The Great IRA/401K Hoax

Many people believe their IRA actually helps them create wealth.

People may think this because of the relentless marketing by big Wall Street firms. It could have been the relentless cheerleading by CNBC. It could have been their only choice from their employer.

But it doesn?t matter. All that matters is most people have horrible results with their IRA ? absolutely horrible. People have lost tremendous amounts of money due to investing in their IRA.

Since the year 1998, stock market returns would disappoint even the lowest expectations. These returns are even worse once you take into account inflation ? I?d say they are embarrassing! I choose the total stock market return for the last 14 years ? since January 1998. The great thing about this website is you can account for inflation too. Adjusted the returns for inflation, you?re making 1.2% in the stock market! Those are horrible returns.

But here is the kicker ? most people pay fees in their IRA and mutual funds. These fees are very high. Most people pay about 4% per year in fees for the IRA and mutual funds they hold in their IRA.

It?s horrible news. Subtract 4% from the measly 1.2% returns of the last 14 years, and you?re losing money. You?d have been better putting the money in a mattress, and using some of it to light fireworks on the 4th of July. At least you would have had a bit of fun once a year, and known it was safe the rest of the time.

Here are the sad facts. About 50% of the people in the United States work for small businesses, according to the Census bureau. And small businesses pay dramatically higher fees for their IRA?s and mutual funds. I gave a number of 4% fees ? and this was being generous. Some many people pay fees as high as 4.8%. Small companies, because they lack negotiating power due to the few employees they have on staff, often have to rely on costly plan providers, such as insurance companies.

Social Security is Better Investment than the Stock Market over the last 14 Years

It?s almost impossible to believe, but you?d do better putting your money into a government program.

You?ve heard how Social Security is a bad investment? Well, it is. It?s a terrible investment. You?re only likely to make 2% on your money in social security.

But it turns out Social Security is actually a great investment compared to your most people?s IRA. Those 2% returns on Social Security are after inflation and after fees.

For most people, Social Security is a better investment in the stock market once you take into account inflation! Ouch.

This doesn?t look good for the IRA. Social security has outperformed the stock market by about 5% per year over the last 14 years.

I?ve made the case we?re in store for another 5-10 years of bad stock market returns. Sometimes, bear markets last for decades. The one after the great depression did.

So don?t expect some miracle rally to make it all better. It?s probably not happening in the next 5 years.

This is disturbing, depressing news for many people. However, it?s entirely possible to do better ? to do much, much better.

How to Beat the Market in Your IRA

You can get better returns in your IRA by taking advantage of a Trend Following strategy and applying it within your IRA.

With a small amount of work and some basic trend trading principles, you can make more money in your IRA. Not only that, you can make more money with lower risk, and lower fees.

People everywhere are complaining about their retirement accounts and are afraid of having nothing left with which to retire. But the good news is that you can make more money in your IRA (and 401k?s too) if you can do a few simple things.

First, you need to make sure your IRA and 401k fees are as low as possible. Fees are wealth killer #1: high fees usually equal poor returns. If you are paying high fees, get out of that IRA program and go somewhere with low fees. You can shop around for this.

It?s worth the few hours of time it will take to make the shift. You will make the equivalent of thousands dollars per hour just by shifting to a low fee IRA custodian!

When you do this, make sure you avoid paying the transfer taxes. Also, make sure you can invest in low fee ETF?s and have low fee stock transactions. There are several large brokers out there who are excellent low-cost choices. Consult with your advisor on these procedures and be careful to do it correctly.

Then, you need something more than buy and hold stock market. If you use Buy and Hold you get problems like 2008 where you lose 30% in a matter of weeks. Many people panic and pull their money out during these panic times, so they miss out on the recoveries.

But can you protect your wealth within a retirement account? Well, the answer is with a bit of work, and a bit of knowledge, yes.

When you use market-action based rules and keep your fees low, you can dramatically reduce the risk you face, while increasing the returns to your portfolio. A good example is the SPY. The SPY is a popular, low fee S&P 500 index ETF ? it?s cheap and easy to use in your IRA.

Using the techniques of Trend Following, you would have avoided most of the downward move in 2008, and also caught most of the upward move in 2009.

This strategy can turbocharge the returns in your IRA. Using this moving average rule since 2000 would have nearly doubled your returns in the stock market. That?s fantastic!

