtime has strengthened its stable with an output deal with DreamWorks Studios.  Showtime’s deal with DreamWorks will provide the pay cabler with up to 35 Disney-distributed titles released between this year and 2015. Disney, meanwhile, announced it has extended its output deal with Starz for another three years. Starz has pay TV rights to all titles released through 2015 by Walt Disney Pictures, Disney-Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures.

The Showtime-DreamWorks deal has long been in the works, since shortly after Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider’s reconstituted DreamWorks set up shop with the Mouse last year. Pact was announced earlier this month by Showtime Networks chairman Matthew Blank and Disney-ABC Domestic TV prexy Janice Marinelli.

CBS Corp.-owned Showtime has been in the hunt for new sources of theatrical product ever since it parted ways with Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures and MGM, which joined forces to launch a rival pay TV service, Epix.

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“This ups the ante on the visibility of our feature film lineup,” Blank told Daily Variety of the DreamWorks pact. “This is the right number of films from people we like and respect, and we know they’ll do well in the marketplace.”

The guarantee of pay TV coin is an important funding component for any sizable pic producer. The licensing fees are typically structured as a small percentage of a film’s domestic box office, though those formulas have been changing in recent years to give pay TV providers more flexibility to spend less for lesser-performing titles. Pay TV nets typically get access to a title 10 months after its theatrical release for an 18-month window.

Along with DreamWorks, Showtime has pic-licensing pacts with Summit Entertainment, the Weinstein Co., Miramax and its sibling CBS Films unit. The Summit pact has been particularly fruitful, bringing in the “Twilight” franchise as well as Oscar best picture champ “The Hurt Locker.”

Blank noted that the company has cut deals with a number of smaller distributors that will add 20-25 more pics to its menu a year. Showtime had been under some pressure after the split with Par, Lionsgate and MGM to ensure it had a steady stream of feature titles as called for in its contracts with cable and satellite operators.

Among the first titles expected to be released by the new-model DreamWorks is futuristic drama “Real Steel,” starring Hugh Jackman.

The Disney-Starz deal ensures that Starz will have pay TV rights to the next generation of Marvel-branded theatrical product. Disney has been in the pay TV biz with Starz since the Liberty Media-owned service bowed in 1994; its most recent pact would have expired with Mouse House releases through 2012.

Starz was a pioneer in securing broadband exhibition rights as part of its overall pay TV output deals, and the extension with Disney continues to give Starz Internet rights to the pics within the pay TV window. Starz struck a deal in late 2008 with Netflix to offer Web streaming (for a fee) of some of its theatrical titles. There were rumblings a year ago that Disney was unhappy about the exposure of its pics in the Starz-Netflix pact, but the Mouse is not believed to have taken any steps to block the Netflix streaming with the extension of the Starz deal.

“This agreement secures our ability to meet the needs of current and future subscribers in a fast-changing media landscape,” said Starz Entertainment prexy Bill Myers.

Sony Pictures has also signed on with Starz’s in another major output deal.

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My Take: There sure does seem to be a lot of wheeling and dealing going on in the movie industry.  Everybody wants to get their fingers in that pie!  I know Netflix is doing great.  I haven’t tried their streaming video yet, I can’t really afford it right now.  But net taxes all over the Internet.  They must have the best Seo company available.

For those uninitiated, SEO stands for search engine optimization.  They get your website to page 1 of Google and other search engines.  The nice thing about it is that anybody can utilize Seo company even me if I wanted.  Companies that usually use it are like Carhartt clothing or daycare centers who want to be noticed.  If you’re curious try it sometime.  Just type in a word in your search engine box of your browser and hit enter.

Using the same example, type in Carhartt and you will see at least 10 suggestions come up.  You can bet that each one of these uses an SEO service.  The same goes for people who are doing a daycare search, they put in a variety of different words or phrases and voilà, there they are.

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Spring Cleaning

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Cited: Times Online

Despite Obama’s statement about reforming Wall Street being an “army of lobbyists already arm-twisting members … to reject these reforms”, the president has promised to use everything at his disposal to achieve.  In fact, he devoted his weekly radio address on March 22 the financial reform bill, which he said was essential.

Senators will today begin thrashing out legislation to overhaul the US financial system as the Senate Banking Committee starts a week of meetings on a draft financial reform Bill.

Republicans on the committee refuse to support the draft Bill created by Senator Christopher Dodd, the Democrat committee chairman. President Obama is particularly keen to see creation of a new consumer financial protection agency, a proposal that Republicans have criticized as creating further bureaucracy and that the financial industry has fought hard against, most recently with a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign.

