Cell phones spammed with anti-gay, anti-Obama messages | theGrio

UPDATE: The sender of the anti-Obama text messages, which were sent from an anonymous source hit hundreds of voters? phones Tuesday night, has been unmasked.

Politico reports in an updated story today:

The spate of unsolicited anti-Obama text messages that have hit hundreds of cellphones in recent days appears to be the work of conservative activist Jason Flanary and his Virginia-based communications firm, ccAdvertising.

Every domain listed in previous stories about the controversy now displays Flanary as the registrant and lists a Centreville, Va., address and phone number, as well as an indication that the domain had been ?suspended for spam and abuse.? Domain registrar GoDaddy.com unmasks registrants when they violate terms of service.

GoDaddy suspended the domains and unmasked their origins overnight after POLITICO and others?reported?on the uproar on Facebook and Twitter surrounding the texts.

Politico reported earlier that one message read, ?Voting for Obama means voting for same-sex marriage.? Others include ?Obama stole $716 Billion in Medicare. We cant [sic] trust Obama to protect our seniors,? ?Obama is using your tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood and abortions. Is that right?? and ?VP Biden mocks a fallen Navy Seal during memorial. Our military deserves better.?

Many of the recipients tweeted screenshots of their messages. Jim Spellman, a reporter for CNN, tweeted, ?A new low for these political campaigns: text messages? Please give us a break!?

Not much is known about the source of these messages except that they come from addresses like republicanett.com, votegopett.com, aiccomett.com and informedett.com, which suggest the texts may have been sent from the Internet, not from phones. Searches of the domain names show they were registered in February, but information on the owners is blocked.

Not only is it difficult to determine who is sending the texts, but the legality of the issue isn?t easy to discern either. The Federal Communications Commission prohibits text spams, but it seems whoever is behind this organized campaign is using the loophole of sending e-mails to phone numbers.

Last week, the FCC made the announcement that it would begin taking comments until November 23 on a petition that aims to ban Internet-to-phone messaging as a form of auto-dialing.

The person behind the petition, Scott Goodstein, a former Obama 2008 online external director and founder of Revolution Messaging, a digital campaign consultant firm, criticized the anti-Obama spam as ?modern day push-polling.?

?These abuses threaten what is a very promising technology of text messaging for political engagement,? he told?Politico. ?People did not opt-in to receive these messages and ultimately end up having to pay the cost for this unwanted misinformation that appeared on their mobile phone.?

The messages also don?t seem to be well-targeted. Among the people who reported to have received them are hardcore Democrats, children and residents in non-battleground areas.

New York Times congressional correspondent Jonathan Weisman?s 13-year-old daughter was one of the recipients. She received the message: ?Obama denies protection to babies who survive abortions. Obama is just wrong.?

Weisman replied on Twitter, ?Hey sms@gopmessage.com, not cool texting my daughter your little hit piece. I?d like you to stop it.?

Follow Ugonna on Twitter at?@ugonnaokpalaoka

Source: http://thegrio.com/2012/10/31/cell-phones-spammed-with-anti-gay-anti-obama-messages/

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Archives Gig - Urbana, IL: Faculty, University of Illinois GSLIS

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Kim Kardashian Laughs Off Engagement Rumors

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/kim-kardashian-laughs-off-engagement-rumors/

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Asian shares edge higher on U.S. growth data

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged higher on Monday as investors took comfort in signs of stable growth in the United States, though caution over the uncertain global corporate earnings outlook capped prices.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> added 0.2 percent after shedding 1 percent on Friday and posting its biggest weekly drop in two months, 1.3 percent.

Australian shares <.axjo> rose 0.6 percent, buoyed by solid U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, while South Korean shares <.ks11> rose 0.3 percent, supported by solid earnings from IT firms and a better U.S. outlook. Hong Kong <.hsi> and Shanghai <.ssec> shares were marginally down.

"The late rally in U.S. markets is likely to set a firm tone as our market corrects," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, referring to the Australian stock market which posted its biggest weekly fall since May last week.

Japan's Nikkei average <.n225> was up 0.2 percent after tumbling 1.3 percent on Friday. <.t/>

The dollar inched up 0.1 percent to 79.72 yen, off a four-month high of 80.38 yen touched on Friday, but supported by expectations the Bank of Japan will take further easing measures at its policy meeting on Tuesday.

U.S. GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, slightly above a 1.9 percent forecast, and picking up from the second quarter's 1.3 percent rise. But the stronger pace of expansion fell short of what is needed for a substantial rise in employment.

European shares eked out gains on Friday after the U.S. data but U.S. equities ended largely flat, weighed down by poor earnings outlooks from major companies such as Apple , Amazon and South Korea's Samsung Electronics .

Over the weekend, China said industrial profits rose 7.8 percent in September from a year earlier to 464.3 billion yuan ($74 billion), compared with a 6.2 percent drop in August, signaling some stability in the world's second-largest economy.

"Overall it suggests a continued period of subdued risk reduction bidding the U.S. dollar higher," said Societe Generale analyst Sebastien Galy.

Data showed that U.S. bond speculators scaled back their bullish bets on U.S. Treasuries futures early last week, even as worries about Spain and disappointing company earnings supported the bond market. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday also showed currency speculators cut their bets against the U.S. dollar in the same week to the lowest since early September.

The dollar index <.dxy> measured against a basket of six major currencies hit a near seven-week high of 80.270 on Friday and was still hovering near that level at 80.074 on Monday.