But even better, the worst loss with this rule would have been about 5%. That?s the worst loss, not the smallest. The stock market lost 40% in 2001-2002, then 50% in 2008. Losses of this magnitude are absolutely terrifying.

So keep in mind that you have choices when it comes to your IRA and 401Ks and some of them can make you a lot more money for your retirement.

Source: http://www.writers4net.com/miscellaneous/other-misc/the-great-ira401k-hoax/

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Ash Cash: 2012 Tax Tips: 6 Ways to Keep More Money in Your Pocket!

If you are like most Americans, you are most likely looking forward to receiving your tax refund check, so that you can pay down some debt, take a vacation, or buy that really nice ________ (fill in the blank). With the economy still in limbo, it is imperative that you find a balance between what you spend and want you save. Most importantly, you must find ways to get more out of your refund, as well as keep more of it in your pocket. The following are tips that will help you maximize your 2012 tax refund, as well as give you ways to stretch it next year.

1) No Tax Anticipation Loans: Tax preparers know that most people are desperately awaiting their refunds so they are quick to sell you a "rapid refund" or "tax anticipation loan" Don't Do It! What they don't tell you is that you are going to be paying anywhere from 50 percent to 500 percent interest on this loan. Additionally, they are only speeding up your refund by maybe a week or two, so having patience will put more money in your pocket.

2) Prepare & File for Free: Why pay someone to do your taxes when you can have it done for free? There are many programs and organizations that provide FREE tax filing if you qualify. VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) is an example of an IRS-sponsored program. Make sure that you are checking with your local organizations and the IRS to see if you meet the guidelines. Also, you can file your taxes online with the IRS without charge. Take full advantage of these options and put the extra money to good use.

3) Take advantage of tax credits: The IRS has allocated certain tax credit to assist those in need with coping with everyday life. Make sure you are taking full advantage of them if you qualify.

• Earned Income Credit (EIC) - The EIC is designed for low-income taxpayers and provides a maximum credit of $5,666
• Child Tax Credit - Allows you to receive a credit of up to $1,000 for each child you claim up to age 17. You have to earn at least $3,000 in taxable income in order to qualify.
• Child and Dependent Tax Credit - This credit is offered via state and federal government and allows you to claim a portion of your child care costs.
• Education Tax Credits (The American Opportunity Tax Credit) - Gives a credit of up to 2,500 for students who are in the first four years of college. The credit is to be used for tuition, books, and other educational material. You must meet certain income requirements.

4) Invest your money wisely: Most people look at their tax refunds as a lump sum of money that is extra to what they make. So, it shouldn't matter what they spend it on, right? Wrong! Getting a tax refund simply means that you paid the IRS too much money! It means that this is your money that they are giving you back! With that said don't throw your money away by spending it on frivolous things. Try spending your money on assets that appreciate so that you can see some type of growth on your money. Some examples include IRA contributions, down payment for a home, rental property, network marketing, startup fee, etc.

5) Pay off Highest Interest Debt first: If you are going to use your refund to pay down debt make sure you are paying off the debt that has the highest interest first. For example if you have a $10,000 card at 21 percent interest and a $2,000 card at 5 percent interest with a refund of $3,000 you should pay down the $10,000 card because the interest is higher. That is a savings of 16 percent.

6) Adjust your withholdings: Last but not least... Stop giving the IRS an interest free loan. Like I stated previously if you are receiving a tax refund that means that you are paying the IRS too much money. While most people think that getting a tax refund is a good thing most financial experts including myself will tell you that you should adjust your withholdings so that you receive more money in your paycheck during the year which gives you the opportunity to save more. Caution: This concept only works if you discipline yourself to save!

Again, tax money is not free money! It is money that you worked hard for so make sure you are being smart and doing what needs to be done to keep most of your money in your pocket!

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Follow Ash Cash on Twitter: www.twitter.com/IamAshCash

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ash-cash/2012-taxes-refund_b_1238187.html

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Dictators Have Good Reason to Fear the Internet [Book Excerpt]

Shutting down a physical protest is easy, just apply pepper spray liberaly and arrest anyone that can't run away. Shutting down online protests with democratic overtures is an entirely different matter. And that has oppressive regimes around the world very worried. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pJxAcmawfu4/dictators-have-good-reason-to-fear-the-internet

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In burning Honduras jail, inmates yelled for help (AP)

COMAYAGUA, Honduras ? Hector Daniel Martinez was asleep in a small metal bed, one of dozens stacked so high in a narrow barrack that they nearly touched the roof, when the flames started.

