Ellen O.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Deadly bear attack in Montana just outside Yellowstone

When a female bear rampaged through Soda Butte Campground in Montana on Wednesday, two were injured and one man was killed. This Montana bear attack seems to have been unprovoked, though the National Park Service is investigating. While camping is normally very safe, this attack highlights that wild animals can be very dangerous.

Bear attack in Montana’s Soda Butte

At about 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a bear attacked in the Soda Butte Campground in southern Montana. One camper was killed, and two people were badly injured. The bear attacked three separate tents, and rangers evacuated the campground as soon as the dead man was discovered.

An anchor within the vehicle aisles

Avoiding bears is generally a very important part of camping in the backcountry. Sadly, it seems that the Montana bear attack was not specifically provoked. None of the campers left their food outside their trunks or bear boxes. The very busy campground may have made the bear feel she was in danger.

Gallatin National Forest has had many bear attacks

There have been other bear attacks in the Soda Butte Campground in the past. About 10 miles outside Yellowstone National Park, the campground is 10 acres and contains about 27 campsites. In 2008, a grizzly bear attacked one man in a tent. The bear that was involved in that attack was captured.

Keeping yourself safe from bears

There are a few, very simple things you are able to do to protect yourself from bears. First, keep any and all food in either a bear-proof container, inside a automobile or hung 10 feet up and 4 feet out from any tree. Second, put all trash in wildlife-resistant containers if they are available. Lastly, sleep at least 100 yards from cooking areas and food storage.

Government agency recalls Nap Nanny products

First generation Nap Nanny products are recalled by Baby Matters and also the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The product was being used incorrectly during the one death that has been attributed to the product. If you have a first generation Nap Nanny, the company is offering $ 80 off the purchase of a new product.

What the Nap Nanny is used for

The Baby Matters company makes and distributes the Nap Nanny, a product they say helps fussy babies sleep more easily. The Nap Nanny has a three-point harness and molded foam. The harness is what is at issue in this recall — when used incorrectly, the harness doesn’t hold the baby in place. First-generation Nap Nanny products do not have a D-ring to hold the Velcro harnesses in place. Only those without the D-ring are included in the recall.

Reacting to the Nap Nanny recall

If you do have a Nap Nanny, your response to the recall depends on which product you’ve. Between January 2009 and July 2010, the Nap Nanny first generation product was sold in numerous stores. Call Baby Matters at 888-240-4282 to get a coupon for 61 percent off the purchase price of a new Nap Nanny. If your Nap Nanny has D-rings, you need to watch the video on the Baby Matters site before using it again.

Questions about the effectiveness of the CPSC

The recall of Nap Nanny sleeping pads is just the latest in a long line of baby-product recalls. In the last year, the CPSC has recalled pacifiers, drop-side cribs, toys, booster seats, cradles and more. Congress passed a law in 2008 requiring the CPSC create baby gear standards. Creating standards has been a long process, and only baby walkers and bath seats have complete standards. You will find plans for standards for every little thing else, including cribs. The CPSC has not much staff or funding, but lots of responsibility.

Race to the Top finalists compete for federal education grants

Race to the Top is a contest for more than $ 3 billion in federal education reform grants. In the second round of the contest, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Wednesday that 18 states and Washington D.C. as finalists. Cooperation was the secret of success for finalists for instance California. Losers like Nevada had politicians blaming each other and using the occasion to blast big government. Article source – Race to the Top finalists compete for federal education grants by Newystype.com.

Race to the Top grants total $ 3.4 billion

The first round of Race to the Top ended in March, with Delaware ($ 100 million) and Tennessee ($ 300 million) as the winners. In the second phase, the Department of Education will hand out $ 3.4 billion for education reform. Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina advance in the second round. They will compete in August within the interview portion of the contest. Race to the top winners can be declared in September.

Program incentivizes tough education reforms

In announcing the Race to the Top finalists in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, Duncan called the program part of “a quiet revolution” in education reform. Race to the Top supporters say the biggest accomplishment of the program is that it motivates states to take on controversial reforms before spending any money. Since Race to the Top was announced, the Department of Education Reform said 23 states have passed education reform laws around things like charter schools and teacher evaluations to improve their chances of winning.

