Buy Like an Investor: Answering the Most Important Real Estate ...

housingchartag Buy Like an Investor: Answering the Most Important Real Estate Question

By Allan Glass, Realtor, ASG Real Estate Inc.

Making successful decisions as a property owner is a complicated task.

It seems simple enough. Buyers should, ?buy low, sell high? and always seek the best ?location, location, location?? Yet invariably, at the end of each market cycle overwhelming numbers of property owners are left in an unfortunate and losing position.

Information and guidance can also be confusing or disheartening.This past month senior economist Paul Dales, expressed his belief that ?There?s no denying that home sales are still very low and will remain low for a few years.?But after having risen in each of the last three months?it is clear that a housing recovery is now well under way.??A week later David Blitzer, chairman of the index?committee?at Standard & Poor?s explained,??Despite continued low interest rates and better real GDP growth in the fourth quarter, home prices continue to fall? ?The trend is down, and there are few, if any, signs in the numbers that a turning point is close at hand.?

It?s no surprise that many potential home buyers and sellers are left dumbfounded when it comes to making a sound financial decision. Throughout the years, regardless of market conditions or level of experience there remains one most important question that all existing and potential property owners should answer before making a move.

How do I make a good buy today?

Over the course of my 19 year career, the answer to this question has changed fluidly depending on where opportunity lies and to whom I?m giving the advice. ?Yet, beyond the specifics relating to each property, the true answer remains the same:

Think and buy like an Investor.

Distinguishing Between the Investor and Speculator

To understand this principle it?s first important to distinguish between the investor and the speculator.

A real estate investor is an individual or entity that invests equity into a real estate asset for the purpose of generating income from or adding value to the existing improvements.? Investors can have long term or short-term strategies. They may use their own capital or they may borrow (leverage) equity to varying degrees. Some create value by curing defects either physical (dilapidation) or financial (cash buyers with quick closings), while others employ long-term hold strategies that gather value from timing and appreciation.

Speculators can share timing and leverage strategies with investors, yet that is where the similarities end. The intent of a speculator is not to add value to the economic engine; rather they look to take advantage of the marketplace by simply getting in line first. The speculator is driven by greed and looks to horde or corner markets intending to reap exceptional short term profits before quickly exiting the marketplace without regard to what is left behind.

True real estate investors deliver equal value to the market in return for their profits. Thinking like an investor allows home buyers to couch the value of their investment against their needs and desires.

The Intelligent Investor

Warren Buffett is widely considered to be one of the most astute and successful investors of all time. ?In one of his more popular quotes he attributes his philosophies as being 85% Benjamin Graham. ?Graham was a mentor to Buffett early in his career, considered one of the most astute investors, and wrote the highly regarded investment books?The Intelligent Investor (1949) and Security Analysis (1934). In those books Graham lays out three timeless investment principles which continue to guide the most successful minds in the investment business.

Principle #1: Know what kind of Investor you are

In Graham?s words, ?Work = Return.? ?Knowing which type of investor you are means understanding if you are willing to take an active/enterprising role or passive/defensive role in your investment strategy. An active investor puts in the work to discover the untapped value of a particular investment by researching and discovering potential for growth. A passive investor finds market tested, blue chip opportunities thoroughly evaluated by the market and other investment minds.

In real estate an active investor seeks higher returns by seeking out undervalued property. ?Bank REO?s and short sales may fit this strategy. ?Further,??fixer-uppers? and homes in ?emerging markets??require more legwork from the buyer. ?It can lead to large profits, however the time and energy needed to be successful and happy with an active investment may not be available or suitable to everyone. Some home buyers prefer to find neighborhoods which have long standing appeal, houses in immaculate or move in condition, and homes lovingly tended to by owners who can meticulously walk through each detail of your potential purchase.

While the latter strategy may not have the same potential for large swings of profit, it also carries with it less?volatility?and potential for loss. Knowing how much time and effort you are willing to put into your housing investment and your tolerance for risk should guide you in your search.