Ben Bernanke, the Fed Chairman, also urged the Senate Banking Committee to support the proposed reforms. On March 20, he said that the existence of “too big to fail” companies was pernicious and a barrier to competition.

“It is unconscionable that the fate of the world economy should be so closely tied to the fortunes of a relatively small number of giant financial firms,” he said.

Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, will take up the argument for Senator Dodd’s bill today, when he is scheduled to address the American Enterprise Institute on the legislation.

Senator Dodd created the Bill alone after he failed, despite months of discussion, to come up with a bill in partnership with Senator Richard Shelby, the senior Republican on the committee.

The Republicans have filed about 400 amendments to the draft legislation. Both parties have agreed that reform is needed to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis, but Republicans are opposed to key elements in the draft Bill.

They would prefer that consumer protection powers be given to existing regulators rather than create a new protection agency.

The Republicans disagree over the need for a $50 billion fund that banks would contribute to in case regulators needed money to liquidate a failing company.

And a number of committee members are unsure about the President’s so-called Volcker rule, which would outlaw proprietary trading by banks.

Senator Dodd is under pressure from the White House to get his Bill passed. The President set out his plans last June for the biggest overhaul of US financial regulation since the Great Depression.

The Democrats only have 59 votes in the House and not the 60 required to pass legislation, which means they will struggle if the banking committee is unable to come up with a bipartisan bill to present to the Senate.

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My Take: Why can’t our government agreed on anything amongst themselves?  It seems that the only time politicians do not argue is during elections season.  Then they just point fingers at the other guy and say he’s wrong or tell people what he’s done wrong.  Other than that, they worry about their office furniture.  I bet they even worry about their home office furniture and we pay for it.

Maybe the men that are in Congress should take a hint from the women in Congress and take a long hot bath with candles.  It’s called aromatherapy and it can be very relaxing.  They have a large variety of products online so they shouldn’t have any problem getting the products.  Then again, that is probably too feminine for those macho men.

One thing they could do to help this country financially is to take a pay cut themselves!  But, that’s too easy!  They would rather require police officers and fire department and teachers to take pay cuts while they vote for a new pay increase at the beginning of the next session.

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Other Resources

Exercise Relieves Stress

If you find a Pilates workout that features Pilates equipment that you don’t have yet, just go online so that you can purchase Pilates equipment to enjoy unlimited access to free online Pilates workouts and Pilates DVDs online.  Remember, exercise helps lower blood pressure and relaxes you so that stress will not have a bad effect on your body.

Unique Baby Gifts

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Cited: Reuters

It seems that various luxury brands are now creating what they are calling “digital mirrors” online with videos of catwalk shows, pictures of glorious models and catalogs of products as they tap into the growing e-commerce of the Internet

The traditional print advert in a glossy magazine is no longer the only way to communicate with the public and fashion houses are now reaching out to their consumers through websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and phone applications.

Having created brand strength by emphasizing product design and quality and on their brand aura, fashion groups are seeking to re-create their exclusive store atmosphere online.

“If it is done well, the web can convey a luxury atmosphere even better than traditional media,” Michele Norsa, chief executive of Florentine maison Salvatore Ferragamo, said.

The Web and social networking sites present strong growth prospects for luxury groups as they emerge from the crisis and consumers grow more confident using the Internet to shop.

Luxury shopping is usually associated with seeing touching or smelling the product as well as a personal service, and this translates into a premium e-commerce experience online.

Italy’s Yoox, which powers sites for names such as Emporio Armani and Valentino, says it seeks to create sites “in line with the brand’s heritage and DNA.” It offers sleek photo and video shooting — recently a project involving fashion photographer Nick Knight — and a top sales service.

“Great attention to detail and a full understanding of each brand’s needs are absolutely key elements to develop a successful online store,” Yoox CEO Federico Marchetti said.

“Another very important aspect is customization: online stores must be tailor-made in order to be unique shopping destinations … Thanks to all this, a brand’s online store can be the real ‘digital mirror’ in which it can express itself and the brand’s identity.”

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Marchetti said a “large portion” of the orders from Yoox’s 18 mono-brand online stores came from cities where the brands have no or limited distribution.

“A new level of exclusivity exists by offering items previously available only in large metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, Paris and London.”

Few fashion brands advertise online, preferring to do their marketing via social networking sites as well at their websites.

“The clients can go online and see what is hot. These sites captivate shoppers, they like them,” Gianluca Brozzetti, CEO of Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli, said.

Luxury online sales rose to 3.6 billion euros ($4.9 billion) last year and there is room for growth, consultancy Bain says.

However online stores should not be an exact replica of a boutique, Bain partner Claudia D’Arpizio said. “The site should have more entertainment, interaction, be less passive,” she said. “It should keep the luxury feel but be less intimidating.”