MONEY PULLED OUT

Data from EPFR Global showed that investors pulled the most money out of U.S. stock funds in the past week than at any point in more than a year, an indication that many still harbor deep concerns about the global economy.

"Investors are taking on more risk," EPFR Global Research Director Cameron Brandt said in a note. "But they are doing so largely within the fixed income universe and, when it comes to equities, bypassing the U.S. in favor of emerging markets."

Bullish bets on U.S. commodities by hedge funds and other big speculators have fallen to a near 2-1/2-month low, trade data showed on Friday, as oil and gold saw heavy selling for a second straight week.

U.S. crude futures fell 0.3 percent to $86.05 a barrel and Brent eased 0.2 percent to $109.38.

The euro was down 0.1 percent to $1.2932, recovering from a two-week low of $1.28825 hit on Friday. The single currency has been trading in a broad range between $1.28 and $1.31, waiting for bailout prospects for struggling Spain and Greece to become clear.

Some traders said concerns about disruptions from Hurricane Sandy approaching the East Coast could keep trading somewhat subdued in Asia.

(Additional reporting by Umesh Desai in Hong Kong and Thuy Ong in Sydney; Editing by Richard Borsuk)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-edge-higher-u-growth-002827443--finance.html

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Webhosting Strategies For Newbies ? 5 Core Guidelines to Help ...

Obtaining a solid and solid web site host has a multitude of relevant roles to enjoy from the victory of one?s using the net online business. For yourself to obtain your established desired goals with reference towards your world wide web business venture, you cannot afford to pay for to neglect some elements that ought to be perceived as in settling on your domain title together with an efficient online host.

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Decide on a solid and solid net host Online host Vendors, will engage in critical roles within the achievement or failure of one?s on the web internet marketing business. World-wide-web host are establishments that host and make your internet site obtainable into the entire globe. Many humans experienced regretted their unguided conclusions when picking world wide web host.For these reasons,you wish to not repeat the goof ups. Beneath are a few valuable abilities to become taken into account when picking an internet host.

Determine your function for your web pages The main reason why everyone established up web-sites relatively differs from individual to individual. Are you currently looking to host a web page for your personal private use, certainly is the blog for household and mates or for just a small business rationale. A 100 % free online host might be ok for the particular or loved ones online site but for your opportunity blog, never even get near to it. It?s going to have negatively effect on your small business statue and vastly lower your credibility of getting the best company connection with other folks.

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2. Appealing Hosting Provider: A Tutorial For Newbies
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4. Commerce Web Hosting And Differing Types Of Industry Internet Hosting Deals
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Source: http://mysixstringsblog.com/webhosting-strategies-for-newbies-5-core-guidelines-to-help-you-you-obtain-started-out-with-the-web-based-industry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=webhosting-strategies-for-newbies-5-core-guidelines-to-help-you-you-obtain-started-out-with-the-web-based-industry

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AT&T Optimus G available Nov. 2 for $199; preorders start tomorrow

AT&T's LG Optimus G will be available Nov. 2 for $199 on contract. Pre-orders start tomorrow. 

And, well, that's about it. We've got the carrier's version of the Optimus G in our hot little hands, and it's pretty faithful to the worldwide version, though as we noted in our side-by-side with the Sprint iteration, some software and hardware features have been tweaked.

Source: AT&T

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/SmqmdUsfRe0/story01.htm

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Mauritanian president to be flown abroad after shooting

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Contacting Eachother

There is another tale to the story of wonderland. One that exists after Alice has left. The red queen has fallen, but a new evil arises as four kingdoms once lost come to live. Will the Creatures of Wonderland fight back? [ALOT more information inside.]

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Wonderland: The Deck?. 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.
So, obviously, we will have to contact eachother sometimes, you know, for whatever reason. Now, I am not against sharing my skype with everyone in case it's something urgent, or you can't get on here, or for whatever reason you want.

I know someone suggested texting; I don't know if I'd be willing to give out my number so soon, but if anyone else wants to, I'm sure you can discuss that with one another.

This roleplay is serious. I really want it to take off and last. I've tried so many times, but something has happened to make it fail. I'm really putting my all into this one, so... I want us to be able to contact each other and stay in touch, for any reason that can help keep this roleplay going.

I do have Kik as well if anyone things that would be worth it. But, I am not giving out my skype or my Kik until I get opinions that it would be a good idea!

DarlingRapture

Member for 0 years

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Also, I would really like it if we all added each other on here, at least add me if you have a grudge against adding everyone else. That would be lovely for me regarding contacting and knowing who all is online, ect.

DarlingRapture

Member for 0 years

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I think this is a great idea :3

Just pmming me is a pretty foolproof way to get in contact with me is Pming me, because I get notifications from RPG when someone PMs. But here is my email anyway: ASommerRose@gmail.com

I also have a YIM (Died_from_living@yahoo.com), but it is usually turned off, as well as my skype, but if someone wanted to have a discussion, I could turn them on ^^

I also have a deviant art, which I always have up in one tab or another when I'm online XD you can find me here :3 http://pieluver233.deviantart.com/

I mustache you a question.
...?
Never mind, I'll shave it for later.

pieluver

Member for 2 years

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Grits and Grace: 31 Days Embracing Motherhood: This One Says It All

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Source: http://brackettfamilyrandomacts.blogspot.com/2012/10/31-days-embracing-motherhood-this-one.html

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I Must Be Trippin&#39;: "Foster Friday" Guest Post - How Foster Care Has ...