Principle #2: Always invest with a margin of safety

The simple idea behind this principle is to minimize risk buying assets at a discount to their intrinsic value. The goal would be to buy $1.00 assets for $.50.?In real estate this means valuing investment properties based on existing or actual income rather than fabricated or scheduled income.?For home buyers it can also mean finding a home priced below its replacement value. The burden of a monthly mortgage payment becomes much heavier in trying times.? Appropriately?sizing your price range and sticking to your budget will greatly increase your chances of success.

Principle #3: Expect?volatility?and profit from it

The market?will fluctuate, and sometimes wildly. Rather than fearing volatility, use it to your advantage to get bargains in the market or to sell out when your holdings become way overvalued.

Mr. Graham illustrates this principle with a well know parable about an investment partner named ?Mr. Market.? ?Mr. Market is the imaginary partner of every investor and each day Mr. Market is willing buy or sell your shares of an investment at a price determined by his wild mood swings.?Most days Mr. Market?s price is fair and makes good sense. ?However, when he?s optimistic his offer price can be ridiculously high and when he sees gloom and doom his offer price becomes absurdly low. In each case you, as a rational investor, have the opportunity to make your transaction decision based on your own analysis.?The opportunity is to reap the rewards of buying when Mr. Market?s fear cause him to sell in a panic and realize profits when Mr. Market?s unbound optimism cause him to grossly overvalue your shares.?Opportunity in the real estate market comes from applying rational analysis against the irrational emotions of the marketplace. Look for signs that Mr. Market is being led by emotions when determining his price.

The Bottom Line

While the concept of buying real estate for profit is not that complex, making the decisions that lead to that success can prove a bit more involved. In order to make smart decisions, home buyers today must understand their tolerance for risk, plan for unexpected surprises by building in a margin of safety, and prepare themselves to act when opportunities present themselves.

Market conditions will continue to fluctuate but the principles of successful investing remain steady.

Click here to read more blog posts by Allan Glass.

Realtors: Sign up for your own free Featured Blog on Realtor.com.

Related posts:

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  3. If You Can?t Find Real Estate Financing, Find a Partner: BiggerPockets Investor?s Corner
  4. How to Become a Real Estate Investor
  5. Who Should and Should Not Buy Turn-Key Properties: BiggerPockets Investor?s Corner

Source: http://www.realtor.com/blogs/2012/02/07/buy-like-an-investor-answering-the-most-important-real-estate-question/

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The great wait of China: How long until freedom?

How long can China's communist regime hold in thrall people who have prospered in an economic system that has many of the hallmarks of free enterprise? Despite attempts to censor the Internet, China's huge, new urban population is aware of the outside world and changes in it.

After ?ping-pong diplomacy? opened up China in the 1970s, I was one of a group of American newspaper editors invited to spend some time there.

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The country was undeveloped; the rice paddies and primitive factories operated by manual labor with little machinery in evidence. A huge peasant population toiled long and hard.

In a session we had with then-Premier Chou En-lai, I suggested that China could profit by mechanization and modernization. His answer was intriguing: ?But what would we do then with the people??

I doubt that even he could have envisaged the transformation that was later to change the face of China or how it would change the lives of his people.

When we editors asked peasants at that time what they wanted in life, they listed three things: a bicycle, a sewing machine, and a radio. If you asked that question of the average citizen in any Chinese city today, the answer might be: a large, flat-screen TV; a new car; and the latest in laptops or electronic tablets.?

Today, new data reveal that more than 51 percent of China?s 1.3 billion people are city dwellers. They work in factories and office buildings and live in soaring apartment complexes far from the rural life.?

The nation has a new infrastructure of roads and bridges and communications. It produces a wealth of goods for itself and for export to a world that once dismissed China as an inconsequential third-world country.?

A talented and industrious people has done this under a communist political system that has been harsh and dictatorial. New party leaders are due to be ?elected? later this year. The question: How long can one of the last communist regimes in the world hold in thrall people who have prospered and blossomed in an economic system that has many of the hallmarks of free enterprise?

