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By Tony Sclafani, msnbc.com contributor

Michael Stewart / Getty Images

Aretha Franklin celebrates her 70th birthday at The Helmsley Hotel on March 24 in New York.

It?s easy to view Aretha Franklin as a national treasure. She?s sung everything from gospel to soul to dance music to pop standards, and she?sung it well. She even lit up President Barack Obama?s Presidential Inauguration with a stirring rendition of ?My Country, ?Tis of Thee.?

But the Queen of Soul, as she?s known, is in fact a mortal and turns 70 on March 25 (a birthday she shares with another larger-than-life pop-music legend Elton John). Franklin came of age singing in church and brought her gospel stylings to the mainstream when she hit it big in the 1960s. She was never as sexy as many of the female singers of her era, nor was she as smooth as the male ones. But what she brought to the table usually outclassed them all: a voice so rich and powerful it virtually defined American soul music.

It?s a voice that influenced generations of singers. With no Aretha, there?s no Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera. For that matter, it?s hard to imagine a lot of male singers without her, such as Luther Vandross or George Michael (with whom she sang a chart-topping duet in 1987).

How to pay tribute to such a soul legend? Make it a point to see her live.

Franklin has had some recent health scares, and health issues purportedly were the reason she backed out of singing at Houston?s funeral. Yet she still soldiers on with her voice in seemingly excellent shape. In light of the deaths of so many of her contemporaries, Franklin is genuinely a survivor, having endured health problems, an abusive husband and financial troubles.

In the next few months, she?s scheduled to play gigs in Ohio, Kentucky and New York. Critics might poke fun at what Franklin wears (see the inauguration clip) or her recent on-and-off marriage plans, but when she starts to sing, you?d be hard pressed to find anyone being critical.

Check out some of her greatest hits below, and vote on your favorite song.

‘Respect’

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‘Chain of Fools’

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‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’

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‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’

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‘Until You Come Back to Me (That?s What I?m Gonna Do)’

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‘Freeway of Love’

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{“contentId”:”10849705″,”totalVotes”:”1646″}

Which is your favorite Aretha song?

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Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/25/10849705-at-70-aretha-is-due-a-lot-of-respect

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Don’t quit your day job just yet.If you are a baby boomer looking to start a home business, there are 5 essentials things you must do first.

Leaving the security of a job with an established 401(k) plan, health insurance or other benefits can create a real tug of war for baby boomers who want to pursue their dreams of owning their own business.

Analyze Your Exit Strategy

At the time of this writing, the youngest of the baby boomers are turning 42 and the oldest are turning 60. No matter where you fall into this group, analyzing and preparing your exit strategy from your job will be crucial to your long-term success as a home business entrepreneur. Do you have adequate savings? If you’re married, will you be able to participate in your spouse’s health insurance?

Create a Financial Plan

How much is your salary now? What are your fixed, variable and frivilous expenses? Creating a solid plan so that you and your family will know exactly what the financial picture will be until your business gets off the ground and starts generating revenue.

Choosing a Business Model and Legal Entity

There are several business models to choose from; home party plans, consulting, and affiliate marketing to name a few. You have to make the decision based on your personality and what you are best-suited for. Choosing a legal entity for your business should be discussed with a tax accountant or your attorney. Options are sole proprietor, LLC or Subchapter S- Corp.

Set Business Benchmarks

You wouldn’t travel across the country without a road map, your business is the same. Setting financial and business-building benchmarks will help you to create a focused plan that will help you to reach your success.

Get a Physical

What does getting a physical have to do with your business? Once you leave your job, most likely your health insurance will change and as unfair as it may be, trying to get new health insurance when in your 40′s, 50′s or 60′s can be difficult. While pursuing your dreams of a home business is something you are probably very passionate about, if you do not have good health to enjoy the rewards of your efforts, then not much else is important.

The baby boomer generation is like no other before it or after it. Technically, we are considered middle-aged, but we are anything but middle-aged in mind, body and spirit. We know there is more meaning to life than a commute to an unrewarding 9-5 job, but there are also important steps we must take first. Planning and preparing for your home business now will lead to less headache’s later on.

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Source: http://affiliatemarketernetwork.ning.com/xn/detail/2706344%3ABlogPost%3A66964

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121 Narbonne Ave, London, Greater London SW4 9LQ, UK

Description

A fabulous family ‘home from home’ period house in Narbonne Avenue, in South London (SW4). This is a terraced 5 bedroom house situated on a quiet residential road but only a short walk away from the fashionable restaurants, bars and boutiques of Abbeville Road. This is a large property with double reception room and spacious eat-in kitchen with French doors to a private and secluded garden. The upper storeys of the house offer accommodation in 5 bedrooms and 3 luxury bathrooms. The top floor is well set up as independent accommodation with a large bedroom/sitting room and luxury ensuite shower room/wet room perfect for teenagers and visitors. The property is a 5 minute walk to Clapham South Tube Station which is in the northern line. The journey to the Olympic Park takes 45 minutes door to door.

