Los Angeles, CA, United States (Celebrity News Service) – Bruce Springsteen gave the eulogy at the funeral for friend and saxophonist of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band Clarence Clemons in a private by-invitation service.

The service for Clemons, who was nicknamed “The Big Man”, included 150 friends and family members which included three of his four ex-wives.

“Clarence was a man of unconditional love, but his love came with a lot of conditions,” Springsteen said during the eulogy.

“He was a complex guy … an ongoing project. But when you were in his presence, it was like being in a sovereign nation,” he added.

The service included performances by Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band, Jackson Browne, and a saxophone solo of “Amazing Grace” performed by Clemons’ nephew.

Clemons died Saturday from complications of a stroke he suffered a week earlier at the age of 69.

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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (AHN) – Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach celebrated his 60th birthday on Wednesday and officially retired from public service the following day. He had served as the Canadian province’s premier since 2006 and was leader of the Conservative Party.

Stelmach had made known his plan to retire from politics three months ago. He is leaving as the Liberals are questioning him over a health scandal, the Wildrose Alliance hit him on land rights and the New Democrats launch a probe into power lines in the oil-rich province.

Stelmach started his public career as a member of the Lamont County Council in 1986, and then as a reeve. After seven years he became a member of the Provincial Parliament. He held several provincial cabinet posts until he became premier.

The newly retired premier expressed appreciation that he still has his family by his side after about three decades of political life and his personal integrity still intact. Even Alberta Liberal leader David Swann admitted that while he disagreed with many of Stelmach’s decisions as premier, Swann never doubted Stelmach’s desire to work for a better future for Alberta.

Prior to his political career, Stelmach was a farmer on the family’s homestead in the province.

Among Stelmach’s legacy was a draft development plan for the oil sands’ lower Athabasca River basin. It is the first of seven regional watershed plans Alberta is crafting that would nullify some oil sands leases.

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Cairo, Egypt (TML) – Husni Mubarak is gone and the mass protests at Tahrir Square are mostly history, but Egypt’s stock exchange remains closed – its trading floors empty and two tanks stationed outside its Cairo headquarters, serving as an all too conspicuous symbol of the country’s struggle to get back to business.

Officials have hinted repeatedly over the last few weeks that the market will open soon, most recently on Monday when Bloomberg News quoted exchange spokesman Hisham Turk and cabinet spokesman Magdy Raby as saying an announcement would come by the evening. As of late Tuesday, no announcement had been made and Turk was unavailable for comment.

“It’s an institution that is very public and visible. For it to be closed isn’t a positive sign. That’s why the opening of the stock market will be important. It provides a sense that the situation is returning to normal,” Angus Blair, head of research at the Cairo-based investment bank Beltone Financial, told The Media Line.

The Egyptian Exchange was shut January 27 as confrontations between the government and protestors unnerved investors and sent shares plummeting 17% in two trading sessions. But the army-led transitional government has since brought order to the country and economic activity has resumed.

Although the decision when to open and under what conditions is up to exchange officials, analysts say the government fears that resuming trading would give people a conduit for sending capital the country badly needs overseas. It could also send a bearish message about the economy if shares tumble in initial trading.

The authorities have taken some measures to address those issues. As of March 14, Egypt’s attorney-general has temporarily barred 52 people plus immediate family members in many cases, from trading shares. The list includes the Mubarak family, as well as top business people and former ministers.

To address concerns about a massive sell-off, Egypt’s Financial Service Supervisory Authority last Saturday eased rules for margin trading, the practice of buying securities with cash borrowed from a broker and using other securities as collateral. Investors now need only repay loans or add collateral when their debt reaches 70% of the shares’ value. That is 10 percentage points higher than previously.

To help small investors, who have been the most nervous about the fall-out of the exchange’s re-opening, a fund worth 250 million Egyptian pounds ($42 million) was formed on Sunday to offer them loans.