Despite government attempts to control the flow of information and censor the Internet, this huge, new urban population in modern China is aware of the outside world and changes in it.?

The Arab Spring, which saw uprisings throughout the Arab world last year, triggered a brief movement to launch a ?Jasmine Revolution? in China. It was swiftly put down by government security forces. They arrested anyone believed to be involved in planning protests and demonstrations.?

The Beijing regime has regularly targeted human rights and democracy activists, imposing on some of them prison sentences of up to a decade.?

The most notable of these is Liu Xiaobo, a writer and intellectual who helped write a democracy manifesto for China. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while serving a lengthy prison sentence.?

The US ambassador to China, Gary Locke, in a recent American television interview, said the crackdown on dissent has become harsher in recent months as the Chinese government fears uprisings stimulated by those of the Arab Spring.

Even on China?s border, Myanmar (Burma) is moving away from the military authoritarianism of many years in yet another example of the trend toward democratic change.

Not only urban intellectuals are causing problems for the Chinese government. There have been a number of protests in outlying areas where officials have attempted to seize peasant lands.?

The security forces appear to have plenty of manpower and intelligence to penetrate and forestall any serious attempt to change the system of government.?

But as Elizabeth Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, points out, if the Internet has not produced a revolution in China?s political system, it has become itself a ?virtual political system,? providing news of government corruption and coverups that go viral in a matter of minutes.

China has made extraordinary economic progress. If Chou En-lai were alive today, I would tell him what he could do with the people: Let them experience democracy.

John Hughes, a former editor of the Monitor, writes a biweekly column.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/slhW5MLlSfM/The-great-wait-of-China-How-long-until-freedom

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Russian carrier gives $5,000 vacation to its most data hungry customer

Use more data, win more prizes. It may sound counterintuitive, but that's exactly what Russian operator MegaFon is offering to its subscribers, as part of a curious 3G promotion. It all began back in November, when the provider announced a rather straightforward contest: customers who downloaded the most data with their 3G modems would be awarded prizes worth up to one million rubles (about $33,000), including a $5,000 vacation. According to Russian news site C News, MegaFon launched the campaign in order to showcase the expanse of its data network, which apparently covers more than 80 percent of northwestern Russia and offers speeds of up to 21Mbps. The promotion came to an official close on January 31st, with the coronation of a lucky winner who, over the course of a single week, managed to scarf down 419GB of data on the company's 3G network. MegaFon didn't offer usage statistics on the second and third place winners, nor did it say what they won for their efforts, if you wanna call them that.

Russian carrier gives $5,000 vacation to its most data hungry customer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/06/russian-carrier-gives-5-000-vacation-to-its-most-data-hungry-cu/

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"Chronicle" wins tight box office race (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Teen boys with superpowers helped lift the movie box office to unexpected heights over Super Bowl weekend as thriller "Chronicle" edged "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe's haunted house movie "The Woman in Black."

"Chronicle" brought in an estimated $22.0 million from U.S. and Canadian theaters, studio estimates released on Sunday showed. The movie with largely unknown actors finished just ahead of Radcliffe's "Woman in Black," which took in an estimated $21.0 million.

Both performances surpassed projections from studio executives, who had expected weaker sales against competition from Sunday's Super Bowl football championship. The tallies include actual ticket receipts for Friday and Saturday plus estimates for Sunday at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters.

"Chronicle" added $13 million from 33 international markets, for a global weekend total of $35 million.

The appearance of young moviegoers, who had shunned some recent films targeted to them, boosted the top two films.

"The teen audience seems to be coming back to movies again. There was serious worry they were fading," said John Davis, who produced "Chronicle."

The movie tells the story of three teenage boys who develop superpowers and find they have a dark side. People under age 25 made up 61 percent of the movie's audience, distributor 20th Century Fox said. Fifty-five percent were males.