Of the different advertising platforms, the Web is expected to have grown 9.5% in 2009 followed by 12% to 13% annual growth through the next three years.

“From a communications point of view, the Internet represents the most effective, efficient and involving means to communicate with clients,” Gucci Group CEO Robert Polet told Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, adding that in September, Gucci saw 2 million visitors enter its site.

“When you plan an advertising campaign, you buy a magazine page hoping that the one million people who will leaf through it, will focus on the image for five seconds, even though you know that probably many won’t even see it,” he said.

This means the advertising campaigns will be geared towards the average fashion customer.  Bringing in millions to see the fashion shows that they cannot attend.

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My Take: This is great for those who are into fashion.  They will be able to get the latest stretch jeans for women or the latest screen printed Greek shirts.  Unfortunately, I’m not into jeans or Greek apparel.

The fashion industry is going to have to get good New York computer support to be able to keep up with the changes in the website.  With the amount of people that will be visiting their websites, they are definitely going to need NY IT consulting services.  They better also make sure that they have good virus protection.

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Related Resources

Time Marches On

The most attractive pieces of primitive décor pine furniture have a 2-Tone finish.  The 2-Tone finish means you choose two finishes the paint color you want and a stain color. The paint color is the most dominate with the stain color on the top and/or inside to accent your color choice.  The available color choices are reminiscent of simpler times that add warmth and charm to any home.  And by adding rustic lighting, you give the impression of times long past. You can add warmth and style to your home by decorating with a primitive country theme that your guests are sure to enjoy.

Cited: ABC News

The family of an 11-year-old boy killed in a vehicle crash that was caused by an aged tire was awarded $18 million by a California jury.  A Southern California tire chain store, American Tire Depot, put a tire on the Ford Explorer involved in the accident and was found negligent for doing so because the tire old.

In May of 2006, 11-year-old Willie Moreno was killed when his family’s Explorer rolled over on a highway in Riverside, California. The left rear tire had experienced a catastrophic tread separation, and it was later found that the Firestone tire was 12 years old at the time of the accident.

Attorneys for the Moreno family alleged that ATD was responsible for rotating the 12-year-old spare tire onto the Explorer when the vehicle was brought in for replacement tires. They said that the family went to ATD to replace its two rear tires, and that ATD sold them one tire and told them to rotate the spare in.

As reported by ABC News, aged tires can present a hidden danger even if their treads are unworn and they haven’t been driven a mile. According to consumer and industry sources, as tires age the rubber can deteriorate and become brittle, leading to a possible tread separation. Automobile and tire companies have issued bulletins recommending “shelf lives” for tires ranging from six to 10 years.

During the trial, the jury was presented with evidence showing that both Ford and Firestone have issued bulletins on aged tires. In 2005, Bridgestone Firestone sent out a technical bulletin to its dealers that said, “It is recommended that all tires (including spare tires) that were manufactured more than ten (10) years previous be replaced with new tires.” Also in 2005, Ford Motor Co. issued an advisory about aged tires, stating, “Tires degrade over time, even when they are not being used.” Ford recommended replacing tires “after 6 years of normal service.”

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“This tragedy could have been easily prevented,” said Roger Braugh, one of the attorneys representing the Moreno family. “The facts of this case showed very clearly that American Tire Depot did not offer even a minimum of professional attention to tire safety.”

William Delhagen, the defense attorney for American Tire Depot, said he was “disappointed” by the decision, and that ATD had presented evidence showing the company was not responsible for installing the tire in question on the Explorer. According to Delhagen, the jury “allowed sympathy to overwhelm a careful evaluation” of the case.

Currently there are no federal standards setting an “expiration” date for tires. Tire industry trade groups have come out strongly against such a measure, arguing that factors such as excessive use, and poor maintenance and storage are more important in determining whether or not a tire will fail.

A bill was passed last year by the California assembly that requires tire dealers to disclose the age of a tire in writing to consumers prior to sale or installation of the tire and it was supported by the regional family.  However, that bill was withdrawn before to be voted on by the state Senate by its sponsors because of strong industry opposition.

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My Take: There must have been evidence that proved that one of the tires put on the rear of that SUV was done so by ATD.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t be paying $18 million.  One thing is for sure, they must have had a good TX wrongful death lawyer and he is going to get pretty good fee for such a good job.  At least they didn’t need a Houston construction accident lawyer.

I feel for the family and their loss.  It is always a tragedy when a child dies.  Many parents cannot take the strain and end up divorcing.  That means they look for NJ divorce attorney.  Some parents may even look for a Fort Lee NJ divorce mediator who might be able to resolve the situation.

