There can be nothing more exciting when moving your home; new places to see, great neighbors, new way of commuting to your office or school?almost endless thrills. The process of moving itself can be thrilling, although it can mean a lot of hardship. But there are many ways in which you can turn these hardships into a pleasant experience that you can remember and cherish throughout your life. You may be moving your home for many reasons. Possibly you have bought a new house, or you had a job change or even both. Whatever the reason, you will certainly want to move your belongings safely without even the least damage. You can no doubt entrust the job to a professional company, but there are those little things that you can do better, besides you can save yourself paying a heft bill not to your liking. So why not consider doing a part of the packing job yourself? All that you need to do is put your belongings in special moving boxes and leave the transporting to a moving company.
Ordering moving boxes is not as simple as you may have thought it to be.
You will need to take an accurate measurement of your belongings and make a fair assessment of much they weigh. Once you have through with the measurement talk to an expert moving boxes maker. They can recommend the right type of boxes and the material with which you will want them to be made with. The most common boxes are those made from paper or a combination of paper and plastics. If you are conscious about environment friendly materials then go for the paper. But some of your belongings can be so heavy are consume so much of space that a wooden moving box is inevitable. Although you may have made a measurement, it is always prudent to call a representative from the box company to let them make their own assessment of your needs.
Moving boxes are not the only packaging material you will need. The other things you need to keep handy are the bubble papers, cello tapes, ropes and even some old newspaper that you can use for stuffing voids. They will give your belongings that extra protection from jerks and shocks so common when moving by a truck. It always pays to order at 10% more than your estimate. It will save you from the trouble of running for materials while you are in the middle of packing. Keep at least a couple of marker pens ready and use it for marking the boxes. Assign a number to each of them in serial order and include a brief description of what is inside each. That will make unpacking at your home easy. Remember that unpacking itself can take a couple of days and you may want some moving boxes opened first, especially those that contain the kitchen items.
Talk to a moving company at least a couple of days ahead of the actual date on which you intend moving. Negotiating a deal can be tricky. If you are going to move voluminous then it is advantageous to get a quote on weight basis, and if it is going to be low volume moving, then ask the mover for quote on volume basis. But don?t expect them to be na?ve. Their quotes are often based on weight as well as volume, but you can expect some discount if you are more knowledgeable about what you are asking for. Get your belongings insured before the actual transporting takes place, if the truck company won?t do it or expects you take the burden. It always pays to know that beforehand.
A dream doesn?t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.?~ Colin Powell
Your best wealth building tool is your income.
Many people who are trying to work their way out of debt, focus on the size of the debt and how to pay it off. The mountain in front of them is so large that they can not see around it to realize that the problem may not be the debt so much as the lack of income. Debt may be a symptom of a larger problem or it the debt may just be a lack of organization and paying attention to where your money is going. Over the next few blogs I will discuss the income side of personal finance and how building up your income can not only help you to pay off debt faster, but build your savings as well.
Create a?life plan
When we begin to work, after we get out of school, we initially focus on making enough money to move out of our parent?s home and support ourselves independently. The boomerang generation, aged 25 to 34, is having a hard time doing this according to a?recent survey. What you need is a life plan. One of our goals for our lives should be?in a position to retire from work at a reasonable?age and be able to support ourselves with our savings. In order to do this we must save a portion of our income?each year that we work. In today?s society, many people spend more than they make each year, which works out to be a negative savings rate. This does not bode well for our future. So what is your plan?
How much money would you like to have?
To make a plan we need to start at the end and work backwards.?How much yearly income would you like when you retire? Could you live on $50,000 per year? If your home were paid?off, could you live on less or, if your home were paid off what would you do with extra income?Use this retirement calculator?to help?you determine?how much you need to save for retirement.?This may be?a pretty depressing number, but it also may not be as bad as you think. Let?s just ay that you are now prepared to do what it takes to reach your retirement goals by working and saving.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
The next step is to figure out if your current job will get you to where you want to be. Are you happy with your current employment? If you could do anything or?work anywhere, is this where you would choose? Take some time to brainstorm and dream. You want to be someplace where you enjoy getting out of bed and going to work. If you are doing work?that you love your income will increase over time. What type of personality?do you have? Are you a leader, a detail person, social?or outgoing, loyal??Knowing your personality will help you to match your character traits and skills to a job that will give you energy, not drain you.
