Scams involving currency conversion used by car rental companies ...

When you buy services using a credit card in your own country, there are transaction charges but, in most cases, they are only paid by the merchants who sell you the goods or services (although they will increase their retail prices to cover the charges, of course). But the moment you use the credit card to buy goods or services in a different currency, you will suddenly find extra charges appearing. The first is simply for handling a transaction in a foreign currency. The second is the currency exchange rate commission.

If the bank is being honest, it will charge the prevailing national exchange rate. This will mean the transaction has a neutral cost. But if the bank is less than honest, it will use a lower exchange rate. This means it costs you more to buy the goods and services than if you went to a money changer and used cash. Worse, you are being charged for being given the poor value in the transaction. For these purposes, it can be worth acquiring a ?foreign? credit card if you?re a regular traveler. You will avoid foreign currency charges this way, although you will need to avoid a further problem.

Some international car rental companies operate their own currency conversion. So let?s say you have a US$ credit card and you go to a branch of a US rental company in Paris. Some branches do their own currency conversions and bill your credit card in US dollars. That sounds good to you because there are no foreign currency conversion charges to pay. But suppose that conversion uses an exchange rate that?s significantly worse than international rate. You might be paying 10 or 15% more than locals would pay, i.e. rather more than your honest bank would charge you.

Some local car rental companies offer conversion through third party banks. This sounds good. You?re being billed in your own currency so no administrative fees. But what often happens is that the exchange rate is very poor and the difference between the rate you pay and the rate the converter uses is split with the rental company. To reduce the risk of being scammed you should refuse the option of local conversion if you speak the local language, or just prepay.

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Source: http://www.americansociety-rio.org/675-scams-involving-currency-conversion-used-by-car-rental-companies.html

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CYA Football Bake Sale @ Giant | Chantilly Sports & Recreation ...

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Source: http://chantilly.patch.com/events/cya-football-bake-sale-giant

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A look at telecom-industry subscriber reports

Telecommunications companies have been releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter. Here is a summary of reports for selected telecommunications companies and what they reveal about their own and the industry's prospects.

? July 19: Verizon Communications Inc. says its wireless unit gained a net 1.2 million subscribers ? a strong result in an industry where subscriber gains have tapered off now that nearly everyone has a cellphone. Of the new subscribers, 888,000 were on contract-based plans, which are the most lucrative. Verizon Wireless has 94.2 million retail subscribers. The profit margin at Verizon Wireless was the highest ever, as average monthly fees for contract-signing subscribers rose 3.7 percent to $56.13. Verizon is benefiting from the growing popularity of smartphones, which come with data fees.

? July 24: AT&T Inc. says it saw declining smartphone sales, leading to the best profitability ever in its wireless arm as it saved on phone subsidies. It activated 5.1 million smartphones in its latest quarter, down from 5.5 million a year ago. Much of the decline came because AT&T subscribers are holding on to their phones longer. AT&T added a net 320,000 subscribers on contract-based plans in the quarter. However, more than half of the new subscribers were tablet users, who pay less than smartphone users.

? July 26: Sprint Nextel Corp. reports it was successful in persuading smartphone subscribers to pay up for "unlimited data" service, and its service revenue zoomed, beating estimates. Sprint activated 1.5 million iPhones in the quarter, the same number as in the first quarter. By contrast, AT&T and Verizon saw a drop in iPhone activations as the excitement around the latest model, the iPhone 4S, cooled. Sprint is the only one of the four national wireless carriers that still offers unlimited data service, though it offers relatively slow data speeds.

MetroPCS Communications Inc., a provider of contract-free service, says it lost about 186,000 subscribers to end the quarter at 9.3 million.

? July 31: Frontier Communications Corp. ended the quarter with 3.1 million residential lines, down about 67,000 from the previous quarter.

? Aug. 1: Comcast Corp. says it added 158,000 phone customers to end the quarter with 9.7 million.

? Aug. 2: Time Warner Cable Inc. says it added 45,000 residential phone customers to end with 5 million.

? Aug. 3: U.S. Cellular Corp., a unit of Telephone Data and Systems Inc., lost a record 48,000 subscribers from contract-based plans in the quarter. That was partly offset by a gain of 20,000 contract-free customers. The company ended the quarter with 5.8 million customers, making it the seventh-largest cellphone company in the country.

? Aug. 6: Leap Wireless International Inc., the nation's sixth-largest cellphone carrier and operator of the Cricket brand, says it lost 289,000 customers during the quarter to end with 5.9 million.