The studio produced "Chronicle" for about $12 million and had forecast debut weekend sales below $10 million.

Young moviegoers also propelled "Woman in Black" well past studio expectations of around $10 million. Fifty-seven percent of filmgoers were under age 25, and 59 percent were females.

The movie was Radcliffe's first since the blockbuster "Harry Potter" franchise ended last summer. The film attracted Radcliffe's young female fans plus "an audience that likes to be scared but not grossed out," said Steven Friedlander, executive vice president of theatrical distribution for CBS Films, the unit of CBS Corp that released the movie.

"Woman in Black" scored as the biggest debut weekend ever for CBS Films, which has struggled with its five earlier movies. The studio's biggest previous opening was a $12.2 million debut for "The Back-up Plan."

With "Woman in Black," the studio acquired domestic distribution rights for $3 million and spent about $15 million on marketing.

Elsewhere this weekend, Liam Neeson thriller "The Grey," dropped to third place with $9.5 million. The movie ranked No. 1 last weekend and has brought in $34.8 million domestically after two weekends in theaters.

SUPER BOWL ALTERNATIVES

Total ticket sales outpaced the same weekend last year by nearly 37 percent despite competition from the Super Bowl, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. Sales for all films reached $119 million.

"Big Miracle," a drama based on the true story of a whale rescue, aimed to offer a non-football alternative to young women and girls. The movie finished the weekend in fourth place with $8.5 million domestically, in line with studio forecasts.

The movie starring Drew Barrymore and "The Office" actor John Krasinski cost less than $40 million to produce.

In fifth place, vampire and werewolf sequel "Underworld: Awakening" starring Kate Beckinsale took in $5.6 million at domestic theaters. To date, the movie's worldwide sales stand at $108.3 million.

News Corp unit 20th Century Fox distributed "Chronicle." "Big Miracle" was released by Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast Corp. Open Road Films, a joint venture between theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc, distributed "The Grey." The film studio of Sony Corp released "Underworld: Awakening."

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Bill Trott and Eric Beech)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120205/en_nm/us_boxoffice

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Iran threatens to hit any country used to attack its soil (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran will target any country used as a launchpad for attacks against its soil, the deputy Revolutionary Guards commander said, expanding Tehran's range of threats in an increasingly volatile stand-off with world powers over its nuclear ambitions.

Last week, Iran's supreme clerical leader threatened reprisals for the West's new ban on Iranian oil exports and the U.S. defense secretary was quoted as saying Israel was likely to bomb Iran within months to stop it assembling nuclear weapons.

Although broadened and sharpened financial sanctions have begun to inflict serious economic pain in Iran, its oil minister asserted Saturday it would make no nuclear retreat even if its crude oil exports ground to a halt.

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes. But its recent shift of uranium enrichment to a mountain bunker possibly impervious to conventional bombing, and refusal to negotiate peaceful guarantees for the program or open up to U.N. nuclear inspectors, have thickened an atmosphere of brewing confrontation, raising fears for Gulf oil supplies.

"Any spot used by the enemy for hostile operations against Iran will be subjected to retaliatory aggression by our armed forces," Hossein Salami, deputy head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, told the semi-official Fars news agency Sunday.

The Guards began two days of military maneuvers in southern Iran Saturday in another show of force for Iran's adversaries associated with tensions over its disputed nuclear program.

Sunday Israel appointed a new air force chief who last month, in his position as top military planner, warned publicly that Israel could not deal a knock-out blow to its enemies, including Iran, in any regional conflict.

The United States and Israel, Iran's arch-enemies, have not ruled out a military strike on Tehran if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear stalemate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to visit Washington next month, his office said Sunday, and Israeli political sources said he is likely to meet U.S. President Barack Obama while there.

Iran's Salami did not identify which countries he meant as possible hosts for military action against it.

The six, U.S.-allied Arab states in the Gulf Cooperation Council, situated on the other side of the vital oil exporting waterway from Iran, have said they would not allow their territories to be used for attacks on the Islamic Republic.