Details

Source: http://www.loot2012rentals.com/adverts/view/841/house/121-narbonne-ave-london-greater-london-sw4-9l/fabulous-home-from-home-period-house-south-lo

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When it comes to using your smartphone in the car, it's a tricky proposition. Hands-free is a must. And after that, it really becomes a point of actually having to use your phone — or in this case, the Jabra Freeway speakerphone — as little as possible. Can you place or answer a call without touching anything? When you do have to touch something, how many motions does it take to perform an action? Are those actions easily memorized? And, at the end of the day, does the darn thing just work?

Jabra is a long-recognized name in Bluetooth accessories. But it's been some years since I've used one of their speakerphones (read our review of the Motorola T505 I've been using for as long as I can remember). Switching to the Freeway is a nice change in design. Clipped to the sun visor, it looks a lot like an old-school oversized garage door opener that curves back around the front. 

Let's not beat around the bush here: The Jabra Freeway has quickly become my speakerphone of choice. Read on to find out why.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ZQ8U7_4Rqxc/story01.htm

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Posted by kennycheow on March 22, 2012

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Source: http://www.vijayganesh.com/seo-company-montreal-creates-what-you-are-promoting-accessible-in-online/

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Associated Press Sports

updated 8:42 p.m. ET March 20, 2012

TURIN, Italy (AP) -Mirko Vucinic scored in extra time to give Juventus a 2-2 draw with AC Milan on Tuesday and send his team to the Italian Cup final with a 4-3 win in the two-game series.

Getting a rare start in his final season with Juventus, 37-year-old Alessandro Del Piero put the hosts ahead in the 28th minute and Algeria left back Djamel Mesbah equalized for Milan in the 51st.

Second-half Milan substitute Maxi Lopez silenced the Juventus Stadium with a powerful shot from the edge of the area in the 81st to draw the clubs level on aggregate but Vucinic then found the top corner from 25 yards in the 96th to put Juve through.

“It was a great game,” Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo said. “We’re happy to reach the final against a squad as great as Milan. We’ve attained our first objective of the season.”

In the May 20 final, Juventus will face either Napoli or Siena, which meet Wednesday with Siena holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg.

While Milan holds a four-point lead over Juve at the top of Serie A, Juve holds the edge head-to-head this season with a win and a draw in each competition.

Juventus remained undefeated in all competitions this season.

Both sides rested their first-choice goalkeepers, with Juventus using Marco Storari in place of Gianluigi Buffon and Milan calling on Marco Amelia for Christian Abbiati.

Milan threatened early with Zlatan Ibrahimovic but it was an effort from former Milan standout Pirlo that set up the opening goal.

Having transferred to Juve before this season, Pirlo caught Milan’s defense off guard for a split second and delivered an excellent pass for Stephan Lichtsteiner, who held off a defender to slide in the cross for Del Piero to dribble around Amelia and score.

First-year Juventus coach Antonio Conte has found little room for Del Piero this season and club president Andrea Agnelli announced in October that this – Del Piero’s 19th year in Bianconero – would be his final season with the team.

Perhaps sensing this might be his last chance to shine before his home fans, Del Piero leaped in joy and stuck his tongue out to celebrate his goal.

Juve fans chanted “There’s only one captain” as the half wore on, and again when Del Piero exited midway through the second half.

Perhaps with upcoming matches against Roma and Barcelona in mind, Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri replaced Ibrahimovic with Lopez to start the second half.

Just as it seemed the match was heading toward a draw, Mesbah scored with a diving header following a long pass from Philippe Mexes after being left unmarked by Simone Pepe and then Lopez gave Milan the lead.

Marco Borriello had a chance for Juventus in the 86th but couldn’t finish off a counterattack and the match entered extra time.

In the 93rd, Amelia did well to stop Juventus midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini but three minutes later Vucinic calmly controlled the ball and had time to line up a long shot that gives Juve a chance at its record 10th Italian Cup title.

Juventus and Roma currently share the record with nine cups each.

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

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Lionel Messi broke Barcelona’s all-time scoring record by scoring a hat trick in the defending Spanish champions’ game against Granada on Tuesday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44461168/ns/sports-soccer/

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) ? When Taiwanese security personnel detained a suspected spy for China at a top secret military base last month, they may have had a sense of deja vu.

