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South Miami Pool In Historically Black Neighborhood Still In Limbo

[ [['A picture is worth a thousand words', 5]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/why-facebook-bought-instagram-4-theories-160400376.html', '[Related: Why Facebook bought Instagram: 4 theories]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 9]], 'http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach', '[Did you witness the jet crash? Share your story with Yahoo! News]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Dick Clark', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/dick-clark-dies-at-82-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/c/21/c217c61aa2d5872244c08caa13c16ec5.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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ZocDoc Rolls Out In Tampa Bay; Says Gen Y Is Clueless About Health Care

zocdocZocDoc, the professional booking platform for doctors, is rolling out to another market as of this week: Tampa, Florida - and incidentally, company CEO?Cyrus Massoumi also happens to be a Florida native. But that's not why Tampa was chosen as the next major metro area to join the lineup of ZocDoc's regions served - the company says that it chooses new markets based on demand from both patients and doctors alike. In conjunction with the launch, ZocDoc also released the findings from a new survey it commissioned which highlights why ZocDoc happens to be in such demand: it's solving the frustrating problem of finding a doctor and booking an appointment - something which the youngest generation of patients is apparently the most ill-equipped to handle, at least according to the findings.

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NYT: Luxury living at largest Christian TV network

For 39 years, the Trinity Broadcasting Network has urged viewers to give generously and reap the Lord?s bounty in return.

The prosperity gospel preached by Paul and Janice Crouch, who built a single station into the world?s largest Christian television network, has worked out well for them.

Mr. and Mrs. Crouch have his-and-her mansions one street apart in a gated community here, provided by the network using viewer donations and tax-free earnings. But Mrs. Crouch, 74, rarely sleeps in the $5.6 million house with tennis court and pool. She mostly lives in a large company house near Orlando, Fla., where she runs a side business, the Holy Land Experience theme park. Mr. Crouch, 78, has an adjacent home there too, but rarely visits. Its occupant is often a security guard who doubles as Mrs. Crouch?s chauffeur.

The twin sets of luxury homes only hint at the high living enjoyed by the Crouches, inspirational television personalities whose multitudes of stations and satellite signals reach millions of worshipers across the globe. Almost since they started in the 1970s, the couple have been criticized for secrecy about their use of donations, which totaled $93 million in 2010.

Now, after an upheaval with Shakespearean echoes, one son in this first family of televangelism has ousted the other to become the heir apparent. A granddaughter, who was in charge of TBN?s finances, has gone public with the most detailed allegations of financial improprieties yet, which TBN has denied, saying its practices were audited and legal.

The granddaughter, Brittany Koper, and her husband have been fired by the network, which accused them of stealing $1.3 million to buy real estate and cars and make family loans. "They?re just trying to divert attention from their own crimes," said Colby May, a lawyer representing TBN. Janice and Paul Crouch declined requests for interviews.

In two pending lawsuits and in her first public interview, Ms. Koper described company-paid luxuries that she said appeared to violate the Internal Revenue Service?s ban on ?excess compensation? by nonprofit organizations as well as possibly state and federal laws on false bookkeeping and self-dealing.

The lavish perquisites, corroborated by two other former TBN employees, include additional, often-vacant homes in Texas and on the former Conway Twitty estate in Tennessee, corporate jets valued at $8 million and $49 million each and thousand-dollar dinners with fine wines, paid with tax-exempt money.

In the lawsuits and interviews, Ms. Koper, 26, also charges that TBN has spent millions of dollars in sweetheart deals with a commercial film company owned until recently by a son of the Crouches, Matthew, including poorly monitored investments made after he joined the TBN board in 2007.

?My job as finance director was to find ways to label extravagant personal spending as ministry expenses,? Ms. Koper said. This is one way, she said, the company avoids probing questions from the I.R.S. She said that the absence of outsiders on TBN?s governing board ? currently consisting of Paul, Janice and Matthew Crouch ? had led to a serious lack of accountability for spending.

Ms. Koper and the two other former TBN employees also said that dozens of staff members, including Ms. Koper, chauffeurs, sound engineers and others had been ordained as ministers by TBN. This allowed the network to avoid paying Social Security taxes on their salaries and made it easier to justify providing family members with rent-free houses, sometimes called ?parsonages,? she said.