? Aug. 8: CenturyLink Inc. says it had 14.1 million access lines, a loss of 234,000 during the quarter.

? Aug. 9: T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, says it lost a net 205,000 subscribers in the second quarter, a record for the period. Among phone subscribers under contract, it lost 557,000 subscribers, also the highest number of the second quarter.

Windstream Corp. says it has 2.9 million phone lines. It lost about 29,000 during the quarter.

? Tuesday: MetroPCS, a cellphone company that targets low-income urban households, says it's cutting the price on its unlimited data service, going against the flow of the biggest phone companies, including AT&T and Verizon. MetroPCS has just activated a new fourth-generation, or "4G" data network, leaving it with some spare capacity.

? Wednesday: T-Mobile says it will start selling an unlimited-data plan again on Sept. 5, after stopping sales of such plans early last year. T-Mobile had been calling all its data plans "unlimited," but once a customer hits a certain level of usage in a month, it would slow down speeds drastically. Under T-Mobile's new unlimited plans, all data would be at maximum speed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/look-telecom-industry-subscriber-reports-230208847.html

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New strain of hand, foot and mouth virus worries parents, pediatricians

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2012) ? Your child goes to bed in perfect health. The next morning she wakes up with high fever, malaise and bright red blisters erupting all over her body. Johns Hopkins Children's Center dermatologists say the disturbing scenario has become quite common in the last few months, sending scared parents to their pediatrician's office or straight to the emergency room.

Bernard Cohen, M.D., director of pediatric dermatology at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and colleague Kate Puttgen, M.D., have seen or consulted on close to 50 such cases in the last few months and have received countless phone calls from scared parents and concerned physicians. Cohen believes this number may be just the tip of the iceberg with primary care pediatricians seeing the bulk of new cases.

Cohen and Puttgen want to reassure parents that most cases of the disease are benign and that nearly all patients recover in seven to 10 days without treatment and without serious complications.

"What we are seeing is relatively common viral illness called hand-foot-and-mouth disease but with a new twist," Cohen says.

The culprit is an unusual strain of the common coxsackie virus that usually causes the disease. The new strain, coxsackie A6, previously found only in Africa and Asia, is now cropping up all over the United States.

The coxsackie virus strikes infants and children under age 5 in the summer and autumn months. Symptoms include fever and malaise and, a day or two later, a non-itchy skin rash with flat or raised red spots on the hands and feet and/or mouth sores. The new strain, however, behaves somewhat differently from its homegrown cousin, Cohen says. It carries a slightly higher risk for more serious illness and more widespread rash that can involve the arms, legs, face and diaper area. The new strain also seems to affect older as well as younger children.

"We've talked with many of our pediatric dermatology colleagues around the country and the number of cases and the severity of the rash is clearly new and different from the typical hand, foot and mouth disease we are used to seeing," adds Puttgen. "The good news is that it looks bad but hasn't actually caused severe symptoms for our patients."

The new virus can also cause a rash that mimics lesions of herpes simplex virus, which requires treatment with antivirals.

"It can look like disseminated herpes simplex, and parents may panic if they don't know what it is," Cohen says. "But unlike herpes simplex, this rash evolves very fast. It's bad for a few days and then gets better very quickly without any treatment at all."

To reduce the spread of the virus, Cohen and Puttgen advise frequent hand washing and good general hygiene. Pediatricians need not refer patients to a specialist if they recognize the rash for what it is and if the child is otherwise healthy, they say. "If the child has low-grade fever, but is otherwise well, waiting and watching is appropriate," Cohen says. "If the child is having problems with feeding or drinking or acting ill, it's time to call the doctor." Specifically, Cohen says, children with immune deficiencies, cancer or other serious illness should be followed closely by their pediatrician to avoid or promptly treat any complications.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/iQMXtIVdJF4/120824111441.htm

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Gay NYC judge challenges father's will

NEW YORK?? A gay man and his longtime partner decide to become parents using a surrogate mother. Shortly after their son is born, the couple gets married. But there's a catch for this modern family: A will left by the man's wealthy father decrees that he must marry the mother for the child to collect an inheritance.

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That quandary has prompted the man, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Robert M. Mandelbaum, to contest the will in surrogate's court.

Mandelbaum has filed a petition on behalf of his now 2-year-old son, Cooper, that argues that a condition that might "induce the beneficiary to enter into a sham marriage of convenience" should be invalid.

