Ford Edge cheapest car to insure; Mercedes CL600 priciest: survey

Tuesday, 15 January, 2013

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Source: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/breaking-news/transport/ford-edge-cheapest-car-insure-mercedes-cl600-priciest-survey-20130114

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West High wrestling coach fired

(WICHITA, Kan.)?

The wrestling coach at Wichita's West High has been relieved of his duties.? Athletic Director Phil Daignault says Jeff Watkins was recently let go as coach for personnel issues.

A school district spokeswoman wouldn't confirm it was Watkins who was let go, but did explain what happened.? She says the coach was let go for making poor choices.? However a source tells Eyewitness News, Watkins is the coach in question.

The spokeswoman says the coach claimed last week he was making a welfare check on a wrestler because he wasn't able to get in touch with him.? "While the intentions may have been well, you just have to think twice about some of the decisions that you make," said spokeswoman Susan Arensman.

She says he went to the student's home and left with a wrestling uniform.? She says he told the school he wanted it for another wrestler. It's unclear how he ended up with the uniform.

"I can't confirm that, you'd have to talk with police or with the parent.? I do know there was a concern raised by the parent to the school administration and they got school district involved to see what happened," said Arensman.

West High named Idris Elias as interim head coach.? He was an assistant coach and teaches special education at the high school.

?

Source: http://www.catchitkansas.com/schools/kwch-kah-west-high-wrestling-coach-fired-20130114,0,3217103.story?track=rss

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Seattleite Imagery: Week Two Intentions: Clear Out, Chill Out

This past week I set my intention -- I intended to declutter. The result was that I decluttered and then some. Due to packing my belongings and hauling them across both Atlantic and Pacific oceans in the last decade, I don't own a ton of stuff. Also, I have a husband who loves throwing things out, so my house is tidy most of the time thanks to his pacesetting.?But due to personal (though minor) hoarding tendencies, I will always be a naturalized minimalist. A little bit of clutter somehow comforts me, but I still appreciate a clean home. I just don't get a kick out of being the one to do it like some people seem to.

Like running, I don't enjoy decluttering, but I like the feeling after it's done.?This week I wanted to do a bit of new year's cleaning to start off on the right foot and maybe even motivate me to carry on like this.?Here was my plan:

  • Monday: attack the desk and living room table (aka what I actually use for a desk)
  • Tuesday: nothing as my friend was in town from the UK! hooray!
  • Wednesday: go through the closet and make a pile of anything I don't love
  • Thursday: clear out my beauty drawer
  • Friday: drawers in dresser and bedside table
  • Saturday: all my papers (!)

I also wanted to start the practice (however unrelated to clutter) of?morning breathing exercises, since stress management is an overarching theme I'm always working on. So for the first ten minutes of my commute, instead of turning on any radio or audio book, I cranked up the ol' respiratory system. I breathed in through my nose for about five seconds, then out through my nose for the same amount of time. It sounds so simple, but it's really amazing what can happen when you get a little oxygen flowing through your body. I honestly bounced into work.

(Get a load of my morning green juice below.)

I was successful in a good hearty clear out, that's for sure. I took in some beauty products to work to give away and filled two bags with clothes I no longer love. And I did get the living room surfaces nice and cleared. But as I was clearing out I realized that the breathing thing was just as important to me, if not more.

I can be pretty militant when it comes to time management and productivity and self-improvement. Self-discipline comes really easy to me. Chilling out and learning how to deal with stress is not so innate. Setting aside breathing time in the morning helps me in my ongoing process of learning to let go of trying to make sure everything in my life is on time and on point, and trust that what needs to happen, will. Letting go and taking action will always be in tension with one another, but I'm an activist in no danger of sloth, so this is the direction I need to lean into for the sake of sanity.

