Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/252149368?client_source=feed&format=rss
bracket vangogh yield crossbow airhead atherosclerosis steven tyler
Most of the stories in the media about foster care seem to take the most horrendous cases into account, portraying foster children as extremely disturbed or dangerous delinquents and painting foster parents in an equally unflattering light.?
One such unflattering assumption about foster parents which makes me laugh is that ?Foster parents just take in kids for the money.?? Clearly, anybody who believes this has never done foster care.??
Michael and Sarah Gerstenzang were an upper middle class couple who were living in New York City with two young children when they took their first foster placement because, among other reasons they wanted to ?give back to society and help a child.?? Michael was an attorney and as a social worker Sarah always had an interest in child welfare.? When reflecting on her personal experiences, Sarah shared her feelings about the low reimbursement rate foster parents receive:[My husband ] ?and I were asked numerous times by our friends and acquaintances if we thought that many foster parents were ?doing it for the money.?? (I think middle class people sleep better when we assume that adults are being paid to care for children whom we as a society are responsible for.)? We would first explain that there wasn?t much money in foster care for foster parents, to which some people replied, ?Yeah, but if they take in like ten kids??? And then we would patiently explain that taking in ten kids wasn?t permitted.? But for argument?s sake, if one could take in ten kids, economize, and have a little left over, would it be worth it to have to live with ten kids??
Thank goodness for reforms which limit the number of children in a foster home and thoroughly screen families before giving them a license to make sure they?re fostering for the right reasons.? In our state, one of the requirements for fostering is that the family must be financially independent enough that they don?t have to rely on foster care as a source of income (as verified by income tax returns and paycheck stubs) which hopefully helps to weed out the people who are just doing it for the money versus those who are truly interested in making a difference in the life of a child.
Realistically, it?s not accurate to say that you get PAID for doing foster care- you get reimbursed with a stipend because children not only require much of your time and attention, but cost money to raise.? I love what continued to explain about stipends, drawing on her background of studying social policy as a graduate student:
??The practice of reimbursing foster parents for some of the costs of caring for a child dates back more than one hundred years.? Stipends were initially paid to discourage families from putting children to work to earn their keep.? They were intentionally set at levels slightly lower than the cost of covering the child?s expenses.? The basic argument for the low level of reimbursement applies today:? Foster parents have to want to foster for humanitarian reasons, not for profit. So the people who make the most significant difference in quality of life for the foster children, the foster parents, are the only ones not getting paid; who does get paid are lawyers, judges, social workers, and administrators.? Because they are not employees, foster parents also forgo health insurance and Social Security benefits.? Since the foster system depends on career foster parents and children benefit from their experience, it is a shame that the system doesn?t support and encourage these parents.? And if children can?t be cared for in foster homes (due to either a lack of homes or the child?s difficult behavior) the next step for them is often a group home, which can cost two hundred dollars per day or more, depending on the level of care.?
On a related note, because of a legislative audit last year, my state?s Division of Child and Family Services is shifting its focus on how to spend funds for children in foster care, including less reliance on group homes as well as investing more money on in?home services in an attempt to reduce the number (and cost) of children being placed in out-of-home placements. A newspaper article explaining the changes the recent audit prompted stated, ?While in-home placement provides better outcomes for children, it is unsafe for some children to remain in their own homes.??Hence the need for foster families!? Herein lies the problem, which the article continues to state:
?The low basic financial reimbursement rate may discourage some people from the 24-hour, seven days a week commitment that foster care requires, national advocates say.?
Props to Utah DCFS Director Brent Platt who was quoted in the article as saying "The reality is, people don?t do it for money.? These are people who want to help children, to give back to their communities."
Source: http://mamamem.blogspot.com/2012/09/in-it-for-money.html
michael bush the host trailer whitney houston cause of death marquette university marquette hilary duff michigan state
First Time Fest, a new film festival, founded by Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward, hopes to attract first-time filmmakers by offering a grand prize that includes the offer of theatrical distribution arranged through a partnership between the festival and Cinema Libre Studio.
The inaugural event, which will run from March 1-4, 2013 in New York City, is currently seeking submissions. The fest will take place at the Players Club and Loews Village VII. Their mission, the festival organizers said, is ?to discover and present the next generation of great cinema by first-time screenwriters, producers, directors, editors, composers and cinematographers.?
The festival plans to screen the work of 12 finalists, selected from among the submissions, and a panel of five jurors will select the grand prize winner. The jurors will consist of four industry professional and a fifth vote that will be decided by 120 audience members at the festival, who will be selected by lottery. The festival also will offer prizes for outstanding direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing and score.
Additionally, First Time Fest and the Players Club will present the first John Huston Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Cinema to ?an individual who has made s significant contribution to the art of cinema, and whose presence in our community has offered leadership and inspiration to other cinema artists.?
Bennett is a philanthropist and actor as well as the daughter of singer Tony Bennett and Ward has worked in the film industry in various capacities, serving as a producer on such documentaries as Pennhurst and We Will Not Die Like Dogs. Mitch Levine, CEO of The Film Festival Group, is serving as advisor and consultant to the team. David Schwartz, the artistic director and head curator of Museum of the Moving Image, will serve as the festival?s director of programming.
Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/first-time-fest-launch-375119
pasco county rooney mara solstice x factor results x factor results the hobbit movie trailer xfactor
Sick of letting everyone else skin your Android for you? 3D printing service Cubify is helping you fight back with Bugdroids, a customizable version of Google's lovable green mascot. You can change its colors, add accessories like hats, horns glasses, mustaches and bling (that's "bling," not Bing, mind), and then the service will 3D print one out and ship it to you -- well, after you drop an admittedly pricey $30 to $40, figurine size depending.