The fire raced above his head. The prisoners screamed.

"Rescue!" they cried. "Help!"

Martinez, 32 and a homicide suspect, ran toward the barrack's single entrance. The door was locked. Most of the other 135 prisoners in the room ran toward the other end, where there was a bathroom with water and sinks.

It turned out to be a fatal choice. Martinez survived. He was only one of 28 inside the barrack who did.

"One hundred and seven are dead," he said, his face conveying little emotion, as if a toll too difficult to believe.

In all, the fire at an overcrowded prison in Honduras killed 358 people, officials confirmed Wednesday, making it the world's deadliest prison fire in a century. The local governor said an inmate called her moments before the blaze and screamed that he was going to set the prison on fire.

Comayagua Gov. Paola Castro said she called the Red Cross and fire brigade immediately but firefighters said they were kept outside for half an hour by guards who fired their guns in the air, thinking they had a riot or a breakout on their hands.

As the investigation continued into the night, a group of prisoners remained guarded by officers inside the prison grounds. They described a chaotic scene as the fire broke out and quickly spread from one barrack to another, all filled with highly flammable curtains and mattresses.

When the fire was extinguished all that remained of several barracks were the brick exteriors, painted with murals of Jesus Christ, saints and Psalms. Inside, the metal cots, stacked four high and at least a dozen across, were charred and falling down.

At the end of each barrack was a bathroom with sinks and tubs. Wednesday evening, there were still numerous bodies inside several of the bathrooms.

In one large sink sat the bodies of two prisoners facing one another. Their remains were completely black.

Others were squished together, their bodies indistinguishable.

"In the other cells we found them in the same positions," said state prosecutor German Enamorado.

Selbim Adonay, 18, also a homicide suspect, said he was trapped behind the metal door leading inside his barrack, unable to do anything as the flames spread and prisoners screamed.

"We couldn't do anything because we were locked inside," Adonay said.

Martinez said dozens of the prisoners in his barrack rushed toward the bathroom at the other end, desperately seeking to escape the heat. The sinks and tubs were filled with water. Some may have tried climbing on top of one another to reach the roof, Enamorado said.

From the front entrance of the barrack, prisoners watched helplessly as the guard carrying the keys fled without opening them up.

"He threw the keys on the floor in panic," Martinez said, a dust mask hanging from his neck.

A prisoner who also served as a nurse picked them up and went from one barrack to another, opening them up and barely withstanding the flames, Martinez said.

But by that time, it was already too late.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120216/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_prison_fire_survivors

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payday loan software Personal Loans for Debt Consolidation ...

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Source: http://www.rpglife.com/content/payday-loan-software-personal-loans-debt-consolidation-finance-your-overd

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Valentine's Day Movies For Him And For Her

Deciding which romantic movie to watch on the day of romance can be enough to ruin the entire day. There's no need to sweat over a simple movie to watch together, so we took the time to list the movies you both can enjoy for different reasons.
Here are the Valentine's Day movies everyone can [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/02/14/valentines-day-movies/

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Abine | The Online Privacy Company

Give us the chance to convince you why our new free browser tool will give you the most control you?ve ever had over your internet life.

DNT+: valiantly protecting your personal information online!

Do Not Track Plus (DNT+) peels back the cover on invisible online tracking and targeted advertising, stopping you from being followed online.? And yes, you are being followed:? online tracking is a very real thing, even though you can?t see it.? It?s time to stop sharing your private information with people you don?t know!

The benefits of using DNT+

• Stop advertisers from knowing what you do online, including your site visits, shopping interests, hobbies, clicks, and geographic location
• Load certain websites up to 4 times faster
• Block 580 different tracking technologies from over 215 tracking companies (and that list is always growing)
• Get the good parts of Facebook and social networking without the bad:? block tracking but still voluntarily share and post (and DNT+ is the only available blocking tool that still lets consumers see and use social buttons)
• See a total count of how many times you?ve blocked tracking since you started using DNT+
• Browse in true privacy, far beyond what built-in ?private browsing modes? offer
• Easily see which companies and technologies are trying to track you on each site you visit

There must be a catch, right?? How could DNT+ be free?