“We are getting close to a reopening in the sense that we are trying to ensure sufficient demand so that when the stock exchange opens there won’t be a strong crash. We expect a landing, but we want it to be a soft landing,” Egyptian Finance Minister Samir Radwan told the CNBC business television network on Monday. “I hope by mid week we will be functioning.”

Egypt lost several weeks worth of output during the peak of the unrest. Even today, strikes are frequent and two key sources of foreign income – tourism and the salaries of Egyptians working abroad – remain problem areas. Tourists are trickling back slowly, as travel to the Middle East suffers from unrest in places like Libya and Bahrain. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have fled Libya, depriving their families of income.

Radwan said last week that gross domestic product may grow as little as 3% in the year to the end of June if production does not get back on track. The economy grew by 5.1% in the 2009/10 financial year.

Meanwhile, stock markets across the Middle East have dropped in response to regional unrest. Globally, investors have been pulling out of emerging stock markets like Egypt’s. As of March 9, emerging-markets equity funds have suffered net withdrawals of more than $21 billion this year.

But there is some room for optimism. Shares of leading Egyptian stocks traded abroad in the form of global depository receipts have fallen since the exchange was shuttered, but they haven’t tanked. Orascom Construction Industries has shed 4.8%, Orascom Telecom 2.4%, EFG-Hermes 13.2% and Telecom Egypt 12.2%. “It’s not as bad as one would think,” said Beltone’s Blair.

Last Thursday, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said it removed Egypt’s long-term foreign currency ratings from CreditWatch negative and affirmed its ratings of the country’s unsecured foreign currency sovereign debt.

Whether or not investors will look at the Egyptian cup as half full or half empty, the stock exchange faces something of a deadline from MSCI, whose securities index are used by global investors to benchmark their performance and decide how to apportion their investments.

Under MSCI rules, a market can’t be closed for more than 40 trading days, or it risks being expelled from the index. Frank Nielsen, MSCI’s executive director for equity and applied research, said this deadline was March 24. Expulsion would cause big institutions to divest their Egyptian stocks, although Nielsen declined to speculate on what the impact would be.

“What we are doing right now is talking to investors and other interested parties in Egypt and the rest of the world to get a sense of what investors feel about it, and what the plans are in Egypt,” Nielsen said in an interview on the Index Universe website. “Surely there will be an impact if we ultimately deleted Egypt from the Emerging Markets Index.”

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Paris, France (AHN) – French authorities on Sunday evacuated thousands of people from their residences after an unexploded RAF bomb, which was apparently dropped during the World War Two, was discovered in Boulogne-Billancourt in the outskirts of Paris.

Carmaker Renault owed the land where the 69 year old, 1000lb high explosive device was discovered.

Military experts started attempts to diffuse the weapon around 8 a.m. and managed to give an all okay only in the afternoon.

A force of some 400 policemen was deployed to help evacuate 6,000 evacuees, including men, women and children from their homes.

Many of them carried family pets, food and even suitcases with them. “People were asked to leave their homes at dawn this morning because the bomb was considered live and dangerous,” said a local police spokesman. “It was found by builders on land, which was heavily bombed during the Second World War. Homes, which fall within a four hundred meter radius of the bomb, have been evacuated,” he added.

Residents were given free cinema passes to spend their time, while many others stayed at local sports halls and other council buildings.

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West Palm Beach, FL, United States (AHN) – An 89-year-old widow earned her college diploma on Monday from the Palm Beach State College.

Catherine Photos was among 1,760 graduates of the college after completing an Associate in Arts degree. The graduation rite was held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.

Photos graduated from Philadelphia‟s William Penn High School during the Great Depression and stopped studying to work to help her family. She took a job as a switchboard operator for a cab company.

Photos also had to delay her return to school when she got married to take care of her own family, including three children. But when her husband died in 1995, she decided to complete the degree. She was tired of sitting down doing nothing at home, according to the widow.