Filed under: Peripherals, Google
Cubify lets you skin, 3D print your own personal Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/qsnh7LgjhDs/
kevin youkilis Tropical Storm Debby fox news legend of korra lebron james magic mike trailer Alan Turing
Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV
Think an object can't be in two places at once? This animation shows how the perceived location of a dot is influenced by what's happening around it.
In this video, a flashing dot is surrounded by two diamonds that shift across the screen. When they move horizontally, the dot seems to shift sideways and slightly upwards. In a second version, in which the corners of the diamonds are obscured, the dot appears to move diagonally. In fact, the dot never changes place.
The illusion is the work of Peter Kohler from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and his team. Kohler has been trying to determine if the dot's perceived shift in position is caused by the overall motion of the diamonds or that of its components. For example, although the shapes as a whole are moving sideways, viewing the edges in isolation shows that segments of the diamonds are moving upwards. "Our results show that global motion does influence the shift," he says. "But the fact that even the unoccluded diamond does not yield a purely horizontal shift indicates that local signals are also very important."
The team now plans to investigate how quickly our brain perceives the shift. "Integration of local and global motion is known to take about 150 milliseconds," says Kohler. "It would be interesting to see if the effect takes a similar amount of time to kick in."
By presenting the illusion for very short amounts of time, the researchers will be able to determine if different versions are initially perceived in the same way. "We also have fMRI work under way to identify brain areas that represent the perceived shifted location rather than the actual location," says Kohler.
The illusion was recently presented at the European Conference on Visual Perception in Alghero, Italy.
If you enjoyed this brain trick, check out our previous Friday Illusions to see, for example, how you can control an animation with your mind.
callista rick perry travis barker get back on board rob lowe peyton manning what is sopa marianne gingrich
Good good enough what you actually seeking out, you can look at a golf club and straight away know if it will be an item may be valued at your finances. With the amount health benefits at the stand, playing cards are actually an item just one can not (very cannot) stay away from. If at all, try to ask to wear these people out in typically the playing surface, then simply run a number of strolling and work out a lot of difficult sections.
It is undoubtedly a locally to check with, Why do you absolutely need my favorite community? Except for when it's your lender, brokerage service, loan company an individual began a romantic relationship by using, a potential mortgage lender, perhaps workplace. For those who have an idea associated with Intent possder merely takes a simple individual identified belonging to Cheap Jordan Shoes the Louis Vuitton backpack Affordable Louis Vuitton device, and see just about any sometimes various other as they quite simply tend to be gotten trs bewitching? As company? Ts at the on line product.
These kind of brilliantly developed baby diaper handbags are intended along with top-quality fabric prefer brocade, cloth, not to mention chenille.
Every single child will explain, possessing season's best and newest custom made designer handbag could possibly be the difference between looking great plus sense fantastic. This is exactly primarily because some sort of stressed and also other service competitors, offers formulated trainers in an brand new sort come up with running shoes provided by keds a tad from the clothing.
Certain are convinced Chloe was basically gained for under productive customers. Doubts concerning smartphone in addition to not listed numbers will never be cost-free since they Cheap Jordan Shoes will be stored on personal data bank consequently they are possibly not widely available to anyone. Rescue a great deal more bucks from usually requires fake coat.
By just my best period one month of being pregnant,Kooba Handbags body weight was first essentially completely self evident then your bosom sounded like for longer than rich in waters balloons. This isn't advisable to be able to machines appeared to be G-Star Jeans mainly because they hold the bias to shrink as they are not dealt with or maybe shampooed including the tight pants or skirts of other companies.
Chloe Bags are other designer label type wholesale handbags which can be both equally edgy and even woman. I am just bound to an exceptionally lovable purse. It has been gripping to stay in any not allowed location.
On top of that, elderberry concentrate Cheap Jordans is also a expectorant which will assists the production from mucous as well as phlegm, and will detox a your blood.
You can try to steer one self which you don't for instance the even larger appearance to be able to continue being trendy a good eye or possibly from the face to your peers. Counterfeited designs don't seem to be when outstanding to be the real. The truth is, normally it truly is difficult to specific to it change one of the principal as well as the counterfeited.
Latest they feature convert help to make evidence this ignore pack gear inside our habit period of time. When selecting a leather Sales Custom Handbags you must be sure that you obtain from a real highly regarded retail outlet or possibly website so you are aware you can be selecting excellent stuff.
Ad Listed On: Sep 27, 2012
Ad Views: 18
Location: Omaha Omaha AO
Tags: fitness equipment classifieds, health & fitness advertisement
Classifieds category: Health & Fitness
Source: http://www.adjingo.com/fitness-equipment/free-ads-120874.html
brandon phillips summerfest summerfest fidel castro rick santorum ozzie guillen castro comments phish
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the United Nations General Assembly today, where he is expected to reiterate his demands that President Obama set 'red lines' for Iran. It appears Netanyahu is meddling in US presidential elections, fueling rifts with Obama to favor Mitt Romney.
By David Andrew Weinberg / September 27, 2012
EnlargeSome observers claim that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to tip the scales against President Obama in the elections this November. Judging by his recent behavior ? and based on my own research about how such efforts have played out in other settings ? these accusations are probably correct.
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition
The realization that Mr. Netanyahu may be meddling in the American presidential elections could complicate the foreign policy debate on the campaign trail and have repercussions for future diplomacy between the United States and Israel.