Identifying your strengths and weaknesses in the job market, getting additional training or seeking a new position where your strengths are an asset will get you pointed in the right direction to build your income and your retirement savings.
Tim and Kathryn Gerken are Financial Coaches in Newcastle, WA. They serve their community by speaking, teaching workshops and coaching individual and families in personal finance.
LONDON (Reuters) - Ashti Hawrami, oil minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, was the recipient of emails from a senior JP Morgan banker that the UK financial regulator this week said constituted market abuse, people familiar with the matter said.
Ian Hannam quit as JPMorgan's global chairman of equity capital markets after the FSA fined him 450,000 pounds ($712,400) for divulging privileged information in two emails in 2008. Hannam, a gruff former special forces soldier, is one of Britain's most successful investment bankers and is appealing against the fine. An independent review is likely to take at least a year to complete.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined Hannam in relation to an email in September 2008 to an unnamed "Mr. A", whom three sources told Reuters was Hawrami.
The email contained information about a potential takeover bid for Hannam's client, Heritage Oil. Mr A is central to the probe, as he could then have advised his organization to buy a stake in Heritage, the FSA said.
Spokesmen for Hannam, JPMorgan, the FSA and Hawrami declined to comment.
In the FSA's notice of its fine and decision this week, it said Hannam said the contents of the email were not sufficiently precise or price-sensitive to constitute inside information, and the information had already been disclosed to Mr A by Tony Buckingham, the chief executive of Heritage Oil.
Heritage declined to comment, but the FSA notice said the information disclosed by Hannam was more specific than that provided to Mr A by Buckingham.
"It is not suggested that any trades were conducted on the basis of the information disclosed by Mr Hannam," the FSA has said.
The FSA also accepted that Hannam was "acting in Heritage's interests when making the disclosures to Mr A" as he tried to find a partner for Heritage to tie up with, or sell assets to, to help fund the development of Heritage's oil find in Kurdistan.
Conservative party member of parliament David Davis, a supporter of Hannam, told Reuters in a telephone interview that the fact the first email was sent to a government minister - whom he declined to name - meant no wrongdoing occurred because the minister could be relied upon to respect the confidentiality of the information contained.
"On the evidence presented, this is an incomprehensible conclusion," Davis said of the FSA fine.
The FSA says these were serious matters and defends its decision to fine Hannam.
Hawrami's department has previously been involved in dealing in shares of Norwegian oil company DNO, which was criticized in an Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) report in 2009 for not providing enough information regarding the sale to investors.
At around the same time that Hannam sent the emails to Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was involved in purchasing shares in DNO International, which was listed in Norway and operating in Kurdistan.
The identity of the KRG as the purchaser of the shares was revealed in a probe by the OSE, which fined DNO in 2009.
The shares were subsequently sold to Turkey's Genel Enerji, a pre-cursor company to UK-listed Genel Energy, with which Heritage Oil ended up entering a merger agreement in June 2009. That merger collapsed after the FSA launched a probe into suspected insider dealing in Heritage shares by Genel Enerji's Chief Executive Mehmet Sepil. Sepil was later fined for market abuse.
The KRG said neither it nor any of its ministries, officials, employees or advisers benefited directly or indirectly, through DNO or Genel Enerji, from the transaction or subsequent resale of the shares.
There is no evidence that Hawrami used the information he received from Hannam improperly or that it influenced his government's participation in buying DNO shares.
The KRG said at the time that it got involved with the DNO share dealing to help the company raise money so it could continue working in Kurdistan, at a time when the region was struggling to attract investment.
Today, interest in the region has increased dramatically, and industry leaders including Exxon Mobil have agreed contracts.
The FSA notice implies that the KRG was also mulling an investment in Heritage, something that might have assisted its funding needs at the time.
"Mr Hannam made these disclosures at a time when he knew that the recipient of his email might recommend that the organization he represented (Organisation C) should enter into a corporate transaction with Heritage, whereby Organisation C would purchase a stake in Heritage," the FSA said this week.
The probe into Hannam was triggered by the FSA's investigation into Genel, several sources have told Reuters.
Davis said it was Hannam who had alerted the authorities regarding the Sepil case. "He actually blew the whistle on it," Davis said, adding his information came from Hannam, who contributed to his unsuccessful bid to lead the Conservative Party in 2005.
