Gospel, long standing American tradition, takes new life in Rome

YoutubeDecember 30, 2012. (Romereports.com) ? Their velvety voices harmoniously synchronized... never hiding their emotion... Above all, praising God and preaching his love... that's Gospel music...
And while it may be an everlasting American tradition with deep ties to Baptist Christians, it's making inroads at the heart of Catholicism. ??

MARIO CIAMPA
Art Director, IMF Foundation

?When we started, 17 years ago, we were in this small place, it was very cold. We started off with just four singers with a piano, and there was just 50 people, but we insisted.?

Mario Ciampa organizes the annual Rome Gospel Festival, bringing together numerous Gospel groups and thousands of attendees.

Gospel has slowly made a name for itself in the eternal city. But it has not been easy. No less in part, because of the more moderate nature of worship within the dominant Catholic religion. A process much different from the hands-on tradition of Gospel.

MARIO CIAMPA
Art Director, IMF Foundation

"People walk with some hesitation, very rigid, because they're not used to participating actively in a concert.?

But once they embrace it, Ciampa describes it as musical therapy for the mind and soul.

Over the years, acceptance of this vastly different musical style has grown, propelling the festival to bigger performances and bigger attendance each year.

MARIO CIAMPA
Art Director, IMF Foundation

?People participate not in a religious manner for this event. They associate it a Christmas musical show, filled with lots of joy.?

In 2012, a whopping 11,000 attendees are expected to attend the 11 day event featuring some of the biggest names in Gospel from the United States.

RCA
MG

Source: http://www.romereports.com/palio/gospel-long-standing-american-tradition-takes-new-life-in-rome-english-8635.html

dear john derrick rose torn acl pacers undrafted free agents braveheart earthquake california earthquake california

Waccamaw Community Hospital blood drive Jan. 4

?

GEORGETOWN, SC?- January is National Blood Donor Month, so why not start the year off with a pint? Of blood, that is.

Waccamaw Community Hospital is holding a blood drive Friday, Jan. 4, at ?Wachesaw Conference Center.

Members of the public can donate blood from 10:30 a.m. ? 4 p.m. in Conference Room 1A and 1B. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments take priority. To schedule your appointment you can call 843-652-1135 or register online at www.redcrossblood.org, and enter sponsor code WaccamawHosp.

In addition to having a valid ID, blood donors must be healthy, be at least 17 years old and weigh a minimum of 110 pounds.

Wachesaw Conference Center is located at 4367 Riverwood Drive, 29576, across the street from Waccamaw Community Hospital.

Copyright 2012 WMBF News. All rights reserved.

Source: http://longslittleriverloris.wmbfnews.com/news/news/50345-waccamaw-community-hospital-blood-drive-jan-4

tebow jets romney etch a sketch jeb bush sherry arnold snooty fox el debarge portland weather

Israel court overturns ban on Arab politician

JERUSALEM: Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Sunday an Arab lawmaker could stand in elections, overturning her disqualification by electoral officials over her participation in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in 2010.

The nine-justice court ruled unanimously Haneen Zoabi "shall be a candidate for the Knesset" in a Jan. 22 poll without giving details of its reasons.

Zoabi drew widespread criticism in Israel for taking part in an international aid flotilla that challenged the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, territory ruled by Hamas Islamists opposed to the existence of the Jewish state.

She was on the Mavi Marmara when Israeli naval commandos raided the Turkish vessel in May 2010, killing nine Turks in clashes with activists on board.

The Central Elections Committee voted on Dec. 19 to disqualify Zoabi, saying she had shown "support for an enemy state or terrorist organisation engaged in armed conflict against Israel".

Zoabi has said she had no role in any of the violence on board the Mavi Marmara and had tried to mediate between the sides during the raid.

Environment Minister Gilad Erdan criticised the ruling saying Zoabi had been involved in "expressing solidarity with our enemies".

Zoabi told Israeli Army Radio the judges had "avoided giving in to the racist right".

The Central Elections committee, which authorises parties' candidates ahead of votes, is chaired by a Supreme Court justice and made up of legislators from a number of political factions.

It has tried several times in the past to disqualify Arab political parties for alleged disloyalty to Israel, only to be overruled by the Supreme Court on appeal.