But analysts say that if Iran retaliated for an attack launched from outside the region by targeting U.S. facilities in Gulf Arab states, Washington might pressure the host nations to permit those bases to hit back, arguing they should have the right to defend themselves.

The Gulf states that host U.S. military facilities are Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

THREAT TO SHUT VITAL OIL CHANNEL

Iran has warned its response to any such strike will be "painful," threatening to target Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, along with closing the Strait of Hormuz used by one third of the world's seaborne oil traffic.

Betraying nervousness about possible blowback from any military strike on Iran, two of its neighbors - Qatar and Turkey - urged the West Sunday to make greater efforts to negotiate a solution to the nuclear row.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference attended by top world policymakers, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said an attack would be a "disaster" and the dispute over Iran's nuclear program could be ended very rapidly.

"If there is strong political will and mutual confidence being established, this issue could be resolved in a few days," he said. "The technical disputes are not so big. The problem is mutual confidence and strong political will."

He added: "A military option will create a disaster in our region. So before that disaster, everybody must be serious in negotiations. We hope soon both sides will meet again but this time there will be a complete result."

Turkey was the venue of the last talks between Western powers and Iran a year ago which ended in stalemate because participants could not even agree on an agenda.

Qatari Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Mohamed al-Attiyah said an attack "is not a solution, and tightening the embargo on Iran will make the scenario worse.

"I believe that with our allies and friends in the West we should open a serious dialogue with the Iranians to get out of this dilemma. This is what we feel in our region."

Tehran has warned several times it may seal off the Strait of Hormuz, throttling the supply of Gulf crude and gas, if attacked or if sanctions mean it cannot export its oil.

A military strike on Iran and Iran's response, which might include an attack on the oilfields of No. 1 exporter Saudi Arabia, would send oil prices soaring, which could seriously harm the global economy

(Additional reporting by William Maclean in Munich and Michael Holden in London; Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120205/wl_nm/us_iran_strike_enemies

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Russia's Space Woes Stress NASA's Need for Private Spaceships (SPACE.com)

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The recent delay of the next manned launch to the International Space Station due to a damaged Russian space capsule highlights NASA's critical need for commercially built vehicles, space policy experts say.

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft was originally scheduled to launch to the orbiting outpost on March 29, but the capsule was damaged in a botched pressure test and is unusable for the upcoming flight. Instead, Russia is preparing the next spaceship on the line, which means the liftoff will occur no earlier than May 15, NASA's space station program manager Mike Suffredini announced Thursday (Feb. 2).

Since the retirement of NASA's space shuttle program last summer, the space agency is now completely reliant on Russian spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. In the meantime, several commercial companies are building a new fleet of private spaceships to fill the gap left by the mothballed orbiters.

But these transportation services will not be available until at least 2017, NASA officials have said.

Facing an uncertain budget climate, NASA has also changed its approach to funding the private development of these commercial spacecraft under the space agency's Commercial Crew Development program, which could push back the start of U.S. commercial flights to and from low-Earth orbit. [Infographic: Inside Russia's Soyuz Space Capsule]

With only one means of reaching the International Space Station at the moment, it is becoming more crucial than ever to fund the development of these new vehicles, said John Logsdon, space-policy expert and professor emeritus at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

"It's not clear to me what is in the mind of U.S. Congress as they provide inadequate funding for rapid progress in commercial crew," Logsdon told SPACE.com. "Do they not care about the dependence on Russia? Or do they want commercial crew to collapse and go back to a single government system? It would be good if we got some policy clarity on our side."

Funding for NASA

As part of its 2012 budget request, NASA originally earmarked $850 million for the Commercial Crew Development program. In December, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, told reporters that $406 million had already been approved by Congress as part of the agency's $17.8 billion budget.

Still, more funding is needed to kick-start the fledgling program, Logsdon said. In 2003, Logsdon was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, and the committee's findings led to the decision to retire the space shuttles. But it was made clear that the agency needs an alternative means of carrying astronauts into space, Logsdon said.