Photos plans to continue her education and take up a bachelor’s degree in English at the Florida Atlantic University in January.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN) – Meebo celebrated its fifth anniversary on September 21, and actress Sarah Hyland of ABC’s new smash comedy “Modern Family” was in attendance. Coincidentally, the premiere of “Modern Family” was the next day, September 22.

Hyland took a break from her comedic acting on ABC and went to the party and played Twister, pictured here.

In addition to celebrating its fifth birthday, Meebo released its new social messaging app to the BlackBerry world. The Blackberry app works on all BlackBerry platforms, including the Torch 9800.

Meebo is a company that integrates all social networks and communication channels into a simple, single solution. Founded in 2005, the company allows its users to share content easily while communicating in real time with a Meebo Bar, a toolbar that can be installed on users’ computers. Meebo also allows users to communicate through Meebo Messenger, much like AOL Instant Messenger, and mobile devices.

View full post on Human Interest Stories

There are always exceptions to any rule, of course. And there are some exceptions here. Assuming your child has had her nap and is in a reasonably good mood, there are a few appointments you can take your small child on:

— If you know the client personally and they have previously met your child

— The client also has a child (or several) who are in the same age range and the client indicates you should bring the child over

— A quick drop-off of paperwork, flyers, etc.

If you’ve been taking your baby to appointments with real estate clients and just chugging along, it’s easy to keep working your real estate business the same as before. But it’s important to think twice before bringing your child along when she’s between the ages of 1 to 5 years old. To your real estate broker’s office, sure. To run errands for your real estate business, fine. But appointments with real estate clients, think again. You don’t want to kill the deal. And a kid could possibly do that, with any client. Even another parent…while she might be understanding and sympathetic when your child has a meltdown…can think of the whole thing as a huge turn-off and wonder about your professionalism.

You know your child’s “limitations” more than anyone. You know the signs of fussiness coming on, the look of hunger. It’s just better not to chance turning an appointment into your worst nightmare.

If you don’t have consistent daycare for your child or baby, you have options. First, set up appointments on evenings and weekends when your significant other or a family member or friend can be relied upon to watch your child.

But what about those last minute calls from your clients who just MUST see you that afternoon? Urgent requests to see properties or to sit down and sign those listing documents can happen. And they can give you less than 2 hours notice.

If you want to be a competitive agent and want to provide service to your client, you want to try and find a way to make it happen. In these cases, you need to set up some last minute “emergency” daycare ahead of time. If you have a family member or a friend who is available during the day for these last minute client demands, that is ideal. Make sure you have a plan A and a plan B (just in case plan A falls thru) for last-minute child care.

Don’t worry, these awkward toddler and preschooler years won’t last forever. Before you know it, you’re child will be in school and she will be a big help to your real estate business if you want to make things a family affair.

Author: Tina McAllister
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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As of this writing, the San Diego real estate markets appears to have shifted from one that favors sellers to one that favors buyers. However, this premise may not hold true for all communities within San Diego, as median prices for some communities continue to rise while others fall.

While there are many metrics to evaluate the real estate pricing trends of a community, one commonly used parameter is to evaluate the median price of homes from one point in time against a prior point of time. The median price reflects the point at which half the homes are above a particular price point, and half the homes are below a particular price point. The median price metric provides one method to analyze the direction of home prices, but should not be used as the sole source of data from which to form conclusions.

The data below is a comparison of median prices for various communities in central San Diego County, comparing data from June 2005 against data for June 2006. This information is only one metric at a particular point in time, and other metrics or data from future months may support or dispute the pricing trends noted below. For some of the San Diego communities presented below, very few homes sold during June 2006, which diminishes the usefulness of the median price metric.

COMMUNITIES WITH INCREASES IN MEDIAN PRICE – SINGLE FAMILY HOMES – JUNE 2006

The data below pertains only to the sales of single-family homes, and does not include condominiums or townhomes. The data is organized by the magnitude of change in median price, with the highest change in median price presented first.