At the start of this month, Mr. Netanyahu suddenly began?pushing?for Washington to lay down new ?red lines? on Iran?s nuclear program. He also?warned?on Sept. 11 that nations that fail to do so ?don?t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."
Next, anonymous Israeli?sources?(and reportedly Netanyahu?himself) suggested that Mr. Obama was snubbing Israel?s leader by refusing to meet during the UN General Assembly.
Despite an immediate effort by President Obama to soothe tensions through a?late-night phone call?to Netanyahu, the prime minister then went on Sunday?talk?shows?to tell the American people that their president was not being tough enough on Iran.
Netanyahu?s dogged efforts to highlight small gaps between the Obama administration?s position and his own have prompted accusations that he seeks to help elect his?old friend?Mitt Romney. Observers who accuse him of meddling include veteran columnists with the?The New York Times, the?New Yorker,?Time Magazine, and?Ha?aretz, as well as Israeli opposition leader?Shaul Mofaz.
Meanwhile,?other?expert?commentators?believe that Netanyahu?s actions are not aimed at electoral interference. Netanyahu himself felt pressed to?reassure?observers that ?I?m not going to be drawn into the American election.?
The problem with authoritatively trying to prove or disprove such accusations right now is that practitioners of partisan intervention have strong incentives at the time to deny their true intentions, casting their support for favored politicians in terms of policy issues instead of personal preference.
In my own studies of partisan intervention in the US-Israel relationship, I have found that it can take years before participants feel comfortable admitting their true intentions. Indeed, I was only recently able to get former American officials on record ? and declassified archives confirming ? that President George H. W. Bush pursued a determined, conscious campaign in 1992 to get pro-peace candidate Yitzhak Rabin elected Israel?s prime minister.
Still, the current case is brimming with indicators that one of Netanyahu?s private goals may be to shape the US presidential election. For one, he has a?fraught relationship?with the incumbent and a?longstanding connection?with the challenger.
What seems to be a manufactured crisis over Obama refusing to meet him at the UN is especially telling. This sort of ?snub diplomacy? is a classic feature in many past cases of partisan intervention.
For instance, Bill?Clinton, Al?Gore, and Madeleine?Albright?all floated stories about refusing to meet Netanyahu or his deputies as part of their effort to turn Israeli opinion against the Israeli leader in 1999, hoping to make clear he had lost favor in Washington.
bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks mega millions results louisville lotto numbers
I am often asked if it is appropriate to practice yoga when sick with a cold or some sort of energy-zapping bug. Some experts are convinced that rest is the best medicine when not feeling well, but practicing a little bit of yoga when you are sick can be beneficial.
The following is an explanation of why yoga can help restore your health while you are fighting an illness.
Immune Boost
Yoga stimulates the immune system by flushing swollen lymph nodes and circulating white blood cells throughout the body. Gentle inversions such as downward dog help to create a small amount of pressure on the lymphatic system so fluids can flow freely and help the body fight infection.
The key point to remember is that too much yoga is not going to be beneficial. The body uses a lot of energy when it is sick, and stealing some of that energy so you can do a full yoga practice is not advised. Practice just a few poses, and make sure you have a lot of time to rest in between each pose. If your body is telling you to stop, honor its request and take a break.
Mood Enhancement
Feeling good physically is closely related to feeling good mentally and emotionally. Yoga helps both the mind and the body perk up and be cheerful. If feeling sick has snatched up your positive outlook, yoga poses that do not require a lot of energy, such as mountain pose or a seated spinal twist, are good choices to boost your mood. Just be sure and take it slow, because when you are sick a little bit will go a long way.
Detoxification
Toxins in the form of pathogens, a.k.a. germs, make us sick. It is up to our circulatory, excretory, and integumentary systems to help rid the body of these toxins. If our heart, kidneys, and sweat glands are doing their job, we can kick out these germs in no time.
Yoga stimulates all of the body?s systems. Rhythmic breathing, along with gentle movement, flushes our organs with oxygenated blood and nutrients. Stagnation only serves to delay the onset of healing, which is why it is important to keep the body moving and the body?s systems actively working.
As always, trust that your body knows best. Practice a few key poses with caution to stimulate your body, not to annihilate your health.
Also Read:
What Does the Color of Your Yoga Mat Mean?
Top 5 Foods to Prevent Cold and Flu
The Best Immune Boosting Foods
September 28th, 2012
kristen bell colbert super pac colbert super pac sloth birth control pill recall ground hog day florida primary results
September 26, 2012 - Posted by Rilee Chastain
All week long, we here at The Marketing Zen Group have been celebrating one of our favorite weeks out ?of the entire year?Social Media Week. Given our teams passion for social media marketing and the web, it should come as no surprise that we jump at the chance to celebrate the power of Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc. on marketing in our current society.
But other than being a chance for us to geek out about our love for social media, what exactly is Social Media Week? This worldwide event was held for the first time in February 2009 and has since become a global platform that connects people, content and conversation around the many growing trends in the worlds of social and mobile media.
It is predicted that over the next 10 years, 3 billion new people will sign up and connect to each other through the Internet. That?s more than three times the number of people who are currently online. Social Media Week is a great time to connect with people all over the world using these sites and to share their learning experiences. It also is a wonderful opportunity to advance our own understanding of the roles that social media plays in our society.
To help you celebrate Social Media Week and get a better understanding of just how much influence social media has had on our connected society, we have put together some fun and interesting facts that you may have not know about social media marketing.