When I asked for non-foster parent volunteers to share how foster care has touched them for last week's "Foster Friday" Guest Post, I received an amazing response. ?I decided to post a "Part Two" for the topic and allow more people to share their stories this week.
Karen (Biological Daughter of Foster Parents and Social Work Major) ? ? ?I am the biological daughter of foster parents. ?I?m 20 years old, and I am studying social work in university. ?I have 3 biological siblings, I?m the second oldest. ?For as long as I can remember, I?ve loved babies, and have wanted another younger sibling. ?For years, my little sister and I would beg our parents for a brother or sister, and when they told us it couldn?t happen anymore, we told them ?You could adopt!? ?Then eventually we learned about fostering - we had friends who fostered, and many of their babies changed our lives forever- particularly one, who our family baby-sat quite frequently. ?We eventually succeeded in our attempts, and about a year and a half ago we were opened as a foster family for infants. ?It has changed my life. I have gained 2 ?sometimes sisters? who are not always in our home, but will forever be in our hearts. ?When most people think about fostering, they think about the loss and the grief. ?And yes, while those are major parts of fostering, I can?t begin to imagine all the things I would have lost out on had my parents not made the decision to foster. ?My parents? fostering is preparing me for the day when I will hopefully be a mother- hopefully with a handful of foster or adopted kiddos in the bunch. ?It?s preparing me for being a social worker one day.

? ? ?When I started my first year of university, my family was in the middle of the home study process. ?I remember thinking on several occasions that the knives, cleaning supplies, etc. in my dorm at school were not safely stored. ?I can?t count how many times I turned pot handles into the middle of the stove without really thinking about it. ?When I started my second year, back home was a 5 week old baby girl we had had since she was 36 hours old (we had her until she was 10 months, but still have a great relationship with her and her bio parents, somewhat comparable to Tammy?s relationship with Monkey).? I remember waking up several times in the first few weeks that I was back at school, at about 3am - which is when Piglet would wake up for a feeding. ?I remember having several dreams where I was baby-sitting her in my dorm. Then I took my second semester off, and spent time at home - instead of mixing chemicals in a science lab, I was mixing bottles in our kitchen. ?Instead of learning about social work in a classroom, I was living it every day - especially as I went with Mom to visits, and as I learned some details of our girls? cases that allowed me to see how the agencies and government work. ?Foster care ruined my future plans - I had wanted to be a doctor, but when I returned to school, I switched to an Honours Social Work Major.?

? ? I remember this summer, when my sister and I went with my mom to drop our second foster sister, B, off for a visit at her mom and grandma?s. ?B?s family lives in city housing, so it was an area of the city where we had never been before. We joked that ?you may be a child of a foster parent if you don?t need a passport to travel to other parts of the world?. ?Foster care ruined my unrealistic view of the cities around us. ?And now, I?m in my last semester of my second year at school, and I can?t wait to get a phone call or text message from my mom telling me that I have a new baby brother or sister back at home. This morning I had a ?foster care affects me? moment. ?I was in a health psychology class and we were talking about the definition of one alcoholic beverage. ?I don?t drink, so when the professor was talking about how many ounces of wine, beer, etc. is considered one drink, in my head I was picturing ounces of formula in a bottle J

? ? ?It hasn?t all been great. ?I know I begged and prayed for years that my parents would foster, but I didn?t realize that at age 19, it was still possible to have feelings of jealousy when the new baby arrived. ?It certainly happened when Piglet came. ?I think it was made worse by the fact that she was our first placement, and I was just about to head back to school, so (even if it seems childish) there were times when it felt like I was being ?replaced? - Mom was often busy with Piglet, which was nobody?s fault, it just ?was?, but it meant that there were often times we?d be talking on the phone and she?d have to go because Piglet needed her.

? ? ?If you?re thinking about fostering, but you wonder if it will affect your other kids - it will. ?Their ?all about me? view of the world will be ruined, and they may need to have more responsibilities around the house (we often help with baby laundry, washing/making bottles, and a whole lot more). ?The increased responsibility will probably be good for them. ?They will learn new skills (maybe your two year old learns how to be gentle with babies, maybe your sixteen year old learns how to prepare a diaper bag before a visit or day trip). ?Yes, they may learn about the big, bad world - including drugs, alcohol, abuse, and neglect. You know what? They?re going to learn about those things one day. ?Instead of learning about how ?fun? drugs are from some kid at school, maybe your child will learn what a baby born addicted to crack looks like. Yes, fostering may ?ruin? your child?s life. ?And it probably won?t be a bad thing.

Anne (Foster Care Gave Me My Family) ? ? ?First of all, I have always wanted children.? There was never a time in my life when I didn?t want to be a Mom. ?When I was 8 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare Chromosomal abnormality that resulted in my being infertile. ?Since I was so young when I was diagnosed, I didn?t really understand or think about the implications of this for many years. ?As a teenager, I babysat frequently, so I could get my ?baby fix.? ?In college, I was busy doing the college thing (partying, even sometimes studying?J) and didn?t think too much about having children then, I knew I wasn?t ready.? When I did think about it, it was in kind of a vague way. I knew I probably could not get pregnant, but I wasn?t positive. ?I knew I wanted children, but I didn?t think too much at that time how I would get them.??

? ? ?It wasn?t until I was in my late 30?s that I really became serious about becoming a Mom. ?I knew by this time that I would not be able to have a baby biologically. ?I loved the idea of adopting, but felt that it was out of my reach financially, and that I?d never get approved as a single parent.? It was also at this time that I had a job working with children in the Foster Care system. ?I would go to their Foster homes and do developmental screenings with them.? I fell in love with these children, and often with the families who cared for them.

