ICICI Bank profit up 20 pct, bad loans down

MUMBAI, India (AP) ? India's ICICI Bank reported net profit growth of 20 percent Tuesday, as it shed non-performing loans and boosted interest income.

Analysts and policy makers have been watching the asset quality of Indian banks, on worries that high interest rates, policy bottlenecks and slowing economic growth are hampering the ability of borrowers to repay loans and slowing credit growth.

While ICICI Bank ? like other Indian banks ? surprised investors with better than expected data on bad loan exposure during the December quarter, analysts cautioned that things could get worse going forward.

"It's too early to extrapolate this benign trend of loan loss provisions into the next several quarters," said Vijay Sarathi, banking analyst at Nomura India.

India's power sector has been especially hard hit, with delays in building out transmission networks and constraints in access to affordable coal.

The central bank has raised rates 13 times in a row in an effort to beat down inflation. High interest rates are now imperiling loan repayment, especially among small- and medium-sized companies.

Sarathi expects loan loss provisions as a percentage of average assets at Indian banks to rise over the next year, from 70 basis points to 100 to 120 basis points.

Chief executive Chanda Kochhar emphasized that ICICI's lending to India's most troubled sectors is limited.

She said the power sector accounts for 7 percent of ICICI's outstanding loans. The bank, she added, has minimal exposure to small- and medium-sized companies. Cash flows from residential housing loans have been stable, and the bank has not seen any "pain" on account of its commercial real estate loans, she said. Direct exposure to India's aviation sector is not very large, she said.

ICICI earned 17.3 billion rupees ($325 million) in the December quarter, up from 14.4 billion rupees during the year ago quarter.

Net non-performing assets fell 28 percent from a year ago, to 20.8 billion rupees ($392 million). Provisions for bad loans totaled 3.4 billion rupees ($64 million), down 27 percent from a year ago. Net interest income increased 17 percent, to 27.1 billion rupees ($511 million), from a year ago.

Corporate demand drove loan growth up 19 percent from a year ago, Kochhar said.

"Corporate, we have already seen the growth, retail the growth is just about starting," she said.

Domestic lending to Indian companies grew 23 percent, while international loans ? mainly from Indian companies seeking to raise foreign currency loans ? grew 18 percent in constant currency terms. Retail loans grew 8 percent, Kochhar said.

"Even on asset quality, they continued their good performance despite this being a tricky quarter from the macroeconomic environment point of view," said Vaibhav Agrawal, vice president of research for Angel Broking.

He said India's private sector banks have been very conservative on issuing loans over the last six or seven quarters, making their asset quality better than their publicly owned peers, which dominate lending in India.

"Recognizing the difficult environment, they've gone very conservative on lending. That's paying off now," he said.

The stock rose nearly 6 percent on the news in Mumbai trading.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-31-AS-India-Earns-ICICI-Bank/id-8341aa79de7249888642dea8b73849c9

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Supplemental Disability Insurance

Supplemental disability insurance could be ideal to invest in, especially when you need a longer period of leave from your job such as during pregnancy, injury or sickness. As the name suggests, it is supplementary to short-term disability plan. It is ideal when you have bigger responsibilities on your shoulders while away from your work. Unlike short-term disability policies, supplementary excludes you being under doctor?s survey or continuous care. Further, your benefits can start post-waiting period depending on what you choose, which could be either from one week to 6 months.

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Eligibility:

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Eligibility rests on employment type, as different employment types demand different criterions. Most importantly, you need having a full time job for meeting the eligibility criteria of the supplementary disability. In fact, you may start with analyzing the eligibility rules before you enroll with supplemental disability insurance. What is the point in looking up the plan details and in the end finding that you are not eligible for the plan? Thus, it is recommended to first look at best disability insurance, reading about its eligibility criteria, as then becomes increasingly clear whether the plan is suitable for you or not. In case, the plan demands any specific demands, which you are not eligible to, then you may simply move to another that suits you the best with your eligibilities and needs.

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Enrollment:

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It is ideal to enroll in best disability insurance plans, when you foresee future dependence on them. That is, if you have a prior information about high requirement of cash before the event, then you may simply refer to enrolling yourself for the supplementary plans, as they can benefit you more specifically during the time you need them the most.

?

It is ideal to invest in best disability insurance plans within the coverage periods of one month from your initial eligibility. However, in case you miss out this, that is if you postponed the supplementary needs after the eligibility has passed, then you may have to submit a health statement covering information about your health and condition. Further, it is easy to enroll as well as cancel supplementary disability any time you wish. This flexibility can be an added advantage, but you may also consider the fact, that disabilities wait for none. Hence, instead of changing dates back and forth, you can save more benefits, if you plan your ways through it

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Health Statement:

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In case you give a miss to enroll within stipulated period of 31 days, then you require submitting additional documents such as health statements. A health statement plays a pivotal role for your insurance firm to derive your past medical information. It helps them to gauge the risks involved in lending you disability insurance coverage. Further, it also helps them declare your eligibility. In case, they found you as high-risk client, then there are chances that you may end up paying higher premiums. However, there is also a chance, that they may reject your enrollment if found ineligible as per the set of rules.

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Coverage:

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Supplemental disability insurance benefits you weekly during disability periods with cash benefits as high as 70% of your gross earnings. Further, the amount of benefit you fetch could vary depending on plan and your salary as well. Further, you can fetch supplementary benefits along with short-term disability benefits for the first six months. However, if you want to benefit supplementary along with short-term disability, then you need to have a continuous care or doctor?s supervision. In addition, if your disability lasts longer than 12 months consecutively, then it is termed as permanent disability and one may lose the benefits of short-term disabilities if long-term plan is not clubbed with it

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Cost:

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Disability insurance coverage cost is one of the most important criteria, which makes people opt for one policy over another. Indeed, cost plays a crucial role, as it is hardly wise to invest in plans having wide flexibilities but at a high cost. Thus, cost is equivalently important to look before you decide on investing into any plan.