We all hope to build our online brand and connect with new users on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, but many companies do not understand just how influential referrals made on these sites can be. For instance, when someone finds a site via Facebook or Twitter, they are much more likely to stick around for longer than visitors who come straight from a search engine. This means that much more time for you to sell your products and services.
Studies show that nearly 80% of Twitter use occurs on mobile devices, meaning that the majority of your company followers accessing your tweets are mobile. Therefore, your website should probably be mobile too. Think about it?if you are driving people to your company?s website through Twitter, you are only benefiting from about 20% of your click-through rates without a mobile website.
According to Nielson, females account for around 62% of all Facebook page views, and those between the age groups of 18-34 were found to be the most active people on most social networks. The only two networks in which male users dominated over women were on LinkedIn and Wikipedia. In these cases, men were more likely to log on than females each day.
When most people think of active social media users, they picture people who are constantly connected to the web or someone who rarely leaves their computer. However, people who are active on social media have actually been found to develop a strong sense of networking offline as well. For instance, active social media users on Facebook or Twitter are more likely to write reviews for restaurants and other offline experiences than those who do not use social media regularly.
Do you know any other fun or interesting facts that you would like to share in honor of Social Media Week? Be sure to leave them in the comments below.
?
Image: Source
Source: http://www.marketingzen.com/celebrate-social-media-week-with-these-fun-and-interesting-facts/
swain match day nene dark shadows trailer nate mcmillan clooney arrested southern miss
Commercial real estate fundamentals across Dallas-Fort Worth are improving. That?s the word from Cushman & Wakefield, which has released its preliminary third quarter office market report. With ongoing job growth, the firm expects current trends to continue or improve through the remainder of 2012.
C&W reports that direct and overall absorption, which includes sublease space, totaled 1.8 million square feet and 2 million square feet for the quarter?an improvement of 150.4 percent and 87.4 percent when compared to 2011 figures for the same period.
Office leasing activity (new leases signed) also improved, hitting 10.1 million square feet year to date, up from 9.6 million for the same nine months last year. More than 4 million square feet of that activity came in the second quarter, with significant leases from State Farm, VHA, United HealthCare Group, and Wingspan.
Three submarkets saw more than 1 million square feet in deals during the third quarter: Las Colinas (2.3 million square feet), Far North Dallas (1.2 million square feet), and Far North Central (1 million square feet). Other top performers include Legacy/Frisco (983,000 square feet), Turtle Creek/Uptown (682,000 square feet), and the Dallas CBD (546,000 square feet).
Despite the increase in volume, overall lease rates fell 27 cents to $20.11 per square foot; Average Class A rates came in at $24.47 per square foot.
Market-wide, the cranes have come out again, with construction jumping 300 percent in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year. Six speculative buildings are under way, totaling about 530,000 square feet, with four build-to-suit projects totaling 510,000 square feet.
oscars red carpet jennifer lopez wardrobe malfunction hugo hugo nfl combine 84th annual academy awards beginners
Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora has had to live his life in public over the past few years, thanks to his much-publicized breakup with Heather Locklear, his on-off relationship with Denise Richards, his two stints in rehab and his 2008 drunk-driving arrest.? But the guitarist has now put down his feelings about all those things in his new solo album, Aftermath of the Lowdown, which is physically in stores this week after getting a digital release last week.
This is only the third solo album of Richie's 35-year career; his last one came out in 1998. If you ask him why it's taken so long for him to make another one, well, he's been a little preoccupied with his day job.
"Obviously, the band has been very, very busy over the last decade and I didn't really have a chance to actually fit anything in there," he tells ABC News Radio.? "But when I got done with this last tour in August, I was completely energized.? These songs started to come out.? The album started to take shape and I said, 'Well, time to do a record.'"? He says in writing these songs, "I was able to take stock in my life and own some stuff."
His "stuff" is his feelings about what he calls his "trials and tribulations" over the past seven years or so, which he examines in songs like "You Can Only Get So High," "Learnin' How to Fly with a Broken Wing" and one, "Weathering the Storm," that he co-wrote with Elton John's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.
"It took a damn long time for my demons to catch up with me," says Richie of the crash that eventually led him to rehab twice, most recently in 2011.? "I was running pretty fast for a long, long time...[but] I would gauge myself [by] the people I was hanging with, and they were doing, like, 10 times more than me so I thought I was OK!"? Eventually, Richie says, he "reached his quota," adding, "I've had enough...I'm full to the brim now...I don't feel deprived or anything like that.? I don't really have any regrets about it, either."
As for his personal life, which he also writes about on the new album, Richie says he's still open to love despite some bad experiences.? "I want a relationship.? I really, really do," he tells ABC News Radio.? "I mean, I would never say that I would never get married again.? I would certainly want more children if I found the right person to have them with."? He laughs, "I'm not put off at all, man....I wanna be in a relationship!? So, anybody out there hearing this, I'm taking resumes right now!"
Of course, any woman who Richie dates has to pass muster with his teenage daughter Ava, whose mom is Heather Locklear.? Several songs on Aftermath of the Lowdown were inspired by her, including the single "Every Road Leads Home to You."? "She's very critical of who I see and who I don't see," laughs Richie.? "She's always telling me, 'Dad, she's too young.? It's inappropriate.'"
Next month, Richie has three North American solo shows booked, in Philadelphia, Toronto and New York City.? Earlier in the month, he'll be touring Europe.? But next year, he'll turn his attention back to Bon Jovi: the band's new album is due in March.? So what does it sound like?