? ? ?For me, I knew I wanted a child, but I was scared to adopt on my own. ?I wasn?t sure I could be a good single parent. So, I decided to become a Foster parent. ?Somehow, that seemed like less of a commitment, and less responsibility (not sure how I figured that????) ?I took the Pride classes that the county required, and in April of 2006, I became a licensed Foster parent.?

? ? ?I waited eagerly for a placement. ?Finally, on June 2^nd, while I was at work, I received a call about a new born baby girl who had been born two days earlier and needed to be picked up from the hospital. ?They weren?t sure how long she would stay with me, maybe two weeks, maybe 6 months. ?I immediately said yes, and frantically ran to Babies R Us to stock up on everything I thought I would need. ?Then I went to the hospital and brought home this sweet little girl, who I called ?Molly? and of course fell in love with her, and with being a Mom. ?I knew she would not be reunited with her mother, so I started to hope that I would be able to keep her. ?She ended up staying with me for 6 months, and then went out of state where she was adopted by an amazing, wonderful family that already had Molly?s older brother. ?I was devastated when Molly left, but deep down, I knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be. ?I knew that I was not Molly?s forever mother. ?I grieved for several months, and then decided that I was ready for another child, but this one was going to stay. ?I could not say goodbye to another baby. ?So I went through the process to get approved to adopt from the Foster Care system. ?

? ? ?I was officially approved on August 1^st, 2007. This time around, I waited even more impatiently for ?the call.? ?And in early November, it came. ?My social worker called to tell me about a 4 month old little girl who had been in a foster home since birth, and needed a pre-adoptive home, since it was likely her parents? rights would be terminated. ?CPS was still providing reunification services with the parents, but the prognosis was poor it would work out. ?So I was what the county called a ?concurrent placement? - if reunification didn?t happen, then I would get to adopt the baby. ?Kind of risky, but I said yes immediately and never looked back. ?Two weeks later when I met with the social worker, and she showed me pictures of the baby, I was even more of a goner. ?Nothing could have made me say no to taking home this sweet little baby girl.??

? ? ?On November 30^th, 2007, I finally met my daughter Elizabeth. ?Her social worker brought her to my apartment, and my little girl was sound asleep in the car seat in the back of the social worker?s car when I ran out to meet her. ?I gathered her up in my arms, and haven?t let go since. ?The adoption was finalized on March 4^th, 2009. ?Elizabeth and I are a little family. ?Life is just so much better with her in it.

? ? ?Learn more about my family at www.allaboutelizabeth-anne.blogspot.com

Kylee (Foster/Adopt Sibling and Social Work Major)?

? ? ?I will always remember the first foster placement that we brought into our home, just two weeks before my 8^th birthday. She was only three-months-old and had twelve fractured ribs due to severe abuse. The first time I held her, her ribs popped with each breath she took. She had a huge fear of men, and her big brown eyes grew wide with terror every time someone approached her. I was young and knew very little about physical abuse, but I clearly remember questioning why any parent would hurt his child.

? ? ?In my young mind, I tried to imagine the scene that took place on the day she was hurt, based on snippets of information I had overheard our caseworker tell my mom. I tried to imagine an 18-year-old father who was so mad at his infant daughter that he abused her in such a horrible way. Even in my young mind, I knew this was not fair; I knew she deserved better. I now, years later, know that I was feeling empathy for the injustice this young child was experiencing.

? ? ?Throughout the next ten years, we had several young children come through our home from various backgrounds. They all had heart-breaking stories and mothers who loved them, yet often times did not make appropriate life decisions. The world I saw of drug-addicted babies and neglected children is one that motivates me to pursue justice. The statistics are mortifying, but when those bleak numbers are children whom I loved, cared for, and grew up with, that passion is even greater.

? ? ?One area of foster care that impacted me greatly was the parent visits and opportunity to meet the families of my foster siblings. It is really easy to love an abused baby, but meeting her family on Christmas day, so that they can celebrate the holiday with her, is much harder. As a child and teenager, it was so easy for me to judge these families because of the way they had hurt the children I had grown to love. I have struggled over and over again with forgiveness. As I work through these feelings, I am reminded of the deep love these parents have for their children, despite the way their lifestyle portrays that love. These encounters I often had with the biological families softened my heart and gave me greater empathy toward many areas of the social system.

? ? ?So here I am, sitting in my dorm room with a Social Welfare Policies midterm hanging over my head, and the steps of a client assessment cycling through my brain. My motivation is based off of the love I have for my many foster siblings, and the four young siblings who were adopted into our family?the children I now know as my forever siblings. Through this career path, I desire to pursue justice by advocating for the rights of children and vulnerable people and populations. I believe that if those who are oppressed can have a voice speak up for them, then vast changes can happen for the bettering of our society.

Nana (My Mommy and Best Nana Ever in My Completely Impartial and Unbiased Opinion ;-) -

? ? ?Ever since my daughter Tammy was a teenager she has wanted to be a mom.? She has always been great with kids and loved being around them so it didn't come as a surprise to me when she reached adulthood and she said that wanted to adopt her children one day.? Though the idea of being a mom has always been #1 in her mind the idea of pregnancy and giving birth was definitelty NOT something that appealed to her.

? ? ?As Tammy got into her 30s she started investigating what her adoption options would be.? Trying to adopt as a single person ( unless you are a rich celebrity) is almost impossible!? She has a good, steady job but, unfortunately, doesn't have an extra $25000+ to put towards the possiblity of an adoption!? So she started investigating the?foster to adopt option.? After much thought and prayer she decided this was her chance to be a mother.