No catch.? We have a freemium model, meaning that we offer a free base service (DNT+) and separate paid upgrades, such as our DeleteMe service that removes our customers? personal information from public websites.? We are also working on another software offering called PrivacySuite that?s currently in beta, but it will have premium upgradeable features like forwarded emails and phone numbers.? Basically, the business model is to have lots & lots of free users (and DNT+ will always be free), and then if 1-2% of them buy some sort of premium upgrade down the line, we?re good.

We?re also completely dedicated to your privacy, so don?t collect or track anything when you get DNT+ (unlike *cough cough* those other companies with shady ties to marketing people) .? The only thing we can see is that a download took place by a certain IP address so we can figure out how many users we have.? There are no forms to fill out and no tracking of any kind.? In fact, the only connection we ever have to the software is when it asks our servers for updates on new trackers to block.? That?s it!

Why should you care about online tracking?

Online tracking is a lot like this scenario:? you?re browsing online like you always do, but there?s a guy you don?t know standing behind you, looking over your shoulder.? He?s watching everything you do and keeping notes, notes that he?ll use to build a profile of you:? the pictures you upload, the things you like on Facebook, the sites you visit most, the things you like to buy, where you live, and more.? He?s going to sell this profile of you, with all your browsing information, to other guys you don?t know.

You wouldn?t be okay with this guy peering over your shoulder in real life, so why should you put up with it on the internet?? Don?t!? Stop giving advertisers, identity thieves, and spammers the advantage by blocking online tracking.? All this tracking & data collection creates a ?double you,? a virtual you that advertisers & trackers built and try to target ads to. ?But unfortunately, a lot of their data is inaccurate, out of date, or out of context, and the real you suffers because of the virtual you. Some of the real, demonstrated harms include:

Bet you didn't know all the companies that were watching you behind the scenes, did you?

• Lowered credit scores and credit limits
• Denial of insurance coverage, or more expensive coverage
• Lost job opportunities, whether you aren?t hired to begin with or you?re fired because of somethingonline
• Identity theft (one particularly harmful example happened in 2005, when identity thieves pretending to be small businesses were given access to ChoicePoint?s database of over 163,000 consumers? financial records)
• Filter bubbles (to sum up this concept, we all see different things based on our targeted advertising profiles, which means we?re losing a collective understanding of the news and the world, things that are key to the democratic process)
• Censorship of speech and association due to fear that what we do online will come back to haunt us
  
• Erosion of the 4th Amendment right to privacy, particularly society?s collective understanding of when an expectation of privacy is ?reasonable?

You?ll be shocked to see how many different companies are monitoring you on a single website.? Check out our ?Top in Tracking? below for a preview of what you?ll come across.? And because loading all of these tracking companies? data takes up your computer?s resources and your time, blocking them with DNT+ lets you load certain websites up to four times faster!

More about how DNT+ works

Although it is a powerful privacy tool, DNT+ is simple, user-friendly, and free.? Its icon sits in the corner of your browser and displays a number on each site you visit, which represents how many companies are attempting to gather information about you.

DNT+?s icon

By expanding the DNT+ window, you can see more details on the specific companies and technologies attempting to track you, as well as an all-time count of blocked tracking attempts.

Download DNT+ today and take charge of your personal privacy once and for all.? It?s available today for Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers.

Learn more about how DNT+ works here, and check out what people are saying about it. Don?t hesitate to say hello if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.abine.com/wordpress/2012/introducing-dnt-keep-your-personal-information-personal-in-2012/

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Avoiding Difficulty with a Financial debt Management Program | Dvncn

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Managing debt could be a very burden on someone or residential, which individual insolvency register you require a solid policy for debt procedures today. Make a summary of all creditors and what exactly is owed to each of them. Once the actual list is earned, prioritize that by setting the debts that really must be paid in order to avoid severe consequences as well. Firstly you would like a large deposit. Some of people nationally marketed programs arrive F rating within BBB. A obligation management plan is likewise extremely accommodating. As element of their service this company should assemble a deep freeze on virtually any interest as well as charges on the topic of your responsibilities. They also need to request that the creditors will not take virtually any legal action to recoup the debt providing maintain the don?t you agree payments. A great number of people in order to about the way to stay away from debt after everything is cleared.