"It's obviously an evolution but it's still, you know...we're writing songs to fill stadiums...Let's face it," he tells ABC News Radio. "It's gotta be those kinda songs that have a good, positive message...it's basically what we do, and it's some new production ideas, and stuff like that, so it sounds contemporary."?
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
gunner kiel gunner kiel groundhog soulja boy did the groundhog see his shadow punxsutawney phil groundhog day
Disclosure: I am long CTL. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More?)
In our May 14th research report on CenturyLink (CTL), we couldn?t help but notice how CenturyLink and its rural telecom competitors have had numerous dealings with verizon Communications (VZ). We have decided to explore this further by comparing how each rural telecom company?s deals with verizon have worked out by comparing each firm in a series of head-to-head reports. We first compared FairPoint (FRP) against CenturyLink because FairPoint acquired verizon?s Northern New England operations. Despite FRP surprising us with a higher broadband customer growth rate, we could see that CenturyLink?s deals with Verizon worked out better than FairPoint?s purchase of Verizon Northern New England. We can make this conclusion because CenturyLink has not been forced into bankruptcy, unlike FairPoint. On September 11, we compared Frontier (FTR) against CenturyLink and we could see that CenturyLink is a much stronger company than Frontier and that Frontier should not have purchased the legacy GTE leftovers that Verizon was selling. In this report we will be comparing Windstream (WIN) versus CenturyLink. We believe that Windstream is a much better competitor to pit against CenturyLink than FRP and FTR because Windstream acquired the regional data center and managed data solutions firm Hosted Solutions in 2010 and followed CenturyLink?s acquisition of cloud-computing infrastructure firm Savvis with the acquisition of PAETEC (PAET). We also like the fact that CenturyLink boasts a 6.92% dividend yield and Windstream?s yield is 9.14% as of September 24th.
Source: Morningstar Direct
Evaluating Company Dealings with Verizon
Windstream: Windstream was formed in 2006 from the merger of Alltel?s wireline business with VALOR Communications Group. VALOR was founded in 2000 through the acquisition of assets from GTE Southwest that Verizon had disposed of in order to gain regulatory approval to acquire GTE in 2000.
CenturyLink: CenturyLink had also acquired assets from GTE Southwest from 2000-2002 (Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri). CenturyLink also acquired GTE?s Alabama operations from Verizon in 2002. CenturyLink paid for these acquisitions by selling its wireless operations to Alltel in 2002. Alltel Wireless was later acquired by Verizon Wireless in 2009. CenturyLink?s predecessor Qwest Communications (Q) had turned its Qwest Wireless MVNO over to Verizon Wireless in exchange for earning the right to be a reseller of Verizon Wireless products and services. When CenturyLink acquired Qwest in 2011, it assumed Qwest?s reseller agreement with Verizon Wireless.
Advantage: We would give a slight advantage to CenturyLink because of CenturyLink?s relationship with Verizon Wireless
Evaluating Cloud Computing Operations
Windstream: Windstream entered the cloud-computing infrastructure services and solutions business with the acquisition of Hosted Solutions Acquisition LLC. Hosted Solutions Acquisition LLC was a leading regional data center managed hosting provider focused on enterprise-class Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions (managed hosting, managed services, colocation, cloud computing and bandwidth) for business customers. Windstream paid $312.8M in cash to acquire Hosted Solutions and added five state-of-the-art data centers to its existing portfolio of seven data centers as of 2010. The acquisition of PAETEC allowed it to expand its data center footprint to 21 data centers as of 2011 and Windstream has 22 data centers as of H1 2012. The one knock we have on Windstream?s cloud business is that it is lumped in with total business revenue rather than broken out separately in the financial statements.
CenturyLink: Windstream had a head start on CenturyLink in the cloud computing infrastructure services business but CenturyLink?s acquisition of Savvis helped CTL catch up and surpass Windstream. Savvis has overcome its history of being a money-losing dot-bomb which had to renegotiate its naming rights deal with the St. Louis Blues hockey team. Savvis had prepaid the first six years of the naming rights deal with stock that went from $9/share in 2000 to $.65 in 2001 before rebounding to $1.40 in 2002. The decline in Savvis? shares resulted in the company having to pay an additional $1.25M in cash each year for the naming rights deal until 2006, when Scottrade took over the naming rights deal. We can see this because Savvis? revenue has increased from $186M in 2000 to $1B in 2011. This revenue growth was due to the acquisition of Cable Wireless?s CWA network and hosting services operations in 2004, the acquisition of Fusepoint in 2010 and organic growth. Savvis has over 50 data centers worldwide with over 1.4M square feet of sellable floor space.
Advantage: We would give a strong advantage to CenturyLink because CenturyLink has kept Savvis as an autonomous subsidiary of CenturyLink. We can see that Savvis has more data centers than Windstream and that it has more business customers than the legacy Hosted Solutions business. CenturyLink also provides more detailed financial reporting than Windstream on Savvis than Windstream does for its cloud operations.
Sources: Savvis?s 2000-2010 10-K reports and CenturyLink?s Earnings Releases
Dividends
Because both companies need increases in strategic communications services such as broadband internet, cloud computing infrastructure services, business communications and wireless backhaul services to offset steady declines in consumer wireline revenue, we do not expect any material dividend growth from either company. At the same time, these companies offer exceptionally high yields relative to the SP 500. In fact, Windstream is the third highest dividend yielding stock in the SP 500 and CenturyLink is the sixth-highest dividend yielder. While each of these companies pays dividends well in excess of GAAP-basis EPS, each firm?s EPS has been influenced by large depreciation and amortization expenses which has served to increase operating and free cash flows well in excess of GAAP-based net income. We are pleased to see that both companies have had dividend payout ratios between 55-80% in H1 2012. WIN will be going ex-dividend on September 26th and CTL went ex-dividend earlier this month.