? ? ?I have to be honest and say that I had very mixed feelings about Tammy becoming a foster parent.? I didn't know that much about CPS and the whole foster care program.? The few things I did know scared me to death!? What condition would the children come to her in?? How can she ever give the baby back if the situation was temporary?? There is NO WAY!!!? How can MY child who has so much love and devotion to give a child put herself in that situation?? I can't stand the thought of my child having her heart broken.? So many things went through my head and I was filled with fear.

? ? ?When Tammy said she wanted to take the required classes to get her license to be a foster parent she was nervous about going alone so I volunteered to take the classes with her.? Anyone who knows me knows that I have always done whatever I can do to help and make my kids dreams come true.? I also knew that I would have to take some of the classes to be an approved respite care provider for her if and when she got her child.? The classes were hours and hours of information and, to be honest, filled with a lot of stories meant to scare the prospective foster parents out of doing foster care.? If I had been considering doing foster care myself it would have worked!? But Tammy wanted this so much and she wasn't deterred.

? ? ?It took months for her first placement to arrive.? When the caseworker arrived with an 11 month old little girl "with a broken leg in a cast"? my heart fell through the floor!? The poor baby was in a full body cast from under the armpits to her feet!? There was no way Tammy would be able to care for the little thing!? After days and nights of sitting up holding the baby Tammy told them she couldn't do it.? She has learned a lot since then about the fact that if they misrepresent the case to you you dont have to accept it.?

? ? ?Then Tammy got the call for a little 7 month old boy that totally changed our lives.? Booger made a giant leap into my heart the moment they carried him through the door!? OMG!? He was just the sweetest thing you can imagine.? Little toothless grin.? I took him into the bedroom while they were filling out the paperwork and I was hooked.? He was MY grandchild from that moment forward.? AND the caseworkers told Tammy that they were pretty sure that he would have parental rights terminated and she would be able to adopt him!? As most of you know that didn't happen.? The most devestating time in our lives was when Tammy went to court and they told her THAT DAY that Booger was going to live with his Daddy immediately!? We were to have no contact after that.? She didn't even get to say goodbye to him.? I have never felt such a feeling of loss in my life and having to see the pain that my daughter went through is something I never want to see again (even though I'm sure I will at some point).?

? ? ?We didn't have any contact with Booger for about 6 months but then we were reunited with him AND his new little family and now we love them as much as him.? So this story has a good ending.? I'd love to say that it wipes out all of the pain from that time but I can't honestly say that.? Because of the way that Booger was taken so suddenly it has really put a fear in me.

? ? ?Tammy had two baby sisters for a few weeks and I really didn't get the chance to know them well or get as attached to them.? They were placed with their father and grandmother pretty quickly.? But during the time that she had the older girl the transformation was amazing!? You could tell the little thing had been neglected and didn't trust people.? She didn't smile.? By the time she left she was laughing and was in love with Tammy.?

? ? ?Then just a few weeks after my other daughter had the Mini Munchkins Tammy called and said she was getting a 2 month old baby boy!? Crazy, crazy timing!? I was so busy helping with the baby twins and the big twins that for most of the first year I didn't get to spend much time with Monkey at all.? Of course I suffered from tremendous Mama Guilt because I knew that Tammy needed my help but there is only so much Nana to spread around!? So I lived with a huge feeling of Nana Failure.? Because I hadn't had the time to spend with Monkey I really didn't bond with him as much as I would have otherwise.? I loved him but I just hadn't been with him as much.? The strange thing is that I didn't bond UNTIL he went back to live with his daddy!? At that time we worked out a plan for me to watch Monkey 3 mornings a week so his daddy could get some sleep since he works nights.? That has given us time to really get to know each other.? Monkey is an awesome little guy and very funny.? We have now "bonded."?? But I have to admit I'm still terrified of the day when Monkey's daddy will decide he doesn't need our help anymore and I pray that he won't take him and disappear from our lives.

? ? ?I haven't admitted it to many people but I still have a huge fear of the foster care system.? I'm so proud of Tammy for being the wonderful mom that she is and giving these little ones all of her love without holding back.? People don't understand how hard it is being a foster family.? Knowing that you are opening yourself up for heartbreak that can come at any time.? But when you hold these little ones and they give you those sweet slobbery baby kisses and hugs it is so worth it.? I will say that I'm still praying that the day will come when Tammy will get to adopt and we will never have to say goodbye.? But I also know that God has called Tammy to be a Mom to as many children as she can.? Even if it is only for a short time and I will be their Nana and love them, too.

?

??

*** Foster care touches everyone... ?Whether you work with someone who foster, work with children in care, volunteer as a CASA, or are simply inspired by a fostering family or foster youth. ?Ultimately, we are all connected in some way through these children who need us. ?How has foster care touched your life? ***

Source: http://tamlynn75random.blogspot.com/2012/10/foster-friday-guest-post-how-foster_12.html

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Nigeria crackdown risks playing into Islamists' hands

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - A military crackdown across Nigeria has hobbled Boko Haram for now, but as the army campaign intensifies it is likely to fan popular anger in the impoverished north that could ultimately make the Islamist sect's 3-year-old rebellion stronger.

The group, which wants to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, remains the top security threat to Africa's leading oil producer, and Western powers are worried about its growing links to more fiercely anti-Western jihadist groups in the region.

At least 2,800 people have died in fighting since the insurrection began, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

Nigerian soldiers and police have swept through the largely Muslim north in past weeks, raiding suspected Islamist hideouts, seizing weapons and killing or arresting scores of suspects.