The next few weeks (months, years?!) I want to continue to focus on how to be productive and goal-driven and a contributing member of society, without being stressed out. I hate stress, but also slip into it easily. I think I'll keep up the morning breathing, and this next week I'm going to focus on further de-stressing through some new time and project management technique. Woo hoo. It's going to be a wild one for sure.?

Source: http://seattleiteimagery.blogspot.com/2013/01/week-two-intentions-clear-out-chill-out.html

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South Shore Kauai Realtor's Caravan: An ... - Kauai Real Estate

About once a month there is a Realtor?s caravan organized for each specific area of the island.? It gives Realtors an opportunity to view all the new listings.? Yesterday?s caravan focused on the South Shore beginning in cool, breezy Kalaheo and ending in the resort town of Poipu.? The caravan featured six condominiums and two very different residential properties.

The morning caravan started in a beautiful home named ?Kamalani Hale? situated on three acres perched high atop the Kalaheo Hillside. This home should have been named ?Views? because the 180 degree ocean views were simply breathtaking!? The floor to ceiling windows capture stunning ocean views from Poipu to Port Allen and beyond.? At close to 3,000 square feet of interior living space, this three bedroom, three and a half bathroom masterfully crafted home provides a feeling of modern luxury combined with functionality. Of all the properties I visited on caravan, this was my favorite!

From Kalaheo we journeyed to Koloa where we viewed an old plantation home built in 1934.? The four bedroom,?one bathroom home needs a lot of TLC in order to bring it back to it?s original charm of yesteryear, however it?s easy to envision the possibilities.? The property also has a second home, plantation in style, yet built in the early 80?s.? Zoned for three homes, this half acre lot once had a third home, but it has since been demolished.

From Koloa we continued on to Poipu where we visited six condominiums. There were two listings in the ?Hale Kahanalu? building, just 150 steps walk to Poipu Beach.? These units are priced in the mid to upper $200,000 range and you can?t beat the location!? Next, we visited two listings in ?Poipu Sands? and one listing in ?Manualoha?, all located within the Poipu Kai Resort. Poipu Sands #434 was a nice surprise.? It has been completely renovated and is impeccably furnished, not to mention it has the best ocean views you will find from any unit in building four.

Our caravan ended with a delicious luncheon at Poipu?s newest luxury condominium resort, Koloa Landing.? We viewed unit #3402 which has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, 1,076 square feet of interior living space, and a 294 square foot lanai.? This unit is Koloa Landing?s first re-sale.? While it has gorgeous ocean views now, it?s important to note someday those views could be obstructed by the additional buildings planned within the 25 acre resort.? This unit is luxuriously appointed throughout and has central air conditioning and spacious walk in closets; something not often found in condominiums on Kauai.

Mahalo to Title Guaranty Escrow Services, American Savings Bank, and Spotlight 808?who sponsored this month?s South Shore caravan!

If you?d like more information on any of these properties, please call 808-635-1490 or email Kymry@Kymry.com.

A portion of the ocean views as seen from "Kamalani Hale" in Kalaheo A portion of the ocean views as seen from ?Kamalani Hale? in Kalaheo

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The view from Koloa Landing unit #3402 The view from Koloa Landing unit #3402

?

_$$_

Aloha and welcome! Having lived in Hawaii since 1992 and raising her family here, Kymry is your Kauai relocation expert! Kymry fell in love with the beauty of the Garden Isle, especially its people, and quickly decided Kauai would become her permanent home. Having traveled all over the world as a Flight Attendant for Pan Am, Kymry believes Kauai is the most beautiful, tranquil, place on earth which is why she loves her career in real estate. Being able to share the island she loves so much assisting lifelong residents and also newcomers who are looking to call Kauai home is a dream come true. Kymry has earned several Realtor designations/certifications recognized by the National Association of Realtors: *ABR (Accredited Buyers Representative) *GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute) *SFR (Short Sale & Foreclosure Resource) *e-Pro (RE Technology/Social Media) *AHWD (At Home With Diversity) In April, 2011 she appeared on HGTV's real estate reality show, House Hunters; the first episode ever filmed on Kauai. If you are thinking of buying or selling on the beautiful Garden Island, Kymry works with both Buyers and Sellers island wide. She is committed to the essential principles of honesty, integrity, and confidentiality. Testimonials from her clients reflect her dedication, work ethic, market knowledge, personal attention, and the exceptional service she provides every step of the way and beyond. Kymry is available and ready to assist you in achieving your goals and realizing your island dreams! Call: 808-635-1490 or Email: Kymry@Kymry.com