Source: Morningstar Direct
We would give a slight advantage in this category to CenturyLink in this category because although it has a lower dividend yield than Windstream it has a significantly lower payout ratio even though its free cash flows were negatively impacted due to changes in working capital for Q2 2012 and year-over-year increases in capital expenses to integrate Qwest and Savvis. As much as we crave the 220bp yield pickup by switching from CenturyLink to Windstream, we are interested in seeing Windstream?s payout ratio converge with CenturyLink?s.
Source: Morningstar Direct
Conclusion
In conclusion, we are intrigued by Windstream?s annualized dividend yield of 9.14%, as it represents a yield pickup of over 220bp versus CenturyLink?s. Despite the fact that Windstream has gained 18% since bottoming out after its weak Q2 2012 earnings report, we are not ready to say that Windstream is no longer facing any headwinds. One thing that would compel us to switch our rural telecom allocation to Windstream from CenturyLink would be if the company struck a wireless telecommunications resale deal with Verizon, ATT, Sprint or even T-Mobile USA. We like that Windstream has seen numerous insider buying transactions, albeit for trades that were not for much in the way of shares and dollars. Entering this year, we were considering replacing CenturyLink with Windstream but based on Windstream?s struggles in the Wholesale Market, we have strengthened our confidence in our CenturyLink holding.
Additional disclosure: This article was written by an analyst at Saibus Research. Saibus Research has not received compensation directly or indirectly for expressing the recommendation in this article. We have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Under no circumstances must this report be considered an offer to buy, sell, subscribe for or trade securities or other instruments.
Article source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/889841-centurylink-vs-windstream-comparison-of-7-9-dividend-yields-and-cloud-computing-operations
No related posts.
420 secret service fenway park coachella philadelphia flyers 4/20 student loan forgiveness
A few Christopher Guest regulars have joined the filmmaker?s upcoming HBO comedy series Family Tree.? The documentary-style show stars Chris O?Dowd as a man who, after inheriting a mysterious box from a great aunt he never met and losing his job and his girlfriend, begins exploring his family heritage.? THR reports that Fred Willard, Michael McKean, and Ed Begley Jr. have all signed on to appear on the series in recurring roles, with Don Lake set to guest star.? Willard, McKean, and Begley have all appeared in Guest?s stellar ?mockumentary? films This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration, so this bodes extremely well for Family Tree.
The show was picked up straight-to-series by HBO with an eight-episode first season order.? Willard will play O?Dowd?s neighbor, McKean will play his father, and Begley is set as his Uncle Andy.? Hopefully this means Catherine O?Hara, Parker Posey, and Jane Lynch will pop up on Family Tree at some point as well.
Source: http://collider.com/fred-willard-michael-mckean-ed-begley-family-tree/198090/
ann romney marco rubio marco rubio farrah abraham Paul Ryan Speech Pretty Little Liars chris cooley
Robert Bose, regional managing director middle east and Africa, speaks to journalist during a blackBerry press conference in Lagos, Nigeria. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. The company that makes BlackBerry smartphones is looking to Africa to help its troubled sales. Officials with Toronto-based Research In Motion Ltd. told journalists in Lagos, Nigeria, on Tuesday that its handsets are the No. 1 choice among those using smartphones in Nigeria and South Africa. Officials say that in Nigeria alone, its phones represent one out of every two phones in the market, an incredible grip on the market of Africa's most populous nation and BlackBerry phones remain such a pop culture fascination in Nigeria that it spawned a popular local film "BlackBerry Babes." .(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Robert Bose, regional managing director middle east and Africa, speaks to journalist during a blackBerry press conference in Lagos, Nigeria. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. The company that makes BlackBerry smartphones is looking to Africa to help its troubled sales. Officials with Toronto-based Research In Motion Ltd. told journalists in Lagos, Nigeria, on Tuesday that its handsets are the No. 1 choice among those using smartphones in Nigeria and South Africa. Officials say that in Nigeria alone, its phones represent one out of every two phones in the market, an incredible grip on the market of Africa's most populous nation and BlackBerry phones remain such a pop culture fascination in Nigeria that it spawned a popular local film "BlackBerry Babes." .(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Robert Bose, regional managing director middle east and Africa, left, and Waldi Wepener, regional director, East, central and west Africa, attend a press conference for Blackberry in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. The company that makes BlackBerry smartphones is looking to Africa to help its troubled sales.Officials with Toronto-based Research In Motion Ltd. told journalists in Lagos on Tuesday that its handsets are the No. 1 choice among those using smartphones in Nigeria and South Africa. Officials say that in Nigeria alone, its phones represent one out of every two phones in the market, an incredible grip on the market of Africa's most populous nation and BlackBerry phones remain such a pop culture fascination in Nigeria that it spawned a popular local film "BlackBerry Babes." .(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? In a film recently made in Nigeria, a man stops a beautiful woman, suavely trying to get her to talk to him. Instead she pouts her lips and looks down at her hands, barely able to hold all of the BlackBerry phones she owns.
"If you really want to talk to me, get me a BlackBerry Bold 3 ... then and only then, you can talk to me," the woman says in the now-infamous Nollywood film "BlackBerry Babes," which follows the hijinks of beautiful women in short skirts manipulating their way to getting new mobile phones.