Last month they intercepted a vehicle carrying the sect's spokesman and ideologue, Abu Qaqa, whom they said they killed in a shootout, although its leader Abubakar Shekau said Qaqa was captured alive.

Better policing of roads and around targets such as churches has reduced the number of deadly bomb attacks, and there has been no repeat of anything as coordinated as the strike on the north's main city of Kano in January that killed 186 people.

"A series of tactical setbacks against Boko Haram have helped to contain the militancy," said Roddy Barclay, Africa analyst at Control Risks. "But they won't bring an end to it, since they still don't address the core drivers."

Those drivers include a deep-rooted feeling of alienation among northerners, who have watched their semi-arid region stagnate while the oil-rich south enjoys relative prosperity.

They also include a burning sense of injustice among Boko Haram's members, who say their Salafist clerical movement was wrongly persecuted by the authorities in 2009. Then, Nigerian troops killed hundreds during an uprising, including sect founder Mohammed Yusuf, who died in police custody.

Jonathan's administration, seen by northerners as the most southern-Christian dominated in decades, is no less an obstacle. Boko Haram are fighting to revive an ancient Islamic caliphate in modern Nigeria, but many of their supporters might settle for a greater share of power for Muslim northerners in office.

The United States, worried that Boko Haram's fraternizing with other jihadist groups like al Qaeda could lead it to shift its focus to Western targets, has heaped pressure on Nigeria to tackle the root causes of the rebellion, with limited results.

"MORE HARMFUL THAN BOKO HARAM"

A security raid on Monday gave a taste of how Nigeria's pursuit of a military solution to the conflict could backfire.

After a bomb blast struck an army convoy passing through Maiduguri -- a dusty, bullet-ridden northeastern city on the threshold of the Sahara and the sect's official headquarters -- soldiers raided homes, shot people and burned down buildings in revenge attacks that left at least 35 dead.

"The soldiers are causing more harm than Boko Haram," said Hajiya Amina Tole, furious after seeing her house razed. "By the time they leave, our daughters will have no husbands to marry: most young men would have been killed by the military."

Yusuf Ahmed said he watched four of his friends executed in the raid and saw his family home destroyed. "If I join Boko Haram now, won't I be justified?" he asked.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for joint army and police forces in the northeast, denied extrajudicial killings, and said security efforts had brought relative peace.

But analysts say they may be counterproductive longer term.

"With the government's extremely heavy-handed approach ... you have to wonder what the consequences will be in terms of acquiescence or support for Boko Haram," said John Campbell, who was U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007.

"It may have a temporary impact, but without any kind of political process, the lull won't be anything more than a lull."

Concentrated mainly in northern Nigerian, Boko Haram became active in about 2003 and is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. It considers all who do not follow its strict ideology as infidels, whether Christian or Muslim, and its followers wear bushy beards and red or black headscarves.

Nigerian authorities assumed it was finished after the 2009 crackdown. Instead, it morphed from a radical clerical movement opposed to Western culture into a fully-fledged armed rebellion.

"You're dealing with a guerrilla force that withdraws when the odds are against it but then resurfaces when the pressure eases off," said Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress, a group calling for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

"They've been written off before, only to come back."

"LIKE AN AMOEBA"

If a military solution to the conflict is well nigh impossible, a political one is still a tall order.

Shekau's published demands include full implementation of Sharia or Islamic law in the north and a release of Boko Haram prisoners, things to which the government is unlikely to agree.

"That type of amnesty deal doesn't seem like it's even close to happening," said Jacob Zenn of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation. "And it doesn't even seem like the religious figures are willing to implement the greater Sharia that he wants."

He suggested it might take until the next election in 2015, in which if a Muslim northerner became president, it could address some of the militants' political grievances.

Security sources believe Shekau's faction is the most hardline, but there may be others even more extreme, including smaller cells with links with global jihadists like al-Qaeda's north African wing, currently spread over the Sahara.

Boko Haram militants periodically turn up in Mali and Niger -- sometimes after being pushed out of Nigeria by the army -- then return home with more sophisticated bomb-making technology.

That underlines another of the crackdown's unintended effects, Zenn says: the militants are spreading over a wider geographical area, across the center, east, northwest, and in neighboring nations, facilitating their split into factions.

Despite Shekau's so far undisputed claim to lead it, Campbell says Boko Haram has become "extremely diffuse, highly uncoordinated, not at all centrally controlled."

This makes ending the insurgency by political means -- as the government claims to be trying to do via 'back channels' -- hugely complicated. And the more military pressure breaks them up into smaller groups, the more complicated it will get.

"Boko Haram is behaving like an amoeba," Sani said. "Slice it up and you just get more of them."

(Additional reporting by Ibrahim Mshelizza in Maiduguri; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-nigeria-crackdown-risks-playing-islamists-hands-071216772.html

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Impact of Romney, Obama tax ideas tough to figure

Boy Scout Nicholas Reade, 17, from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, stands during the trooping of the colors before Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speak at a campaign event in Lancaster, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Boy Scout Nicholas Reade, 17, from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, stands during the trooping of the colors before Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speak at a campaign event in Lancaster, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Good luck figuring out whether Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would cut or raise your taxes if he's elected president. President Barack Obama promises tax reform, too, but precious little detail.

Unlike Romney, Obama wants to make sure any tax reform produces a big new chunk of revenue to address the deficit. Yet it's difficult to do that and not hit the middle class. It's Romney's far more ambitious tax plan, however, that has become front and center in the presidential campaign.