"We on the Columbia board in 2003 called the lack of a replacement for the shuttle a failure of national leadership, and that failure continues, as exemplified by the congressional unwillingness to adequately fund commercial crew," he explained. "Congress seems to view it not as an urgent issue, which is very puzzling to me."

Budget requests for the fiscal year 2013 are expected to be released within the coming weeks.

"I fully expect the administration to once again request what it considers adequate funding for commercial crew, and then it becomes up to Congress whether it once again disagrees with that request," Logsdon said.

And while Russia's recent setback with the Soyuz capsule is a concern, it is not yet cause for alarm.

"It's certainly not yet an emergency, and if Russia is able to qualify a new spacecraft for an early May launch, so that this is kind of a hiccup, then this is not an emergency," Logsdon told SPACE.com. "This is the space business. But if they can't, and if it turns out to be a general problem in the Soyuz, then there is a problem." [Video: Soyuz Rocket's Bumpy History]

In a news briefing yesterday, Suffredini said that he is convinced that RSC Energia, Russia's main space contractor, will be able to identify the issues and rectify them for upcoming flights.

"This particular event is very unfortunate, but you know this is a complicated business and things happen," Suffredini told reporters yesterday. "To me this is not indicative of some overarching problem at the Energia corporation. I have every confidence that they'll figure out the cause of this and rectify it for the future."

Developing new private spaceships

News of the Soyuz launch delay came alongside the announcement that private rocket builder Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will not launch its unmanned Dragon capsule on a demonstration flight to the space station until late March, or possibly early April.

SpaceX is developing its Dragon capsule under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program, which is a partnership to manufacture robotic vessels to carry cargo and supplies to the space station.

While the company is currently focused on demonstrating the capsule's cargo-carrying abilities, SpaceX also plans to use a version of the vehicle to eventually carry astronauts and other paying customers to the space station, and is one of the contenders in the agency's Commercial Crew Development ?program.

"As one of the participants in the CCDev program, NASA is looking to SpaceX to make good progress toward cargo and later crew services to the ISS," Roger Launius, space history curator at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, told SPACE.com in an email. "With the space shuttle now retired, any delay in these efforts affect the larger effort to support ISS, and several inside the program have expressed concern."

Yet, the importance of upholding standards of safety remains paramount, and history has provided costly lessons on the consequences of being too hasty, he said.

"In late 1957 after the launches of Sputnik 1 and 2 the U.S. stepped up the flight of what would have become Vanguard 1 to regain some of the momentum in the space race," Launius explained. "The result was a catastrophic failure on the launch pad on December 8, 1957, that was worse for the space program than having postponed the attempt until engineers were more confident that they could fly the vehicle."

The project manager, Milt Rose, later expressed that he was convinced the launch would fail, but felt pressure to expedite the attempted liftoff to demonstrate an equally robust space program, Launius said.

Still, the stakes remain high for NASA's Commercial Crew Development program.

"Obviously, 2012 is not 1957 and the circumstances are different, but many are looking to SpaceX to succeed with their efforts in the same way that the Vanguard program was being hoped for and a catastrophe now would have important ramifications for the company, for expectations, and for the effort to move to the next human space access vehicle," Launius said.

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcomand on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120206/sc_space/russiasspacewoesstressnasasneedforprivatespaceships

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People want to get early childhood education degree | Business ...

These days, you are able to enroll in any course that you like online. This is very beneficial for a lot of people who are not able to relocate or be physically present at school. The main reason why people want to go back to school is to get an early childhood education degree. The common problem when getting a degree online is looking for the right online school. There are only a few who are accredited which can sometime hinder individuals to go to school online.