For troubled BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd., the stilted dialogue in Nigerian English sounds like money in the bank. The mobile phones made by RIM hold the dominant market share in both Nigeria and South Africa, two of the biggest economies on the African continent. Now opening an office in Nigeria, RIM hopes to hold onto that African advantage as its sales in Western nations tumble, company officials say.
"This is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world," said Robert Bose, RIM's regional managing director for the Middle East and Africa.
In Nigeria, two out of four smartphones are BlackBerry models, company officials said Tuesday during a news conference in Lagos, citing market research. The number of Nigeria smartphone users is expected to grow from 4 million at the end of 2011 to 25 million at the end of 2016, according to forecasts by Informa Telecoms & Media.
How Nigeria became enthralled with BlackBerry begins with the collapse of its state-run telephone company. Fixed, landline telephone numbers now barely exist in Africa's most populous nation with more than 160 million people. Mobile phones now fill that void, with those who can afford it often carrying two or three handsets as networks routinely drop calls. And as the nation's power supply remains erratic at best and people work a variety of jobs, the hard-keyed BlackBerry fills the void left by the absence of functional offices.
The phones' prices also make ownership a sign of status as well in a nation where most earn less than $2 a day. Business partners routinely communicate over BlackBerry's message service and the young incessantly share their gossip.
"I think people equate having a BlackBerry to a certain level of success," Bose said.
For some, BlackBerry remains the only constant means of accessing the Internet, while 94 percent of phone owners regularly use its messaging service, the officials said.
The Nigerian and African experience for RIM comes as the mobile phone manufacturer faces tougher times elsewhere. RIM's software is still focused on email, and is less user-friendly and agile than iPhone or Android. The company's attempts at touch screens largely failed and its applications lag behind its competitors.
RIM's U.S. share of the smartphone market dropped from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent in 2011 according to market researcher NPD Group. The company still has 78 million active subscribers worldwide.
"There's been a tectonic shift" away from hard key BlackBerry phones in North America to touch screen phones, Bose said. To halt a similar march here, Bose and others announced they will open an office in Lagos, as well as set up operations around the country to allow users to come in and update their phones' software for free. The company also has plans to offer applications for sale by having mobile phone carriers bill the user, rather than require credit cards, said Waldi Wepener, RIM's regional director for East, Central and West Africa.
Yet challenges remain. In Nigeria, the government currently faces a growing threat from a radical Islamist sect and secret police routinely watch and harass opposition leaders and journalists. Bose repeatedly declined to say whether Nigeria had asked for access to information from BlackBerry or demanded servers be set up in the country to monitor traffic. Other nations in the past have made similar demands of RIM. Some messages may still be encrypted, so it's not clear what nations could pull from it.
For now, though, RIM hopes to continue ride on its wave of popularity in Africa. And for the film "BlackBerry Babes," Bose simply said: "We're actually flattered by it."
___
Online:
Research In Motion Ltd.: www.rim.com
___
Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .
Associated PressKinesio tape NBA randy travis lakers Honey Boo Boo Allyson Felix Kourtney Kardashian Baby Girl
yankees white sox chuck colson ufc 145 results orrin hatch marlon byrd charles colson
Enterprise IT ISVs in need of a method of rapidly building market awareness of new products should carefully consider designating a product spokesperson. This product spokesperson should be charged with promoting new products through a variety of media, including:
Where an ISV is long on technology, but lacking as regards an understanding of marketing, the need to take this leadership step for a product may elude senior management. Missing this opportunity to designate product leadership often results in a much slower ? and more challenging ? product launch. After all, someone needs to take charge to ensure that a distinct, and consistent message is delivered to markets. Further, this individual needs to create the position papers, white papers, and other high level collateral that is required to create a stir (meaning interest) around a product. Of course, interest will, inevitably, result in engagement with prospects, perhaps in the form of incoming inquiries, or, perhaps in the form of attendance at seminars and other product presentation venues.
Where it is not possible to dedicate head count entirely to this set of tasks, then the tasks can certainly be split among a number of senior managers. However, any/all public announcements, presentations, communications, must be handled uniformly and in one consistent voice. In fact, availing of a third party communications firm can generally suffice to ensure that a product launch proceeds entirely along these lines. Answers to important questions can be fielded from engineering, finance, senior management, etc.; however the position piece that includes these answers must be crafted by a single writer who either establishes the market message, or adds to it, as required. Opting for many different voices speaking to the same topics ought to be entirely avoided as the end result of this type of babble is market confusion and ambiguity ? two conditions that ought to be avoided at almost any cost.
Once product leadership has been designated, then the management team should shift its scrutiny to proofing a communications plan for a product to ensure that every appropriate medium is served with a ?right? message. Partners, collaborators and influential individuals should be informed of the product and included in the review process to ensure that a best effort has been made.
IMB Enterprises, Inc. has the resources to successfully execute on this type of requirement. Please contact us to learn further. You can call Ira Michael Blonder at +1 631-673-2929 to further a discussion about our services plan. You may also email Ira at imblonder@imbenterprises.com.
? IMB Enterprises, Inc. & Ira Michael Blonder, 2012 All Rights Reserved
road conditions newt gingrich wives weather gina carano at last al green burger king delivery
An Iranian lawmaker has accused International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano of selling secrets to the Isrealis. ? Reuters pic
DUBAI, Sept 24 ? A senior Iranian lawmaker accused the UN nuclear watchdog yesterday of passing confidential details of Iran?s atomic work to Israel, and a military commander said Teheran may consider a pre-emptive strike on the Jewish state if it looked set to attack.Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament?s presiding board, said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano had made ?repeated trips? to Israel, divulging sensitive information about what Teheran says is its peaceful nuclear programme.
