Mexico's Mayas face Dec. 21 with ancestral calm

Amid a worldwide frenzy of advertisers and new-agers preparing for a Maya apocalypse, one group is approaching Dec. 21 with calm and equanimity ? the people whose ancestors supposedly made the prediction in the first place.

Mexico's 800,000 Mayas are not the sinister, secretive, apocalypse-obsessed race they've been made out to be.

In their heartland on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, Mayas continue their daily lives, industriously pedaling three-wheeled bikes laden with family members and animal fodder down table-flat roads. They tell rhyming off-color jokes at dances, and pull chairs out onto the sidewalk in the evening to chat and enjoy the relative cool after a hot day.

Many still live simply in thatched, oval, mud-and-stick houses designed mostly for natural air conditioning against the oppressive heat of the Yucatan, where they plant corn, harvest oranges and raise pigs.

When asked about the end next week of a major cycle in the 5,125-year Mayan Long Count calendar, a period known as the 13th Baktun, many respond with a healthy dose of homespun Maya philosophy.

"We don't know if the world is going to end," said Liborio Yeh Kinil, a 62-year-old who can usually be found sitting on a chair outside his small grocery store at the corner of the grassy central square of the town of Uh-May in Quintana Roo state. "Remember 2006, and the '6-6-6' (June 6, 2006): A lot of people thought something was going to happen, and nothing happened after all."

Reflecting a world view with roots as old as the nearby Ceiba tree, or Yax-che, the tree of life for the ancient Maya, Yeh Kinil added: "Why get panicky? If something is going to happen, it's going to happen."

A chorus of books and movies has sought to link the Mayan calendar to rumors of impending disasters ranging from rogue black holes and solar storms to the idea that the Earth's magnetic field could 'flip' on that date.

Archaeologists say there is no evidence the Maya ever made any such prophesy. Indeed, average Mayas probably never used the Long Count calendar, neither today nor at the culture's peak between A.D. 300 and 600. The long count was reserved for priests and astronomers, while average Mayas measure time as farmers tend to do ? by planting seasons and monthly lunar cycles.

Mayan priests, or shamans, at the temple of the Talking Crosses in the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto say they don't know when, or if, the world will end. The church was the focus and last bastion of the 1847-1901 Mayan uprising in Mexico and perhaps the most sacred site for average Mayas. Its name comes from the conspirators who hid behind the crosses and whispered instructions to incite the revolt.

Mayan priest and farmer Petronilo Acevedo Pena says God may punish humanity someday, because people have stopped going to church.

"When people planted their corn fields 50 years ago, everybody from all the towns around would pray" for good harvests, he said. "But when the government started giving out aid, seeds and fertilizer ... what do the people do now? They go to the government to ask for help."

"The

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world is going to end, but we don't know when it will end, nobody ever gave a date," said Acevedo Pena. "They said it would be in 2000, but nothing happened."

Still, advertisers are running wild with the doomsday theme.

One beer-company billboard near the resort of Tulum proclaims, "2012 isn't the end, it's just the beginning ? of the party!"

The Mexico subsidiary of Renault is running "end of the world" promotions with interest-free loans for car sales: "Given that the world is ending, we're ending interest rates!"

Oprah Winfrey's website got into the act by publishing a list of "Apocalypse Dinners." It says: "Whether the world is really ending or whether you're just having a busy week, these six make-ahead meals from cookbook author Lidia Bastianich freeze well and feed many."

The Caribbean coast resort of Xcaret issued "million-dollar reward" certificates for anybody who survives the end of the world. "In case the world ends on Dec. 21, 2012, the beneficiary must be in Xcaret the day after the cataclysmic event with a valid photo ID in order to request payment," the certificate reads. "In case the world comes to an end, the beneficiary will be fully responsible for repopulating the world."

Sandos Hotels and Resorts, a Spanish-owned all-inclusive resort chain, is promoting a "New Era" celebration at its Sandos Caracol hotel in Playa de Carmen, near Tulum. "We invite guests to celebrate a transition to the beginning of what we, and many Mayan leaders and scholars hope will evolve into a new era of environmental sustainability and cultural consciousness," the hotel's website says.

Expectations are also running high in New Age circles.