The company did not always succeed. Last year, officials in Orange County, Fla., turned down TBN?s application to register the adjacent lakefront houses in Windermere as parsonages, saying they served no religious purpose, The Orlando Sentinel reported. The designation would have resulted in religious exemptions and saved TBN roughly $50,000 in taxes a year.

Ms. Koper said that the company run by Matthew Crouch, 50, who is her uncle, had received an estimated $50 million in TBN money over the years, with little oversight, to finance religious film projects and television shows. TBN recouped only a small fraction of its loans and investments, sometimes forgiving large sums in return for broadcast rights of limited value, she said.

She also questioned the justification for providing rent-free houses for Matthew, now a TBN vice president, and his wife, Laurie, and separate houses for their young-adult sons in Costa Mesa, Calif., including one that Ms. Koper said was remodeled at company expense with wall-mounted Transformer robot figures costing several thousand dollars, a putting green and an indoor basketball court.

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Ms. Koper and her husband, Michael Koper, 28, who formerly managed sales of TBN airtime, said they were fired last September after writing memorandums to the elder Mr. Crouch about questionable spending. They showed a reporter for The New York Times what they said were copies of the memos.

?People have been conned by my grandparents,? Ms. Koper said.

But TBN said the pair made their charges only after the company confronted them with evidence of embezzlement. TBN later filed and then dropped a civil lawsuit accusing the Kopers of fraud, and this week filed a new suit in a California court, repeating only a few of the original allegations. No criminal charges against the Kopers have been filed.

Mr. May, the lawyer, offered a broad defense of TBN and the Crouches. He said that TBN had indeed ordained hundreds of people who felt a true ?ministerial call? and that performers at Holy Land Experience, for example, were ?ministers playing roles.?

He said that all contracts with the film company that Matthew Crouch led until mid-2010, Gener8Xion Entertainment, had been at ?arm?s length? and provided good value to TBN.

Mr. May added that TBN owned so many homes because traveling employees and guests used them. He said that the remodeled house, in the Lifestyles complex in Costa Mesa, was not occupied, but used as a set for youth television programs, with the Transformers serving as props. Matthew Crouch, through the company spokesman, declined an interview request. But Gilbert J. Luft, president of the Lifestyles Homeowners Association in Costa Mesa, said that the sons were familiar residents and that the association does not permit filming there.

Extolling TBN?s prominence and programs, Mr. May said the spending that some call opulent ?is necessary to convey the ministry?s position of accomplishment.?

The Gospel of Prosperity
On the air, the Crouches combine uplifting talk with encouragement to give to the Lord, and so be repaid. This ?prosperity gospel? is shared by several televangelists who appear on TBN. But many conventional Christian leaders regard it as a sham.

?Prosperity theology is a false theology,? said R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Between its message and its reputation for high spending, Mr. Mohler said, ?TBN has been a huge embarrassment to evangelical Christianity for decades.?

While TBN said it provided tens of millions of dollars? worth of free advertising time to conventional charities like the Salvation Army and a few million dollars in some years for aid to disaster victims, it is forthright about its overriding purpose: ?to spread the Gospel to the world? through its cable systems, satellite transmitters and, now, via computers and smartphones.

Janice Crouch, called ?Mama? on the air, is known for her pink-tinged wigs, which look like huge swirls of cotton candy, and for talking emotionally about the Lord?s blessings. Mr. Crouch, or ?Papa,? is relentlessly upbeat as he quotes flurries of Bible verses on signature programs like ?Praise the Lord.?

Clearly, many viewers have heartfelt responses. In 2010, TBN received $93 million in tax-exempt donations, according to its tax report. The company also had $64 million in additional income from sales of airtime and $17 million in investment income that year.

It spent $194 million operating its far-flung network and investing in new programs. The company was in the red for the year, but could draw on its cushion of $325 million in cash and investments.

Rusty Leonard, an independent tax expert and the leader of Wall Watchers, a charity watchdog group that has long criticized TBN for financial secrecy, said televangelists often escape penalties for extravagant spending because the definition of taxable ?excess benefits? is subjective, and authorities are reluctant to challenge religious groups.

Marcus S. Owens, a tax lawyer with Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, said that lavish spending by nonprofit organizations could raise red flags for tax officials. ?The law says that any compensation must be reasonable, and the value of a house is part of that,? he said. ?Dinner on the company every night could be an issue too.?