Source: http://www.dvncn.com/?p=833

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Maldives leader quits after protests, VP sworn in (AP)

MALE, Maldives ? The first democratically elected president of the Maldives resigned Tuesday and was replaced by his vice president after the police and army clashed in the streets of the island nation amid protests over the arrest of a top judge.

Mohammed Waheed Hassan, who previously worked as a top UNICEF official, was sworn in as the new Maldivian president in the afternoon. Soon after, the judge was released.

In a televised address, Hassan promised to protect his predecessor, Mohamed Nasheed, from retribution and called for the chaos in the streets to stop.

"I urge everyone to make this a peaceful country," he said.

Nasheed's resignation marked a stunning fall for the former human rights campaigner who defeated the nation's longtime ruler in the country's first multiparty election. Nasheed was also an environmental celebrity, traveling the world to persuade governments to combat the climate change that could raise sea levels and inundate his archipelago nation.

Nasheed presented his resignation in a nationally televised address after police joined the protesters and then clashed with soldiers in the streets. Some of the soldiers then defected to the police side.

"I don't want to hurt any Maldivian. I feel my staying on in power will only increase the problems, and it will hurt our citizens," Nasheed said. "So the best option available to me is to step down."

Maldivians waving flags poured into the streets to celebrate Nasheed's resignation. Some playfully threw water at each other.

"This is a change which was long overdue. The country has lost its Islamic values and economy," government worker Mohamed Muthalib said . "Corruption is very high and this has affected the economy."

Hassan Saeed, a former attorney general and Nasheed ally, hoped that Nasheed's resignation ends political bickering that has become a hallmark since the country became a multiparty democracy.

"I am happy that the rule of law and justice prevailed," he said.

Hassan, who was educated at Stanford University in California, was the first television anchor in Maldives history and the first person shown live when local TV went on the air in 1978, according to his official biography.

He became a top education official in the country, but eventually left under duress after getting elected to Parliament and incurring the ire of the autocratic government ruling in the 1990s, his biography said. He joined UNICEF and rose to be its representative in Afghanistan, helping rebuild schools and provide health services after the fall of the Taliban.

Hassan's office denied widespread reports that the military pressured Nasheed to resign in the wake of the clashes.

"It was not a coup at all, it was the wish of the people," said Ahmed Thoufeeg, Hassan's secretary.

An advisor for Nasheed, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, also dismissed claims the resignation came under duress from the military.

The adviser said Nasheed was left with two choices: order a bloody military crackdown on the police dissidents or resign.

The latest protests in this Indian Ocean nation known for its lavish beach resorts erupted after Nasheed ordered the military to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, the chief judge of the Criminal Court. The judge had ordered the release of a government critic he said had been illegally detained.

Hassan ? then the vice president ? the Supreme Court, Human Rights Commission, Judicial Services Commission and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights all called for Mohamed to be released.

Nasheed's government accused the judge of political bias and corruption, said the country's judicial system had failed and called for U.N help to solve the crisis.

The crisis came to a head Tuesday when hundreds of police demonstrated in the capital, Male, after officials ordered them to withdraw protection for government and opposition supporters protesting close to each other. The withdrawal resulted in a clash that injured at least three people.

Later, troops fired rubber bullets and clashed with the police. When Nasheed visited the police and urged them to end the protest, they refused and instead chanted for his resignation. Mohamed was released after Hassan took power.

Nasheed began his term with great hopes, ending Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's 30-year-reign by winning the country's first democratic elections in 2008. Supporters danced and cheered in the streets at the victory of the charismatic pro-democracy activist, who had been repeatedly jailed by Gayoom's regime.

Nasheed became an energetic global environmental crusader, founding the Climate Vulnerable Forum, to coordinate environmental policy among a group of about 30 countries most affected by climate change.

He held a Cabinet meeting underwater in scuba gear to dramatize the threat of rising oceans to his low-lying archipelago nation of 300,000 people, and said he may need to relocate his entire population if nothing was done. He also announced plans to make his nation "carbon-neutral," using wind and solar projects.

A documentary on his efforts, "The Island President," won awards at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals and is slated to open next month in New York.

