| It's all about location; Even in slump, still big differences in bang ...
It might seem an easy choice. Buy the well-maintained house with seven relatively small rooms, a one-car garage, a cramped yard, red cedar siding that looks pretty good after 50 years and nearly 1,600 square feet of living space. Or the buy the brand-new home with eight soaring, high-ceilinged rooms, a view of a golf course, a two-car garage, central air conditioning, closets the size of small rooms and 2,260 square feet of living space. Of course, the prices vary. The first house — despite its smaller size and age — actually costs more than the second. It's on the market now for nearly $560,000. The second house, which includes a gleaming, modern kitchen, might seem like an incredible bargain at $525,000. So what gives? The new house is part of the Strongwater Crossing development in Salem.
Tomkins FY pretax 262.6 mln stg, up 7.3 pct; sees challenging year ...
(adds reaction, amends spelling of CEO James Nicol's name) LONDON, Feb. 21, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Engineering group Tomkins reported a 7.3 pct rise in pretax profits of 262.6 mln stg for the year to Dec 29, after new products and a focus on emerging markets helped offset economic weakness in US car and construction markets. Sales from continuing operations were 2.94 bln stg, down from 3.13 bln in 2006, it said, and the adjusted operating margin was 9.0 pct against 9.4 pct the year before. Adjusted operating profits, which exclude disposals, fell 11 pct to 264.7 mln. Net debt was 296.8 mln stg, against 403.0 mln in 2006, and the company said it is considering a share buyback of 5-10 pct. CEO James Nicol said the group, which makes components for cars and air conditioning systems and building products such as baths and windows, delivered a good performance after taking a number of 'self-help' measures to counter headwinds in its US automotive and construction end-markets.
Councilman MikeK Recalls Knievel Action Figure
Top: Young MikeK playing with Evel Knievel action figure; bottom: MikeK receives inspiration from his childhood friends before leaving for a Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting. I had a classic Evel Knievel motorcycle riding action figure when I was a kid. The stunts my brothers and I would stage for that motorcycle toy were legendary (riding out a second story window, chasing the dog around the house without getting chewed to ribbons, you name it). RIP Evel. I wonder what happened to Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man who played the role of Evel's arch-nemesis in the boyhood action figure wars?/Councilman MikeK. Question: What was your favorite action figure/doll when you were little? .
Helping underprivileged boys
Miriam Braun came a long way to spread her message to Boca Raton. Her motivating factor was a group of 6 to 15-year-old underprivileged boys who are the key to her heart. "Their families are poverty stricken, dysfunctional, and the children suffered severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect in their earlier years," said Braun. Braun recently visited Boca Raton Synagogue to raise awareness of the Sanhedria Children's Home in Jerusalem, Israel, which is a rehab center for children at risk who have been removed from parents' home by court order and who are referred by Social Services. The children come from dysfunctional households, where there is often a history of alcoholism, physical and verbal abuse, and many come from an underprivileged background.
A blog about technology from BBC News
They see themselves as passive conduits, like a road network or the postal system. The global record industry has been quick to back the government's proposal. "It is simply not acceptable for ISPs to turn a blind eye to the piracy on their networks which is at such a rate that there are 20 illegal music downloads for every legal track sold," said John Kennedy of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries. Digital rights activist will be outraged by this move, I'm sure. Monitoring our internet traffic will have huge privacy issues. No-one can deny that the scale of copyright theft is mammoth. A cursory glance at a website like The Pirate Bay revels thousands of films, TV programmes, albums, software programs etc being shared across the net.
Amy Winehouse Sends Shout-Out To Husband At Brit Awards; Plus 50 Cent ...
The post simply reads, "Not ALL news in the music industry is bad these days," with a link to a story about the collapse of the record label. Earlier this week, TVT officially announced that it will be filing for bankruptcy after 23 years in the business. ... A woman accused of stalking Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington was sentenced Wednesday to two years behind bars, for using her work computer at Sandia National Laboratories to track and harass the singer and his wife, Talinda. The AP reports that Devon Townsend was given 60 days to surrender to a minimum-security prison in Phoenix, where she'll receive mental-health care. She had pleaded guilty to stalking and other counts. According to court records, Townsend said she obtained family photos, monitored voice messages and traveled to Arizona to meet Bennington using information she'd learned about his travel plans.
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