I do not know how LA court reporters can sit in the courtroom and listen to the evidence presented in cases like this.  If I were a Los Angeles court reporter I would have to learn how to control my emotions.  Otherwise, I would be sitting there crying during the whole trial.

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Other Resources

Family Law

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Cited: ABC News/USA Today

Gay and lesbian rights in prom season have become a familiar fight for ALCU chapters all over the country. In the fall, the ACLU helped Alabama teenager Cynthia Stewart win permission to attend prom with her girlfriend after the school announced it would cancel the dance for everyone.  Sun said they get about five to 10 such complaints each year.

“It’s really that it’s becoming more and more of an issue because … there’s a lot more information out there for students so they know it’s their right to be treated equally,” she said. “Whereas before they thought, ‘Well prom isn’t for me because I’m gay.’”

The school board issued a statement announcing it wouldn’t host the event in Fulton, “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events.”  The statement didn’t mention McMillen or the ACLU. When asked by the AP if McMillen’s demand led to the cancellation, school board attorney Michele Floyd said she could only reference the statement.

“I guess they would rather do that than what’s right, what’s constitutionally correct,” McMillen said.

Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country, said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a Washington-based advocacy group.

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“A lot of schools actually react rather than do the research and find out what the rights of these students are,” said Presgraves, who was preparing to facilitate a discussion about anti-gay bullying at a National Association of Secondary School Principals meeting.

Attorney Griffith said the student’s rights were not violated.

“This is not an issue where anyone has been denied an education or suffered a constitutional deprivation,” he wrote in the filing. “Rather, this is a social event that, in light of rapidly escalating circumstances, was disruptive to the school environment because people are on all sides of the issue.”

An affidavit filed March 10 in support of the school board by attorney James Keith claimed school board members have been under “tremendous pressure” as a result of the controversy.

“The school board was caught in a no-win situation as this matter developed,” Keith wrote. “One board member received threats at his place of employment because of the stance he had taken on the matter. Board members have received emails, telephone calls and Facebook messages regarding this matter.”

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Christine Sun called the argument “preposterous.”

“Long before this became an issue in the media they had told Constance that she could not bring her girlfriend to the prom,” she said. “Really it was the school board’s decision to cancel the prom that became the big news story.”

While the demand letter from the ACLU drew some media attention, including an article by the Associated Press, the story spread internationally when the school board announced it would call off the dance. Since then, McMillen has appeared on numerous television shows to tell her story, including an appearance March 19 on the nationally syndicated “Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

The school board’s response states that parents have organized a private prom at a furniture mart in nearby Tupleo. Now that the school district has withdrawn from the event, any constitutional claims are irrelevant, Griffith wrote.  Sun said she had only heard rumors of the private dance until she read it in the brief.

“Constance has not been invited, so it is clear to me that what is happening is that the school has encouraged a private prom that is not open to all the students,” she said. “That’s what Constance is fighting for — a prom where everyone can go.”

On one discussion on an Internet bulletin board about the planned prom in Tupelo, a poster who identified himself as a junior at the high school said the prom would be “invitation only.”

“Constance and her gay-activist friends will not be attending,” he said. “They can go have their own prom because we certainly do not want any of them there.”

The poster expressed frustration at the attention the issue had brought to the city of about 4,000.

“We have (television) newsmen at front doors of the school every freaking morning,” he wrote. “They flag us down to interview us as we’re coming and leaving school. I’m sick and tired of it. We are very traditional here so, personally, I think if Constance doesn’t like it here, she needs to pack her stuff and move. No one even liked her here that much in the first place.”

However, McMillen is receiving accolades outside her hometown for her stance.

DeGeneres called McMillen part of a new generation of leaders for her stand for gay rights and presented her with a $30,000 college scholarship check from website Tonic.com.  DeGeneres, who is gay, had McMillen as a guest on her syndicated show, which aired today.

“I admire you so much,” she told the 18-year-old senior from Itawamba Agricultural High School. “When I was your age I never would have had the strength to do what you are doing.”

Tonic.com also offered McMillen a summer internship in New York City, DeGeneres said.

Something good has come from the bonfire that the issue has set ablaze.  The dance has been organized by the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition, but no details have been released yet.  Tonic.com has agreed to raise money for a second chance prom for the Mississippi students that would include gays and lesbians.

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My Take: Homophobia!  According to Wikipedia, this is a term for a range of negative attitudes  and feelings towards homosexuality  and people identified or perceived as being homosexual. Definitions of the term refer variably to antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, and irrational fear. Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior such as discrimination and violence on the basis of a non-heterosexual orientation.  This definition seems to fit the school board and parents of this community.