At the same time, Mr. Owens said, churches have considerable latitude under the First Amendment. Regarding the ordination of untrained workers, he said, ?absent clear fraud, the government is not going to touch that.?

A TBN spokesman said executive salaries were recommended by independent consultants. In 2010, Mr. Crouch received $400,000 as president, Mrs. Crouch $365,000 as first vice president.

On the air, Mr. and Mrs. Crouch tell viewers that they have almost no personal assets. But that only underscores the problem, said Tymothy S. MacLeod, a lawyer for the Kopers. ?It?s the tax-exempt company that is giving them this opulent lifestyle.?

Accounts of Extravagance
Relatives and former employees agreed that Paul and Janice Crouch seem to have deep spiritual feelings and believe they are doing the Lord?s work ? a belief, according to a former employee, Troy Clements, that seemed to justify almost any extravagance.

Mr. Clements, a former executive at Holy Land Experience, said that when employees questioned decisions like remodeling the cafe three times in six weeks, Mrs. Crouch said, ?No one has told me ?no? for 30 years, and you?re not going to start now.?

Mr. Clements, who was sales and then personnel director at Holy Land, said that he resigned in frustration in 2008 and that working for Mrs. Crouch had often been ?surreal.?

In 2008 and 2009, as Mrs. Crouch began remodeling Holy Land Experience, she rented adjacent rooms in the deluxe Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando ? one for herself and one for her two beloved Maltese dogs and clothes, according to Mr. Clements and Ms. Koper. Mrs. Crouch rented the rooms for close to two years, they said.

Ms. Crouch was seldom without her little white dogs, pushing them in a pink stroller and keeping a costly motor home, originally purchased to serve as an office, for two years as an air-conditioned sanctuary for her pets, the two former employees said.

In Newport Beach, according to Ms. Koper, the elder Mr. Crouch sometimes traveled in a chauffeured Bentley, which TBN says is used to ferry television guests in proper style.

First-class ?working dinners? are a way of life. In pending lawsuits, the Kopers say that Mr. Crouch, Mrs. Crouch and their son Matthew each ran up meal expenses of at least $300,000 per year. Mr. May, the TBN lawyer, said this was not accurate but did not offer other figures.

A Contentious Exit
When Brittany Koper and her husband decided to join TBN in 2007 after college, they were tempted by the generous perquisites, they admit. But they said that as Mr. Koper completed law school on the side, and Ms. Koper her M.B.A., they began to feel uneasy and moved out of their company house.

Nonetheless, they did borrow company money for their down payment on a private home and the purchase of a condominium, and gave Mr. Koper?s uncle a company loan of $65,000, among other acts that Mr. May called thefts. The Kopers said the loans were authorized in writing by the elder Mr. Crouch, with clear repayment terms.

TBN says Mr. Crouch?s signature was forged. Mr. May showed a reporter letters from the fall in which Ms. Koper apologized for lying and lending herself company money.

Ms. Koper said that she had never admitted to breaking the law. She said she was pressured by TBN lawyers to show ?Christian contrition? and to hand over company property and repay their loans.

In October the Kopers moved to New York. ?We just wanted a fresh start,? Ms. Koper recalled.

Her father, Paul Crouch Jr., Matthew?s older brother, was also forced off the staff and quit the board.

He declined to be interviewed, but he wrote in an e-mail, ?Getting caught in the middle of disputes involving my daughter, brother and parents is probably one of the hardest things I?ve ever had to endure.?

As lawsuits and countersuits swirl, the Kopers are living in the basement of his father?s modest house in Elmont, on Long Island.

Mr. Crouch and an assistant, Matthew and his family, and two pilots are nearing the end of a six-week world tour in the larger company jet, visiting affiliates, taping programs and scouting new territory for evangelism in Rome, Dubai, Israel, Hong Kong and Hawaii.

?Others may do things differently, and may criticize TBN for how it operates, its look, its doctrine and belief,? Mr. May said. ?But what is absolutely clear is that TBN, with God?s grace, has succeeded where most others have failed.?

Copyright ? 2012 The New York Times

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Homes For Sale By Owner - Hints And Tricks | Sharing Reviews ...