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Salary Hike:

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In case your salary increases, then it may not extend to your supplementary disability or disability insurance coverage, unless first day of the year comes. Thus, you can expect a hike only after new-year calendar sets in. Further the above holds true, in case you switch from full time to part time without changing the rate of pay. That is, you cannot expect a change of rate in supplementary disability benefits, even if you downgrade your fulltime job to part time when per hour income rate remains unchanged.

Source: http://individualshorttermdisabilityinsurance.org/supplemental-disability-insurance/

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Business Highlights - seattlepi.com

___

AP Interview: JC Penney CEO talks about the chain

NEW YORK ? Everyone in the retail world wants to see if Ron Johnson can work his magic a third time.

For 15 years, he helped shape Target's cheap chic image. Then, he spent about a decade changing the way Americans shop for electronic gadgets at Apple.

Now, Johnson faces perhaps his biggest challenge yet as CEO of J.C. Penney: Dust off one of the dowdiest brands in retailing to make it cool again. To do that, he's borrowing from Apple's uber-successful playbook.

During an hour-long interview in which he talked about how he planned to transform Penney, the 52-year-old mentioned Apple 19 times. Like he did at Apple, the 30-year retail industry veteran says he plans to change the shopping experience, shun heavy discounting and sell services along with products.

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25 EU nations to sign treaty to stop overspending

BRUSSELS ? All countries in the European Union, except Britain and the Czech Republic, agreed Monday to sign a new treaty designed to stop overspending in the eurozone and put an end to the bloc's crippling debt crisis, while also pledging to stimulate growth across the region.

The new treaty, known as the fiscal compact, was agreed to at a summit of European leaders in Brussels. It includes strict debt brakes and makes it more difficult for deficit sinners to escape sanctions. The 17-country eurozone hopes that the tighter rules will convince investors that all countries will get their debts under control and restore confidence in their joint currency.

Although the new rules only apply to the 17 euro states, the currency union was hoping to get broad support from the other EU states.

The summit also promised Monday to stimulate growth and create jobs across the region, in a tacit acknowledgment that their exclusive focus on austerity has had painful side effects.

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Incomes up strong 0.5 pct., consumer spending flat

WASHINGTON ? Americans' income rose in December by 0.5 percent, the most in nine months, a hopeful sign for the economy after a year of weak wage gains. But consumers didn't spend any more last month than they had in November.

Americans ended up saving their additional income.

Economists noted that income rose last month largely because of strong hiring. The economy added 200,000 jobs in December. More jobs mean more income available to spend.

The best hope for the economy is further job gains. On Friday, the government is expected to report another solid month of hiring for January.

For all of 2011, income barely rose.

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WTO: China unfairly limits export of raw materials

The World Trade Organization ruled Monday that China unfairly limited exports of nine raw materials to protect domestic manufacturers.

A WTO appeals body rejected China's appeal of an earlier ruling in July that concluded the Asian economic powerhouse had violated international trade rules. The appeals body largely sided with the U.S., European Union and Mexico, which had taken issue with Chinese restrictions on its exports of nine materials used widely in the steel, aluminum and chemical industries.

The ruling affects China's exports of certain forms of bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorous and zinc. The WTO appeals body says China must now "bring its export duty and export quota measures into conformity with its WTO obligations."

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Tech companies team up to combat email scams

NEW YORK ? Google, Facebook and other big tech companies are jointly designing a system for combating email scams known as phishing.

Such scams try to trick people into giving away passwords and other personal information by sending emails that look as if they come from a legitimate bank, retailer or other business. When Bank of America customers see emails that appear to come from the bank, they might click on a link that takes them to a fake site mimicking the real Bank of America's. There, they might enter personal details, which scam artists can capture and use for fraud.

To combat that, 15 major technology and financial companies have formed an organization to design a system for authenticating emails from legitimate senders and weeding out fakes. The new system is called DMARC ? short for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance.

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Stocks and bond yields drop on Europe worries

NEW YORK ? The wait for an expected deal between Greece and its creditors rattled financial markets around the world Monday. Yields for ultra-safe U.S. government debt hit their lowest this year, the euro dropped against the dollar, and European stocks fell.

U.S. stocks dropped slightly, with the Dow Jones industrial average off 0.1 percent.

Borrowing costs for European countries with the heaviest debt burdens shot higher. The two-year interest rate for Portugal's government debt jumped to 21 percent after trading around 14 percent last week.

Greece and the investors who bought its government bonds were said to be close to an agreement that would replace bonds held by investment funds and banks with new ones at half the face value.

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Starbucks, Tata to open 50 Indian stores this year

MUMBAI, India ? Starbucks aims to open 50 outlets in India by year's end, through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, the companies said Monday.

Tata Starbucks Ltd., as their venture is known, hopes to capitalize on the rising aspirations ? and fattening wallets ? of many Indians, who are eager to partake of the global latte life.

The first outlet will open in Mumbai or New Delhi by September.

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Wendy's CEO: Our wounds were 'self-inflicted'

NEW YORK ? Wendy's new CEO on Monday called the dour results of the past few years "self-inflicted wounds" and vowed to do better, laying out plans that included hiring top-tier workers and reclaiming market share from higher-end competitors like Five Guys and Smashburger.

Emil Brolick, the CEO since September, told investors that he was intent on winning back customers jaded by a stale menu and inconsistent service, as well as investors, who have grown weary of "a little bit of overpromising and under-delivering."