California cooperates to advance

After finishing 27th out of 40 in the first round, California made the cut. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that across the state, 300 local school districts and county offices of education signed on to the Race to the Top application, agreeing to implement the reforms it outlined. Superintendents from seven school districts wrote the application, which documented what the state has already done for education reform, including measuring student performance and supporting and evaluating teachers and principals.

Nevada’s failing grade brings out the politicians

A consultant was paid $ 40,000 to write Nevada’s failing Race to the Top application. Fox News Las Vegas reported that an orgy of finger-pointing ensued upon Nevada’s failure to reach the finals. Republican Governor Jim Gibbons was accused of a “lack of leadership” by Democratic Senator Harry Reid. Reid never “lifted a finger” to help his state compete, Gibbons said. Right wing senate hopeful Sharon Angle also piled on Reid, even though she campaigns for less federal involvement in schools and has proposed abolishing the Department of Education .

Tony Hayward not resigning, but BP send him to Siberia

Following a meeting in London to decide his fate, Tony Hayward was expected to resign Monday. Instead, he’s being shuffled off to Russia, where he will direct BP’s role in TNK-BP, a joint venture considered one of BP’s plum projects . After cultivating a reckless culture that led to the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010 and then botching BP’s response, Hayward seems is wiggling off the hook. But before he flies to Moscow, some United States of America senators would like to ask him some personal questions about a BP-Libya oil deal they think influenced the release of a convicted terrorist.

Tony Hayward’s Siberian sojourn

Tony Hayward will step down as BPs CEO in October. The New York Daily News ran an Associated Press report that said Hayward will most likely be exchanged as BP’s CEO by Robert Dudley. After Hayward botched directing BP’s oil spill response, Dudley changed him. The board of BP’s Russian venture TNK-BP now has a seat for Hayward. Ironically, Dudley once headed TNK-BP and had to flee from Russia in 2008 after he ran afoul of authorities there.

Dudley’s TNK-BP tenure did not end well

If Tony Heyward’s new post leading BP’s partnership with Russian oil barons is indicative, his business nevertheless regards him highly, even if most Americans and United States of America politicians don’t. Accounting for 25 percent of its total production, the Washington Post reports the TNK-BP venture is one of BP’s crown jewels. But it is a problematic one, as proven by Robert Dudley, Hayward’s likely successor as BP CEO. Dudley was forced to leave Russia after a fight with Russian shareholders.

Did Hayward negotiate to release a terrorist in exchange for oil?

Tony Hayward may be stepping down, but that won’t stop Americas Senators Bob Menendez and Kirsten Gillibrand from trying to haul him before Congress. The New York Observer reports that they senators want to hear from Hayward at a July 29 hearing to the release of the Lockerbie bomber. For weeks, the senators have been pressuring U.K. officials to launch an investigation into whether the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset al-Megrahi is related to a BP-Libya oil deal. Menendez said he believed Hayward was in the middle of negotiations with the Libyans during the oil deal.

Find more details on this subject

nydailynews.com/

nytimes.com

observer.com

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Mortgage rates so low make people consider refinancing

Mortgage rates so low make individuals consider refinancing

Just since the mortgage rates are at record lows right now doesn’t mean that the U.S. housing market is getting any better. As the real estate market is so slow, and mortgage rates have gone down considerably, most are more able to find opportunities in the market. Having a lower interest rate will helps many be willing to take that step of losing some money to hopefully do better in the long run. People are taking a loss on their current homes, trading up and coming out ahead. Others are learning that spending their own cash to refinance mortgages is one of the safest investments to make these days.

Mortgage rates and also the housing market

You’ll end up with a lot more money if you listen to the economists within the Wall Street Journal who suggest trading up homes or refinancing your home you’ve now. Better homes are accessible to anybody who’s willing to make the sacrifice with their mortgage. And with mortgage rates so low these buyers can keep their monthly payments manageable, although the new homes are more expensive.