So if you are faced with this problem then here are some things you need to know when you want to get a degree on early childhood education online. The first thing is that, online schools let you take your classes at the comfort of your home. Even if you are across the world you can still take lessons. The only thing you need to have is time and of course a reliable internet connection. There are a lot of internet service providers in the market so this will not be a problem.Next, comes the researching of schools online. The Internet is very easy to use and provides you with all the information you need when researching. Once you have scouted several online schools that you like considering that they are all accredited it is time to contact them. You should know the subjects they offer, the fees to be paid and if you are required to be present in school to take the exams or quizzes. This is the case for some because the professors or exam administrators are not able to watch the students when taking exams or quizzes. Finding an accredited school can be a challenge but once you have found one it will be worth it.

Choosing an accredited school is important because when you are going to apply for a job the school will always prefer those who graduated from accredited school. An accredited school means that the standards are up to par. If you are not a graduate of an accredit school they will question the standards of the online school because it may not confer with their requirements.

Considering the program offered by a certain online school will let you determine how many subjects you need to take in a certain school. Right now, the curriculum of online schools are not complete which can a bit of a disadvantage. Though, if a subject is offered in a university or college near you then the problem is solved.

Getting an early childhood education degree can be a bit difficult at first but as compared to enrolling in a university it is so much easier. Especially when you have a family to take care of you can still do it while attending your school at home. This is why online schools attract individuals who are willing to get a degree but are not able to attend physically. Definitely, online schools will help save money but still individuals are able to enroll at schools with high standards.

Source: http://www.eduag.com/people-want-to-get-early-childhood-education-degree/

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Russia, China veto U.N. plan for Syria (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? Russia and China vetoed on Saturday a U.N. resolution that backed an Arab plan calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit, stalling global efforts to end his bloody crackdown on unrest after hundreds were reported killed in the city of Homs.

The high-level diplomatic setback came after world leaders and Syrian opposition activists accused Assad's forces of a massacre in a sustained shelling of Homs, the bloodiest episode in 11 months of upheaval in the pivotal Arab country.

Russia and China joined in a double veto of a Western- and Arab-driven resolution at the U.N. Security Council endorsing the Arab League plan for Assad to hand power to a deputy to make way for a transition towards democracy.

The other 13 council members voted for the resolution that would have said the council "fully supports" the League plan aimed at stopping Syria's bloodshed, whose sectarian overtones threaten stability in the wider Middle East region.

Russia complained that the draft resolution was an improper and biased attempt at "regime change" in Syria, which is Moscow's sole major Middle East ally, an important buyer of Russian arms exports and host to a Russian naval base.

With an eye to events in Homs, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice dispensed with the usual diplomatic courtesies and declared she was "disgusted" by the Russian-Chinese veto, adding that "any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands".

Shortly before the Security Council voted, U.S. President Barack Obama denounced the "unspeakable assault" on Homs, demanded that Assad leave power immediately and called for U.N. action against Assad's "relentless brutality".

"Any government that brutalizes and massacres its people does not deserve to govern," Obama said.

He and other Western and Arab leaders exerted unprecedented pressure on Russia to allow the Security Council to pass the Arab League-backed resolution that calls for Assad to relinquish his autocratic powers and end the violence. The world body says over 5,000 civilians have been killed.

SECOND VETO IN FOUR MONTHS

But Russia, and China following Moscow's lead, weighed in to torpedo U.N. action on Syria for the second time in four months. In October, they vetoed a European-drafted resolution condemning Syria and threatening it with possible sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it had not been possible to work constructively with Russia ahead of the vote, even though military intervention in Syria - fiercely opposed by Moscow - had been absolutely ruled out.

"I thought that there might be some ways to bridge, even at this last moment, a few of the concerns that the Russians had. I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible," she told reporters at a Munich conference.

Clinton warned that the risk of more bloodshed and civil war in Syria had risen after the collapse of the U.N. resolution.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after the vote that France was consulting with Arab and European countries to create a contact group on Syria to try to find a solution to the crisis.

"France is not giving up," Sarkozy said in a statement, saying Paris was in touch with Arab and European partners to create a "Friends of the Syrian People Group" that would marshal international support to implement the Arab League plan.