Zoabi belongs to the tiny Balad party that believes Israel should not be defined as a Jewish state.

Most of the Arabs who make up about 20 percent of the Israeli population are related to or descended from Palestinians who fled or were driven away in a 1948 war over Israel's establishment.

They are full-fledged citizens, though many complain of discrimination.

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Dec-30/200362-israel-court-overturns-ban-on-arab-politician.ashx

braxton miller braxton miller Whitney Heichel

Corporation or LLC, which is right

?

Many people wonder whether they should have a limited liability company or a corporation for their business. In order to find out which one is right for your 499032_f260business you will need to take a look at the various advantages and disadvantages of each type of business structure and then make your choice.

Here are the main advantages you will get if you decide to incorporate your business:

  1. Limited Liability ? this is a probably the best advantage that you will get if you incorporate your business. In most business structures the owner assumes all of the liability of the company, but when a business becomes incorporated the amount of your liability is limited to the amount of money that you have actually invested in the company. For example if you are a sole business owner then your car or house can actually be seized to pay any debts that your business might owe. But in a corporation the only way that you can be held responsible is if you have given a personal guarantee.
  2. Corporations Carry On - basically a corporation has an unlimited life span where as other business structures will cease to exist in certain scenarios. What this boils down to is that a corporation will continue to exist if the ownership of the business changes, if the shareholders die or leave the business, it doesn?t ever go away.
  3. Raising Money Is Easier - it is a known fact that corporations actually have an easier time raising money and because of this you will have an easier time growing and developing your business. The reason that they have an easier time is that corporations can actually not only borrow and incur debt but they can also sell shares and raise equity capital. This is a huge advantage because equity capital for the most part does not have to be repaid and it incurs no interest. But when you are issuing shares you are also reducing your percentage of ownership in the business.
  4. Income Control ? if you are a corporation you can be the one to determine when you personally receive income, which is a huge tax advantage. Basically what this does is that instead of getting your income when it is received it allows you to take your income at a time when you?ll pay less tax.
  5. Potential Tax Deferral ? this is not a guaranteed thing, but more like an opportunity when it arises. But this works because you can defer paying some tax until a later time so this may make you be able to realize a tax savings because it might put you into a lower tax bracket or you might be able to put it off until tax rates have fallen. This depends on what happens when taxes actually come due.
  6. Income Splitting ? this works because corporations pay dividends to their shareholders from the company?s earnings. So this allows you to split the income how you see fit. This can work because a shareholder does not have to be actively involved in the business to receive dividends. So you can spilt the income with people in your family so that not all of it is getting taxed at the higher tax rate, basically you will be redistributing income from a higher tax bracket to a lower tax bracket
  7. The Small Business Tax Deduction ? if you have a small business and you decide to make it a corporation you might qualify for the small business deduction. This is an annual tax credit that is calculated at the rate of 16% on the first $200,000 of taxable income. This can actually be a much lower tax bracket than that applied to your personal income.
  8. Increased Business ? this isn?t always a guarantee but for the most part people tend to perceive corporations as being more stable than other business, it just has something to do with the name. Not to mention that in some cases, such as contractors, some companies will only do business with you if you are a corporation because of liability issues.

Here are the disadvantages of having your business as a corporation:

  1. Registering a corporation is expensive ? they are very costly to set up. The reason for that is because they are a more complex legal structure than 499030_f260other business structures so creating one is going to be more complicated which requires more costs. These fees can range in the hundreds for small businesses, for the set up alone. And these set up fees can be higher for large businesses.
  2. Liability May Not Be As Limited As You Think ? most people think that they are protected from everything if they have a corporation, but this can be undercut by personal guarantees or even credit agreements. This becomes an issue if others won?t give the corporation credit. This usually happens because the corporation is new so they have limited assets which mean they don?t have enough to secure a loan so the banks and other lenders require guarantees from the owners. What this means is that if you default in repayment obligation on those you can be held liable, meaning lose your car or house.
  3. Less Tax Flexibility ? this area affects business losses. If you own the business on yoru own or with somebody else and your business suffers a loss you can use those losses to actually lower other types of personal income in the year that the losses occurred. But in a corporation if you have a loss they can only be carried forward or back to reduce the corporation?s income from other years.
  4. No Personal Tax Credits ? this can actually be a tax disadvantage for your business because the corporation isn?t eligible for personal tax credits. So in other words every dollar that the corporation earns is taxed. Sole owners and partnerships can claim tax credits that corporations cannot.
  5. Increased paperwork ? with a corporation there is a lot more paperwork involved just to maintain the corporation. An example of this is that corporations are required to maintain a minute book, and in this book you have to have the corporate bylaws and minutes from all corporate meetings. But you also have to keep all of the corporate documents up to date at all times, which means you are going to be facing a ton of paperwork.499035_f260
  6. Another Tax Return - if you decide to have a corporation you are going to have to file two tax retruns each year, one for your individual income and one for the corporation. This means that you are going to end up paying more for your accounting fees. But you are also going to be paying double taxes, because you have to pay personal income tax on the profits that you received plus all of the money made by the corporation is taxed before you receive your share.