Romney promises a 20 percent cut in tax rates, but he won't say which deductions he'll kill to pay for it. He promises a wholesale rewrite of the tax code that would cut income tax rates across the board, taking the top rate from 35 percent to 28 percent.

Romney's plan offers the dessert of sweeping tax cuts but not the vegetables of how he would pay for it. He and running mate Paul Ryan ? his House GOP budget plan promises an even lower top tax rate of 25 percent ? say they'll curb tax breaks and rely on fresh revenue from economic growth to recoup the cost.

Obama would instead raise that top rate to 39.6 percent, making clear he's still wedded to the idea that individuals with incomes above $200,000 and couples earning above $250,000 should pay more. It's never gotten anywhere on Capitol Hill, even when Democrats had sweeping House and Senate majorities in Obama's first two years in office.

Romney says he will eliminate taxes on inherited wealth and abolish taxes on capital gains and investment income for couples making less than $200,000 a year. He also would do away with the alternative minimum tax.

All of this, the Republican vows, will not reduce the share of taxes paid by wealthier people ? nor raise taxes on the middle class or poor.

"I'm not going to raise taxes on anyone," he promised in his first debate with Obama.

Critics of Romney's plan say it simply doesn't add up. They say the estimated cost of the cuts ? the $5 trillion over a decade figure tossed about on the campaign trail and in Obama's television ads ? can't be recouped without slashing deductions and other tax breaks that chiefly benefit the middle- and upper middle-class.

Such popular ? and entrenched ? tax breaks include the deductions for home mortgage interest, charitable giving, and state and local taxes and the exclusion for employer-paid health insurance.

"You can't do all those things," said Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank. "The rich get such savings from the rate cuts that there just aren't enough tax breaks that benefit them that taking them away would recoup the full lost revenue from the rate cuts."

Such critics were given a boost on Friday when the nonpartisan tax analyst for Congress released a study that says eliminating all itemized deductions would pay for just a 4 percent cut in tax rates ? far below Romney's 20 percent target.

Republicans pointed out that the Joint Committee on Taxation analysis was simply a sketchy outline of tax reform concepts and that there are very big differences between the panel's assumptions and the Romney plan. For starters, the congressional study started from a narrower set of tax breaks from which to finance the rate cuts.

However, wiping out every tax deduction ? including those for mortgage interest, for state and local taxes and for charitable giving, but leaving breaks for health insurance and retirement savings or the personal exemption alone ? would raise $2.5 trillion over a decade, just about half of the cost of Romney's plan.

Romney's plan to swap a $5 trillion slice of revenue over a decade from rate cuts while gleaning an equally big slice of revenue by curbing deductions and other tax breaks faces enormous, perhaps insurmountable challenges. The estimate comes from the Tax Policy Center, a think tank that's a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.

The nonpartisan think tank recently rattled the debate with a study that estimated that Romney's plan would require slashing middle-class tax breaks so deeply that a family making between $75,000 and $100,000 could have to pay an average $2,000 more.

The Romney campaign disputes the math and the methodology and insists it's possible to do. Romney himself has tossed out hints that he might cap taxpayer deductions at, say, $17,000, $25,000 or $50,000. A campaign aide said he's considering curbing personal exemptions and the tax exclusion of employer-paid health insurance, particularly for those with higher incomes.

But without specifics it's impossible to analyze who would pay more and who would pay less. For families with children, a big mortgage, and who live in high tax states, for instance, might face a tax increase, while people who've paid off their houses and live in low tax states would see a tax cut.

Obama's core promise on taxes is what it's always been: Renew the tax cuts passed during George W. Bush's tenure, except for individuals whose income exceeds $200,000 and for married couples exceeds $250,000. That would raise the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, back where it was during the Clinton era.

Obama also recommends limiting itemized deductions for such higher earners, phasing out their personal exemptions and increasing their rate on capital gains from 15 to 20 percent.

But Obama has never fought hard for the official tax plan that's in his budget, though he vows to hold the line and increase taxes on the wealthy if re-elected.

Instead, Obama hints he could support comprehensive tax reform like he did in negotiations with GOP House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio last summer. The Democratic platform says he's "committed to reforming our tax code so that it is fairer and simpler" and also guarantees that "no millionaire pays a smaller share of his or her income in taxes than middle class-families do."

It's commonly believed in Washington that the only way Republicans could ever vote for higher revenues ? no easy assumption ? is as part of a tax reform plan that lowers all rates, sharply curbs tax breaks and skims some of the revenue to defray the deficit.

Some Democrats, like Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, say it's impossible to do all three without hitting the middle class.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-12-Campaign-Taxes/id-0e593d35f6c24a1c8841211d35061fbe

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Mortgage Rates Inch Upward as Foreclosure Filings Drop

Foreclosure Filings Hit Five-Year Low

Here?s some cheerful news for sellers, homeowners and anyone related to the housing market. Foreclosures plummeted 16 percent last month to a five-year low, according to RealtyTrac. This means we can probably stop worrying about the market getting flooded by distressed properties that drag down prices and the industry as a whole. In fact, home prices are on an upward trend, another sign that the market is indeed on its way to recovery

According to USA Today, foreclosures have been on the decline for nine consecutive quarters, despite a mortgage servicing settlement between big lenders and federal and state officials.

?We?ve been waiting for the other foreclosure shoe to drop,? Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president, told the paper. But, he said, it?s ?being carefully lowered to the floor.?