Shantal Carrillo helps her mother, The Venerable Mother Nah-Kin, run the Kinich-Ahau spiritual center in Merida, and hopes to lead hundreds of people in an energy-renewing ceremony at the "dawn of the new era" at the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. They hope Uxmal, whose rounded-edge pyramid is unique in the Maya world, will act as an "antenna" for cosmic energy.

"We have performed ceremonies for many years to reactivate the pyramid at Uxmal as an antenna, because it had been unused for many years," said Carrillo, who expects Dec. 21 "to give the world an injection of this energy" by having hundreds of people hold hands at the foot of the pyramid.

It's unclear whether archaeological authorities will allow such ceremonies.

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Jose May, of the Merida tourism office, expects all of the city's hotel rooms to be full Dec. 21.

"I'm worried that there are going to be more people than (hotel) rooms," he said. "The people who are coming are basically spiritual, and that could be a problem as well, because those people like to form circles to receive energy, and there is no way to reserve space for that kind of thing at the ruin sites."

Moises Rozanes, who runs the run-down Hostal Zocalo in an old building on Merida's main square, says he once saw a flying saucer and spoke with an extraterrestrial who identified himself as Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec equivalent of the chief Maya god, Kukulkan, the bringer of wisdom.

He "told me the world was going to change, but he didn't say when," Rozanes said, recalling the 1997 encounter. He doesn't know what's going to happen Dec. 21, but is happy his hotel is getting business. "Everything's filling up" as far as bookings for the date, he said.

In all the fervor, Mayas rely on an ancestral calm built of good humor, calmness and the fact that it's too hot to get all worked up about things.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50213560/ns/world_news-americas/

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Quiet town wonders, 'How can we be protected'?

John Makely / NBC News

Residents of Newtown, Conn., embrace outside St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church prior to a vigil for victims of Friday's massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School -- the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

By Miranda Leitsinger and John W. Schoen, NBC News

NEWTOWN, Conn. ? Unexpected and unwelcome, gun violence tore through this hilly, wooded New England town on Friday, claiming more than two-dozen lives ? many of them just beginning -- and shaking what one resident called a ?small lovely village? to its core.

?How can we be protected from people like this?? Jack DeFumeri wondered out loud, saying he moved to Newtown -- founded in 1711 -- years ago from much-larger Danbury because he wanted to raise his three daughters in a safe environment.

?I don?t know anymore,? he said before entering a vigil Friday night at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, as the church's bell's tolled from above. ?You take precautions, but how can you see this coming? ?I can?t imagine what the parents are going through, especially this time of year.?


Friends and family from nearby towns flocked to Newtown to share the town?s grief and offer support. This small city of 28,000, with its tidy clapboard homes and steeple-topped churches, feels farther from New York City than the 90 minutes it takes to reach the metropolis. Residents from surrounding villages expressed similar disbelief that this most modern of crimes had intruded on their quiet corner of the world.?

?It?s a picture-book, storybook town,? said Joan Demato of nearby Brookfield, who was part of the overflow crowd that attended the St. Rose vigil, running the gantlet of news trucks bathing the church entrance with floodlights. ??I don?t know if there are any safe places left in this world.?

After the vigil, Monsignor Robert Weiss told reporters gathered outside that six or seven kids who had attended the church were among the 20 children who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

?I think the families are very broken,? he said. ?I?m sure that they?re still wondering and questioning. I think some of them are still hoping that this really didn?t happen. The rough days are just ahead of them.? ?

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed more than two dozen, 20 of them children, left the quiet community of Newtown, Conn., desperately trying to understand what happened. NBC's Kate Snow reports.

Just a short drive away, parishioners at Trinity Episcopal Church shed tears and wrapped their arms around one another during a solemn prayer service. The quiet crying grew louder when the Rev. Kathleen Adams-Shepherd announced that two children, members of the congregation, were among those killed.

Adams-Shepherd had spent much of the day at the fire station with the families of some of the presumed victims -- though formal identification hadn't yet been made.?

"You've got to keep them in your prayers," she said, later adding,?"I don't think we'll ever be the same."

See more video on the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary on NBCNews.com

"There are no words,? the Rt. Rev. James Curry said in the prayer service. ?There is nothing that we can say but instead we cry out. We cry out in shared grief and pain for the loss of so many children, so many adults .... We do not understand, and we cannot imagine why someone would murder. We cannot comprehend."

Among those attending the service were the Elken family.