The uprising pits Syria's majority Sunni Muslims against Assad's minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, who have dominated the country's power structure for decades.

After what U.S. officials called "vigorous" talks between Clinton and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow announced that he and its foreign intelligence chief would fly to Syria on Tuesday to meet Assad, although the trip's goal was not given.

Moscow objected that the resolution contained steps against Assad, but not against his armed opponents, Lavrov said in Munich before the vote. "Unless you do it both ways, you are taking sides in a civil war."

In New York, Western delegations rejected what they called "wrecking amendments" by Russia to add language blaming the opposition along with the government for violence and diluting calls for Syria to withdraw its security forces from cities.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied that Moscow's amendments were last-minute, or that Russia was standing in the way of a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

"Some influential members of the international community, unfortunately, including those sitting around this table, from the very beginning of the Syrian process have been undermining the opportunity for a political settlement," Churkin said.

Syrian U.N. envoy Bashar Ja'afari criticized the resolution and its sponsors, which included Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab states, saying nations "that prevent women from attending a soccer match" had no right to preach democracy to Syria.

He also denied that Syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians in Homs, saying that "no sensible person" would launch such an attack the night before the Security Council was set to discuss his country.

Residents of Homs' battered Baba Amro district, speaking by telephone, denounced the Russian-Chinese veto, some chanting, "Death, rather than disgrace".

One resident who identified himself as Sufyan said: "Now we will show Assad. We're coming, Damascus. Starting today we will show Assad what an armed gang is." Assad has called his opponents "armed gangs" and "terrorists" steered from abroad.

Mohammed Loulichki, the U.N. ambassador of Morocco, the sole Arab member of the 15-nation council, voiced his "great regret and disappointment" at the veto and said the Arabs had no intention of abandoning their plan. British envoy Mark Lyall Grant said there would be a new U.N. push if violence continued.

France called the Homs assault a "massacre" and a "crime against humanity."

Turkey said hundreds had been killed and the United Nations must act. Tunisia expelled the Syrian ambassador, and the flag above its embassy was brought down.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 237 to 260, making the Homs attack the bloodiest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests and one of the deadliest episodes in the "Arab Spring" of revolts that have swept the region.

Residents said Syrian forces began shelling the Khalidiya neighborhood at around 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were completely destroyed with families inside.

"We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," said Waleed, a resident of Khalidiya.

"The morning has come and we have discovered more bodies, bodies are on the streets," he said. "Some are still under the rubble. Our movement is better but there is little we can do without ambulances and other things."

An activist in the neighborhood contacted by Reuters said:

"We have dug out at least 100 bodies so far, they are placed in the two mosques." He put the total number of wounded at 500.

CONDEMNATION

Video footage on the Internet described as being from Homs showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the footage was filmed.

As news of the violence spread, angry crowds of Syrians stormed their country's embassies in Cairo, London, Berlin and Kuwait and protested in other cities.

Syria denied shelling Homs and said the Internet video was staged. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access.

Syria's state news agency, SANA, quoted a "media source" as saying, "The corpses displayed by some channels of incitement are martyrs, citizens kidnapped, killed and photographed by armed terrorist groups as if they are victims of the supposed shelling."

The official Syrian account was disregarded across the globe, where international condemnation was thunderous.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe declared that "those responsible will have to answer for it" and, in remarks aimed at Moscow, said any country that blocked U.N. action would bear a "heavy responsibility in history."

The Syrian government says it is facing a foreign-backed insurgency and that most of the dead have been its troops. SANA reported funerals of 22 members of the security forces.

Some Syrian activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Logan, Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Arshad Mohammed and Stephen Brown in Munich, Ahmed el-Shimy in Cairo, Caren Bohan and Katharine Jackson in Washington, Steve Gutterman in Moscow and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Mark Heinrich and Peter Graff; Editing by Louise Ireland and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120205/wl_nm/us_syria

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