But over the past year, Nasheed was battered by protests in his Sunni Muslim nation.

Maldivians demonstrated against soaring prices they blamed on economic reforms he said were needed to bridge the budget deficit. Islamic activists also protested in demand of more religiously conservative policies.

As the protests grew, there were disturbing signs the one-time rights activist was changing.

Police routinely cracked down on opposition protests, while letting government supporters gather freely. For many, the judge's arrest three weeks ago was the final straw.

___

Francis reported from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120207/ap_on_re_as/as_maldives_politics

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Despite ceremony, NY fort's skeletons not buried (AP)

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. ? For decades, tourists visiting this popular Adirondack village could gape at the skeletons of soldiers from nearby French and Indian War sites. Then in 1993, a somber reburial ceremony was held to finally put the remains to rest.

Only that never happened.

Almost all of the 18th-century skeletons were never buried. Instead, the collection of remains eventually was taken to Arizona and Canada for study and has yet to be returned for reburial. In this small upstate New York town that was the real-life setting for the historical events depicted in "The Last of the Mohicans," people had no idea.

"Most of them aren't there?" asked Robert Blais, mayor of Lake George since 1971, who learned about the decision from The Associated Press.

The AP spoke to archaeologists who have dug at the site, fort officials and the anthropologists who have the remains to confirm that the bulk of the skeleton collection is not at the fort.

Now, the people behind the decision are publicly discussing for the first time how such important artifacts left Lake George, and why they haven't been returned after nearly two decades.

"You're reaching the time when they should come home," said David Starbuck, a New York archaeologist who has written about the history behind Fort William Henry's skeleton collection.

On Memorial Day weekend in 1993, a well-publicized reburial ceremony was held to honor the redcoats and American provincial soldiers whose remains were being reinterred in the cemetery at the fort, a full-scale reconstruction of the outpost the British built here at the outbreak of war in 1755. The original fort was the real-life setting of the historical events in James Fenimore Cooper's classic, "The Last of the Mohicans."

But what fort officials didn't bother to tell the dozens of history buffs, tourists, and local, British and Native American dignitaries at the ceremony was that only three of 15 mostly complete skeletons were actually reburied. The others were still being analyzed by two anthropologists. The fort's owners decided to go ahead with the ceremony anyway.

"We didn't make an issue out of it," said Robert F. Flacke Sr., longtime president of the Fort William Henry Corp., which owns the fort and an adjacent resort hotel.

Those involved in the '93 project said there was no intention to deceive anyone, but a local historian who said he was at the reburial ceremony recalls no public mention being made of a change in plans.

Starbuck, who spoke at the ceremony, said a longer-than-expected analysis that spring, followed by other issues and job changes among the anthropologists, all combined to leave the reburial in limbo. He and others involved in the project didn't bring up the issue at the ceremony, figuring the bones would be returned soon enough.

"It was not intended to drag on this long," said Starbuck, who has conducted several digs at the fort over the past two decades. In the early 1990s, he recommended that the fort's skeletons be removed from exhibits and reinterred after being studied by experts in bioarchaeology, the study of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites.

Those experts, anthropologists Brenda Baker and Maria Liston, both told the AP they had longstanding agreements with the fort to keep the collections while their studies continued. Neither Baker nor Liston attended the reburial ceremony.

Baker said officials at Fort William Henry haven't asked for the return of the collection, which includes a dozen skeletons from the '93 project and three more uncovered during a follow-up excavation two years later.

"They know where they are and they know what I have and we keep in contact," Baker told the AP.

Though the findings of the anthropologists appeared in professional journals and other publications in the 1990s, few in the public knew where the bones were, including the residents of Lake George, who had long been led to believe the remains were buried there.

"Arizona?" asked a stunned Paul Loding, town historian in nearby Kingsbury, when informed of the skeletons' whereabouts.

"Why don't they do the right thing and get them back?" asked Randy Patten, a French and Indian War re-enactor and former member of the New York commission that promoted the 250th anniversary of the war.

But the fort lacks the facilities to properly preserve and store a large collection of full skeletons, and building such a space is cost prohibitive for a seasonal business, Flacke said. If the collection were to wind up back at the fort, the skeletons would be buried for a final time, he said.