It seems to me that the parents of these teenagers should be more worried about their garage flooring than who will be attending the prom.  Yet their fellow students of McMillen have no problem with her sexual orientation, neither should the parent or the school board.  I can understand the dress code because of tradition, a tradition can be changed just like a garage floor mat can be changed.  But you can never replace the experience of going to a prom.

That experience is something everybody should have and it does not compare to getting Bon Jovi tickets.  I know parents can be obnoxious in getting their sport tickets for a high school football game, but interfering with the prom is ridiculous.

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Other Resources

Turn the Light on

There is an array of environmentally responsible lighting choices such as LED Grow Lights, CFL Bulbs, LED lightbulbs, LED Christmas Lights and many more energy saving lighting choices for your business and home.  In fact, many of the products ship 2-3 day priority mail at no extra charge so you have your order when you need it.

Shop Early

There is just over seven months before Halloween is here again.  Start now and you can get sexy Halloween costumes 2009 for the whole family at a discounted price.  You may even find some discounted adult costumes online.

Cited: Associated Press

The pace of growth may finally be slowing down even though the foreclosure crisis is not over.  RealtyTrac Inc. stated that the number of US households facing foreclosure in February grew by 6% compared to the year.  This was the smallest annual increase in 4 years the foreclosures declined on a monthly and yearly basis in the hardest hit states of Arizona, Carolina in Nevada and grew rapidly in Florida.

More than 308,000 households, or one in every 418 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listings company reported. That was down more than 2 percent from January

Still, fears remain about the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who are still being evaluated for help under loan modification programs. Many analysts say most of those borrowers will eventually lose their homes, sparking a new round of foreclosures later this year.

“It’s premature to declare victory just yet,” said Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac senior vice president. He did, however, allow that, “If this is the beginning of a slowdown in growth rates, that would be a good thing.”

Banks repossessed nearly 79,000 homes last month, down 10 percent from January but still up 6 percent from February 2009.

The RealtyTrac report follows an encouraging report last month from the Mortgage Bankers Association. It said the percentage of borrowers who had missed just one payment on their home loans fell to 3.6% in the October to December quarter, down from 3.8% in the third quarter.

While that was a surprising piece of positive news, foreclosures were still at record high levels. The number of borrowers who have either missed a payment or are in foreclosure was at 15%.

A record 2.8 million households were threatened with foreclosure last year, RealtyTrac said, and the number is expected to rise to more than 3 million homes this year.

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The foreclosure crisis forced the federal government and several states to come up with plans to prolong the process so delinquent borrowers can try to find help. But those efforts have barely dented the problem. Case in point: The Obama administration’s $75 billion foreclosure prevention program has helped only 116,300 homeowners in the past year.

After a year of trying to enroll homeowners in the Obama administration’s program, housing counselors are feeling deflated.

At many of the 100 mortgage companies charged with running the program, employees still “don’t really know what the guidelines are — or refuse to adhere” to them, said Cheryl Cassell, manager of housing counseling at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a community group in Washington.

Foreclosed homes are typically sold at steep discounts, lowering the value of surrounding properties. Cities lose property tax dollars from homes that sit empty and lower property values.

Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, are expected to be the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. Initially, lax lending standards were the culprit, but homeowners with good credit who took out conventional, fixed-rate loans are the fastest growing group of foreclosures.

Among states, Nevada posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, though foreclosures there were down 7% from January and down more than 30% from a year earlier. It was followed by Arizona, Florida, California and Michigan. Rounding out the top 10 were Utah, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia and Maryland.

In February, the highest for closure rate of metro areas was Las Vegas.  Foreclosures were down from 9% from a month earlier even though 1 in every 90 homes received for closure filing.  Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida was the second highest hit area closures that was up 31% from January.  California metro areas of Modesto, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ontario and Stockton also top the list of closure hotspots.

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My Take: I am glad foreclosures are down or at least slowing down.  That means more people are able to keep their homes.  I think that is wonderful.  Now maybe they can do a little home improvement and make their home even better than it was, just in case.

They might start with new wooden exterior doors to make their home appear fresh and new.  Any real estate agent can tell you that front door is the first thing potential buyers see and did make the first impression.  Putting in a new front entry door before selling is a good thing.  And maybe they can turn to the inside and do some more remodeling.

If they are smart, they will have a contractor come out that utilizes PDF takeoff so they can get an estimate right away.  It usually comes with construction cost estimating software and helps a contractor provide an estimate on the spot.  Maybe this remodeling they are doing is for a new member of the household.  They just might be sending out custom birth announcements soon.