Source: http://www.kauaireale.com/south-shore-kauai-realtors-caravan-an-assortment-of-listings-from-kalaheo-to-poipu

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Pelosi defends altered photo of congresswomen

WASHINGTON (AP) ? House minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday defended an altered picture of Democratic congresswomen that was posted on her Flickr photo-sharing site.

The photo showed four House members who were not in the original picture, which was taken Thursday, when lawmakers were sworn in as members of the 113th Congress. They arrived at the Capitol steps late, and their images were inserted with a computer program.

"It was an accurate historical record of who the Democratic women of Congress are," Pelosi told a news conference. "It also is an accurate record that it was freezing cold and our members had been waiting a long time for everyone to arrive and ... had to get back into the building to greet constituents, family members, to get ready to go to the floor. It wasn't like they had the rest of the day to stand there."

Pelosi said the photo reflected the nation's diversity, because it included women from every community and religious faith.

"So we were pretty excited about it," Pelosi said. "We got a lot of response back from the country, and one I loved was when they said, 'Can the women in Congress hear the people cheering across the country?'"

There are 61 Democratic congresswomen including Pelosi.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pelosi-defends-altered-photo-congresswomen-162254894.html

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SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans Available to California Small ...

By Staff Reports

(Victor Valley)? ? Small, nonfarm businesses in 30 California counties are now eligible to apply for low?interest federal disaster loans from the U.?S. Small Business Administration (SBA).? ?These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by the drought that began on January 1, 2012, in the following primary counties,? announced Alfred?E.?Judd, Director of SBA?s Disaster Field Operations Center-West.

Primary California counties: Amador, Merced, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Ventura and Yolo;

Neighboring California counties: Alpine, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Lake, Los?Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San?Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter and Tuolumne.

?SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster,? Judd said.

Small, nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private, nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $2?million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.

?Eligibility for these loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster only and not on any actual property damage.? These loans have an interest rate of 4% for businesses and 3% for private, nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years, and are available to small businesses and most private, nonprofits without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship,? Judd said.

By law, SBA makes EIDLs available when the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agricultural disaster.? Secretary Tom Vilsack declared this disaster at the request California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.?s designated representative, Mark Ghilarducci, Secretary of California Emergency Management.

Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance.? Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency (FSA) about the U. S.?Department of Agriculture (USDA) assistance made available by the Secretary?s declaration.? However, in drought disasters nurseries are eligible for SBA disaster assistance.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA?s secure Web site at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. ?

Disaster loan information and application forms are also available from SBA?s Customer Service Center by calling SBA toll-free at (800) 659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA?s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.? Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call (800)?877?8339.

The deadline to apply for these loans is August 19, 2013.

Source: http://highdesertdaily.com/2013/01/sba-economic-injury-disaster-loans-california-small-businesses/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sba-economic-injury-disaster-loans-california-small-businesses

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One Direction stars in Bad Lip Reading film spoof

By Kurt Schlosser, TODAY

The pros at Bad Lip Reading have set their sights on the boys of One Direction and made them the stars of a spoof foreign language film called "Shadow Pico."

Set to the visuals of the British band's video for "Gotta Be You," "Pico" dubs phony languages over the top for a dramatic art-house feel.

"They've captivated the world with their music," the intro says. "Now experience One Direction as you've never seen them before. In their first foreign language motion picture." And then, instead of bubbly lyrics about girls and bro-bonding, the gibberish begins.