Here are the main advantages of having a limited liability company:

  1. Limited Liability ? this is similar to a corporation because you have the same protections as the corporation when it comes to being responsible for the business debts. Basically a LLC exists as a separate entity so the members can?t be held responsible unless they have signed a personal guarantee.
  2. Flexible Profit Distribution ? this allows you to select varying forms of distribution of profits. A partnership requires you to split the profits fifty-fifty, but with the LLC you can do that or choose from another method, however you see fit.
  3. No Minutes ? corporations are required to keep formal minutes, have meetings, and record resolutions. But the LLC business structure does not require you to do any of these things, which in the long run actually makes it easier to operate.
  4. Flow Through Taxation ? all of your business losses, profits, and expenses are going to flow through the company to the individual members. So in this type of business you are going to avoid the double taxation of paying corporate tax and individual tax. In most cases this is considered to be a tax advantage but in some cases a business can benefit from having a corporate tax structure.

Here are the disadvantages to having a limited liability company:

  1. Limited Life ? unlike a corporation a limited liability company will not last forever. In fact these will be dissolved when one member, just one, dies or 499033_f260declares bankruptcy, regardless of how the other members are doing financially or if they want to stay in business. If they want to continue they must redefine their business as a limited liability.
  2. Going Public ? if you have any thoughts about taking yoru business public or issuing shares to your employees in the future you are better off going corporate from the beginning because of the complications of switching later on in the business? life.
  3. Added Complexity ? if you are running a sole proprietorship or even a partnership you are going to have an easier time because they are easy to run and do not require much paperwork. But when it comes to a LLC things get quite a bit more complicated. The reason for this is that a LLC can be federally classified as sole proprietorship, partnership or a corporation for tax purposes, which makes things all that more complicated because you have to learn the appropriate tax rules that apply.

?

?

?

?

?

?

Source: http://themodernaccountant.com/2012/12/29/corporation-or-llc-which-is-right/

xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall whitney houston news sylvia plath

Newtown survivor's lawyer seeks $100 million suit

By Mary Ellen Godin, Reuters

MERIDEN, Connecticut -- A $100 million claim on behalf of a 6-year-old survivor is the first legal action to come out of the Connecticut school shooting that left 20 children and eight adults dead two weeks ago.?

The unidentified client, referred to as Jill Doe, heard "cursing, screaming, and shooting" over the school intercom when the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, opened fire, according to the claim filed by New Haven-based attorney Irv Pinsky.

"As a consequence, the ... child has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined," the claim said.


Pinsky said he filed a claim on Thursday with state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr., whose office must give permission before a lawsuit can be filed against the state.

The parents of a 6-year-old girl who survived the Connecticut school shootings that resulted in the deaths of 20 other children at her school seek to file a claim for $100 million, saying their child was traumatized. NBC's Kate Snow has more.

"We all know its going to happen again," Pinsky said on Friday. "Society has to take action."

Twenty children and six adults were shot dead on Dec. 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The children were all 6 and 7 years old.

Pinsky's claim said that the state Board of Education, Department of Education and Education Commissioner had failed to take appropriate steps to protect children from "foreseeable harm."

It said they had failed to provide a "safe school setting" or design "an effective student safety emergency response plan and protocol."

Pinsky said he was approached by the child's parents within a week of the shooting.

The shooting, which also left the gunman dead, has prompted extensive debate about gun control and the suggestion by the National Rifle Association that schools be patrolled by armed guards. Police have said the gunman killed his mother at their home in Newtown before going to the school.?