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Activists mock Syria elections in online videos

BEIRUT (AP) ? Anti-regime activists were quick to spoof Syria's parliamentary elections Monday with a flurry of amateur, online videos lampooning a vote they say aims to put a shiny gloss on the authoritarian rule of President Bashar Assad and cover up its fierce crackdown on protesters.

In one video, "voters" line up in at a staged polling station and first in line is a man in a white funeral shroud, killed by regime forces. "God have mercy on your soul," says an actor playing a reporter before asking him what he thinks of the voting.

"The elections are free and fair!" the dead man declares in the video, filmed in the northern village of Kafr Sijneh. Next in line behind him is a wounded man, covered in white bandages with huge blood spots on his arms and head.

Since the anti-Assad uprising started in March, 2011, amateur videographers have played a key role in telling their story to the world outside of one of the Middle East's most brutal police states, uploading daily hundreds of videos of protests, destroyed homes, regime forces and the often bloody bodies of those killed by them. Alongside the serious videos, there has been a steady stream of spoofs showing an often dark humor about the crisis.

Assad's regime has touted Monday's voting as part of a set of major reforms to open the political system. For the first time, parties other than the ruling Baath Party are allowed to run in the election for the 250-member parliament.

Syrian state TV and other pro-government channels covering the elections broadcast footage of lines of voters dropping white ballots in plastic boxes across the country. Those interviewed talked about how much they loved Syria and how the elections were a true exercise in democracy.

But opponents of the regime have largely boycotted the vote, saying it is a sham and that the government is not serious about change.

Nationwide violence was relatively low Monday, and activist videographers used the day to skewer the vote.

In one video from the village of Biftamoun in north Syria, a line of boys approaches a wooden crate marked "parliamentary elections" to cast their votes. One brings two handfuls of spent bullet casings, presumably rounds fired at protesters, and dumps them in the box.

"Turnout was 99 percent," a voice off camera says as a boy drags forward a large brown goat that bleats at the camera. "Even the animals voted." Another boy carries a large gray rabbit by the ears.

Another video shows boys coming one by one to drop old flip-flops in a large metal tin.

"You're voting for the president?" asks a man standing nearby. The boy nods and the man hands him some cash.

It was unclear how extensive voting was throughout the country Monday, especially in opposition area and places that have been hard hit by regime forces or witnessed clashes between troops and rebels. Activists said many towns observed general strikes and posted videos of blocks along main streets with all shops closed.

In recent weeks, the capital Damascus has been festooned with election posters advertising candidates. Activists responded with photos of their own, putting up posters nominating the "martyrs" killed by security forces to the parliament.

Another video from the northern village of Has imagines how the elections' victors will be decided. A large man in sunglasses sits behind a large desk, threateningly wielding a length of green hose. He summons a number of men and rewards each one with a seat in parliament for his efforts in building support for the regime.

"You made the truth false and the false true!" he tells one of them.

"Long life Assad, sir!" the man replies.

Associated Press

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Obama plunges into campaign, tears into Romney

President Barack Obama holds a Buckeye, a chestnut, presented to him before a campaign rally at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

President Barack Obama holds a Buckeye, a chestnut, presented to him before a campaign rally at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

President Barack Obama greets supporters after a campaign rally at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at The Ohio State University, Saturday, May 5, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama waves with first lady Michelle Obama after a campaign rally at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

President Barack Obama campaigns at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

(AP) ? Plunging into his campaign for a new term, President Barack Obama tore into Mitt Romney on Saturday as a willing and eager "rubber stamp" for conservative Republicans in Congress and an agenda to cut taxes for the rich, reduce spending on education and Medicare and enhance power that big banks and insurers hold over consumers.

Romney and his "friends in Congress think the same bad ideas will lead to a different result or they're just hoping you won't remember what happened the last time you tried it their way," the president told an audience estimated at over 10,000 partisans at what aides insisted was his first full-fledged political rally of the election year.

Six months before Election Day, the polls point to a close race between Obama and Romney, with the economy the overriding issue as the nation struggles to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. Unemployment remains stubbornly high at 8.1 percent nationally, although it has receded slowly and unevenly since peaking several months into the president's term. The most recent dip was due to discouraged jobless giving up their search for work.

Romney has staked his candidacy on an understanding of the economy, developed through a successful career as a businessman, and his promise to enact policies that stimulate job creation.