Turning on the video's closed captioning makes the entire effort all the better, especially when "Ooh, ooh, ooh" is translated as "Ooh, ooh, ooh."

With 82 million views, the real music video is in no danger (yet) of being eclipsed by the spoof's 29,000 views. But Bad Lip Reading does attract a lot of eyes -- this?classic "Twilight" spoof?has 16 million views.

More in TODAY Entertainment:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/12/27/16194492-one-direction-gets-bad-lip-reading-treatment-in-shadow-pico?lite

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Insight: Under siege, Japan central bank wakes up to political reality

TOKYO (Reuters) - Within a day of Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party sweeping to power in elections this month, elite bureaucrats in Japan's central bank rushed to ready what amounted to a surrender offer.

Abe had run his campaign with a relentless focus on economic policy and had called on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to take drastic steps to end the nation's long bout of deflation, or else face a radical makeover at the hands of parliament.

The vote had become an unexpected referendum on the BOJ itself, and the bank had lost.

Senior officials concluded that to preserve the BOJ's scope to act in a future crisis, it needed to move quickly to show it recognized reality, according to people familiar with the hurried deliberations. Abe had won a mandate for more forceful monetary easing, and Japanese taxpayers were frustrated with an economy slipping back into its third recession in five years.

In the early afternoon of December 18, two days after the vote, BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa was to pay a courtesy call on Abe. But even before then, a post-election plan had taken shape: the BOJ would consider the kind of ambitious 2 percent inflation target that Abe had insisted was needed to pull Japan out of nearly two decades of deflation and diminished expectations.

It was an about-face for Shirakawa who, since taking his post in 2008, had argued that by focusing too narrowly on consumer prices, the BOJ could miss signs of an asset price bubble like the one Japan experienced in the late 1980s.

But increasingly his own senior officials and members of the BOJ's policy-setting board were ready to take risks and test unorthodox and unproven measures that Shirakawa had long resisted, such as an unlimited debt-fuelled monetary expansion, officials familiar with their thinking say.

"The LDP's win was just too big, and it won an election calling for a 2 percent inflation target. If that's the will of the people, the BOJ must respect that," said a source familiar with the central bank's thinking. "Otherwise, the BOJ could lose everything, including its independence."

The central bank is now on track to pump 120 trillion yen ($1.4 trillion) into the economy - equivalent to the value of six Googles - even though skeptics argue that this tide of money cannot break Japan's real economic logjam: falling wages.

Instead, the skeptics say, the risk is that investors would end up concluding that Japan needed the central bank to cover its debts - a recipe for a selloff of government bonds, which already amount to twice the size of gross domestic product.

But after Abe's landslide election victory - and years of limited money-printing having failed to revive growth - senior BOJ officials wanted it understood they were ready to join the experiment in what media and investors called "Abenomics", a potentially high-octane mix of fiscal and monetary stimulus.

Abe's victory seemed to establish that millions of Japanese shared his views, people in the bank came to believe.

They felt he now held the trump card in any future standoff with the BOJ over monetary policy - a mandate to amend the BOJ Law in a way that would give the government power to impose a binding target on the central bank, or fire its governor.

BLIND EYE

In a symbol of the political significance of his monetary policy push, Abe scheduled a one-on-one meeting with Shirakawa just hours after setting up a first phone call as prime-minister-elect with the U.S. President Barack Obama.

Two days after the election, the central bank governor visited Abe at the fortress-like headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Abe reminded Shirakawa of his campaign promises. He wanted to see the BOJ sign a "policy accord" that would oblige it to support Abe's reflationary agenda and commit to a 2 percent inflation target, Abe told reporters later.

After the meeting, Shirakawa rushed through a scrum of reporters into his waiting car and declined to say what was discussed. However Abe, in another break with protocol, gave an unusually detailed recounting of the 15-minute meeting.