John Makely / NBC News

Heather and Karl Elken and their daughter Liia, 17, talk about life in Newtown, Conn., scene of Friday's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as they leave a prayer service at Trinity Episcopal Church.

"We just really felt the need to come in and say a prayer for all of the families," said Heather Elken, 47, an elementary school nurse, who attended with her husband, Karl, 48, and daughter Liia, 17.

"We moved here 10 years ago,? she said. ?We researched where to go for months and picked Newtown over anywhere else in Connecticut, and this is where we've raised our kids from seven years old through high school. We've lived here for the most important 10 years of our lives. We just don't understand."

She said she and her husband learned about the shooting when Liia texted her from her high school at 9:46 a.m.: "Lockdown. Not a drill." ?

"It was the longest day, just the longest day," Heather Elken said.

Earlier, Peter Hugens, 78, had a hard time finding words to describe how the unspeakable tragedy that? unfolded hours earlier at the nearby school would change the town that he has called home for 11 years, since moving from Brooklyn, N.Y.

?We moved up here ? like many people -- to get away from the so-called horrors of the city," he said, standing on his front lawn and looking out over the undulating Connecticut countryside.

He said his new hometown, just a couple miles from the Housatonic River, has ?gotten bigger? over the years. ?But people work very hard to keep a place like this a small lovely village,? he said. ?... They move here with a sense of optimism and hope. And they have every right to feel that way.?

Outside a Dunkin Donuts store at a local shopping center, Kenneth Knapp said he was only beginning to process the horrific crime.

?It's going to take a long time to soak in, that's for sure,? he said. ?Last night I'm looking in the sky for meteors, tonight I'm watching helicopters flying around.?

Knapp, an inspector in a machine shop, said Newtown wasn?t paradise, citing a criminal case still widely known locally as the ?wood-chipper murder.? ?In that grisly case from the late 1980s, local resident Richard B. Crafts, a 50-year-old airline pilot, was convicted of murdering his 39-year-old Danish wife, Helle, then dismembering her body and disposing of it in the dead of night with a wood-chipper.

The heartbreaking mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School was met with disbelief and tears as people across the country reacted to the tragic news. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.

?You'll see a lot of things this town has probably gone through, a lot of things, but nothing to this magnitude,? he said.

His friend, Tom Adams, 66, who has lived in Newtown since he was 8, said that his 5-year-old granddaughter was in a classroom adjacent to the ones where Adam Lanza, a troubled 20-year-old, allegedly carried out the massacre, but she escaped unharmed and, so far, untroubled by the horrific crime.

?She doesn't know anything,? he said. ?There was some noise. They took her out of school. That's all.? ?

He said that he was on his way to see her. ?I just want a hug, that's all I want,? he said.

John Makely / NBC News

Theresa Swift and her son, William, outside St. Rose of Lima church in Newtown, Conn.

But older, more-aware youngsters, even some who were far from the shooting, weren?t immune to the trauma.

Theresa Swift, 47, and her 10-year-old son, William, who attends another Newtown school, were already contemplating what would happen when the alarm sounded on Monday morning.

Asked outside the St. Rose vigil if he would feel OK about going to school again next week, the clearly shaken boy replied, ?I?m afraid they?re going to come for me.?

His mom quickly reacted, reaching to touch William with a steadying hand.

?I don?t know,? she said of the school question. ?We?ll cross that bridge when we get there.?

NBC's Alex Moe contributed to this report.

Michelle Mcloughlin / Reuters

The second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.

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AP-GfK Poll: Science doubters say world is warming

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A growing majority of Americans think global warming is occurring, that it will become a serious problem and that the U.S. government should do something about it, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds.

Even most people who say they don't trust scientists on the environment say temperatures are rising.

The poll found 4 out of every 5 Americans said climate change will be a serious problem for the United States if nothing is done about it. That's up from 73 percent when the same question was asked in 2009.

And 57 percent of Americans say the U.S. government should do a great deal or quite a bit about the problem. That's up from 52 percent in 2009. Only 22 percent of those surveyed think little or nothing should be done, a figure that dropped from 25 percent.

Overall, 78 percent of those surveyed said they believe temperatures are rising, up from 75 percent three years earlier. In general, U.S. belief in global warming, according to AP-GfK and other polls, has fluctuated over the years but has stayed between about 70 and 85 percent.

The biggest change in the polling is among people who trust scientists only a little or not at all. About 1 in 3 of the people surveyed fell into that category.