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on?Twitter?and?Facebook

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/29/16233914-lawyer-for-newtown-shooting-survivor-seeks-to-file-100-million-lawsuit?lite

honduras prison fire do not call list sports illustrated westminster dog show 2012 words with friends words with friends phlebotomy

TigerLogic Acquires Storycode For Up To $7.25M To Bolster How Brands Reach Mobile Users

Screen Shot 2012-12-28 at 9.03.18 PMTigerLogic, a company with a market cap of about $56 million that provides data management and app development solutions for enterprises, said it agreed to acquire Portland mobile developer Storycode for up to $7.25 million in cash and stock today. The Irvine-based company says it will integrate Storycode’s technology into its social visualization platform called Postano. Yes, “social visualization” platform is a little vague, but basically Postano lets brands embed widgets with content froms social networks on their sites. They also offer an internal dashboard that lets clients monitor what people are saying about them on Twitter or Facebook, and they can also help with creating custom Facebook tabs and apps. Storycode has a mobile app publishing platform that media companies like Thomson Reuters, USA Today, NBC and CBS use to create iPhone and iPad apps. The mobile publishing platform will plug right into TigerLogic’s Postano product. According to an SEC filing, each share of Storycode’s stock will be converted into $6.75 million worth of TigerLogic’s stock. On top of that, a single share of preferred stock in Storycode will get converted into the right to receive $250,000. TigerLogic is also giving Storycode $100,000 in bridge financing and is taking on up to $150,000 in the company’s liabilities. Storycode actually has been through one previous acquisition. It was previously called FreeRange Communications after it spun out of Handmark in 2011. The company changed its name to Storycode last May after acquiring a Portland-based mobile agency.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NwRhHkx-Dhk/

jeremy lin Sage Stallone Mermaid Body Found Celeste Holm Stephen Covey klimt bastille day

REALTOR? Safety Series: Scams Affecting REALTORS? and Their ...

ScamComputerSM

Most?of us?want to take people at their word and believe that they have the most honest of intentions.?Sadly, that has never been a totally realistic expectation to have.?Many say the problem has increased with the internet, but it may be that the internet has just complicated matters by offering new ways to play old tricks. Most of the following scams you will find on either the internet or in your mailbox.

Many times, the REALTOR? is not the victim directly, but these crimes can tarnish the industry and also compromise the trust of the public.?As the country begins to climb out of one of the worst recessions?of the last century, we want everyone to have the best possible experience when buying and selling real estate.?Part of that is knowing all that can possible deter that pleasant experience. Read the following for more information and what you can do in the event that you suspect you or your clients are the targets of a real estate scam artist.

Craigslist Rental Scams:?REALTORS? and their sellers have been increasingly victimized by individuals taking their listings or photos from a website and posting them on bulletin sites to try and secure deposits from prospective renters. The houses may be vacant or owner occupied. Fortunately, people are usually well aware of the scams on bulletins sites and realize a listing for a?four bedroom house in an affluent neighborhood doesn?t rent for $500.

If the listing is occupied,?the owners can be alarmed if they find people casing their property or looking in their windows to size up the living room.?An owner?s shaken confidence can be damaging?when a?listing agent is legitimately?trying to sell their property.

If you find a listing has been hijacked, flag it?for Craigslist to remove and if you like, contact the FTC and FBI?s Internet Crime Complaint?Center.

Large Homes, All Cash, Quick Escrow?:?You usually lose nothing but time and gain only frustration with deals that seem too good to be true. A prospective buyer claims to have X amount of money, all cash, and needs a quick closing. Everything is perfect until the time comes to submit the earnest money or sign the papers. Always go on instinct and trust your judgment, and get verification.

Leads for FSBO Listings:?Someone claims to have connections with frustrated FSBOs who need REALTORS? or have other listing leads. This individual then attempts to sell these names for $10-15 a head. Usually they claim to get their leads through an affiliation with either a reputable brokerage firm or educational institution. The names are either of FSBOs with no interest in working with an agent or home owners who are not even in the market to sell. Either way, you are still out $100-150 (these ?leads? are often presented as a package deal) with little room for recourse since the situation is hard to prosecute. Always approach such offers with extreme caution.