Cash in or cash out

Typically, people refinance to “cash out” some of the equity they’ve built up in their homes over the years so they can use the cash. Oddly enough, more people are interested in “cash-in” refinancing, as outlined by the Los Angeles Times. With savings accounts and other investments yielding little or nothing in profits these days, it makes sense to move that cash into a home, especially if it knocks a point or two off the mortgage rate. In 2009’s fourth quarter, a 3rd of everyone who refinanced their mortgages put money into it so their principal was lowered drastically.

Smart real estate investing

Numerous want their mortgages to be gone. Totalmortgage.com looks at it as all the money saved is really money that is now earned and can be spent. One who pays off their mortgage as soon as possible is then more likely to have some additional money laying around to spend on other things or other investments. Real estate investing like that is a breath of the outdoors these days. Other borrowers are taking advantage of record-low mortgage rates to refinance from 30-year fixed mortgages into shorter-term mortgages (15 or 20 year fixed). Doing this, one can conserve thousands of dollars and will even have lower monthly payments a lot of the time.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Chocomize - Custom chocolate with a charitable twist

Chocomize, a company based upon in Cherry Hill, N.J., is the latest in build-your-own tastiness. Chocomizing means choosing chocolate and mix-ins, and having it delivered to your door in days. Article source – Chocomize – Custom chocolate with a charitable twist by Personal Money Store.

How Chocomize appeals

Chocomize has a basic but brilliant concept. There are 3 choices of chocolate and one hundred mix-ins. For example, if you need a cherry bacon white chocolate bar, you are able to get it. In short, Chocomize is appealing because you are able to customize whatever treat you would like. If you want custom chocolate for an event Chocomize can deliver on that too. To top it all off, 1 percent of the price of Chocomize products goes to your choice of charity.

The Chocomize move

Chocomize is just the latest in customized food products. Companies that specialize in sodas, ice creams and multiple other foods have started customizing orders. Handmade arts and crafts are increasing the popularity of customization. This so-called “Makers Movement” is already adding up to over $ 1 billion a year in sales. You can expand this ideal to chocolate bars with the Chocomize $ 4 – per -bar candy.

Make your own Chocomize bar

If you want candy that looks entirely professional, Chocomize can be worth the cost. You are able to try customized chocolate at home for much less expensive, though. Go to a restaurant supply store or grocery store and purchase “melting chocolate” or chocolate chips and mix-ins. Use a crockpot set on low or a double-boiler to melt the chocolate. Add the mix-ins, and pour the whole kit and caboodle into a wax paper lined pan. To be additional fancy, use a candy mold at a restaurant supply store. With less waiting and a quarter the cost, you are able to give yourself a truly tasty Chocomize experience.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

72-month auto loans bad credit now part of the list

It is a good idea to try and get financing before looking at new cars. How long should your auto car loans be? Three-, five- and six-year loans are probably the most common possibilities accessible, and once upon a time, the latter option was popular. Studies for the automotive industry indicate the six year, or 72 month, loan is beginning to disappear though.

Drawbacks to the six year auto loans for bad credit

Yahoo Answers suggests looking at how long you plan on keeping the car before deciding how long you need a loan to take you to pay off. Typically the turnaround rate for cars is about 3 years making a 72 month automobile loans ridiculous. An upside down loan, where more is owed than the vehicle is worth, is a distinct possibility here. The 72 month auto loan only makes sense if you’re keeping the car for at least five years. Cars Direct reminds us that if the loan has simple interest, you can still pay down the principal balance easily, effectively reducing the terms of the loan and the amount of interest you’ll pay.

Failure of credit unions

The 72-month auto loan was a flagship auto finance product for many credit unions, reports Automotive News. They promoted the loans aggressively in order to compete with zero-percent financing packages being offered by auto manufacturers. The Kelley Blue Book (KBB) shows us the 72 month auto loan is no longer receiving business. 36 month loans are the third most popular; 48 month loans are the second most popular; 60 month loans are the most popular in the U.S. now. The KBB says the 72 month auto loan isn’t used anymore because of the recession. More individuals use the thought of a larger down payment with a more affordable car. Dealers are losing money, but consumers are getting some great trade equity.