Air force Capt. Chiang ? he was identified only by his surname ? was the fourth Taiwanese in only 14 months known to have been picked up on charges of spying for China, from which the island split amid civil war 63 years ago. While Taiwan’s Defense Ministry did not disclose details of his alleged offense, his base in the northern part of the island hosts the air force’s highly classified radar system and U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles, both vital to the island’s aerial defense.

Chiang’s arrest followed that of Maj. Gen. Lo Hsieh-che, who had access to crucial information on Taiwan’s U.S.-designed command and control system, and civilian Lai Kun-chieh, who the Defense Ministry says tried without success to inveigle Patriot-related secrets from an unnamed military officer. A fourth alleged spy was detained on non-defense-related charges.

The cases show that China is seeking information about two systems that are integral to Taiwan’s defenses and built with sensitive U.S. technology. A major breach could make Taiwan more vulnerable to Chinese attack.

Though relations between the two have warmed in recent years, Beijing has never recanted a vow to retake the island, by force if necessary.

Information about the U.S.-supplied defense systems could also help the People’s Liberation Army understand other U.S. defenses. Taiwanese officials, however, say their systems are secure, and U.S. experts say American secrets will remain protected in any case.

The possibility that Taiwan might give up military secrets is certainly a worry for the U.S., its most important foreign partner.

Despite shifting recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, Washington continues to sell the island sophisticated military equipment, and sees it as an element in a string of Asian defense relationships that stretches from South Korea to Australia. Any confirmed leak of U.S. defense secrets from Taiwan to China could undermine U.S. willingness to continue providing military equipment and technology to the island.

“We are concerned whenever this type of incident occurs,” a U.S. defense official said in an email response to an Associated Press request for comment on the recent espionage incidents. “However, Taiwan has taken aggressive steps in the last year to protect itself from intelligence threats.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

China and Taiwan have been spying on each other for decades, and U.S. intelligence agencies have also been active on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including sharing sensitive mainland-related data with Taiwan. But the recent arrests represent a big upsurge in both the seriousness and quantity of Taiwan spy cases compared with previous years.

At the heart of the China’s Taiwan espionage efforts are two systems with substantial U.S. technology ? the Lockheed Martin and Raytheon-built Patriot missile defense system and the Lockheed-designed Po Sheng command and control system.

The Patriot uses sophisticated radar to track incoming aerial threats, then launches high-performance missiles to bring them down. The Po Sheng network ? the Chinese name means Broad Victory ? allows Taiwan’s army, air force and navy to exchange battlefield information in real time. That is a big advantage in coordinating responses to the attack China has promised if Taiwan ever moves to make its de facto independence permanent.

Defense expert Arthur Ding of Taiwan’s Institute for International Relations said successful penetration of the Patriot system could wreak havoc with Taiwan’s air defenses, a key component in turning back any future Chinese attack.

“China wants radar data so they can develop countermeasures,” he said. “If you have this data you can jam the system or redirect its missiles.”

Former Taiwan Deputy Defense Minister Lin Chong-pin said it is not surprising that China was targeting the Patriot and Po Sheng systems.

“These are several of our key capabilities which have been helped by the U.S.,” he said. “They are the main obstacles to seizing Taiwan by force.”

Deputy Defense Minister Andrew Yang agreed, calling Patriot and Po Sheng “a critical Taiwanese asset.” But he told The AP, “The systems have not been compromised.”

Beijing’s biggest Po Sheng catch to date was almost certainly Maj. Gen. Lo, described by local media at the time of his arrest 14 months ago as the most effective Chinese spy on Taiwan since the 1960s, when a deputy defense minister was picked up in a sweep of communist agents.

Lo headed the army command’s communications and information office, and according to Taiwan’s defense ministry, he was recruited by the Chinese as a spy in 2004 when he was a military attache based overseas.

Taiwanese news reports say that Lo was arrested on the heels of U.S. surveillance, which determined that he had been recruited by a sultry female spy while serving in Bangkok. The reports said Lo had been blackmailed into providing Beijing with secrets involving electronic warfare and overall strategic planning.

The Defense Ministry says Lo’s exposure to Po Sheng was limited. Last July he was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on espionage charges.

Like Lo, Capt. Chiang had access to sensitive military secrets. Taiwanese news reports said he passed information about an early warning radar system through a Taiwanese businessman working in China.

Citing unidentified military sources, Taiwan’s Apple Daily newspaper described the system as a joint Taiwan-U.S. air defense called “yellow net” that can track Chinese missiles launched at the island.

The defense ministry has acknowledged that Chiang had worked at a ground command center in northern Taiwan, without elaborating on what he did there.