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Cited: ABC News/USA Today

A Mississippi high school senior has filed suit to get the school’s prom reinstated after officials canceled it because the young woman, an open lesbian, asked to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

The lawsuit, filed March 11 in U.S. District Court, charges that 18-year-old Constance McMillen’s free speech rights were violated when school officials told her they would be enforcing the district’s policy that prom dates must be of “opposite sex.”

McMillen is dating a sophomore girl at the school. She requested permission from the school’s principal and the superintendent not only to bring her girlfriend, but to wear a tuxedo.

She was told, according to the lawsuit, that the pair would have to arrive separately and could be thrown out “if any of the other students complained about their presence there together.” McMillen was also told she could not wear a tuxedo, according to the suit, because boys are to attend in tuxedos and girls in dresses.

On March 10, after the American Civil Liberties Union told the school board that banning same-sex dates violated the students’ rights, the district canceled the April 2 prom for the entire school.

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In a statement issued March 11 by the Itawamba County Board of Education, school officials said the prom was canceled after consideration for the “education, safety and well-being” of the students and that they hoped “private citizens” would take it upon themselves to throw the students a prom.  McMillen was not named in the statement, but the statement said the decision to cancel the prom was “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events.”

The lawsuit — which also names Principal Trae Wiygul, Assistanct Principal Rick Mitchell and Superintendent Theresa McNeece — requests not only that the prom be reinstated and the opposite-sex date policy be lifted, but that female students be allowed to wear tuxedos and that the school district admit its policies restricted its students’ freedom of expression.

“We certainly want a declaration that what the school district did was unconstitutional,” Sun said, adding that the ACLU is planning to file an emergency motion to get the matter resolved in time for the prom to be reinstated.

An attorney for the Itawamba County School District said in a U.S. District Court filing late March 19 that the school board decided to call off the high school prom to settle the “very explosive and disruptive issue” of the district’s ban on same-sex dates.

Itawamba Agricultural High School senior Constance McMillen “wishes to make the defendant district the site for a national constitutional argument over gay and lesbian rights” is according to the filing by school board attorney Benjamin Griffith.

Continued in “Prom Canceled Because of Sexuality Part 2″

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My Take: Homophobia!  It seems that it is rampant in Mississippi.  Do people actually believe that being around a gay or lesbian that it will rub off on them or someone else?  They are human beings too!  What happens behind closed doors is nobody’s business.  If this young lady was working in a similar situation arose, she could easily hire a NY employment discrimination lawyer and get it resolved.  But, it seems to education board is in more need of Nassau County harassment attorneys.

On the other hand, there is one point I can partially agree with.  That is the dress code.  It is tradition for the guy to wear a tuxedo and the girl to wear a formal dress.  I am big on keeping up with tradition.  I think there could’ve been a compromise if McMillen would have agreed to wearing a floral dress instead of a tuxedo.  Then again, many schools have done away with this tradition and allow the students to wear what they like.

At some schools, guys are allowed to wear designer jeans like Mek denim jeans and the girls can wear something from Hause of Howe Clothing.  So I guess it’s just a matter of who is willing to give a little bit to reach a compromise.  However, it seems that the parents have taken matters into their own hands.  They have organized a private, by invitation only, prom and have not invited McMillen former girlfriend.

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Cited: ABC News/AP

The father of a 12-year-old Pennsylvania boy charged last year with murder says his son is “just an all-around good kid” who doesn’t deserve to face life in prison.

A judge will soon decide whether or not Jordan Brown should be tried as an adult for the murder of his soon-to-be stepmother, and face a possible life sentence. The case is at the crux of a national debate on juvenile justice, playing out in a small-town courthouse.

Before his arrest, Jordan was the quarterback of the Pee Wee football team and a good student. His dad says he was “big into sports” with “a lot of friends in school.”

But on Feb. 20, 2009, his father’s fiancée, Kenzie Houk, 26, was found dead, shot in the head in the family’s rural farmhouse in Western Pennsylvania. She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant at the time.

Prosecutors quickly built a case against Jordan, then 11, accusing him of using his shotgun — a hunting gift from his dad — to fire one fatal bullet before getting on the bus for elementary school. Within 24 hours, the fifth-grader was arrested for murder.

When Chris Brown saw his son being taken away by police, the boy was “scared, frightened, [and] crying.”

“Jordan’s never been away from me for any length of time since he was born,” he recalled thinking. “He was terrified, terrified.”

Brown said his son “looked like a baby” when he was incarcerated. “He looked like a baby in an orange jumpsuit in an adult jail.”

Brown continues to proclaim his son’s innocence. But the family of Houk has reportedly described Jordan as angry and profoundly jealous of the fact that the new woman in his father’s life was about to have a son, to be named Chris after his dad.