And rather than blaming the struggling economy for the revenue declines and quarterly losses of the past few years, Brolick said that the company's problems were its own fault.

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Gates Foundation, drug makers push on tropical ills

Thirteen major pharmaceutical companies, government groups and health charities will work together in a push to eliminate or control by 2020 10 tropical diseases that affect more than a billion people in poor countries.

The partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, call it the largest coordinated effort ever to combat neglected tropical diseases. The government groups and charities alone are committing just over $785 million in new funding.

The drug makers are donating billions of doses of their medicines over the rest of the decade, but did not attribute a value to them. The companies also will work together to speed up development of new treatments, and the partners will work on improving drug delivery and treatment programs, including prevention and education.

___

By The Associated Press(equals)

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 6.74 points to close at 12,653.72, for a drop of 0.1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.32 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,313.01. The Nasdaq composite lost 4.6 points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,811.94.

Benchmark crude fell by 78 cents to finish at $98.78 per barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, lost 71 cents to end at $110.75 per barrel in London.

Heating oil fell 2 cents to finish at $3.05 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 6 cents to end at $2.87 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell 4 cents to end the day at $2.71 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Business-Highlights-2848106.php

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Is Twitter Gaming Authoritarian Governments? | IdeaFeed | Big Think

What's the Latest Development?

Twitter has announced it will, if asked, block tweets in specific countries where the tweets' contents violate local law. Though the company has promised not to take any initiative on its own, only removing content as the result of a valid legal challenge. And like Google, Twitter will publish requests made by government agencies to remove content and alert its users when their accounts are under investigation or about to be shut down. Some industry observers say the move was necessary to establish offices in Germany, which bans neo-Nazi content.

What's the Big Idea?

Given Twitter's high-profile role during the Arab Spring, it is easy to feel disappointed by its new willingness to censor free speech. However, there may be a little slight of hand going on. Local law in specific foreign countries will determine what Twitter is willing to restrict but unlike most social media sites, Twitter does not depend on IP address identification to determine what country its users are in. Rather, it requires users to manually select what country they are in from a drop-down menu. It's a workaround Twitter is being vocal about.

Photo credit: shutterstock.com

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Read it at Foreign Policy

Related Content

Could Twitter Spark a Revolution?

Tim McCarthy

Director, Human Rights and Social Movements Program, Harvard University

Source: http://bigthink.com/ideas/42215

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But seriously: Super Bowl ads that didn't kid around

Chrysler took a gamble on their sober "Imported From Detroit" ad. But the longest spot in big game history was a hit.

By Peter Hartlaub, msnbc.com contributor

They appear out of nowhere, as out-of-place as organic cheese on your nachos at the stadium concession stand. ?

Serious Super Bowl ads play on emotions instead of humor or sex appeal. They are generally few and far between, and if they bomb, they have the potential to bomb in a very big way.

?Obviously, it can be effective to pull everyone?s heartstrings. But you don?t want to miss,? said Tod Puckett, an executive producer at San Francisco-based advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners. ?In 30 seconds, it can be much easier to make a connection with humor.?

And yet when you look on any all-time best Super Bowl commercial list, the chances are good that at least few somber or emotional ads are included among the beer-loving frogs and office linebackers.

Puckett, who worked on the heralded E*Trade dancing monkey Super Bowl ad of 2000, credits the makers of Budweiser?s post-Sept. 11 ?Respect? with taking the type of heavy risk that many advertisers aren?t willing to consider.

Puckett hasn?t seen a flood of serious ads yet for next week?s Super Bowl XLVI, but he?s hopeful there will be some memorable ones.

?I?ve been very disappointed in the past few years with Super Bowl commercials,? he said. ?(Animals) and throwing bottles at people?s heads. I think we can do better.?

Below, in descending order, are our favorite serious advertisements of all time. We defined ?serious? as any advertisement that is not driven by humor, sex, action or visual effects.?

Volkswagen ?Big Day? (2001)

The commercial: Scenes of a woman preparing for her wedding are interspersed with a well-dressed man, becoming increasingly frustrated as he winds through traffic and other obstacles in a Jetta VR6. He arrives in a church where the woman is about to marry another man. The priest says ?Speak, or forever hold your peace,? they lock eyes and the screens fades to black.?

Tagline: ?Fasten your seatbelts?

Legacy: The commercial was a viewer favorite, and started a strong Super Bowl ad run for Volkswagen ? which had a winner last year featuring a little kid trying to use The Force in a Darth Vader costume.??

Master Lock ?Tough Under Fire? (1973)

The commercial: The commercial features a man on a rifle range, followed by slow motion video of a bullet piercing the center of a Master Lock. The couldn?t-be-more-serious narrator explains: ?The Master Lock model No. 15 sustained considerable damage, but did not open.??

Tagline: ?Whatever your protection needs, there?s a Master Lock ready for the job.?

Legacy: Arguably the first landmark Super Bowl advertisement, new generations are discovering it nearly 40 years later. Master Lock posted a grainy version of the commercial on YouTube, and it has received almost 400,000 views.?

Google ?Parisian Love? (2010)

The commercial: In a story told entirely within the Google search field (with a few well-placed audio effects), a student studies abroad, meets a woman, courts her, marries and has a baby ? using Google searches to book flights, translate French, locate a church and finally assemble a crib.

Tagline: ?Search on.?

Legacy: Google?s first Super Bowl ad was a huge hit ? both during the game and after, when millions watched the video. (Presumably after searching Google for it.) The inevitable parodies started appearing within hours, which was probably part of the tech giant?s plan.