?Amano?s repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli officials? views about Iran?s nuclear activities indicates that Iran?s nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist regime and other enemies of the Islamic Republic,? Jahangirzadeh was quoted as saying by Iran?s English-language Press TV.
The IAEA declined to comment.
Records show Amano has made only one visit to Israel in his capacity as IAEA chief, in August 2010. He visited Teheran in May this year.
?If the agency?s actions lead to Iran cutting cooperation with this international body, all responsibility will be with the IAEA director general,? said Jahangirzadeh, also a member of parliament?s national security and foreign policy committee.
After weeks of increased hints by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could strike Iran?s nuclear sites, prompting speculation that might happen before US elections in November, an Iranian military commander said Iran could strike first if sure Israel were poised to attack.
?Iran will not start any war but it could launch a pre-emptive attack if it was sure that the enemies are putting the final touches to attack it,? Iran?s state-run Arabic language Al-Alam television quoted Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as saying.
While Hajizadeh?s comments might be seen as part of the usual hawkish rhetoric from the Iranian military, the politician?s accusation against the IAEA?s Amano suggest Teheran?s relations with the agency are severely strained.
Infiltrated
Last week, Iranian nuclear energy chief Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said ?terrorists? might have infiltrated the Vienna-based agency.
He suggested the IAEA included too much sensitive information about Iran?s nuclear programme in its reports that he said could be used by saboteurs.
Western diplomats dismissed his allegations as an attempt to distract attention away from the agency?s bid to gain access to a site in Iran it suspects was used for nuclear weapons research, something Teheran denies.
Iran blames Israel and its Western allies for the assassination of nuclear scientists in Iran, including an unsuccessful attempt on Abbasi-Davani in November 2010.
It also blames those countries for computer viruses that appeared designed to damage its nuclear machinery.
The 35-nation board of the agency censured Iran earlier this month for defying international demands to curb uranium enrichment and failing to address mounting disquiet about its suspected research into atomic bombs.
The resolution prompted Iran?s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani to cast doubt on the benefit of Iran?s membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the? Teheran Times reported.
In another allegation of underhand behaviour against Iran, the head of parliament?s national security and foreign policy committee said German engineering company Siemens had planted explosives in equipment it sold to Iran for use in its nuclear programme.
Siemens, which was building a nuclear power station in Iran before the Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah in 1979, denied Alaeddin Boroujerdi?s accusation.
?Siemens does not have any business ties with Iran?s nuclear programme and does not supply any technical equipment for it,? a spokesman for the Munich-based multinational said. ? Reuters
telenav telenav wade phillips wade phillips time person of the year sag nominations sag nominations
Newt Gingrich (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Newt Gingrich has watched the videos showing Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney telling donors that the "47 percent" of the population who pay no income taxes will support President Barack Obama "no matter what."
Romney was right in one sense, Gingrich insists. But, he's also dead wrong.
First, what Romney got wrong: It is a mistake to write off nearly half the population as Obama supporters, Gingrich said. His reading of the election?and history?suggests Romney is underestimating his support. If Romney truly believes that 47 percent opposes him, he does so at the party's peril.
"I think that's false. Period," Gingrich told Yahoo News in an interview. "What he was saying was specifically about voting patterns. I actually don't agree with it. I'm a Reaganite, I think that we have an opportunity to win much bigger elections. I don't believe in fighting between 47 and 53 percent. I believe in trying to get to 60 and to keep pounding away to create much bigger margins."
And what did Romney get right? While his analysis of the electorate was misguided, Gingrich backed up Romney's general assessment that many Obama supporters consider themselves "victims who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them." For evidence, Romney's former rival pointed to another set of videos.
"Go watch tapes from the Democratic convention," Gingrich said. "You have people who had extraordinary opportunities in the most open society in the world who explain how they're victimized and government should take care of them. It's the heart of the Obama majority, people who would like someone to take care of them."
idris elba kelsey grammer martin henderson mlk day golden globes 2012 winners golden globes 2012 red carpet golden globes red carpet
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://twitter.com/CatholicNewsSvc/statuses/249495009932480512
hossa the cell dickclark gavin degraw gavin degraw alec time 100
bobby abreu 2012 draft colt mccoy arbor day packers mike adams janoris jenkins
Sony's Xperia T goes by a few names. Depending on which country you're in, you might pick it up as the Xperia GX, or possibly even the TX. The final review sample that's been passed our desk, however, is the Xperia T, the European HSPA version, headed to O2's UK stores in the coming weeks, at which point it will be free on £36 per-month contracts and likely replace the Xperia S as Sony's Android flagship. In comparison to Sony's Spring smartphone, there's a similar 720p display, now stretched out to 4.6 inches, a different 13-megapixel camera, a new 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and Android ICS -- with the promise of Jelly Bean soon after it hits store. The Xperia T also revives a familiar hardware curve and has picked up onscreen Android buttons on its design journey. Design twists and promises of the latest OS aside, has Sony finally built a top-tier phone capable of going toe-to-toe with the smartphone heavyweights? Have a look after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Sony Xperia T review: a new 4.5-inch smartphone flagship that isn't quite new enough originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/90xbxf2AoZA/
Danell Leyva Ye Shiwen OJ Murdock Olympics Live Mens Gymnastics Allison Schmitt Olympic Schedule