Within that highly skeptical group, 61 percent now say temperatures have been rising over the past 100 years. That's a substantial increase from 2009, when the AP-GfK poll found that only 47 percent of those with little or no trust in scientists believed the world was getting warmer.

This is an important development because, often in the past, opinion about climate change doesn't move much in core groups ? like those who deny it exists and those who firmly believe it's an alarming problem, said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University social psychologist and pollster. Krosnick, who consulted with The Associated Press on the poll questions, said the changes the poll shows aren't in the hard-core "anti-warming" deniers, but in the next group, who had serious doubts.

"They don't believe what the scientists say, they believe what the thermometers say," Krosnick said. "Events are helping these people see what scientists thought they had been seeing all along."

Phil Adams, a retired freelance photographer from Washington, N.C., said he was "fairly cynical" about scientists and their theories. But he believes very much in climate change because of what he's seen with his own eyes.

"Having lived for 67 years, we consistently see more and more changes based upon the fact that the weather is warmer," he said. "The seasons are more severe. The climate is definitely getting warmer."

"Storms seem to be more severe," he added. Nearly half, 49 percent, of those surveyed called global warming not just serious but "very serious," up from 42 percent in 2009. More than half, 57 percent, of those surveyed thought the U.S. government should do a great deal or quite a bit about global warming, up from 52 percent three years earlier.

But only 45 percent of those surveyed think President Barack Obama will take major action to fight climate change in his second term, slightly more than the 41 percent who don't think he will act.

Overall, the 78 percent who think temperatures are rising is not the highest percentage of Americans who have believed in climate change, according to AP polling. In 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, 85 percent thought temperatures were rising. The lowest point in the past 15 years for belief in warming was in December 2009, after some snowy winters and in the middle of an uproar about climate scientists' emails that later independent investigations found showed no manipulation of data.

Broken down by political party, 83 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans say the world is getting warmer. And 77 percent of independents say temperatures are rising. Among scientists who write about the issue in peer-reviewed literature, the belief in global warming is about 97 percent, according to a 2010 scientific study.

About 1 in 4 people surveyed think that efforts to curb global warming would hurt the American economy, a figure down slightly from 27 percent in 2009 when the economy was in worse shape. Just under half, 46 percent, think such action would help the U.S. economy, about the same as said so three years ago.

The AP-GfK poll was conducted Nov. 29-Dec. 3 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,002 adults nationwide. Results for the full sample have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points; the margin of error is larger for subgroups.

The latest AP-GfK poll jibes with other surveys and more in-depth research on global warming, said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale University's Project on Climate Change Communication. He took no part in the poll.

When climate change belief was at its lowest, concerns about the economy were heightened and the country had gone through some incredible snowstorms and that may have chipped away at some belief in global warming, Leiserowitz said. Now the economy is better and the weather is warmer and worse in ways that seem easier to connect to climate change, he said.

"One extreme event after another after another," Leiserowitz said. "People have noticed. ... They're connecting the dots between climate change and this long bout of extreme weather themselves."

Thomas Coffey, 77, of Houston, said you can't help but notice it.

"We use to have mild temperatures in the fall going into winter months. Now, we have summer temperatures going into winter," Coffey said. "The whole Earth is getting warmer and when it gets warmer, the ice cap is going to melt and the ocean is going to rise."

He also said that's what he thinks is causing recent extreme weather.

"That's why you see New York and New Jersey," he said, referring to Superstorm Sandy and its devastation in late October. "When you have a flood like that, flooding tunnels like that. And look at how long the tunnel has been there."

___

Associated Press Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta, News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and writer Stacy A. Anderson contributed to this report.

___

Online:

The poll: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-gfk-poll-science-doubters-world-warming-080143113.html

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Anthony scores 30 as Knicks beat slumping Lakers

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) goes up for a layup over Los Angeles Lakers guard Chris Duhon (21) in the first half of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. The Knicks defeated the Lakers 116-107. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) goes up for a layup over Los Angeles Lakers guard Chris Duhon (21) in the first half of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. The Knicks defeated the Lakers 116-107. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) protects the ball as he drives past Los Angeles Lakers forward Devin Ebanks (3) in the first half of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Los Angeles Lakers center Jordan Hill,right, gets his hand on the ball as New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, left, goes up for a layup in the first half of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace (15) embraces Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni in the first half of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. It was D'Antoni's first time back in Madison Square Garden since he resigned. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Knicks guard Jason Kidd (5) defends Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) in the first half of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

(AP) ? The pregame boos had barely finished, and Mike D'Antoni suddenly had much bigger problems.