($1 = 0.6317 British pounds)
(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Will Waterman)
There?s a wide range of trade school scholarships available to help approved students cover their trade training programs and schooling. Whether your professional aspiration is to labor as a gourmet chef, health care worker, graphic artist, computer coder, or any other technical profession, you may already be eligible for some sort of scholarship.
Types of Trade School Scholarships
As is usually the situation with trade school grants, education loans and other forms of financial assistance, trade school scholarships are available to those that are eligible depending on a pre-specified list of factors. Even though you will see a huge amount of distinct scholarships supplied under unique names and with distinct conditions, most of them might be classified as being part of the three categories below.
Trainee Awards
Due to the fact a number of common trade school careers involve apprenticeships, several national companies give scholarships to scholars who become a member of sanctioned apprenticeship programs. The companies offer the benefits as a means of replacing the ranks of targeted vocations with excited, committed new professionals.
Basic Scholarships
Unquestionably one of the most challenging kinds of scholarships to locate, general scholarships and grants represent a class of financial assistance offered to students irrespective of their individual area of learning. The comparatively rare grants are usually offered in line with the applicant?s background and are often backed by businesses as an approach to improve the area.
Gender-Exclusive Scholarships
Typically awarded to women who are studying for a specialized occupation, these scholarship grants act like apprenticeship scholarships in that they are presented by organizations with the goal of escalating the numbers of a particular group in their community.
Where You Should Look for Technical School Scholarships
Whether you?re signed up at one of the many approved trade schools in California, or perhaps in another place in the U.S., a state regulating board for vocational training can present you with quite a few prospects for any kind of financial assistance you might be eligible for. It is additionally a great idea to seek advice from professional people in your area of study to see whether they can refer you to a company that gives scholarship grants to individuals just like you.
Are you looking to find out more about getting grants for vocational school? Make sure to visit the author?s informational resource site on grants for vocational education!
Russian leader Vladimir Putin stands with a gun at a shooting gallery of the new GRU military intelligence headquarters building in Moscow during a 2006 visit. Last month, Putin said nations would eventually develop new types of weapons, including "psychophysical" weapon systems.
By Alan Boyle
Are we on the brink of an arms race over zombie ray guns? You might think so, based on the alarms being rung over Russia's potential to create mind-scrambling weapons. But the reality is that it'll be a long time before we have to worry about super-soldiers taking over our brains.
The Americans as well as the Russians have been looking into psychotronic weapons for more than 15 years. You can find ample references to the subject on the Internet, including a feature published by U.S. News and World Report in 1997 and a report written for a U.S. Army publication in 1998.
Such weapons purport to take advantage of the effect that pulsed microwaves can have on brain activity. Some researchers have reported an effect known as microwave hearing, in which a directed beam of radiation produces a sensation of buzzing, clicking or hissing in the head. "This technology in its crudest form could be used to distract individuals," according to a declassified Army review of non-lethal weapons.
Theoretically, electromagnetic beams could cause an epileptic-type seizure, or involuntary eye motion leading to dizziness and nausea. Military researchers have also looked into using infrasound or laser beams to confuse or incapacitate a foe ? but when you start going down this road, before you know it, you're talking about remote viewing, ESP and all the way-out concepts chronicled in "The Men Who Stare at Goats."
The Russian connection The Russians have looked into these potential technologies at least as deeply as the Pentagon has, and you're hearing about zombie ray guns now because top Russian officials started talking about psychotronic weapons a couple of weeks ago. That has brought the subject back from the dead like a ... well, you know.
Moscow is planning to set up an advanced military research agency similar to the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov referred to those plans on March 22. Here's what the RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying during a meeting with Prime Minister (and President-elect) Vladimir Putin:
"The development of weaponry based on new physics principles ? direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy weapons, genetic weapons, psychotronic weapons, etc. ? is part of the state arms procurement program for 2011-2020 ... We will draft the proposals for the next program by December 2012."
Putin, who begins his presidential term next month, pledged during the campaign that he would beef up Russia's military. In February, he laid out his national security plan in an article published by Rossiiskaya Gazeta. At the time, most of the news reports picked up on Putin's call for almost $770 billion in spending over the course of a decade to modernize the armed forces. But Putin also observed that the current balance of power, held in place by nuclear arsenals, could well shift in the future due to new technologies. It was in that context that he brought up the psychotronic angle:
"The military capability of a country in space or information countermeasures, especially in cyberspace, will play a great, if not decisive, role in determining the nature of an armed conflict. In the more distant future, weapons systems based on new principles (beam, geophysical, wave, genetic, psychophysical and other technology) will be developed. All this will, in addition to nuclear weapons, provide entirely new instruments for achieving political and strategic goals. Such high-tech weapons systems will be comparable in effect to nuclear weapons but will be more 'acceptable' in terms of political and military ideology. In this sense, the strategic balance of nuclear forces will play a gradually diminishing role in deterring aggression and chaos."