Jordan was charged with two counts of homicide. Chris Brown believes his son comprehends what he stands accused of, “but he doesn’t appreciate the magnitude of it. He’s simply too young.”

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Too young, many argue, to face the prospect of an adult sentence. Kids charged with murder in Pennsylvania are automatically considered adults and only a judge’s decision can move the trial to juvenile court.

If convicted, the two routes have radically different sentences, either life in prison without parole, or juvenile detention and freedom with no record at age 21.

Due to tough-on-crime laws, Pennsylvania has more juveniles sentenced to life in prison without parole than any other state.

“I’m not sure that we think they should be treated like adults,” said Doug Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University. “What I think it is, is what they’ve done is so heinous, we’re troubled with the idea of treating them just like they are a kid.”

And yet, his dad argues that Jordan is just that: a kid, one who enjoys Harry Potter and, until recently, wasn’t completely sure if Santa exists. What’s more, children’s brains, according to recent research, are not fully developed, which affects risk-taking and impulse control. It’s that kind of research that influenced a Supreme Court case banning the death penalty for juveniles in 2005.

“In the juvenile vs. adult system, it is the individual and whether that person is amenable to juvenile rehabilitation,” said Dennis Elisco, Jordan’s defense attorney. “And in Jordan’s case, he’s clearly amenable to juvenile rehabilitation, because of his lack of history of any problems, any juvenile delinquency.”

If tried in adult court and found guilty, Jordan would become the youngest person in U.S. history to face life in prison without parole.

Whether or not Jordan gets a shot at rehabilitation is up to the judge. If the judge rules that Jordan should be tried as a juvenile, his father said he would be “obviously happy that that’s the outcome. But then, you know, we still have to prove his innocence at the trial.”

Jordan has spent roughly a year in juvenile detention.

His father, who is no longer able to work in construction, has drained his life savings, spending $900 a month on gas to make the daily four-hour round trip to visit his son.

“[We] play games, play cards, put together puzzles,” Brown said. “We’ve probably done 35, 40 puzzles over the past year.”

Brown has already lost so much: his fiancée, his unborn child, his home, and now perhaps his son, for life. He knows that he should have a wife and kids, but instead, he is alone.

When asked how he keeps his spirits up, he said, “I have no choice. I have to stay strong for my son.”

Family Friend Says Jordan Fit in Well

One community member said it’s inconceivable that Jordan could be charged as an adult.

Chris Lindsay’s son played football with Jordan, and Lindsay knew Jordan and Chris Brown well. He told “Good Morning America” that the Brown family was “very happy” and that Jordan was looking forward to the baby’s birth.

“Jordan had actually commented … he was very much looking forward to the birth of his brother,” Lindsay said.  Lindsay said Jordan was a good child who fit in well.  “I mean, he’s probably one of the best behaved children I’ve ever met in my life, very respectful,” he said.

In an attempt to build awareness about the case, Jordan’s supporters have launched a Web site to maintain the boy’s innocence and solicit contributions to pay for his defense.

A Pennsylvania judge is hearing evidence on whether to try Jordan Brown, 12, as adult in death of his father’s pregnant fiancée.  When he allegedly shot 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Hauk Jordan was 11 living with her and his father in their New Galilee farmhouse in February of 2009

A defense psychologist testified last month that an adolescent’s brain does not control impulses in a “mature way.”  A prosecution psychologist who examined Brown is scheduled to testify Friday in front of Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto.

Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto gave both sides a week to submit written arguments. Motto must rule within 20 days — otherwise Brown will remain in adult court by default — making the deadline April 1.

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My Take: My question is if the fiancée’s ex-boyfriend boasted that he killed her, why didn’t the police investigate it?  Nothing I have read says that they did only that he had an alibi.  I would want to know how good his alibi is.  As to the point of whether a 12-year-old should be tried as an adult, it depends on the 12-year-old.  Some 12-year-olds actually need Lehigh County PA criminal attorneys.

Other 12-year-olds need a Lehigh County PA juvenile law attorney because they are and not even close to being an adult.  Some 12-year-olds know what’s going on as well as an adult would.  They usually call this “street smart”, which makes a child more mature.  Even so, they may still need Los Angeles criminal attorneys.

I believe that he should be tried as a juvenile and I base that decision on everything I have read and seen on TV.  It is a known fact that children get jealous when a parent remarries and has additional has additional children.  It is a natural event in that kind of a situation.  I cannot say whether he committed the murder or not.  There are only two people who know who committed the crime and that is Kenzie and the person who shot her.

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Personal Injury Cases

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Cited: Associated Press

Apocalyptic visions supposedly caused a New Jersey man to terrorize his family, impregnating his 3 of his 5 daughters, eat his children with boards as well as moving to avoid child protective services.  He apparently impregnated 3 of his daughters to create a “pure” family.