USA Today said that an improving economy, more short sales, and tighter restrictions on foreclosures have contributed to the decline in distressed properties. California, which led the country into the boom and the downfall, also helped shove foreclosure numbers to the bottom. According to Bloomberg News, defaults dropped 45 percent in the country?s most populous state. The state has also seen an uptick in home values, home prices and demand for housing.

Median house and condominium prices in six Southern California counties jumped 11 percent from a year earlier to $309,000, according to Bloomberg. The news agency reported that values in nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area gained 11 percent to $410,000.

Two Years Until Full Recovery, Says CEO of Home Depot, Inc.

And here comes yet another validation that the housing market is on a recovery tract, albeit ?a slow one. Home Depot, the world?s largest home improvement retailer, says the market is healing. But true recovery is still far away, said Frank Blake, CEO.

The housing downturn dealt a heavy blow on home prices, home equity and consumer confidence. It also brought down the construction industry and home improvement sector.?As consumers began struggling with unemployment, foreclosures and economic uncertainty, they tightened their purse strings and shelved their plans about buying homes or diving into ?home improvement projects. During the housing downturn, Home Depot?s store sales dropped more than 20 percent in states such as California and Florida, according to Reuters.

?This housing market?s been very, very bad and it?s going to take some time to recover,? Blake said. ?The way we look at it is there?s going to be a period of a workout, a fine period of one to two years and then you?re going to get a more robust recovery,? Blake said.

Blake?s comments came on the heels of two Federal Reserve officials blaming the U.S. housing market for holding the economy hostage. Blake hinted that recovery has been conservative because foreclosures and tight lending practices are preventing the market from springing back.

Mortgage Rates Climb

An improving job market has helped heal the housing market, thereby triggering a rise in mortgage rates. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 3.39 percent from 3.36 percent for the week ended Oct. 11, according to Freddie Mac.The 15-year rate is now 2.7 percent, up from the previously recorded 2.69 percent.

?A positive job report is always good for the housing market,? Celia Chen, a housing economist at Moody?s Analytics, Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, told Bloomberg. ?We do expect job growth to continue ? not strongly, but it will continue. That will be enough to keep housing on an upward trajectory.?

At 7.8 percent, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest since January 2009. With improving job prospects consumers are getting more optimistic about the economy and home buying. Mortgage data firm CoreLogic announced earlier that home prices jumped 4.6 percent in August, the biggest bump since July 2006.

Tagged as: economy, foreclosure, home prices, housing, interest, market, mortgage, news, prices, rates, real estate, recovery, values

Source: http://www.realestate.com/advice/mortgage-rates-inch-upward-as-foreclosure-filings-drop-99479

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The worst noises in the world: Why we recoil at unpleasant sounds

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2012) ? Heightened activity between the emotional and auditory parts of the brain explains why the sound of chalk on a blackboard or a knife on a bottle is so unpleasant.

In a study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience and funded by the Wellcome Trust, Newcastle University scientists reveal the interaction between the region of the brain that processes sound, the auditory cortex, and the amygdala, which is active in the processing of negative emotions when we hear unpleasant sounds.

Brain imaging has shown that when we hear an unpleasant noise the amygdala modulates the response of the auditory cortex heightening activity and provoking our negative reaction.

"It appears there is something very primitive kicking in," says Dr Sukhbinder Kumar, the paper's author from Newcastle University. "It's a possible distress signal from the amygdala to the auditory cortex."

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL and Newcastle University used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how the brains of 13 volunteers responded to a range of sounds. Listening to the noises inside the scanner they rated them from the most unpleasant -- the sound of knife on a bottle -- to pleasing -- bubbling water. Researchers were then able to study the brain response to each type of sound.

Researchers found that the activity of the amygdala and the auditory cortex varied in direct relation to the ratings of perceived unpleasantness given by the subjects. The emotional part of the brain, the amygdala, in effect takes charge and modulates the activity of the auditory part of the brain so that our perception of a highly unpleasant sound, such as a knife on a bottle, is heightened as compared to a soothing sound, such as bubbling water.

Analysis of the acoustic features of the sounds found that anything in the frequency range of around 2,000 to 5,000 Hz was found to be unpleasant. Dr Kumar explains: "This is the frequency range where our ears are most sensitive. Although there's still much debate as to why our ears are most sensitive in this range, it does include sounds of screams which we find intrinsically unpleasant."

Scientifically, a better understanding of the brain's reaction to noise could help our understanding of medical conditions where people have a decreased sound tolerance such as hyperacusis, misophonia (literally a "hatred of sound") and autism when there is sensitivity to noise.

Professor Tim Griffiths from Newcastle University, who led the study, says: "This work sheds new light on the interaction of the amygdala and the auditory cortex. This might be a new inroad into emotional disorders and disorders like tinnitus and migraine in which there seems to be heightened perception of the unpleasant aspects of sounds."

Most Unpleasant Sounds

Rating 74 sounds, people found the most unpleasant noises to be:

1. Knife on a bottle
2. Fork on a glass
3. Chalk on a blackboard
4. Ruler on a bottle
5. Nails on a blackboard
6. Female scream
7. Anglegrinder
8. Brakes on a cycle squealing
9. Baby crying
10. Electric drill

Least Unpleasant Sounds

• Applause
• Baby laughing
• Thunder
• Water flowing

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Newcastle University.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. S. Kumar, K. von Kriegstein, K. Friston, T. D. Griffiths. Features versus Feelings: Dissociable Representations of the Acoustic Features and Valence of Aversive Sounds. Journal of Neuroscience, 2012; 32 (41): 14184 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1759-12.2012

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/living_well/~3/4W_Urz8n9Mc/121012112424.htm

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