In the wake of Serdyukov's comments, folks dredged up Putin's reference to "psychophysical" weapons, added in some background about the research into electromagnetic mind control, and voila: the zombie ray gun. Last week, Britain's Daily Mail suggested that the guns "could be used against Russia's enemies and, perhaps, its own dissidents by the end of the decade."
The Mail also quoted Anatoly Tsyganov, head of the Military Forecasting Center in Moscow, as saying microwaves could make for "a highly serious weapon":
"When it was used for dispersing a crowd and it was focused on a man, his body temperature went up immediately as if he was thrown into a hot frying pan. Still, we know very little about this weapon and even special forces guys can hardly cope with it."
Based on that comment, Tsyganov was apparently talking about a different kind of non-lethal weapon, an analog to the millimeter-wave "pain ray" that the U.S. military has been working on for years. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the beam of radiation can be directed at a crowd, producing a severe burning sensation on the skin that forces the target to jump away instinctively.
Live Poll
Are you worried about psychotronic weapons?
180681
No, that's pure science fiction.
13%
180682
Short-term, no. Long-term, maybe.
55%
180683
Yes, I'm definitely worried.
20%
180684
None of the above.
11%
VoteTotal Votes: 782
How fast can mad scientists work? There are a few problems with the pain-ray technology: It takes hours to build up enough power for the beam generator, and the system reportedly works only in clear atmospheric conditions. Nevertheless, testing of the "Silent Guardian" system is continuing, not only for military applications but also for use against oceangoing pirates and rioting prisoners.
The bottom line is that Russia certainly seems to be on track to set up its own DARPA-like "Department of Mad Scientists," working on heat rays, mind-altering electromagnetic beams and heaven knows what else. But there's nothing in the comments from Putin and Serdyukov to suggest that the Russians are anywhere close to having psychotronic weapons. In fact, Putin makes it sound as if the next frontier in warfare won't be the zombie ray gun but the coordinated cyber-attack. And that's scary enough for me.
What do you think? Please feel free to register your opinion in the unscientific poll above, and the comment space below.
Update for 11 p.m. ET: A couple of commenters noted that the zombielike picture that originally accompanied this item had a caption that didn't quite square with the lore for the "Left 4 Dead" video game. The more I learned about the game, the more I saw that the picture really didn't fit. So I've put in the picture of a gun-toting Putin instead. Thanks to the gamers who pointed out the problem. If I ever play "Left 4 Dead," I'll want you on my side.
More about weapons technologies:
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
History of abandoned urban sites found stored in soilPublic release date: 5-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Teri Barr tbarr@sciencesocieties.org 608-268-3976 American Society of Agronomy
Process of urban soil being studied, Detroit offers natural laboratory setting
April 5, 2012 - Old houses and vacant lots may not look like much to the naked eye, but to some, the site is better than gold. Excavations over the years can create a challenge to study what's left behind and often appears as if dirt and debris ended up mixed in a blender then pressed by a giant trash compactor.
However, in Detroit, one scientist and geologist is finding some of the city's abandoned lots provide a surprising "natural laboratory" for studying certain processes involved in soil formation; particularly the weathering of rocky and mineral objects within the soil layers. Jeffrey Howard's analyzed soil in the heart of the Motor City since he first dug an experimental pit on the site of a demolished building a few blocks away from his office at Wayne State University. And Howard says what he's been finding ever since, continues to amaze him, leading to his newest research.
"With an urban soil, we know what 'time zero' is," says Howard. "We don't know that as well in nature." If he's working on a vacant lot where the building was demolished in 1969, for example, "that's when the soil started to form." Howard's learned he can further date the processes in his "natural laboratory" by digging at sites where a dated cornerstone or other historical record tells him exactly how long the processes have been taking place. He's also finding Detroit the perfect starting place, where urban soil is slowly revealing the city's story as a world leader from the Industrial Revolution through World War II, to the now dramatic contraction of surplus houses, abandoned factories and crumbling landmarks.