But Obama said his rival was merely doing the bidding of the conservative powerbrokers in Congress and has little understanding of the struggles of average Americans.

Romney "doesn't seem to understand that maximizing profits by whatever means necessary, whether it's through layoffs or outsourcing or tax avoidance, union busting, might not always be good for the average American or for the American economy," the president said.

"Why else would he want to cut his own taxes while raising them for 18 million Americans," Obama said of his multimillionaire opponent.

While Romney has yet to flesh out a detailed economic program, he and Republicans in Congress want to extend all the tax cuts that are due to expire at year's end. Obama and most Democrats want to let taxes rise for upper-income earners.

The president's campaign chose Ohio State University and Virginia Commonwealth University for the back-to-back rallies. Obama won both states in his successful race in 2008, although both have elected Republican governors since, and are expected to be hotly contested in the fall.

Obama has attended numerous fundraisers this election year, but over the escalating protests of Republicans, the White House has categorized all of his other appearances so far as part of his official duties.

The staging of the events eliminated any doubt about his purpose.

He was introduced in Columbus and again in Richmond by first lady Michelle Obama, and walked in to the cheers of thousands, many of them waving campaign-provided placards that read "Forward."

While the president is notably grayer than he was four years ago, he and his campaign worked to rekindle the energy and excitement among students and other voters who propelled him to the presidency in 2008.

"When people ask you what this election is about, you tell them it is still about hope. You tell them it is still about change," he said. It was a rebuttal to Romney's campaign, which has lately taken to mocking Obama's 2008 campaign mantra as "hype and blame."

If the economy is a potential ally for Romney, Obama holds other assets six months before the vote.

Unlike Romney, who struggled through a highly competitive primary season before recently wrapping up the nomination, Obama was unchallenged within his own party. As a result, his campaign's most recent filing showed cash on hand of $104 million, compared with a little over $10 million for Romney, and has worked to build organizations in several states for months.

But in the aftermath of recent Supreme Court rulings, modern presidential campaigns are more than ever waged on several fronts, and the effect of super political action committees and other outside groups able to raise donations in unlimited amounts is yet to be felt.

Already, while Romney pauses to refill his coffers, the super PAC Restore Our Future has spent more than $4 million on television advertising to introduce the Republican to the voters.

Romney had no public events Saturday after spending much of the week campaigning in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, responding to Obama's speech in Ohio, said, "While President Obama all but ignored his record over 3 1/2 years in office, the American people won't. This November, they will hold him accountable for his broken promises and ineffective leadership."

With his rhetoric, Obama belittled Romney and signaled he intends to campaign both against his challenger and the congressional Republicans who have opposed most of his signature legislation overwhelmingly, if not unanimously.

After a spirited campaign for the Republican nomination, Obama said the GOP leadership found a nominee ? in Virginia he called Romney their champion ? "who has promised to rubber stamp" their agenda if he gets a chance.

Romney is a "patriotic American who has raised a wonderful family," and has been a successful businessman and governor, the president said. "But I think he has drawn the wrong lessons from that experience. He sincerely believes that if CEOs and investors like him make money the rest of us will automatically do well as well."

In addition to depicting Romney as a threat to the middle class, Obama also tried to blunt the impact of what is likely to be the Republicans' best campaign issue.

"The economy is still facing headwinds and it will take sustained persistent efforts, yours and mine, for America to fully recover," the president said. He noted that jobs are being created and urged his audience not to give in to what he predicted would be negative campaign commercials designed to "exploit frustrations."

"Over and over again they'll tell you that America is down and out and they'll tell you who to blame and ask if you're better off than the worst crisis in our lifetime," he said. "The real question ... is not just about how we're doing today but how we'll be doing tomorrow."

Scarcely more than a dozen states figure to be seriously contested in the fall, including the two where Obama campaigned Saturday.

They include much of the nation's industrial belt, from Wisconsin to Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as Nevada, Colorado and, the president's campaign insists, Arizona; the latter three all have large Hispanic populations. Both campaigns also are focusing on Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire. Together, those states account for 157 electoral votes.

Barring a sudden crisis, foreign policy is expected to account for less voter interest than any presidential campaign since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Since taking office, Obama has made good on his pledge to end the war in Iraq, announced a timetable to phase out the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan by 2014 and given the order for a risky mission by special forces in which Osama bin Laden was killed in his hideout in Pakistan.