"The governor just listened," he said.

The next day, the BOJ began a scheduled two-day policy board meeting. The central bank announced its third shot of monetary stimulus in four months by adding another 10 trillion yen to its asset-buying program - essentially committing to create more money to buy government debt.

It marked the fifth time this year that the central bank had expanded asset purchases - its most active year in terms of monetary expansion in a decade.

More significantly, the BOJ also made a direct concession to Abe and pledged to review its existing inflation target of 1 percent at its next scheduled meeting in January.

The BOJ was retreating from the cautious stance of its classically trained boss, Shirakawa, and essentially turning a blind eye to the potential, long-term drawbacks of excessive money printing that he had long warned about.

Only a month earlier, many BOJ officials had preferred to hold off on taking action until the January meeting, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.

Shirakawa, in particular, had been in no mood to act again in 2012, let alone commit to studying a higher inflation target. He had been convinced that the BOJ's monetary easing steps in September and October were enough to stave off risks to the economy for now, the sources said.

LONG & WINDING ROAD

Shirakawa's five-year term ends in April and people close to him say he has no interest in staying on. But decisions taken under his watch over the next few months could influence the central bank's credibility well beyond his departure.

A fan of the Beatles, Shirakawa, 63, has often warned against the risk of an overly loose monetary policy.

He once described Japan's struggle to recover from its late 1980s asset bubble as "The Long And Winding Road", a reference to the plaintive Beatles song. He said rich economies risked repeating Japan's "lost decade" of slow growth if they kept ultra-easy monetary policy in place for too long.

But for the past year, a tight-knit group of officials in the BOJ's Monetary Affairs Department has been nudging the bank in the opposite direction. They favor more aggressive easing, such as a big increase in government bond buying, according to officials with knowledge of those discussions and former central bank officials who remain in close contact with policymakers.

Among the actions now under consideration at the BOJ is an open-ended commitment to buy government bonds or an expansion in the type of assets it purchases, the officials said.

Another idea, floated by board member Koji Ishida, is to nudge rates to zero by scrapping a 0.1 percent interest rate the BOJ pays on excess reserves parked with the central bank.

Proponents argue that such steps would hold down interest rates on bank and corporate borrowing, encourage money to flow to private investors and help weaken the yen.

Anticipation of BOJ action has already pushed the yen to a two-year low against the dollar. Tokyo stock prices have climbed to a 21-month high on the expectation for higher earnings for currency-sensitive exporters like automaker Toyota Motor Corp.

"Markets already expect the BOJ to set a 2 percent inflation target, so the question now is what the central bank would do to achieve it," said Masaaki Kanno, a former central banker and now chief economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo.

"If it wants to influence currency rates, it needs to give markets the impression it is easing aggressively."

Abe has said he will choose a successor to Shirakawa whose views are closer to his own. He has not made up his mind yet on his favored candidate but aides say he may prefer someone with negotiation and management skills, rather than an academic, to oversee the BOJ as it pushes into unknown territory.

PRESSURE REMAINS ON

With the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito, Abe has enough votes in the lower house to overrule the upper house on key votes, including a potential revision of the 1998 BOJ Law that gave the 130-year-old bank its long-awaited independence.

Under this law, the central bank is guaranteed independence to guide monetary policy without political interference and is mandated to pursue price stability. Abe has discussed a law revision to impose a price target on the central bank and add a requirement to maximize job growth to its mandate.

Abe is already using threats of a BOJ Law revision to nudge the central bank into meeting his demands.

Koichi Hamada, a Yale University professor whom Abe admires, said the BOJ would have to accept more legal accountability to achieve its price target and beat deflation.

"Generally speaking, the BOJ is making an effort. But there is hardly any change to its pace of 'too little, too late'," said Hamada, 76, who was appointed a special adviser to Abe's cabinet and also taught Shirakawa at the University of Tokyo.