Budweiser ?Applause? (2005)

The commercial: Travelers go about their business in a busy airport. People of all ages and all walks of life burst into a building applause, before the subjects of their tribute ? a group of military personnel returning from overseas ? walk wearily but purposefully into view.

Tagline: ?Thank you.?

Legacy: The commercial received a lot of buzz and positive attention for the beer-maker. Budweiser aired ?Applause? only twice in 2005 ? during the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500, before using it again in 2008 to support the United Service Organizations.

Chrysler ?Imported From Detroit? (2011)

The commercial: Images of Detroit flash by, as a narrator talks about the Chrysler?s comeback. The pep talk hits a crescendo as the instrumental to Eminem?s ?Lose Yourself" builds, a choir appears, the rapper points at the camera and says, ?This is the Motor City. And this is what we do.?

Tagline: ?Imported from Detroit?

Legacy: The two-minute version of the commercial received 14 million YouTube hits in less than a year. A few were critical of such a large ad buy so soon after a government bailout for the company. But the longest ad in Super Bowl history was hailed by fans and ad insiders.

Apple ?1984? (1984)

The commercial: Workers in drab grey uniforms march in lockstep, as an Orwellian leader dispenses propaganda on a giant video screen. Police with batons chase a woman in a white tank top and orange running shorts, who spins and hurls a sledgehammer at the screen.

Tagline: ?On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you?ll see why 1984 won?t be like ?1984.??

Legacy: The Ridley Scott-directed commercial was a huge hit for Apple, and is considered a watershed moment for Super Bowl advertising. Apple followed the next year with the shockingly depressing ?Lemmings? ad, arguably one of the worst in Super Bowl history.

Budweiser ?Respect? (2002)

The commercial: A team of the brewer's iconic Clydesdales takes a long, somber journey along a snowy landscape from Vermont to New York. When they reach New York City, the horses kneel solemnly with the space that used to be the World Trade Center in the distance.

Tagline: None.

Legacy: What had to be a huge risk for Budweiser was almost universally hailed. It routinely shows up at the top of all-time-best lists. Budweiser created a 10-year anniversary edition late last year, which was hard to distinguish from the original.

Coca-Cola ?Mean Joe Greene (1980)

The commercial: A limping Mean Joe Greene walks down a tunnel toward the locker room after a tough game. A boy stops Greene, asks if he needs help and offers him a Coke. The surly defensive end takes the drink, stops the boy (?Hey kid ? catch?) and throws him a jersey.

Tagline: ?Have a Coke and a smile.?

Legacy: While the commercial actually debuted during the football season in 1979, it became a sensation after it aired during Super Bowl XIV. A spin-off movie (?The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid?) aired, a duplicate version starring Diego Maradona was filmed, and the ad continues to resonate in popular culture.

Peter Hartlaub is the pop culture critic for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10265161-but-seriously-folks-these-super-bowl-ads-didnt-need-toilet-humor-or-pratfalls

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Home prices fall again

With slowing summer/fall transactions has come a notable decline of prices, with the national index declining 1.8 percent since October and falling 7.11 percent below the level seen in November 2010.

As I demonstrated in prior?posts, given their strong correlation, the home price indices provided daily by Radar Logic, averaged monthly, can effectively be used as a preview of the monthly S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices.

Skip to next paragraph SoldAtTheTop

'SoldAtTheTop' is not a pessimist by nature but a true skeptic and realist who prefers solid and sustained evidence of fundamental economic recovery to 'Goldilocks,' 'Green Shoots,' 'Mustard Seeds,' and wholesale speculation.

Recent posts

The current Radar Logic 25 MSA Composite data reported on residential real estate transactions (condos, multi and single family homes) that settled as late as November 25 and averaged for the month indicates that with slowing summer/fall transactions has come a notable decline of prices (the typical trend) with the national index declining 1.8% since October and falling 7.11% below the level seen in November 2010.

The Radar Logic index will likely be capturing an decline in prices from now until early 2012 as transactions continue to trend down.
Look for tomorrow's S&P/Case-Shiller home price report to reflect this declining trend though to a lesser degree due to its three month rolling-average nature with prices moderately higher.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/0kYQ6yOPcpM/Home-prices-fall-again

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[OOC] Bright Lights, Long Nights

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Bright Lights, Long Nights?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
Bright Lights, Long Nights

~::Character Slots::~

Lead Singer (Female): Taken By Horseygirl
Singer (Male):
Lead Guitarist (Male): Taken By Me
Guitarist (Female): Taken By The Painkiller
Bassist (Male):
Keyboardist (Female):
Drummer (Male or Female): (Optional)
Violinist (Male or Female): (Optional)

Join! I don't bite! :]

Last edited by DarknessToDeath23 on Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

DarknessToDeath23

Member for 2 years

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Can I reserve the lead singer?

Horseygirl

Member for 3 years

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Um, what kind of band is it exactly? I'm showing interesting in playing the guitarist (could it be maybe a co-lead guitarist?) depending on what kind of music they play :v

The Painkiller

Member for 1 years

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It's more of a metal and rock type, but I can change it if needed.

DarknessToDeath23

Member for 2 years

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If it's metal, I'm all for it. I'll submit a character and you let me know if you think she'd fit.

The Painkiller

Member for 1 years

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Oh my, can I take up the violinist? I know it's optional, but I really like violins!!! ^^

PrincessBoy

Member for 2 years

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Automotive and Diagnostic Machines Funding | Joomla Template ...

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Automotive instruments financing is often attainable below many different solutions. Automotive Air compressor is a person amongst them which will help in getting the products which expenditures 1000s of pounds. You can find many different forms of compressors like compact air compressor, piston compressor, single stage compressor, two stage compressor and so on. Attributable to automotive resource financing its achievable for nearly all businesses to amass any with the aforementioned forms of air compressors.