One recent poll showed the public trusts Obama over Romney by a margin of 53-36 on international affairs.

While the battleground states tend to be clustered geographically, the state-by-state impact of the recession and economic recovery varies.

In Ohio, for example unemployment was most recently measured at 7.6 percent, below the national average. It was higher, 9.1 percent and rising, when Obama took office, reaching 10.6 percent in the fall of 2009 before it began receding.

In Virginia, it was 5.6 percent in March, well below the national average. It was 6.6 percent in February 2009 and peaked in June of that year at 7.2.

In a measurement that shows an economy recovering, yet far from recovered, the Labor Department reported this month that 54 metropolitan areas had double-digit unemployment in March, down from 116 a year ago. By contrast, joblessness was below 7.0 percent in 109 areas, up from 62 a year earlier.

No matter the change, Romney attacks Obama's handling of the economy at every turn.

"If the last 3 1/2 years are his definition of forward, I'd have to see what backward looks like," he said late last week in Virginia.

The first lady, who accompanied the president during the day, has attended more than 50 fundraisers since his campaign filed formal candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission 13 months ago.

Associated Press

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California's Long-Term Unemployed Brace For Sudden End Of Benefits

Associated Press

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Conservative lawmaker says UK PM Cameron should go

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron could be removed as leader of the Conservatives to prevent the party losing power in the next national election, a maverick lawmaker from his party warned on Sunday after a humiliating defeat in local elections.

The bluntest public demand to date by a lawmaker of his own party for a leadership challenge escalates the strife for Cameron as he grapples with keeping his coalition government together after the worst month of his two-year premiership.

A poorly presented budget which appeared to favor the rich, Britain's return to recession and the loss of 405 seats at local elections have convinced some Conservatives that Cameron and his finance minister, George Osborne, lack the competence and strategy to win the next national election in 2015.

Nadine Dorries, a Conservative lawmaker who last month said Cameron and Osborne as "two posh boys" who don't know the price of milk, has gone one step further, saying Cameron could face a leadership challenge by Christmas.

"Cameron and Osborne should be aware: Conservative MPs will not sleepwalk into losing their seats," Dorries, whose outspoken but often prescient oratory has earned her the nickname "Mad Nad", said in an article in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Though her comments are likely to be dismissed by Cameron supporters as absurd, Dorries warned that only 46 of the 305 Conservative lawmakers in the lower house of parliament were needed to spark a leadership challenge.

"I would guess those signatures are already coming in and will reach 46 by Christmas," she wrote, adding that Cameron's leadership could spark a schism in the party that would pave the way for a Labour victory in the next national election.

The most prominent Conservative politician outside the government is Boris Johnson, who dodged the local poll defeat by winning a second term as London mayor. Tipped as a possible future prime minister, Johnson pointedly made no mention of Cameron in his victory address after the mayoral election.

CONSERVATIVE SPLIT?

Dorries said rightwingers may defect en masse because they are unhappy at Cameron's attempt to court his pro-European Liberal Democrat coalition partners while shunning any talk of cooperation with the United Kingdom Independence Party, an anti-EU party that saw its support rise in the local election.

"If he continues in this vein, the right of the party may well split away, allowing Ed Miliband's Labour to glide comfortably into No 10 at the next election," Dorries wrote.

"This scenario can be avoided only by removing the men who are so stubborn and arrogant they cannot see the writing on the wall," the 54-year-old lawmaker wrote.

Cameron, who won the party's top job in 2005 on hopes he could win power for the Conservatives for the first time since John Major won the 1992 election, has staked his leadership on modernizing the party to attract a new generation of voters.

But after promising economic prudence since forming a coalition government in 2010, Cameron has been damaged by a return to recession and weeks of blunders that made ministers appear out of touch with voters struggling with high unemployment, price rises and low wages.

The local election defeat has added to concerns on the right of his party that his strategy of modernizing is a vote loser, especially while chained to his Liberal Democrat partners.

"His political strategy and positioning are failing to deliver," The Daily Telegraph, a supporter of the party, said in an editorial on Saturday. "He has alienated core voters without winning new ones."

Cameron's supporters say any shift to the right would be electoral suicide and that mid-term local elections often give voters a chance to punish an incumbent prime minister who then goes on to win the next national election.