Baker, the anthropologist who took the bulk of the skeletons with her to Arizona State University in 1998, said the remains are stored at the campus in Tempe in climate-controlled conditions that preserve the bones. She's had them so long, it's clear she's protective of them, even though the bones rightfully belong to the fort.

"When they build an adequate storage facility, they will go back to the fort," she said.

Liston said company officials, after being contacted by the AP, asked her to return the fort's boxes of human bone fragments that she had for years at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.

"I am happy to cooperate," Liston said.

Baker, a former employee of the New York State Museum in Albany, said she has gleaned vital information from her years of studying the skeletons.

"Skeletons of any sort from this time period in North America, particularly people of European descent, are incredibly rare, and to have them from some sort of military context is even more rare," Baker said. "These skeletons were a window into what life was like at the fort."

In August 1757, the French burned the fort to the ground after the British surrendered following a weeklong siege. After the surrender, Indian allies of the French killed about 200 of the garrison's defenders.

"We want to treat human remains with proper respect. That is always the priority within anthropology," said Benjamin Auerbach, a member of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists' repatriation committee, which deals with issues involving human remains.

Committee members are aware of the situation surrounding the Lake George skeletons, though no formal complaints regarding possible ethics violations have been brought.

Some of the remains did make a homecoming of sorts last year, when Baker brought a few of the bones back to Lake George for a four-part historical forensics series airing this spring on the National Geographic Channel.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120206/ap_on_re_us/us_fort_unburied_skeletons

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Private sector's job creation pace stumbles

Bebeto Matthews / AP

Jason Weinstein, an account manager for Workforce1 Healthcare, discusses job opportunities with attendees at a job fair in New York last month.

By msnbc.com staff and wire

Private employers added 170,000 jobs in January, according to a new report released Wednesday from payrolls processor ADP.

The monthly number came in exactly as analysts had expected, but December?s monthly gain in private-sector hiring was revised down by to 33,000 to a gain of 292,000.

?It has been said that slow and steady wins the race. I like to win?a race in the long run, but it has to be said we are running a little bit slowly here,? Joel Prakken of Macroeconomic Advisers, which helps produce the survey, told CNBC.

We need monthly gains in employment twice this amount ?to climb out of this hole we are in,? he added.

Each month, ADP releases a report on whether private employers added any jobs in the prior month. The report is often used as a gauge heading into the government?s monthly employment report, which is due out Friday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/01/10287438-pace-of-job-creation-by-private-employers-slows

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Breast cancer charity ends Planned Parenthood funding (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Planned Parenthood said on Tuesday that the leading U.S. breast-cancer charity would no longer provide new funding to the group, which performs abortions and other services at clinics around the country.

In a statement, Planned Parenthood said the Susan G. Komen Foundation had "succumbed to political pressure" from anti-abortion groups in cutting the funding.

Komen had begun notifying local Planned Parenthood affiliates that their breast cancer prevention programs will no longer be eligible for new grants from the charity, it said.

Planned Parenthood said Komen had not responded to requests to meet and talk about the decision to cut the funding, which it said had helped thousands of women in rural and underserved communities get breast health education, screenings, and mammogram referrals.

But it said the Komen Foundation had been "repeatedly threatened" in recent years by anti-abortion groups upset with its affiliation with Planned Parenthood.

The Komen Foundation, best-known for the Race for the Cure fundraisers it sponsors around the country each year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

The foundation said it raised more than $1.9 billion for breast cancer research and programs and has affiliates in more than 100 U.S. cities and 50 countries. Its symbol - the pink ribbon - is widely recognized.

Planned Parenthood said Komen's funding had helped pay for 170,000 of the more than 4 million clinical breast exams the group had performed over the past five years, as well as more than 6,400 of the 70,000 mammogram referrals it has made during that time.

Planned Parenthood has come under attack by lawmakers in several states over the past year, including North Carolina, Indiana and Kansas, who have attempted to block any government funding of the group.

In Kansas, county prosecutors outside Kansas City are pressing criminal charges against Planned Parenthood, alleging the group failed to maintain required paperwork related to the abortions it provided.

Under current law, Planned Parenthood cannot use federal funds to provide abortions though it receives federal money to provide family aid to low-income women.

(Reporting by James Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120201/us_nm/us_usa_health_plannedparenthood_charity

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