Automotive hand resource financing is expected to maintain prepared a well-equipped set of hand instruments like wrenches, screwdrivers, clamps, sockets, installer or remover equipments and many others. These instruments are indispensable for working an automotive repairing company. Getting any one of them is easily affordable to all. But holding a set of this kind of instruments is basically high priced and therefore the really need for automotive hand resource financing is important.

Welder financing is yet a second group of automotive resource financing. A top quality welder is very important for the automotive company. You can find some precise welders like arc welder, stick welder, TIG welder, and MIG welder and so on. They really are necessary to apply heat inside a supplied spot. The sophisticated nature with the welders raises their amount tags and that?s why automotive fix company persons go for automotive resource financing to amass them.

Automotive waste and recycling products are expected by selected businesses for disposing the hazardous wastes inside a safer way. The fact is many outlets find it lucrative to recycle the wastes. That is why this kind of equipments are getting to be necessary in an automotive fix outlets. They really are really high priced and like a final result of which automotive resource financing is expected to amass these equipments.

Brake lathe is yet essential products in any automotive fix outlets. They make it possible for you to job on all sorts of brakes. You could need a mixture of brake lathe, significant duty brake lathe or vehicle brake lathe relying on the kind of your business. Nonetheless any sort of brake lathe is high priced and never achievable inside of the get to of all. For that reason brake lathe financing is important.

The automotive sector has undergone a variety of alterations inside the previous hundred decades. Always keeping by yourself up-to-date with the alterations and utilizing the most up-to-date products can assist grow your revenues. Although necessary, this products is rather high priced and so in search of the allow of the financing organisation is expected. Some authentic financing businesses deliver help to amass automotive instruments with out any guide pari turf annoying processes.

Source: http://www.joomlaskins.com/2012/01/28/automotive-and-diagnostic-machines-funding/

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American Idol to President Obama & Al Green: Sing For Us!

If you haven't seen the video of President Obama singing Al Green at a fundraiser at New York City's legendary Apollo Theater last week, you need to.

No matter what you think of his views, the Prez proved with his riff on "Let's Stay Together" that he's got pipes! And we weren't the only ones impressed.

American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe Tweeted an offer to the Commander in Chief that he can't refuse. Or at least he shouldn't:

Obama Sings Al Green

"@BarackObama we loved your vocal performance so much we'd love to invite you on to #AmericanIdol this Season for a duet with Al Green."

Now that would be the DVR moment of the decade.

We're gonna guess that Obama will cite scheduling conflicts and pass, but if you think about it, what better way to win over voters in an election year?

Okay, perhaps a robust economy would be a bigger ballot box boost, but you get the idea. The guy's vocal chops need to be showcased more often.

President Obama in 2012?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/american-idol-to-president-obama-and-al-green-sing-for-us/

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New information for flu fight

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2012) ? Influenza virus can rapidly evolve from one form to another, complicating the effectiveness of vaccines and anti-viral drugs used to treat it. By first understanding the complex host cell pathways that the flu uses for replication, University of Georgia researchers are finding new strategies for therapies and vaccines, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

The researchers studied RNA interference to determine the host genes influenza uses for virus replication.

All viruses act as parasites by latching onto healthy cells and hijacking the cells' components, essentially turning the cell into a factory that produces copies of the virus. This process begins when influenza binds to sugars found on the surface of host cells in the lung and respiratory tract. Once attached, the virus downloads its genetic information into the nucleus of the cell, and virus replication begins.

"Viruses contain very minimal genetic information and have evolved to parasitize host cell machinery to package and replicate virus cells. Because virus replication is dependent on host cell components, determining the genes needed for this process allows for the development of novel disease intervention strategies that include anti-virals and vaccines," said study co-author Ralph Tripp, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Chair of Animal Health Vaccine Development in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine.

"We have the technology today that allows us to target specific genes in human cells and silence those genes to inhibit the production of virus in the cells," he said.

RNA interference, which was first discovered as the mechanism that effects color change in petunia breeding, is now being applied to medical advancements. Using RNAi silencing technologies, Tripp's lab was able to identify key host cell pathways needed by influenza virus for replication.

"We have a very limited toolbox for treating influenza," Tripp said. "There are two medications currently used to treat flu infections, but virus resistance has developed to these drugs. Our studies have identified several novel host genes and associated cell pathways that can be targeted with existing drugs to silence virus replication."

Understanding which genes can be silenced to inhibit growth of viruses opens the medicine cabinet for the repurposing of existing drugs.

Existing anti-viral drugs slow influenza virus replication by preventing the virus from releasing itself from its host cell. These treatments target the virus, which is able to rapidly mutate to avoid drug sensitivity. In contrast, drugs that target host genes work more effectively because host genes rarely change or mutate.

"If we target a host gene, the virus can't adapt," Tripp said. The influenza virus "may look for other host genes in the same pathway to use, which may be many, but we have identified the majority of preferred genes and can target these genes for silencing."

The influenza A virus has eight single RNA strands that code for 11 proteins. Recent studies suggest it may need several dozen host genes to reproduce. Turning off the apex, or signaling, gene can cause the reproduction sequence to stall.

"Through this research we can repurpose previously approved drugs and apply those to influenza treatments, drastically reducing the time from the laboratory to human medicine," said Victoria Meliopoulos, a UGA graduate student and co-author of the study. "We can manipulate the cellular microenvironment to increase the viral yield during vaccine manufacturing."

Meliopoulos said these discoveries can be used to create new anti-viral drugs and develop better vaccines that can be used to treat patients with influenza. This technology also can be used to improve medications for other viruses like hepatitis and polio.