"It is necessary to amend the BOJ law," he said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

'A TOUGH SPOT'

One challenge now for the BOJ is setting a higher inflation target that is seen as credible. In February, the BOJ said that it would aim to achieve 1 percent price growth.

But Shirakawa, who joined the BOJ during Japan's high inflation years of the early 1970s, and many other officials in the bank have resisted calls for a higher target. For one, Japan has not seen 2 percent inflation in the past two decades. The last time it did was during the real estate and stock market bubble of the late 1980s to early 1990s, when the BOJ was criticized for missing signs of an overheating economy.

Some officials share Shirakawa's doubts over whether further monetary easing will work. Two key metrics - the BOJ's holdings of government debt and the balance of deposits parked with the central bank - are already at record highs, yet the BOJ's pump-priming measures have failed to put an end to deflation.

Nationwide core consumer prices slid 0.1 percent in November from a year earlier after flat growth in October, which followed five straight month of declines.

Another concern for the cautionary wing of the BOJ centers on the unusual structure of Japan's economy. Japan's jobless rate - at 4 percent - is half that of the United States. But wages remain on the decline, down 1.1 percent in November from a year earlier to mark the third straight month of falls.

Unable to fire workers in mass layoffs because of rigid labour rules, Japanese firms are unwilling to raise salaries. Without a rise in wages, the only practical way overall prices could go up would be through higher commodity and fuel costs which would curb consumption, not boost it, the BOJ has argued.

Setting a 2 percent inflation target next month would require the BOJ to awkwardly steer around the arguments that Shirakawa and other officials have long made.

"If the BOJ contradicts too much of what it's been saying all along, that would put its credibility on the line. People will no longer believe what the BOJ says anymore," said Izuru Kato, chief economist at Totan Research Institute in Tokyo.

The BOJ also worries about a potential bond-market backlash. Its ultra-easy policy has pushed down five-year bond yields below 0.2 percent. But some investors balk at buying too many 20-year and 30-year bonds, concerned that Abe's pledge of big fiscal spending would strain Japan's already worsening finances.

Much will depend on Shirakawa's successor and how well the central bank communicates its policy target to investors - an area where Shirakawa has struggled by his own admission.

After the December 20 easing, his aides convinced him to try the kind of visual aid often used on Japanese television - a large flip chart - and to aim his presentation at the TV cameras. An economist suspicious of sound bites, he looked uncomfortable.

"The BOJ is pumping huge amounts of money and easing very aggressively. But that fact isn't understood well perhaps because of our restrained character. There's a huge perception gap," Shirakawa said.

"I hope this chart is broadcast on television and helps more people understand our point," he added.

($1 = 85.9250 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Sumio Ito and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-under-siege-japan-central-bank-wakes-political-084520566--business.html

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NBC seizes ratings lead with football and 'Voice'

NEW YORK (AP) ? Powered by football and "The Voice," NBC took the lead in the ratings last week.

But even football couldn't tackle CBS' indomitable "NCIS," which edged out the Seahawks-49ers clash to become the week's most-watched show. It drew 19.6 million viewers, the Nielsen Co. said Thursday.

In third place was "NCIS: Los Angeles," followed by the season finale of "The Voice." The season finale of Fox's singing competition "The X Factor" ranked 14th.

Among several Christmas specials, "A White House Christmas: First Families Remember" was the most-watched, ranking 20th place.

A preview airing of a new NBC sitcom, "1600 Penn," ranked 23rd with 6.9 viewers. It premieres next month.

Overall for the week, NBC averaged 8.12 million viewers in prime time (4.9 rating, 8 share). CBS ranked second with 7.50 million viewers (4.9 rating, 8 share), while Fox had 5.64 million (3.3 rating, 6 share), ABC had 4.78 million (3.0 rating, 5 share), the CW had 1.43 million (.9 rating, 1 share) and Ion had 1.12 million (.8 rating, 1 share).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with an average of 3.21 million viewers (1.7 rating, 3 share). Telemundo had 1.24 million (0.6 rating, 1 share), TeleFutura had 740,000 (0.4 rating, 1 share), Estrella had 270,000 (0.1 rating, 0 share) and Azteca had 140,000 (0.1 rating, 0 share).

NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.1 million viewers (6.1 household rating, 11 share). ABC's "World News" was second with 7.9 million (5.3 rating, 10 share) and the "CBS Evening News" had 7.0 million viewers (4.6 rating, 9 share).

A ratings point represents 1,147,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.7 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Dec. 17-23, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "NCIS," CBS, 19.59 million; NFL Football: San Francisco at Seattle, NBC, 19.50 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 15.48 million; "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 14.13 million; "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 13.67 million; "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 13.37 million; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 10.95 million; "The OT," Fox, 10.94 million; "Mike & Molly," CBS, 10.79 million; "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 10.54 million.

___

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox is a unit of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by Comcast Corp. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nbc-seizes-ratings-lead-football-voice-185644103.html

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Ho Ho Holy Discount: Vatican tax-free store busy

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Anyone left on your Christmas list just aching for a 65-inch Samsung 3D flat-screen television? Just your luck. The Vatican's duty-free department store has one on sale for ?2,899 ($3,840) ? a nifty savings over the ?3,799 ($5,032) it costs at Italy's main electronics chain Euronics.

Or how about some new luggage for the holidays? The Vatican shop stocks a variety of Samsonite Cordoba Duo carry-ons for ?123, a nice markdown from the ?135 on the Samsonite website. But if a last-minute shopping splurge is in order, the Vatican can also oblige: Take this leather-bound travelling trunk from Florence's "The Bridge" leatherworks, with its five drawers, plaid interior, six wooden hangars and shiny brass buckles.

At ?5,900, it comes with a matching leather golf club bag, just what every monsignor needs under his Christmas tree.

There's a little-known open secret in the Vatican gardens, a few paces behind St. Peter's Basilica and tucked inside the Vatican's old train station: a sprawling, three-story tax-free department store that rivals any airport duty free or military PX, stocking everything from Church's custom grade shoes (?483 a pair) to Baume et Mercier watches (ladies ?1,585, men's Capeland ?5,000).

There's a hitch, however. It's not open to the public, only to Vatican citizens, employees and their dependents, diplomats accredited to the Holy See and (unofficially) their lucky friends who, after stocking up on holiday must-haves, proceed to the checkout with their Vatican connection and the ID card that entitles them to shop there.

To be sure, Rome is no stranger to tax-free shopping. Embassies, nearby military bases and the U.N. food agencies all have commissaries for their employees, where imports of everything from American ice cream to French wine can be had minus the 21 percent sales tax included in list prices in Italy.

The Vatican has that and more, given that it's its own sovereign state ? the world's smallest ? operating in central Rome. At 44 hectares (110 acres), the Vatican city state is the physical home of the Holy See: the pope and governing structure and administration of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican Museum, with its main draw the Sistine Chapel, is the main profit-making enterprise of the Vatican city state, bringing in ?91.3 million in revenue last year alone. But other smaller entrepreneurial endeavors boost the Vatican's coffers as well, including the department store, the tax-free gas station, the stamp and coin collecting office, the Vatican pharmacy and its supermarket.

And in these days of austerity, their profits and bottom line are ever more important to the Vatican.

The Vatican is entitled to run such tax-free enterprises inside its walls based on the Lateran Treaty, the 1929 pact that regularized and regulates the Vatican's relations with Italy. But those regulations also limit the Vatican's customer base, lest all of Rome descend on the supermarket to stock up on Gordon's Gin (?8.50 a liter compared to the ?15 it can run in liquor stores) or Montecristo No. 3 Cuban cigars (box of 25 ?84 ($110.95) compared to $164.95 on www.bestcigarprices.com). About 4,700 people are employed by the Holy See and the Vatican city state; the Vatican's diplomatic corps ? the Holy See has relations with 175 countries ? adds another chunk to the customer base.