The petition makes two further arguments: that Mandelbaum's partner could be considered the boy's "mother," and that excluding the boy from sharing in the family fortune would run counter to public policies protecting same-sex marriages and their offspring.

The petition portrays the father as being accepting of his son's lifestyle. But the will doesn't make clear why the father appeared to contradict that when it came to his estate.

An attorney for Mandelbaum declined comment on Thursday.

A proposed settlement reached by Mandelbaum and the guardians of two other grandchildren that would give equal stakes in a trust set up by the grandfather is pending court approval, though it could be a longshot.

Joshua S. Rubenstein, a Manhattan lawyer specializing in estate planning, said decedents have a right to shun possible beneficiaries ? whether it's because they have two fathers or because they married someone of a different race or any other reason that might sound unreasonable or even cruel.

"We might all find that repugnant, but it's your property and you can do whatever you want with it," Rubenstein said.

Mandelbaum may have "a very strong public policy argument, but the (father's) wishes may be controlling in this case," said Laura E. Stegossi, a Philadelphia estates lawyer.

The 47-year-old Mandelbaum is the son of Frank Mandelbaum, a successful Long Island businessman who died in 2007. The father was chairman and chief executive of Intelli-Check, a Woodbury, N.Y.-based maker of software that verifies the authenticity of driver's licenses and other forms of identification.

The elder Mandelbaum's will set up a trust worth hundreds of thousands for his grandchildren and their decedents. However, the will excluded any "adopted child of Robert, if adopted while Robert is a single person, or a biological child of Robert ... if Robert shall not be married to the child's mother within six months of the child's birth."

According to court documents, Mandelbaum is the biological father of Cooper, who was born in Pomona, Calif., on April, 5, 2010. The boy was conceived by using his sperm to fertilize an egg from an anonymous donor that was then implanted in the uterus of a second woman.

Mandelbaum's petition notes that a California birth certificate lists him as the "Father/Parent" and his partner, a tax lawyer, as the "Mother/Parent." The pair married in Connecticut on July 2, 2010 ? within six months of Cooper's birth.

The petition argues that the disputed provision in the will was intended only to "ensure that any children born to Robert were raised in the context of a legally recognized and committed marital relationship."

Mandelbaum's father knew his son was in a committed relationship with another man, and frequently socialized and traveled with them, the papers add.

"Thus if it was the intent of the will were to require that Robert marry a woman, the will would thereby reflect an attempt to induce the breakup of an existing family," they say. "Any will provision reflecting such an intent is likewise unenforceable as against public policy."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48780911/ns/us_news-life/

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New Belgium's Red Hoptober Beer Review | - The Brew Bros

New Bel?gium Brew?ing Company?s Hop?to?ber quickly became one of my favorite fall sea?son?als so last Sep?tem?ber when we heard from one of our local New Bel?gium Beer Rangers (see story here) ?that it would be replaced by a new sea?sonal, my heart sank a bit. ?That being said, I was full of antic?i?pa?tion to get my hands on the replace?ment, Red Hop?to?ber, and see how it would stack up against its predecessor.

Brew?ery:?New Bel?gium
Loca?tion:?Ft. Collins, CO
Style:?RedAle
Color:?Amber/Glowing Red
Alco?hol: 6.0%

?Fall is here and with it our sea?sonal ale, Red Hop?to?ber. Shin?ing like autumn leaves in a globe glass this beer pours a dark and lovely gar?net as it builds a bright, invit?ing head. The Eldo?rado hops are bold and present with a dis?tinct, piney fla?vor while the caramel malt and roasted bar?ley pro?vide a back?bone to stand Red Hop?to?ber upright. Cen?ten?nial and Cas?cade hops offer hints of cit?rus, tick?ling the nose, while the tongue car?ries a sub?tle, roasty tone that pairs pleas?antly with the warm?ing bite of bit?ter. Red Hop?to?ber is per?fect for short?en?ing days and camp?fire nights.? ? New Bel?gium Brew?ing Company

Pour, Color and?Aroma:

I poured the Red Hop?to?ber into a glass and it set?tled into a glow?ing red/bright brown color. The off-white ?head lin?gered in a rocky form for a sig?nif?i?cant amount of time and really tested my patience. Visu?ally, the beer was very appealing.