The technology allows the researchers "to establish a comprehensive roadmap of human genes modulated during influenza virus infection to better understand these disease mechanisms and to identify novel targets for anti-influenza therapy," said Lauren Andersen, a UGA graduate student and co-author of the study.

Influenza is the world's leading cause of morbidity and mortality; seasonal viruses affect up to 15 percent of the human population and cause severe illness in 5 million people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.S., financial losses caused by seasonal influenza are estimated to exceed $87 billion annually.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Georgia. The original article was written by April Sorrow.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. V. A. Meliopoulos, L. E. Andersen, K. F. Birrer, K. J. Simpson, J. W. Lowenthal, A. G. D. Bean, J. Stambas, C. R. Stewart, S. M. Tompkins, V. W. van Beusechem, I. Fraser, M. Mhlanga, S. Barichievy, Q. Smith, D. Leake, J. Karpilow, A. Buck, G. Jona, R. A. Tripp. Host gene targets for novel influenza therapies elucidated by high-throughput RNA interference screens. The FASEB Journal, 2012; DOI: 10.1096/fj.11-193466

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Xando1x8kqY/120127162749.htm

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Private investors near deal on Greek debt

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leaves Maximos Mansion after a meeting with Greek Prime minister Lucas Papademos, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, left, and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leave Maximos Mansion after a meeting Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara managing director of the Institute of International Finance arrives at Maximos Mansion for a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece and its private investors are close to a deal that will significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed ?130 billion bailout.

Negotiators for the investors announced the tentative agreement Saturday and said it could become final next week.

Under the agreement, the investors would take a hit of more than 60 percent on the ?206 billion of Greek debt they own.

Here's how it would work: private investors would receive new bonds whose face value is half of the existing bonds. The new bonds would have a longer maturity and pay an average interest rate of slightly less than 4 percent (compared with an estimated 5 percent on the existing bonds).

Without the deal, which would reduce Greece's debt load by at least ?120 billion, the private investors' bonds would likely become worthless. Many of these investors also hold debt from other eurozone countries, which could also lose value in the event of a Greek default.

The agreement taking shape is a key step before Greece can get a second, ?130 billion bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund, although there are other issues involved before Greece can get that aid. This would be Greece's second bailout. The EU and the IMF signed off on a ?110 billion aid package for Greece in May 2010, most of which has already been disbursed.

Greece faces a ?14.5 billion bond repayment on March 20, which it cannot afford without additional help.

Private investors hold roughly two-thirds of Greece's debt, which has reached an unsustainable level ? nearly 200 percent of the country's economic output. By restructuring the debt held by private investors, Greece and its EU partners are hoping to bring that ratio closer to 120 percent by the end of this decade.

In return for the first bailout, Greece's public creditors ? the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank ? have unprecedented powers over Greek spending. However, austerity alone will not fix Greece's problem. The country must also find ways boost its economic output, which at the moment is shrinking.

If no debt-exchange deal is reached with private creditors and Greece is forced to default, it would very likely spook Europe's ? and possibly the world's ? financial markets. It could even lead Greece to withdraw from the euro.

The banks, insurance companies and other private holders of Greek bonds are being represented by Charles Dallara, managing director of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of the French bank BNP Paribas.

The main creditor negotiators will leave Greece on Sunday and will remain in close consultation with Greek and other authorities.

___

Elena Becatoros in Athens and Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-Greece-Financial%20Crisis/id-434fcb5e2a774955b10933732c5aab47

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Fitch cuts Italy, Spain, other euro zone ratings (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Fitch downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain on Friday, indicating there was a 1-in-2 chance of further cuts in the next two years.

In a statement, the ratings agency said the affected countries were vulnerable in the near-term to monetary and financial shocks.

"Consequently, these sovereigns do not, in Fitch's view, accrue the full benefits of the euro's reserve currency status," it said.

Fitch cut Italy's rating to A-minus from A-plus; Spain to A from AA-minus; Belgium to AA from AA-plus; Slovenia to A from AA-minus and Cyprus to BBB-minus from BBB, leaving the small island nation just one notch above junk status.

Ireland's rating of BBB-plus was affirmed.

All of the ratings were given negative outlooks.

Fitch said it had weighed up a worsening economic outlook in much of the euro zone against the European Central Bank's December move to flood the banking sector with cheap three-year money and austerity efforts by governments to curb their debts.

"Overall, today's rating actions balance the marked deterioration in the economic outlook with both the substantive policy initiatives at the national level to address macro-financial and fiscal imbalances, and the initial success of the ECB's three-year Long-Term Refinancing Operation in easing near-term sovereign and bank funding pressures," Fitch said.

Two weeks ago, Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine euro zone countries, stripping France and Austria of their coveted triple-A status but not EU paymaster Germany, and pushing struggling Portugal into junk territory.

With nearly half a trillion euros of ECB liquidity coursing through the financial system, some of which has apparently gone into euro zone government bonds, and with hopes of a deal to write down a slab of Greece's mountainous debt, even that sweeping ratings action had little market impact.

The euro briefly pared gains against the dollar after Fitch cut the five euro zone sovereigns but soon jumped to a session high of $1.3208, according to Reuters data, its highest since December 13.

Italy is widely seen as the tipping point for the euro zone. If it slid towards default, the whole currency project would be threatened.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, a technocrat who has won plaudits for his economic reform drive, said he reacted to Fitch's downgrade of Italy with "detached serenity."

"They signal things that are not particularly new, for example, that Italy has a very high debt as a percentage of GDP and they signal that the way the euro zone is governed as a whole is not perfect and we knew that too," he said during a live interview on Italian television.

"They also say things that give a positive view of what is being done in Italy because there is much appreciation for policies of this government and this parliament," he said.