The nightmarish picture of a family subjected to more than a decade of threats and violence and largely cut off from the outside world is emerging in a state courthouse where prosecutors are preparing to have the man stand trial five times, one per child victim.

As the first case nears trial, questions have been raised about whether state authorities could have put a stop to the abuse sooner. Some of the crimes are alleged to have occurred while the family was under scrutiny by the state child welfare agency, and after the father had been arrested and pleaded guilty to assault and child endangerment.

At a hearing last week, the 51-year-old man’s former wife described in a calm voice her marriage to a man whose visions she said drove him to try to create “pure” family bloodlines by impregnating several of his teenage daughters.

“He said the world was going to end and it was just going to be him and his offspring and that he was chosen,” the woman testified.

Arrested in 2006, he stands accused of raping five of his daughters, three of whom are believed to have given birth to a total of six children. He is being held on $1 million bond.

Having been ruled competent to stand trial earlier this year, he faces 27 charges including aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, lewdness, child endangerment, aggravated criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual contact.

“We plan to proceed with all five trials if necessary,” said Lisa Squitieri, the Passaic County prosecutor handling the case.

Authorities say the assaults began in the mid-1980s and lasted until 2002, when the parents separated, and occurred at residences in Paterson, East Orange, Orange and Eatontown. The time period overlaps with the family’s coming to the attention of the state’s child welfare agency.

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According to court records and published reports, the girls’ father was arrested in 2000 and charged with kidnapping for allegedly trying to take three of his children from state custody at a Monmouth County medical center. He posted bail and later pleaded guilty to assault and child endangerment and was sentenced to a year’s probation.

Prosecutors in Passaic County say one of the daughters, then in her early teens, was raped as late as January 2002.

New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services declined to comment, citing confidentiality requirements.

But the man’s wife and one of his daughters testified that the agency had indeed removed at least one of the children from the family’s home, and that the family had temporarily moved, first to Jersey City and then to Florida, to avoid the agency’s investigation.

Prosecutors in Monmouth County, where the charges in the kidnapping case were brought, did not return phone messages.

In her testimony, his daughter described experiencing and witnessing beatings administered with wooden boards and steel-toed boots. She said minor transgressions often were punished by the withholding of food.

The girl’s mother testified some of the babies were delivered at home and never received birth certificates, and said in at least two instances babies who died in the home were buried without authorities being notified.

The children were home-schooled, she said, and were discouraged from interacting with other kids.

“No one really asked questions of each other because somebody would tell on somebody and somebody would get in trouble,” she said.

Even after she became aware of sexual abuse, she said she was too frightened to confront him.

“I was afraid to ever accuse him of being demented, or being a pedophile. I knew the word but I wouldn’t dare use it because it would result in a beating,” she said. “I’m sure my not standing up to him didn’t help the kids. They felt disempowered also. There was just a lot of fear. Everybody was threatened.”

Daryl Pennington, an attorney representing the defendant, did not return messages seeking comment.

Attorneys were back in court on March 12, when state Superior Court Judge Raymond Reddin ruled on the admissibility of the wife’s and daughter’s testimony. The state last week asked state Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson to, at the very least, allow Ayinde’s wife and a daughter to testify at trial about alleged brutal beatings and death threats Ayinde made to the entire family. The state also wanted testimony permitted about how Ayinde kept his wife and daughters away from doctors, home schooled them and cut them off from the outside world to keep the family secret from surfacing. Judge Reddin agreed Friday that such testimony is allowed in the first trial, to establish the state’s premise that the victim was mentally and physically beaten into submission.

The judge stopped short of allowing the state to introduce as part of its case any testimony about the other alleged rapes within the family unless the defense, for some reason, “opens the door to its admissibility” during trial, Reddin ruled. The first trial is scheduled to begin in April.

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My Take: One Noah is enough!  Besides, Noah was never asked to be brutal to his family or to impregnate his daughters, which he did not have.  His sons had wives and children of their own.  This guy is clearly insane.  This is what we need to Ocean County criminal attorney!

I suppose you could say that the man actually needs an Ottawa fraud attorney because he is pretending to be someone he is not.  Seriously though, he needs to contact a Brockville criminal lawyer.

I do feel for his family though.  I think his wife needs to contact the New Jersey divorce attorney as soon as possible.  I doubt that she will have the need of a New Jersey alimony lawyer since he will probably be in jail for very long time.  His daughters might actually need a New Jersey juvenile defense law firm to help them through this, even though they may not have committed a crime.

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Guilty or Innocent

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