Few people outside Rome know the department store exists ? there's no evidence of it on any Vatican website, no photos of its wares, no advertising outside the Vatican walls. Those who do know it exists seem to want to pretend it doesn't since the high-end luxury items on sale aren't necessarily in tune with either the sobriety or the salaries of the Vatican rank-and-file.

In fact, on a recent Thursday morning, nary a collar nor religious habit was in sight as ordinary lay folk milled around the spacious store during December's "extraordinary opening hours" ? extended to accommodate bargain-hunting Christmas shoppers who were rewarded with a wine tasting in the central atrium and piles of Brooks Brothers non-iron shirts and Burbury backpacks to choose from.

"More than the prices, it's the material," said Luciano, a bulky Roman who refused to give his last name as he shopped for an overcoat with his wife and an obliging Vatican friend waiting at checkout. "This one I don't like ? I look like a priest," he muttered as he put the navy blue trench coat back on a hangar.

Cardinal Edmund Szoka, the American who sought to bring some order into the Vatican's finances as head of the Vatican city state, is credited with having made the department store what it is today, moving it into the Vatican's underused train station, a miniature version of Washington's Union station with a sweeping double staircase and glass-front window that frames the dome of St. Peter's a few meters (yards) away.

Szoka said he moved it from the basement of the Vatican government building to the train station for more space, since the station wasn't used anymore for passengers and provided the perfect, airy open space that a shop of its kind would require.

"Our principal motivation in changing the train station building into a department store was mainly for the convenience of our employees, as well as for those who could come into the Vatican and shop there," he said in an email from his home in Michigan. "Naturally, we expected a profit, but that was not the primary motivation."

Szoka retired in 2006, well before the global economic crisis hit. The current leadership of the "Governorato" as the city state administration is called, recently asked all department heads to come up with cost-saving or profit-making initiatives to help the Vatican get through the tough times.

"Any good administrator wants to save what can be saved," said Monsignor Giuseppe Sciacca, the governorato's No. 2. "It seems obvious, necessary."

The Philatelic and Numismatic Office, for example, recently started selling a special limited-edition stamp to help pay for the ?14 million restoration of the Bernini colonnade in St. Peter's Square after corporate sponsorship dried up amid the recession.

Vatican Radio announced in July it would be saving "hundreds of thousands of euros" in energy costs by stopping short -and -medium-wave broadcasts to Europe and the Americas, using other technologies instead.

Perhaps even more than the department store, the Vatican supermarket is a much-sought after perk for Vatican employees, and a boost to the Vatican's bottom line. And at Christmastime, it is as jammed as the department store, with lines snaking through the store and cars taking up valuable parking spaces inside Vatican City as shoppers pile their carts high with panettone, the traditional Italian Christmas cake which is the di riguer gift for Italian holiday parties. Panettone can run ?25 a pop at Roman bakeries; in the Vatican supermarket, a high-end brand runs almost half that.

"The Nutella is just better here," said Maria Grazia Mancini, a Rome municipal worker who was doing a major pre-Christmas shop with her father, a Vatican employee. "The products here are for export ? the same brands but for export, so it's better quality."

While Sciacca is only too pleased to see the Vatican saving money where it can be saved and making it where it can be made, he was adamant that there are no plans to expand the customer base of the Vatican's little-known discount stores. Accords with Italy don't allow it.

"We shouldn't. And we can't," he said.

He spoke on the sidelines of the presentation of the Vatican's 2012 nativity scene, being unveiled Monday night and donated for the first time. The Vatican happily accepted the donated creche from the Italian region of Basilicata after its ?550 million Christmas setup in 2009 was exposed earlier this year during the scandal over leaked Vatican documents.

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ho-ho-holy-discount-vatican-tax-free-store-051014517--finance.html

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