Carmelo Anthony had three 3-pointers in less than three minutes, and a look in his eye that he couldn't be stopped.

"He has those games where he does that," D'Antoni said. "And when he does that, the Knicks are awfully tough to beat, obviously."

Especially for a team struggling like D'Antoni's Lakers.

Anthony scored 22 of his 30 points in the first quarter, and the New York Knicks held on after he departed with a sprained left ankle to beat Los Angeles 116-107 in D'Antoni's return to Madison Square Garden.

"I was zoned in. I was locked in," Anthony said. "Tonight was one of those games where I had that feeling. I wanted to get it going and I had that feeling going early in the game. My teammates were feeding off of that."

Firing in 3-pointers and moving the ball to open shooters, things they often struggled to do under D'Antoni, the Knicks won for the eighth time in nine games and improved to 9-0 at home for the first time since the 1992-93 season.

"I wanted to beat them. I wanted to beat the Lakers, especially protecting our home court," Anthony said. "It had nothing to do with Mike. I wanted to protect our home court and win the basketball game."

Meanwhile, things are starting as poorly for D'Antoni in Los Angeles as they ended for him in New York. The Lakers, still without Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, were never really in the game while losing their fourth straight and falling to 9-14.

Nash has started running and the Lakers know things will get better once he's back, but that doesn't help right now.

"At this point I wish we had the Washington Generals on our schedule," Kobe Bryant said.

They're playing Washington on Friday, but it's the Wizards.

Raymond Felton scored 19 points, and Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith added 18 apiece for the Knicks.

Bryant had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Metta World Peace finished with 23 points and Dwight Howard had 20.

The Lakers did cut what was a 26-point deficit to 113-107 when World Peace converted a three-point play with 1:27 remaining, but the Knicks took more than a minute off the clock while twice grabbing offensive rebounds on the next possession before Chandler made a free throw with 18 seconds to play.

Anthony, playing at an MVP level after he struggled last season under D'Antoni, made his first three 3-pointers, nearly reaching his NBA-leading average of 9.7 points per first quarter before 2? minutes were even gone. Bryant tried to keep pace but the Knicks couldn't be stopped, making 17 of 23 shots (74 percent) and building a 41-27 advantage.

"He's fun to watch when he's playing like that," Chandler said. "He's pretty much unstoppable when he's playing that way."

Anthony finished two shy of the franchise record for points in a quarter, held by Willis Reed and Allan Houston. And he was easily on pace to pass Bryant's building record of 61 points, though he didn't even get halfway there after playing just 5 minutes in the second half.

Anthony said his ankle felt sore and he didn't know if he would be available Saturday against Cleveland.

When it was over, D'Antoni shook hands with Mike Woodson, who replaced him on the New York bench, and a couple of Knicks players before walking off after another rocky night with the Lakers.

He's often been considered an offensive genius whose teams are poor defensively, but right now the Lakers don't really look good on either end.

The Knicks made 22 of their first 30 shots overall and started 8 of 10 behind the arc. Even when the Lakers tried to defend, it didn't work. Howard batted the ball away from Rasheed Wallace in the post, so Wallace simply retrieved it in the corner, buried a 3-pointer, and the lead ballooned to 58-32.

"We are having a re-occurring theme that the first quarter is just not good, and then the first half is not great and in the second half we seem to turn it on, and we need to solve that problem real quick," D'Antoni said.

It was 68-49 at the break, but the Knicks lost some of their flow when Anthony went to the locker room with 6:41 left in the third quarter and a 17-point lead. He had landed awkwardly after being fouled by Howard on a drive to the basket, and though he was able to stay in to shoot the free throws, Anthony was removed at the next whistle.

D'Antoni was booed loudly during pregame introductions, Knicks fans who appreciated the rugged defensive teams of the 1990s never truly embracing his offense-first style. D'Antoni said he enjoyed his time in New York and said earlier Thursday the Knicks, who lead the NBA in 3-pointers per game and fewest turnovers, were playing the way he'd like his team to play.