Fitch said of Italy: "A more severe rating action was forestalled by the strong commitment of the Italian government to reducing the budget deficit and to implementing structural reform as well as the significant easing of near-term financing risks as a result of the ECB's 3-year Longer-term Refinancing Operation."

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Daniel Bases, Philip Pullela and Pam Niimi, writing by Mike Peacock, Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_eurozone_fitch

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Tech stocks: Growth ahead for handheld game consoles

Tech stocks subsector face growing competition from mobile phones and tablets. But one tech stocks analysts sees up to 20 percent revenue growth in 2012 for makers of handheld game consoles.?

The market for handheld devices may be getting squeezed by competition from mobile gaming platforms like smartphones and tablet PCs, but research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) is predicting further growth for the sector and expects revenues to jump as much as 20 percent this year, after single-digit percentage growth in 2011.

Skip to next paragraph

According to IDC's research manager for gaming Lewis Ward, the experience that comes from playing handheld devices is unique to users, and adds that the short battery lifespan in mobile gaming devices will always give its handheld console rivals an edge.

?"I think the stereoscopic 3D effect [in handheld devices] is quite compelling in many respects," Ward told CNBC on Thursday. ?Obviously Nintendo has some extraordinary IP, Pokemon, and many other titles which are unique to the platform and therefore provides an experience you simply can't get somewhere else.?

??One of the important drivers for adult gamers in particular is the ability to save your battery life on your cellphone and therefore make a dedicated handheld that much more attractive,? he added.

?A recent report from IDC projects the share of video gaming revenue for handheld console devices and their related software will fall to 59 percent in 2015, compared to the current 66 percent, as more users shift to the mobile gaming platform. Even so, Ward is predicting growth for the sector.

?"I'm anticipating growth in dedicated handhelds and console gaming in 2012," Ward said. "The market has been going sideways in many respects for the past couple of years, but I'm expecting some respectable results in the fourth quarter from major providers."?

?Tech heavyweight?Microsoft?beat analyst expectations in its fourth quarter earnings last week, helped by strong sales of its Xbox consoles.?Sony, which reports next week, is expected to barely break even in the lucrative October-December quarter, although Ward expects its handheld gaming unit do well this year when its latest PlayStation Vita console rolls out in the American and European markets in February.

Gaming giant?Nintendo, meanwhile,?forecasts a $580 million operating loss for the full year to March 31, after posting a 61 percent drop in third quarter operating profit?on Thursday. The company also cut its forecast for its latest 3DS handheld console to 14 million units from 16 million after poor sales.

?While investors have questioned the outlook for Nintendo on reports its chief gaming architect Shigeru Miyamoto is stepping down, Ward says the concerns are overblown.

??My understanding is that there's been a lot of grooming going on over the years and there's a lot of very talented people within Nintendo and I fully expect that the legacy will continue. I believe its in good hands in many respects,? he noted.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/M8s8ydKVHvY/Tech-stocks-Growth-ahead-for-handheld-game-consoles

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Md. man caught in sting pleads guilty in bomb plot (AP)

BALTIMORE ? A Maryland man pleaded guilty Thursday to trying to detonate what he thought was a car bomb outside a military recruiting center in suburban Baltimore.

Antonio Martinez originally pleaded not guilty but entered a new plea in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against a property leased and used by the U.S. Department of Defense. The plea agreement calls for a 25-year prison sentence. Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced April 6.

Court documents detail a sting that allegedly caught Martinez trying to detonate a phony car bomb, provided by the FBI, outside the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Catonsville.

The 22-year-old's attorneys sought to have the charges dismissed, arguing that early meetings with an informant were not recorded. They said not having those recordings deprived Martinez of potentially exculpatory evidence.

The FBI's informant first communicated with Martinez on Facebook after seeing public posts "espousing his extremist views" and recognizing him from a mosque he attended, according to court documents. Martinez later told the informant of his ideas for attacking military-linked sites and said all he thought about was jihad, documents state.

The FBI informant and the undercover agent who communicated with Martinez gave him repeated opportunities to back out of his plan to bomb the recruitment center, documents show. But he insisted he was committed to the plot, even after expressing reservations in the wake of the arrest of a Somali-born teenager in Oregon in a similar sting.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_us/us_recruiting_center_bomb_plot

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Centre County Dentist Facing Insurance Fraud Charge | GantDaily ...

You are here: Home / News / Local News / Centre County Dentist Facing Insurance Fraud Charge

January 27, 2012 at 6:46 AM by Gant Team ? ?

HARRISBURG ? Attorney General Linda Kelly announced criminal charges have been filed against a Centre County dentist accused of submitting more than $52,000 in false insurance claims following a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) State College office.?

Kelly identified the defendant as Dr. Jamshid Assadinia, 53, of 1764 Cambridge Drive, State College, Centre County. Dr. Assadinia owns and operates Jamshid Assadinia DDS,300 South Allen St., State College.

Kelly said Assadinia allegedly submitted insurance claims for dental procedures that he never performed and then billed the insurance companies more than $52,000 under the names of several different patients.?

The charges state that from June 5, 2006 through Feb. 16, 2011, Assadinia submitted the insurance claims to six different insurance companies ? Delta Dental, United Concordia, MetLife, Guardian, Cigna and GEHA Connection Dental Federal (GEHA) ? for approximately 100 procedures that were not performed.?

According to the criminal complaint, Assadinia billed the insurance companies for procedures such as root canals, crowns, dentures and extractions. Agents estimate that the insurance companies reimbursed Dr. Assadinia more than $33,000 for these procedures.