For the Coronado real estate market, the median price was $1,775,000, which represents a 14.7% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 15 homes sold in June 2006 (21 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Point Loma real estate market, the median price was $1,024,068, which represents an 11.4% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 20 homes sold in June 2006 (14 homes sold in June 2005).

For the University City (UTC) real estate market, the median price was $780,000, which represents a 10.6% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 5 homes sold in June 2006 (19 homes sold in June 2005).

For the La Jolla real estate market, the median price was $1,692,500, which represents a 10.3% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 28 homes sold in June 2006 (38 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Logan Heights real estate market, the median price was $425,000, which represents a 7.6% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 13 homes sold in June 2006 (14 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Paradise Hills real estate market, the median price was $507,500, which represents a 5.7% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 8 homes sold in June 2006 (16 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Mission Hills real estate market, the median price was $927,500, which represents a 3.1% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 11 homes sold in June 2006 (12 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Scripps Ranch (Scripps Miramar) real estate market, the median price was $759,250, which represents a 2.8% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 34 homes sold this month (43 homes sold in June 2005).

For the San Carlos real estate market, the median price was $563,000, which represents a 2.4% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 12 homes sold in June 2006 (16 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Del Cerro real estate market, the median price was $557,500, which represents a 2.1% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 13 homes sold in June 2006 (30 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Normal Heights real estate market, the median price was $676,250, which represents a 1.7% increase from the same time last year. Approximately 20 homes sold in June 2006 (19 homes sold in June 2005).

COMMUNITIES WITH DECREASES IN MEDIAN PRICE – SINGLE FAMILY HOMES – JUNE 2006

The data below pertains only to the sales of single-family homes, and does not include condominiums or townhomes. The data is organized by the magnitude of change in median price, with the highest change in median price presented first.

For the Old Town real estate market, the median price was $580,000, which was a 19.1% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 5 homes sold in June 2006 (14 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Golden Hill real estate market, the median price was $451,000, which was a 16.4% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 10 homes sold in June 2006 (13 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Pacific Beach real estate market, the median price was $851,960, which represents a 14.8% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 15 homes sold in June 2006 (19 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Tierrasanta real estate market, the median price was $570,000, which represents a 12.6% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 9 homes sold in June 2006 (17 homes sold in June 2005).

For the North Park real estate market, the median price was $560,000, which represents a 9.7% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 31 homes sold in June 2006 (16 homes sold in June 2005).

For the College Grove real estate market, the median price was $475,000, which represents a 5.9% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 38 homes sold in June 2006 (40 homes sold in June 2005).

For the City Heights real estate market, the median price was $390,00, which represents a 5.3% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 17 homes sold in June 2006 (30 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Mira Mesa real estate market, the median price was $510,000, which represents a 4.7% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 45 homes sold in June 2006 (47 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Linda Vista real estate market, the median price was $510,000, which represents a 4.2% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 16 homes sold in June 2006 (17 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Mission Valley real estate market, the median price was $510,000, which represents a 3.8% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 7 homes sold in June 2006 (18 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Encanto real estate market, the median price was $435,000, which represents a 3.3% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 36 homes sold in June 2006 (47 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Clairemont real estate market, the median price was $555,000, which represents a 2.6% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 30 homes sold in June 2006 (34 homes sold in June 2005).

For the Sorrento Valley real estate market, the median price was $861,000, which represents a 1% decline from the same time last year. Approximately 6 homes sold in June 2006 (5 homes sold in June 2005).

ADVISORY

Homebuyers and home sellers should keep in mind that the data above is simply a snapshot in time, and is not conclusive of the pricing trends for any community. For some communities presented above, very few homes were sold during June 2006, which makes the use of the median price metric of limited value. The data must be evaluated over a longer duration, and involve multiple metrics to fully understand enduring market trends. Contact your Realtor to obtain information about enduring market trends for any given community.