Sure enough, the Knicks made 12 3-pointers, right at their average, and turned it over just six times.

D'Antoni couldn't get the Knicks' offense going last season and tensions between he and Anthony seemed strained, though both denied it, when he resigned in March with the team threatening to fall out of the playoff race. The Knicks went 18-6 down the stretch under Woodson, who said he has kept aspects of D'Antoni's system while adding in some wrinkles of his own.

The result is a team that has shot to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 17-5 record.

NOTES: The Knicks opened a six-game homestand. They don't play on the road again until they visit the Lakers on Christmas. ... New York has won the last two meetings after dropping nine in a row. ... D'Antoni said he spent his off day in town visiting with his wife and son, who remained in New York after he took the Lakers job last month.

Associated Press

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Another bridging loan provider is to close its doors | Bridging Loans ...

Posted on | December 13, 2012 | No Comments

Cheval bridging finance to close doorsSome more sad finance news this week as Cheval Bridging Finance Ltd, which also includes Cheval Commercial Finance Ltd is going to close its doors. The FSA regulated lender has been trading since 1995 and managed to survive the credit crunch. It is believed that having been unable to secure renewed funding from its main funder, Clydesdale Bank, Cheval has been left with no other option than to close down. It is believed that Clydesdale?s decision is not a negative reflection on Cheval, but purely due to policy changes made at the National Australia Bank that owns Clydesdale Bank. As a result Cheval is unable to take new enquiries and has already made a number of redundancies but are looking to try and secure alternative funding.

Back in September this year Tiuta, another bridging lender, was also placed into administration. 2012 has seen a number of bridging loan providers disappear, but it has also seen many new lenders enter a growing market.

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How To Successfully Invest In Commercial Real Estate - First

Buying or selling your first commercial property isn?t as tough as it may seem. There are, however, a few things you need to know about a property before making any transaction. The advice in this article will teach you some basic techniques that will help you succeed in your investment.

Take digital pictures of the place. In the ?before? photos, especially, make sure that the pictures clearly show defects such as stains on the carpet, discolorations in the tub and sink, and holes in the walls.

Pro Forma

TIP! Establish an online presence prior to entering the market. Create a profile on LinkedIn or put up a personal web site.

You should do this to ensure that the terms are the same as the pro forma and the rent roll. If these key terms aren?t reviewed by you, you might identify a term left unconsidered by the rent roll, meaning the pro forma gets changed.

Whether you want to get into real estate or you?ve been into it for a while, visit some websites that will help you find out how to invest in commercial real estate. You can never overdose on knowledge. Learn everything you can about real estate.

In writing letters of intent, focus on major issues to begin with. Many smaller issues will fall in line on their own with this approach. If not, you can work them out later. It will be less stressful to negotiate and can also make it easier to come to terms on the smaller things as well.

TIP! You should examine the surrounding neighborhood of any commercial real estate you may be interested in. For example, if you?re offering high-priced goods or services, you might want to purchase property in wealthier areas where people are likely to be able to afford to buy from you.

Some people consider small apartment complexes more difficult to manage than larger complexes. So if you are planning on investing in commercial apartment properties, experts recommend to avoid property that is under ten units. However, each case has different issues, and the information that you have about a specific property will guide your decision.

Determine the negotiation methods of real estate brokers you are considering. You can ask them how much experience and training they actually have. You want to ensure that the broker has good ethics, and is capable of obtaining the best deals possible. Ask for examples of successful and unsuccessful past negotiations.

Try to keep your commercial property rentals at full occupancy. Having unoccupied spaces mean that you have to pay for their upkeep. If you have multiple unoccupied properties, try to determine the reasons why, and rectify the problems that are keeping tenants from renting the spaces.

TIP! Be ambitious and forward-thinking in your commercial real estate investments. If you want to get a building that has five units, you need to know that?s it?s no different to manage than 50.

Take time to learn what the firm considers to be good results. They have ways of determining how much square footage you require, conducting negotiations and selecting properties, and knowing how they do all these gives you a better idea of how they will serve you. You can benefit a lot if you know things like this.

Financial Statements

Before you can finance your commercial property purchases, you have to make certain that you have the necessary financial statements and documentation for either your business or yourself individually. Not having your own financial statements in order will make a poor impression on the bank, possibly making them turn down your loan application.