Assadinia is charged with one count insurance fraud and one count theft by deception, both third-degree felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

He was preliminarily arraigned before State College Magisterial District Judge Carmine Prestia Jr. and released on his own recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 1, 2012.

Kelly thanked the FBI State College office for their work as part of the joint investigation.?

?The case will be prosecuted in Centre County by Senior Deputy Attorney General Dennis A. Kistler of the Attorney General?s Insurance Fraud Section.

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Source: http://gantdaily.com/2012/01/27/centre-county-dentist-facing-insurance-fraud-charge/

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Candidates unloved in FL town hit by foreclosures

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, greets the crowd as he arrives to speak in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets residents as he campaigns in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (AP) ? At Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, the conversation often centers on real estate. Once taboo details ? home values and what people paid for their properties ? are casually discussed, and there appears to be little shame in walking away from a mortgage or fighting the bank on a foreclosure.

With Florida's Republican presidential primary just days away, the talk has turned to politics. At the food pantry and throughout hard-hit Lehigh Acres, frustrations over the housing crisis and the federal government's seeming inability to help has turned into apathy at best, and rage, at worst.

"They destroyed Florida," said 69-year-old Bobbie Ruggieri, a food pantry volunteer.

Lehigh Acres is about 30 miles east of the Gulf of Mexico's sandy beaches in southwest Florida, slightly northwest of the Everglades. Once sleepy and rural, the area boomed high and hard between 2003 and 2007. The population doubled to about 65,000, mostly from service and construction workers living large off the success of the area's new housing. The fall came just as fast. By 2008, Lehigh Acres and the entire Fort Myers area had the nation's highest foreclosure rate. Currently, one in every 96 homes is in foreclosure.

Here and likely elsewhere, no politician is spared the fury over the housing crunch. Experts say neither President Barack Obama nor any of the Republicans who want to challenge him in November have solutions for falling prices, depressed construction and waves of foreclosures.

Obama said this week that he wants to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages. His GOP opponents generally say the government should not interfere in the housing market. But a growing number of experts are advocating a bolder approach to provide relief to the 11 million homeowners in the United States who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney stood in front of an empty, foreclosed home Tuesday and told a small crowd that he would encourage banks to work with homeowners. He also defended the banks, saying they also were hamstrung by the crisis.

"In this case, it's because of the banks," Romney said. "Well, the banks aren't bad people. They're just overwhelmed."

Kit Bock, who owns a landscaping company, listened. He said his company has lost $10 million in business in the past decade. It once employed 160 people but now just 30 are on the payroll.

Bock said he thinks he'll vote for Romney because of his success as a businessman. But Bock said he's not wildly enthusiastic about any candidate.

"What I'd like to hear from a candidate is not how bad things are and how everyone else hasn't done their job. I'd like to hear specifically what they can do to change things," he said.

Food bank pantry manager Karen Balch was too busy handing out deli meat and bread to the needy to go see Romney. She wishes he or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich or any other national politician would drop by.

"They're all good people here," sighed Balch, who started volunteering when she lost her job at a flea market. "Hard-working people. It seems like everyone you talk to here in Lehigh is losing a home."

Walt Romberg, another pantry volunteer, bought a $139,000 home with his wife in 2004. They put down $75,000 after selling a business. It took them a while to find jobs, then they lost them. They nearly went into foreclosure, and would have, if not for a nonprofit that's helping pay their mortgage for 18 months. The home is now worth less than $55,000.

Romberg said the nation's problems started under President George W. Bush, but he doesn't blame Bush entirely. He also doesn't blame Obama, but thinks Obama "hasn't helped all that much, either." Romberg said he was thinking of voting for Romney because he's "created some jobs, like Staples," referring to the office supply chain that Romney's former company, Bain Capital, financed.

Ruggieri, who also volunteers as a nurse at a free medical clinic with 200 people on its waiting list, said she won't vote for Romney.

"I'm mad that he blamed Obama for this," she said.

Ruggieri doesn't see the housing crisis as any one politician's or party's fault, although she does have some choice words for the banks. But she's one of the lucky ones in Lehigh Acres: She and her husband bought a foreclosed home for $33,000 in 2009, once worth $211,000.

Daniel Bozarth, who rents a home a few streets away from where Romney stood, applauded his remarks. The 26-year-old, who is collecting $160 a week in unemployment after losing his job repairing motorcycles and ATVs, also doesn't blame Obama. He also likes that Romney made millions during his career.

"If we were to have someone like that, that's what we need," Bozarth said. "We need someone to get us a lot of jobs. I think we've hit rock bottom."

Another neighbor, Michelle Wheeler, a 44-year-old staunch Obama supporter, refused to attend Romney's event.

"This is not a situation that can get fixed in four years," said Wheeler, who was laid off from her job at State Farm insurance after injuring her knee. Without health insurance, she can't get surgery. Without surgery, she can't walk much or work.

She is angry that Republicans, and some Democrats, haven't supported Obama's ideas.

"I blame anyone who is opposing him," Wheeler said. "Just work with the president."

Across town at Joe's Cafe, owner Joe Golio shook his head when asked whether any Republican candidates can help Lehigh Acres. Business has been tough the last four years and he can't afford to move. His home, worth $250,000 four years ago, is now valued at $67,000, he said.

His son, James, waits tables at the restaurant. His home is worth $27,000 and he owes $117,000 on the mortgage.

Neither man blames Obama. But neither really wants him to stay in office. And they aren't sure any of the GOP candidates would be any better.

"They're all cowards," James Golio said.

Added his father: "I don't like to listen to politicians. You hear the same thing from everyone. They're short on detail. I just want the truth, whatever it is."

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-26-Florida-Foreclosure%20Politics/id-1cad423ae29f4391a1263905048c80b7

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