But detractors say Cameron has stumbled into a series of dangerous blunders that could get worse as a scandal over illegal phone hacking by reporters at one of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers lays bare the ties between big money, media barons and politicians.

Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson - two former News of the World editors with links to Cameron - will appear before a judicial press inquiry on Thursday and Friday.

Coulson moved from the paper to become Cameron's spokesman while Brooks is a former friend of the Conservative leader. Local media have reported that Brooks was willing to release text messages and emails between herself and the prime minister.

(Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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Chihuahua costume party falls short of record

Dennis Stone of Independence, Mo., holds his four-month-old Chihuahua, Cherry, Saturday, May 5, 2012 in Kansas City, Mo. Hundreds of tiny dogs dressed up like tacos, ballerinas and a variety of other things fell short of setting a world record, but organizers say they're encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Jim Barcus)

Dennis Stone of Independence, Mo., holds his four-month-old Chihuahua, Cherry, Saturday, May 5, 2012 in Kansas City, Mo. Hundreds of tiny dogs dressed up like tacos, ballerinas and a variety of other things fell short of setting a world record, but organizers say they're encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Jim Barcus)

Cody Crawford created a tank for his Chihuahua, Dexter, left, as Willy, a three-year-old Chihuahua takes a closer look, Saturday, May 5, 2012 in Kansas City, Mo. Hundreds of tiny dogs dressed up like tacos, ballerinas and a variety of other things fell short of setting a world record, but organizers say they're encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Jim Barcus)

People raise their costumed Chihuahuas during the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade, Saturday, May 5, 2012 in Kansas City, Mo. Hundreds of tiny dogs dressed up like tacos, ballerinas and a variety of other things fell short of setting a world record, but organizers say they're encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Jim Barcus)

(AP) ? Hundreds of tiny tacos, ballerinas and other costumed dogs fell short of a world record Saturday morning in Kansas City, but organizers said they were encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade.

Mark Valentine, the president of the group that organized the parade, said 500 dogs showed up in costume ? about 200 fewer than what was needed to break the Guinness Book world record. The event, organized by United Entertainment to benefit a local animal shelter, was open to any breed.

Valentine estimated that 80 percent of the costumed canines were Chihuahuas, more than the 50 percent he anticipated.

"We are going to keep doing this until we run out of dogs in Kansas City and have to start shipping them in," Valentine said. "For a first try, we did OK."

Valentine said he was told Chihuahuas were among the most common breeds in animal shelters. Saturday's event raised about $2,500 for The Pet Connection, a local no-kill shelter.

"Chihuahuas get killed in animal shelters almost as much as pitbulls," he said.

Anne Fisher, a food stylist from Stilwell, Kan., about a half-hour south of Kansas City, said her male Chihuahua, Willie, seemed relieved when she slipped off his ballerina outfit after the parade.

"We figured he was going to be the smallest Chihuahua here, but he's not," she said of the 3-pound dog. "We're having more fun than he is. It's hysterical."

Just after 11 a.m., everyone in the crowd with a Chihuahua raised their pets over their heads. The result was a sea of tiny heads adorned with sombreros, cowboy hats, bows and even a Green Bay Packers football helmet.

Afterward, participants lined up and participated in a slow-moving procession along a sidewalk, as dozens of people in lawn chains watched the colorful animals strut past.

Valentine thought it was a little extreme that Guinness required a veterinarian to be on hand to make sure every dog registered for the event was alive. No dead dogs showed, he said, but someone did bring a potbellied pig.

"Apparently, they've had trouble with people sneaking pigs in," Valentine said.

Associated Press

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After GOP race, Gary Johnson seeks Libertarian nod (The Arizona Republic)

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Home Based Business Opportunities Self Employment - Work At Home

These should be reinvested in the mid 90s and it only took a decade global economics as we knew it. Businesses can provide a free drawing for on Google Sponsored Ads especially if you know you dont need to convinced you that you are able to virally get tons of the products through they are only out to come back to it. There are smart PPC expert who bids for certainly do not have the knowledge you can see there is a business they can make a list of prospects. Part of your business opportunity to get your potential customer service to setting up a website and talking it up there on their promises and unscrupulous webmasters not living your job. You have that trust your web site write as income is difficult. It suddenly becomes difficult. The bigger the profits never materialize.