The results map the passage of time, showing some of the old underground debris may be having a beneficial effect in certain polluted soils. And he's finding a mix of manipulated conditions. Howard says,"They didn't know that's what they were doing then, but scientifically, now we're able to see something that we otherwise wouldn't have seen. And that's huge."
###
See the complete results from this study in the just released, online only publication, Soil Horizons, at: https://www.soils.org/publications/sh/articles/53/2/6
This featured article of SH is available for free access at https://www.soils.org/publications/sh until the next quarterly issue.
Soil Horizons https://www.soils.org/publications/sh aim is to share the importance of soil science with a larger audience. It features stories celebrating the diversity and critical impact of soil scientists and their work. Soil Horizons also serves as an outlet for the publication of peer-reviewed papers on global issues and solutions in the study of soils, along with emerging challenges, ideas, unique field experiences, and findings. But these papers may break from the traditional to explore everything from case studies as examples of a larger issue, to experiential papers with implications for further study or changes in practice. Soil Horizons is published by the Soil Science Society of America.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a progressive, international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, WI, SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. It provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, recycling, and wise land use.
SSSA supports its members by providing quality research-based publications, educational programs, certifications, and science policy initiatives via a Washington, DC, office. Founded in 1936, SSSA celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year (2011). For more information, visit www.soils.org or follow @SSSA_soils on Twitter.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
History of abandoned urban sites found stored in soilPublic release date: 5-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Teri Barr tbarr@sciencesocieties.org 608-268-3976 American Society of Agronomy
Process of urban soil being studied, Detroit offers natural laboratory setting
April 5, 2012 - Old houses and vacant lots may not look like much to the naked eye, but to some, the site is better than gold. Excavations over the years can create a challenge to study what's left behind and often appears as if dirt and debris ended up mixed in a blender then pressed by a giant trash compactor.
However, in Detroit, one scientist and geologist is finding some of the city's abandoned lots provide a surprising "natural laboratory" for studying certain processes involved in soil formation; particularly the weathering of rocky and mineral objects within the soil layers. Jeffrey Howard's analyzed soil in the heart of the Motor City since he first dug an experimental pit on the site of a demolished building a few blocks away from his office at Wayne State University. And Howard says what he's been finding ever since, continues to amaze him, leading to his newest research.
"With an urban soil, we know what 'time zero' is," says Howard. "We don't know that as well in nature." If he's working on a vacant lot where the building was demolished in 1969, for example, "that's when the soil started to form." Howard's learned he can further date the processes in his "natural laboratory" by digging at sites where a dated cornerstone or other historical record tells him exactly how long the processes have been taking place. He's also finding Detroit the perfect starting place, where urban soil is slowly revealing the city's story as a world leader from the Industrial Revolution through World War II, to the now dramatic contraction of surplus houses, abandoned factories and crumbling landmarks.
The results map the passage of time, showing some of the old underground debris may be having a beneficial effect in certain polluted soils. And he's finding a mix of manipulated conditions. Howard says,"They didn't know that's what they were doing then, but scientifically, now we're able to see something that we otherwise wouldn't have seen. And that's huge."
###
See the complete results from this study in the just released, online only publication, Soil Horizons, at: https://www.soils.org/publications/sh/articles/53/2/6
This featured article of SH is available for free access at https://www.soils.org/publications/sh until the next quarterly issue.
Soil Horizons https://www.soils.org/publications/sh aim is to share the importance of soil science with a larger audience. It features stories celebrating the diversity and critical impact of soil scientists and their work. Soil Horizons also serves as an outlet for the publication of peer-reviewed papers on global issues and solutions in the study of soils, along with emerging challenges, ideas, unique field experiences, and findings. But these papers may break from the traditional to explore everything from case studies as examples of a larger issue, to experiential papers with implications for further study or changes in practice. Soil Horizons is published by the Soil Science Society of America.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a progressive, international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, WI, SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. It provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, recycling, and wise land use.
SSSA supports its members by providing quality research-based publications, educational programs, certifications, and science policy initiatives via a Washington, DC, office. Founded in 1936, SSSA celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year (2011). For more information, visit www.soils.org or follow @SSSA_soils on Twitter.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Your best wealth building tool is your income.
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Public release date: 5-Apr-2012
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