The aroma was extremely pleas?ant and sur?pris?ing. The hops were the first thing I noticed because of how fresh they smelled. I felt as though I had stuck my nose into a pack?age of hops from the local home brew store. Pine, cit?rus and lemon?grass seemed to be the most dom?i?nat?ing of the hop char?ac?ter?is?tics. Round?ing out the aroma, were dis?tinct notes of sweet caramel and toasted bread.

Taste:

The fla?vor of the beer was also a bit sur?pris?ing. Again, the hops were more promi?nent, how?ever, I felt there was a?sig?nif?i?cant?roasted qual?ity to the beer. At times, I had to look ?to make sure it was as light in color as it was. ?A sur?pris?ing choco?late ?wove its way through the?intri?ca?cies?0f the hop flavors.

Fin?ish and?Body:

The fin?ish of this beer was its strong suit. After tak?ing a sip, the bit?ter?ness and fla?vors built up quickly and I was wor?ried they would be over-bearing and out of bal?ance, but then the malty sweet?ness crept in to bal?ance every?thing out ?and left a pleas?ant stick?i?ness on the palate. It had a medium body with a slight bit of carbonation.

Final Thoughts:

This beer is another exam?ple of why New Bel?gium is as suc?cess?ful as they are. At a?con?sis?tent?rate, they are able to pro?duce new beers that push the style lim?its with?out being over?whelm?ingly off? ?bal?ance. They took an already excel?lent beer in Hop?to?ber and replaced it with a brew that is extremely well bal?anced as well as full of fla?vors that every beer drinker can relate to in the hops and malts. ?Once again, cheers New Bel?gium for another won?der?ful?beer!

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load?ing?

Patrick

Patrick Schroeder has two rules: 1) Drink beer good peo?ple brew. Craft brew?ers brew for the love of their craft so give every beer a try. B) Never drink the sed?i?ment cake. Other than that, Patrick spends his time home brew?ing, spend?ing time with his fam?ily and tip?ping back a few pints with fel?low beer lovers. If you wish to con?tact him, send an email to patrick@thebrewbros.com. You can also find him on Twit?ter under the name beerguru14. Prost!

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Source: http://www.thebrewbros.com/2012/08/beer-review-new-belgium-brewing-company-red-hoptober/

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Saving For Retirement. How Much To Save? | Cash The Checks

It has been drilled in to our heads ever since we started our first job: you need to save for your retirement. That of course begs the question of how much do we need to save and when do we start? While this article will not be able to tell you an exact number in regards to your personal situation it will attempt to spark some ideas in your brain that will give you a good idea on where to start.

This is going to sound almost too simplistic to be good advice but your first tip is to save as much as possible. There?s no such thing as saving too much for retirement. The reason is because the future is so unpredictable. If you don?t have a mortgage and are only able to rent, how much will your rent be in the future? What about the cost of filling up your tank of gas? For all you know food prices could skyrocket by the time you retire. We already know that health care costs can only go up. It is for that reason that you should put away as much as you can right now.

I understand that the economy is down the tubes, I understand there are always unexpected emergencies and I understand that bills need to be paid. But you need to add your retirement savings into your budget just like you add your bills to it. Better yet, get involved with a 401k plan at your job so they deduct the money from your paycheck before you even see it.

As far as how much to save for retirement, young people should be saving about 10 percent of their income. When you?re young it can be hard to save for retirement because it seems so far away, you have student loans to pay back, you?re buying your first car, saving to buy a house and beginning a family. But retirement savings should not be ignored.

The earlier you start saving the better. The reason is that your money will earn interest. If you add $3,000 to your retirement account at a young age it will turn into $50,000 by the time you retire. Now imagine if you added that amount every single year? You?ll end up at $750,000.

As you get older your expenses should decrease. You no longer feel the need to buy a flashy car, your kids have moved out and hopefully you would have already paid your mortgage off. This means you can pump your retirement account with a higher percentage of your income, say 25%. But if you never bothered to save for retirement in your younger years you?ll need to step it up even more and set aside as much as you can.

Saving for retirement is crucial because your options of being able to come up with money in a time of need are severely limited. If you?re in need of fast cash in retirement, your only hope may be to re-mortgage your home or refinance. But either of these two options can take a long time. When you have a paycheck coming in every two weeks this opens the possibility of getting?quick online loans. These types of loans offer you?cash before payday, like a cash advance on your future pay checks. While these fast cash options aren?t the best types of loans to get, sometimes it?s the only hope for those in a dire financial situation.

Source: http://www.cashthechecks.com/other/saving-for-retirement-how-much-to-save.html

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