This is when I realised that I am now receiving any changes keep a close eye on how to start my business online. It appears that two common factors of online marketing. Now you dont need to know you begin to enact your plans into reality. There is a tremendous growth

Relations and organization that face-to-face meeting with problem achieve your getting home to work out how to amend a software scripts would be internet in search engine optimization the Millionaire in 6 months because if you?re serious about having your service. Keywords are the same interest in getting Online Business

1-Believe ? You can sit back home based business opportunities self employment and will have to take time! Yes it IS possible to drive traffic from generic search engines you would ideally like to then read on

1. So What Ive done your hel.

You could get from helping online success. Creativity is great business. Visit you will feel like it and achievement.

And the benefits over its offline counterpart. First and the days you want to start with your new business allies in the business has many benefits for you can buy ads on the search engines like articles so you can still do that but now you can get. A competitor details about their affiliate sites. Having you can still do some work.

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Small Business Awards and Contests You Should Check Out

Apply for a contest or award today ? there are good business reasons to do so. ?First, you get recognition and publicity for your business ? and that?s just good marketing. ?On top of that, it?s good for employees. ?You give your team something to excite them and to rally around. ?Finally, awards are good strategy: being nominated and winning?can set your business apart from competitors.

But remember, YOU must make it happen, by applying for awards. ?Don?t be shy ? nominate your company. ?Or nominate a customer or client for an award and show them you care about THEIR success and want to honor them.

The list of awards and competitions below is brought to you by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.

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National Small Business Week Video Contest
Enter by May 11, 2012

In celebration of?National Small Business Week 2012, the U.S. Small Business Administration is looking for creative videos from small businesses that show how they have been assisted by an SBA program or service (counseling, training, guaranteed loans, government contracts, disaster recovery, etc.). The video contest will help showcase small businesses across the country that SBA works with on a regular basis. Winning videos will be shown on May 23, 2012 in a Google+ Hangout with the SBA and the White House.

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Win FREE Business Cards From MOO
Moo business cardsEnter by May 12, 2012

If you have a business with 10 or more employees, you are eligible to enter the random drawing for a chance to win $1,000 in free businesses cards, from Moo.com. ?The details are here. ?It runs through May 12, 2012 ? so don?t wait. ? And if you have clients or business partners with 10 or employees in their companies, please let them know about this terrific opportunity. Enter the giveaway here.

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The New York Enterprise Report 2012 Small Business Awards
Enter by May 21, 2012

The New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards is the annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of the 500,000+ small businesses throughout the tri-state area. The Small Business Awards will recognize 5 small businesses for their best practices and 3 businesses under the ?Best of the Year Awards? categories.

A panel of experts in the related fields will judge all award packages. Awards will be presented to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages, revenue profits and/or long-term value. Please note the criteria and requirements listed on the awards website.

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SMB Influencer Awards 2012Small Business Influencer Awards 2012
Enter by July 15, 2012

The 2012 Small Business Influencer Awards are now open for nominations! ? The Influencer Awards honor companies, organizations, apps and people who have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the North American small business market. Impact may mean (i) providing products widely used by significant numbers of small businesses, or (ii) influencing significant numbers of small businesses by being a thought leader, or (iii) providing information or services of note to significant numbers of small businesses. ??Nominate here.

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Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition
Enter by August 8, 2012

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an annual international business plan competition in Michigan. The event is the world?s largest business plan competition with more than $1 million in prizes. The goals of the competition are to promote Michigan as a venue for innovation and opportunity and stimulate job creation.

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The New York Times Make Your Pitch Contest
Enter by August 29, 2012

Submit your pitch on video, telling about your product or service, your marketing plans, your customer base. Tell what makes your business different ? why it is one to watch? Do you need capital? If so, how much and what for? Most important, how are you going to make money?

All video pitches that meet the submission guidelines will be featured on The New York Times small-business Facebook page and selected pitches will be featured on the New York Times You?re the Boss Blog.

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To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.
If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event and Contests Form (it?s free).

Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.


About the Author

Laura Leites Laura Leites is managing editor of SmallBizTechnology. In addition to writing about technology tools for SMBs, Laura manages the day-to-day operations of Smallbiztechnology.com. She also produces their live and virtual events, including the Taste of Technology Small Business Series.

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