The Apple Daily said officials concluded that a major motive for his alleged spying had been a desire to get money to impress his girlfriend with frequent visits to expensive nightclubs.

Two former U.S. government officials familiar with American defense sales to Taiwan said that despite some Taiwanese media reports, China’s recent espionage activity on the island does not threaten the integrity of U.S. defense technology. They said Washington withholds sensitive information like sofnd equips highly classified electronic components with anti-tamper devices.

Still, more than just U.S. technology is at stake when Chinese spies target Taiwanese defense networks, one of the former officials said.

“How Po Sheng is used, the network layouts, what systems are integrated into the network and what are not, all this would be very useful for the Chinese to know,” he said.

This kind of knowledge ? which would not necessarily compromise U.S. technology ? could help the Chinese pinpoint weaknesses in the island’s overall defense alignment.

While insisting that China’s espionage efforts had not undermined Taiwan’s ability to defend itself, Yang, the deputy defense minister, said they showed that China has never let up on trying to steal Taiwan’s most vital military secrets, despite Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s recent moves to try to lower tensions across the Taiwan Strait amid rapidly improving commercial and political relations.

“Nothing has really changed,” Yang said. “Beijing has continued its espionage activities despite the improvement in ties.”

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-03-21-AS-Taiwan-Spy-Surge/id-a98753c05f3e425da4c7bc1fae337c59

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I do not think anyone would disagree that we live in an ever-growing, litigious society these days.? A society?that sees the development of new reasons to sue each other on a regular basis.? The very concept of suing someone for posting slanderous comments on their website or social media page did not even exist 30 years ago, yet we hear stories about this type of scenario all the time today. ?So, how do you ensure that your clients have the best protection possible when it comes to their personal assets?

ALWAYS offer a personal umbrella.? Personal umbrellas are not just for the wealthy anymore!

Very rarely would the existing limits for someone?s home, auto and personal liability suffice in the event of a law suit due to slanderous comments being posted online, an inexperienced driver that causes serious injury to another driver on the road, or any of the many other situations that can occur.

The larger the assets, or the more familiar a face is in society, the more reasons there are for obtaining more coverage under a personal umbrella.? There are additional coverages that your insureds? primary underlying policies may not even respond to or offer, such as extra defense costs that become crucial in the face of a law suit or injury.? These coverages on a personal umbrella policy are intended to be ?activated? once the limits of your insureds? underlying policies have been exhausted.? If dealing with a law suit, your insureds? underlying liability limits could be exhausted almost immediately.?? The price for these extra coverages is nominal, especially when you consider the amount of additional coverage and peace of mind your insureds are receiving for this price.

Most personal umbrella carriers have underlying limit requirements when it comes to offering a quote to your insured, and can vary depending on the company.? Be sure to discuss with your J.M. Wilson underwriter what their company?s underlying requirements are to make sure your client is in compliance with these guidelines.

High risk individuals like public celebrities need coverage, too!? But, you may have a hard time finding standard markets that will write them, especially if there are prior losses or poor MVR?histories in the household.? That is where JM Wilson can really help your higher risk clients.? We have access to a great personal umbrella market that caters to either the great driver, or the not so great driver.? Maybe you have a local celebrity or public official that is in need of coverage.? We can help with that, too!? With both admitted and non-admitted personal umbrella products available, please be sure to discuss your next potential risk with one of our knowledgeable and friendly personal lines underwriters.? We can point you in the right direction and help you get the best product for your clients.? We can also supply you with great examples to share with your clients that reiterate the importance of the additional coverages that a personal umbrella provides.

About the Author : Stacey Kiser, Personal Lines / Garage Manager

Stacey has been a?part of?J.M. Wilson?for over six years and currently serves as the Personal Lines Department? Manager.? She oversees the day-to-day activities of the Personal Lines?team in addition to the garage underwriters.? She also maintains her own book of business for both departments.? She loves the variety of her job and that every day poses new challenges and opportunities to solve problems.? In her free time, Stacey loves to paint, draw, write music, play the piano, and sing.

Connect with Stacey on LinkedIn!

Disclaimer This article is for informational purposes only.? There is no legal advice being suggested or proffered.? The author assumes no responsibility or liability for the actions taken or not taken by the readers based upon such information.? This article is the opinion of the author and is not supported or endorsed by J.M. Wilson.? It should not be relied upon and may contain inaccuracies or content may have changed over time, contact your underwriter for the most current and accurate information.? Any comments or responses are the opinions of their authors.? Content on this site is believed to be covered under Fair Use.

Copyright 2012 J.M. Wilson Corporation

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