Before you even begin looking at houses, sit your family down and talk about what you’d each like to have in your Huntsville home. Take notes and have each of them tell you in order of importance what they think is most important. If you or your spouse spend more time at home than the other, take special care to find out and consider what they feel is most important in a home. Particularly if one is at home with the kids or works from home, special concessions may need to be made for them.

The next step is to get prequalified for your Huntsville home purchase. Check with two or three lenders to make sure that they can get you the best rates available. There may be some things that are negotiable, so take the time to talk to the lender in person.

Now the fun begins, take your list and your prequalification letter with you and begin looking for a good Realtor that will satisfy your needs. Find a realtor that can work with your house, and is good at working with buyers, not just sellers of property. Experience is key when finding the best realtor to help you find the perfect Huntsville home. They should be able to look at your prequalification letter and your list of requirements and start sorting through the Huntsville homes that are available and that meet your family’s needs.

Ideally, you will find just the right Huntsville home in a few days, normally one to three days of serious Huntsville home shopping is enough to find a home that works well for everyone. Occasionally a Huntsville home shopper will have been watching a particular home for months or even years and it has just come on the market and the home sells quickly. Normally a home buyer will walk through each Huntsville home, with a list of preferences, and determine which home is going to be the best fit for you and your family. It is unlikely you will find one that has everything your family wants, but you can get pretty close. There are a lot of choices to make when looking for a Huntsville home, and you are sure to be pleased before long. The Huntsville home market is a sometimes fast pace market active and stimulated in part by Redstone Arsenal military base. Huntsville’s local economy is healthy and upbeat, if you’re considering a move to the Huntsville, Alabama area you won’t be disappointed with the many great things our area has to offer.

Steve A. Thomas is your Huntsville home resource serving Huntsville, Alabama and surrounding areas. Steve A. Thomas Realtor, Associate Broker, ABR, e-Pro RE/MAX Huntsville Cell: 256.694.4663 Toll Free: 800.239.4749 Ext. 4945 Web site: http://www.HuntsvilleAreaHomes.comArticle Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/finding-the-right-huntsville-home-for-you-and-your-family-1378739.html

Some of the people involved with these scams have been real estate agents, lawyers, and mortgage brokers (among others); it seems like there is no restriction to which “profession” might stoop to taking advantage of the unfortunate homeowners who’re desperately trying to find a solution to their struggle to remain in their homes.

Many people across the country have unfortunately been taken in by “pay upfront” refinancing that results in the person who’s been given the money not helping the family renegotiate their mortgage and subsequently lost their homes plus any payment that they’d made to have their mortgages modified.

The US government has apparently had enough of people who’re struggling to remain in their homes and find work being taken advantage of and arrested forty-one people recently in a huge crackdown of mortgage scammers including lawyers and mortgage brokers from across four states. It is unfortunate that the very people whose job it is to help homeowners keep their homes are the ones who’ve turned their backs on them. Many government agencies worked together over many months to bring these fraudsters in; hopefully their arrests will save others from experiencing this kind of horrible betrayal.

Experts suggest that if you need to have your mortgage modified then make sure you work with reputable lenders and keep documentation of the process. You should not be required to pay money upfront for mortgage modification. Be wary of any “too good to be true” offers that you receive by phone; they may well be people looking for a free handout instead of the actual financial help that you need.

It seems that in this current climate of financial struggling and high unemployment, one of the most profitable money making endeavours is ripping off people’s money while they’re struggling to hold on to a roof over their head and that of their family. Hopefully law enforcement can keep up with the flood of ethically bankrupt gatekeepers who’ve gotten involved with these schemes.

Visit WaterfrontPropertiesAdmiralsCove.com for everything to do with Admirals Cove Jupiter. You’ll find information about a range of issues and properties in this beautiful area, including Homes For Sale in the Admirals Cove Golf Village.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/mortgage-crisis-amounts-to-opportunity-to-pillage-for-some-gatekeepers-1347750.html