Overseas Transactions:?People from overseas purchase property all the time. However, scams originate overseas as often as they do locally. It is always a good policy to enter into transactions with people you can see past an e-mail and with verified funding.

Real Estate Scam for Lawyers:?Someone will contact a real estate agent expressing interest in a large property. They will then request a recommendation for an attorney to set up a trust for escrow, sending a cashier?s check to the attorney for an exorbitant amount of money. After the deal is written, the scammer then rescinds and requests a refund back when the original check was no good in the first place. This is just a minor twist on the classic confidence scam that can still lead to a very unfortunate outcome.

Resources:?If or when you have a?brush with any of these scenarios, contact?your local police department, the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and your state?s Attorney General:

Oregon:
Oregon Department of Justice
1162 Court Street NE
Salem, OR? 97301-4096
(503) 378-4400
consumer.hotline@doj.state.or.us

Washington:
Washington Attorney General
1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA? 98504-0100
(360) 753-6200
Online Complaint Form

Next time in our series: Vacants, Squatters, and Occupy Portland.

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://rmlsweb.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/realtor-safety-series-scams-affecting-realtors-and-their-business/

the visitor king of kings ostara andy kaufman masters 2012 tom watson kawasaki disease

2012 in Review: Sports ? Wickersham's Conscience

The Big News in sports for 2012 was the NFL?s sudden realization discovery that football is bad for you. Specifically, that serial concussions work terrible damage to the brains of its athletes. Not that the NFL is actually admitting anything; there are lawsuits, after all, and we can?t have any damaging admissions. The NFL is overwhelmingly America?s favorite professional sport. But the cost turns out to be much higher than the extortionate tickets. Suetonius is still apt:?Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant. But you?d think we?d outgrown death sports.

The news for professional hockey, another brain-damaging recreation, would be equally bad, except that there isn?t any professional hockey. The NHL is on the verge of losing its entire season over greed. Again. If you are asking yourself, didn?t we just do this, the answer is that the lessons of 2005 are lost on players and management. You can?t blame that failure to learn on concussions.

Major League Baseball was badly embarrassed when the National League?s Most Valuable Player tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He got off on a technicality ? the chain of custody on the sample tested was flawed ? but it?s not what you can call a ?clean? result. Oh, and the Cubs lost. Again. 104 years since winning the World Series. But who?s counting? Luckily, the Astros were epoch-class awful, and spared the Cubs the additional ignominy of the worst record in the National League. Unluckily, the Astros jump to the American League next season.

This was a summer Olympics year, officially the XXX Olympiad, hosted in London. 204 countries participated, with 85 of them winning one or more medals in the 26 sports and 39 disciplines. WC didn?t watch them.

Another hero bit the dust when seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was busted for cheating and using performance enhancing drugs. He was stripped of all of his trophies and banned from cycling. He maintains his evidence through a kind of passive-aggressive jujitsu. by which he refused to fight but denied everything.

And America?s obsession with professional reports remains just short of criminal. The average salary for an NFL quarterback is $15 million. The average NBA basketball player makes $5 million. The average MLB baseball player made $3.4 million. The average school teacher, a far more important and consequential job, makes a little over $40,000 a year. Think about that when you are watching the Super Bowl this year.

Maybe next year.

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://wickershamsconscience.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/2012-in-review-sports/

the rock vs john cena acm awards 2012 january jones ncaa final game reba mcentire acm awards the killing

I'm A Girl And I Eat Meat

HelloGiggles:

I'm a girl, and I eat meat. Unless you're one of the 7% of women in the United States who identify as vegetarian, you're probably thinking, "Me too!" So what's the big deal?

Imagine this scenario: You're sitting in a restaurant across from your male friend/significant other. The server comes to the table carrying a 1/3 lb. burger with fries in one hand and three tempeh tacos in the other. You look up at him and smile. You're starving and the food has finally arrived! He slides the burger in front of your boyfriend/husband/friend. "Um, sorry, that's mine actually," you say. You get your burger, but the incident has left a sour taste in your mouth.

Read the whole story at HelloGiggles

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/26/im-a-girl-and-i-eat_n_2365208.html

whitney houston autopsy results obama trayvon jim yong kim michael bush the host trailer whitney houston cause of death marquette university