TIP! If you are purchasing commercial real estate for rental purposes, look for structures that are uncomplicated and sturdily built. These are the most likely to quickly invite tenants into the space, because they know it is well-cared for.

Look for a broker firm that is honest. Start by asking them about how their money is made. Honest brokers will be open about this, so you can tell if your interests will be at odds. Get an understanding of why they are in business and what they can do for you.

When you are buying commercial real estate, find some opportunities that will let you buy a bigger building. The reason for this is that it does not take too much more work to manage a larger amount of units then it does a smaller amount of units, but it will actually cost you less per unit if you buy something with more units in it.

Your business needs should be in check before seeking out commercial real estate! Know exactly what kind of office space you will be using. If you see your company growing in the future, you should consider buying additional space now while the real estate market is at its lowest, this helps you to save money down the road.

TIP! Advertise your commercial real estate far and wide. Many make a mistake in assuming that the only people who want to buy their commercial real estate property are those who are local buyers.

Real Estate

Practice calm and patience when you are looking into the real estate market. Do not be hasty about making a investment decision. Without due consideration, you might find that the real estate purchase does not meet your criteria for successful financial gain. Be prepared to wait as much as a year for a suitable property to come available in your area.

The beginning of the article warned you that commercial real estate is nothing something you should go into without the proper information. The intended purpose of this very article was to give you some of that knowledge, so that you may find success in your commercial real estate dealings.

TIP! When you are purchasing a commercial property buy as many units as possible. More units equal greater opportunity to earn more money.

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/how-to-successfully-invest-in-commercial-real-estate-4

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Time restrictions on TV advertisements ineffective in reducing youth exposure to alcohol ads

Dec. 13, 2012 ? Efforts to reduce underage exposure to alcohol advertising by implementing time restrictions have not worked, according to new research from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy. The report, published in the Journal of Public Affairs, confirms what Dutch researchers had already learned in that country: time restrictions on alcohol advertising actually increase teen exposure, because companies move the advertising to late night.

In 2009, Dutch regulators sought to reduce youth exposure to alcohol advertising by restricting times during which alcohol ads may be aired on television or radio. Under this restriction, alcohol advertising was prohibited between the hours of 6 AM and 9 PM. In 2010, compliance with the time restriction on television was close to 100 percent.

CAMY researchers used simulation analysis to model what would happen if a similar policy were applied to U.S. television advertising for alcohol, taking into account the program type and audience demographics. They found that time restrictions do protect viewers under age 12, but they actually increase the exposure of the young people most likely to start drinking, that is, teens aged 12 to 20. This happens because teens increase as a percentage of the nighttime television audience after 9 PM.

?In light of the policy in the Netherlands and the recommendations for similar policies in other countries, including Ireland and the United Kingdom, determining the impact of time restrictions on youth exposure is a public health priority,? said lead author and CAMY researcher Craig Ross, MBA.? ?In the wake of time restrictions, alcohol companies push their ads onto late night programming, when the adolescent/teenage audience is more highly concentrated, thus increasing advertising exposure for this high-risk group.?

Alcohol is the drug most frequently used and abused by adolescents in the U.S. and in the Netherlands. At least 14 long-term studies have found that the more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, or if they are already drinking, to drink more.

?With growing numbers of adolescents in the U.S. having a television in their bedroom, forcing alcohol advertisers to move ads into late night television is akin to inviting them to have a private conversation with adolescents every evening,? concluded study co-author and CAMY director David Jernigan, PhD. ?For countries such as the U.S., where alcohol advertising is protected as commercial speech, policies that restrict alcohol advertising to programs where the underage audience is not over-represented are likely to be more effective.?

This policy is endorsed in the U.S. by the National Research Council, the Institute of Medicine, and 24 state attorneys general.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Craig S. Ross, Avalon de Bruijn, David Jernigan. Do time restrictions on alcohol advertising reduce youth exposure? Journal of Public Affairs, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/pa.1452

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/mind_brain/consumer_behavior/~3/bMEp11cfYE4/121213132553.htm

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Dell confirms it will exit smartphone business, drop Android

PORTLAND, Ore. - His mother died before he was 3 years old, and he was estranged from the aunt who raised him. His dream of becoming a Marine was dashed by a broken foot, he hadn't yet settled on a career path, and a new plan, to move to Hawaii, ended when he apparently missed his flight.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dell-confirms-exit-smartphone-business-drop-android-003848278.html

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