Tax season is one of the most dreaded times of the year for most people. To forego the added expense of hiring someone to prepare their taxes for them, people often opt to do their taxes themselves, which can lead to numerous errors like forgetting to include their Social Security number. One common mistake, that is costing people money in their pocket, is missing potential tax deductions. Here’s a little cheat sheet of the 7 most overlooked tax deductions to help you for the upcoming tax season. As far as forgetting to input your Social Security number, you’re on your own on that one.

1. Donations

Most people remember to include their checks and payroll deductions when calculating their potential tax deductions from charitable contributions for the year. However, many often overlook the fact that they can write off certain costs accrued while doing charitable work. Even if your only donation for the year was the time spent working at a soup kitchen, there are certain things you can write off like travel expenses to the soup kitchen site and expenses accrued, like buying supplies, food and ingredients, for your charitable work. Just don’t try to write off the time spent volunteering by putting a value to your charitable work.

2. Eco-Friendly Tax Credits

Did you know that your concern for the environment can be rewarded in the form of potential tax credits? Switching home appliances with Energy Star products, improving your home’s insulation and installing qualified roofing products that help reflect the sun’s rays can earn you tax credits. The next time you’re looking to improve your home or upgrade your kitchen appliances, make sure you check out EnergyStar.gov for more information about earning tax credits for energy efficiency.

3. Homeowner Tax Deductions and Credit

Home-buyer tax credit can be a huge tax break, but for first-time home buyers, it can be overlooked. First-time home buyers who purchase a home within the United States, and long-time residents who have been living in the same home for a certain time period can qualify for home-buyer tax credit. Certain restrictions, like if the purchase price of the home is over $800,000, can make you ineligible for this tax credit. Be sure to check IRS.gov to see if you qualify for this credit for the upcoming period.

4. Costs for Looking for a Job

For those suffering the unfortunate event of losing a job, there are potential tax breaks that can be taken advantage of during the hunt for a new job. Unfortunately, those looking for their first job do not qualify, but those who are searching for a position to do the same type of work from their previous job can deduct certain job-hunting costs. These costs include:

• Travel fees if a potential job is away from home.
• Food and lodging if you are forced to be away from home.
• Fees for signing up with an employment agency.
• Money spent advertising yourself to potential employers such as expenses for making resumes, business cards and postage spent.

5. Moving Expenses for a First Job

Those looking for their first job do not qualify for tax deductions related to looking for a job, but they do have the opportunity for a potential tax break if they find a job away from home. If your first job is at least 50 miles away from your current residence, you can deduct the cost of relocating to a new home for your first job. Deductions include travel expenses and the cost of moving household items to your new residence.

6. Health Insurance Deductions

While one of the disadvantages of business owners and the self-employed is missing out on health benefits that many company workers enjoy, they have the opportunity to deduct the cost of health insurance for themselves and their families. In other words, they can create their own health benefits with this tax deduction. If you were unaware of this potential tax deduction, make sure you speak to a tax professional to get more information about how you can write-off money spent on health insurance premiums.

7. Self-Employment Tax Deductions

Many people who have lost their jobs have made a career shift, taking them down the path of the self-employed. For those unfamiliar with being their own boss, certain self-employment tax deductions can be easily overlooked. One example of an additional tax deduction that tends to be overlooked is using a portion of the home exclusively for business. If this portion of the home is regularly used for business purposes, you can deduct a portion of the rent, real estate taxes, utilities, repairs, insurance and mortgage interest.

Bottom Line

If you were unaware of these potential tax deductions and credits, be sure to consult a tax professional to see how you can maximize your tax deductions and credits for the upcoming tax period. Also be sure to visit IRS.gov for more information about these tax deductions and credits, as certain rules and restrictions apply, and can change from year to year.

7 Of The Most Overlooked Tax Deductions is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

Whether you’re dealing with a mountain of debt or trying to save money for your retirement, there are numerous circumstances that can force someone to change his or her spending habits. Frugal living is typically viewed in a negative light, where the word “sacrifice” becomes synonymous with “suffering.” However, this does not have to be the case. Here are 10 frugal living tips to achieve happiness on a tight budget.

1. Keep Track of Your Spending

If you’re planning to live on a tight budget, you need to start by keeping track of all your expenses. From car repairs to that cup of coffee you buy every morning, everything must be recorded. It’s easy to lose track of how much you spend in any given week. The next thing you know, you are looking at a credit card bill that is well outside your means. So, you pay the minimum payment, which is another no-no, and the cycle of perpetual debt begins. Keeping better track of your spending can help you avoid wasting money on unnecessary expenses.

2. Change Your Spending Habits

Now that you’re keeping track of what you’re spending your money on, look through your monthly expenses and start trimming the fat. This is where people begin to think that frugal living is a complete downer compared to a lifestyle of superfluous spending. Don’t think about limiting yourself on the things you want, start thinking about cutting out the things you don’t need or waste money on. Avoiding name brand items, buying in bulk, and buying used or refurbished items are just a few examples to help you save and change your spending habits.

3. Monitor Your Money

Many people are guilty of not knowing how much money they are carrying in their pocket or purse on a daily basis. Even worse, many people are guilty of not knowing how much money they have in their bank account. How are you supposed to follow a budget if you don’t even know what you are working with? What if you dropped some cash without even knowing it? Finding random cash in your pocket is the best feeling in the world, but you should be taking better care of your money if you plan on living on a tight budget.

4. Carry a Coin Purse

Want to live happy on a tight budget? Start carrying a coin purse, and stop treating loose change like it’s the plague. Most people become annoyed with fishing through their pockets for change, so they just pay with large bills and get more loose change that they don’t want. Keep those coins organized with a coin purse. If you still refuse to pay with exact change, just stuff the coins in the coin purse and empty it into a jar when you get home. When the jar is full, take it to a coin counter at your local grocery and exchange it for cash or a gift card.

5. Give Yourself an Allowance

Limit yourself to a set amount of spending cash per week, like $100, and only withdraw that amount from your bank account. Stretch that weekly allowance as far as you can, and if you spend it all, don’t withdraw more money until it’s time for your weekly withdrawal. Giving yourself an allowance will help you develop better spending habits to help you save money for when it counts.

6. Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle

Yes, your health can play a factor in how much money you’re spending. One of the best frugal living tips anyone can follow is to get in better shape. Those who smoke, consume too much alcohol, have poor eating habits, are out of shape or are overweight tend to spend more money than a person who is living a healthy lifestyle. If you are in shape, you will eat less. If you quit smoking and drinking, you aren’t wasting money on alcohol or cigarettes. If you jog, walk or run on a regular basis, you are giving yourself an activity that will make you healthier and hardly costs any money.

7. Look for Ways to Earn on the Side

While you don’t necessarily have to take up a second job or even a part-time gig, finding ways to earn money on the side is a frugal living tip that will help you reach your retirement goals, or give you more spending money. Earning money on the side will also keep you preoccupied so that you feel less tempted to waste money, and what better way to live happily on a tight budget than to spend time earning money rather than spending it.

8. Stop Impulse Buying

Never walk into a store and purchase something without thinking about it first. Frugal living requires you to consider all purchases with at least a 24-hour timeframe. If you still feel compelled to have the item in question after 24-hours, then it might be worth buying.

9. Never Buy Anything at Full Price

Have you ever purchased something, only to see it go on sale a month later? If you find an item, and followed the suggestion in tip #8, make sure that the item you must have is at least on sale. If it’s not, then wait till it goes on sale before you buy it. Hopefully, by the time the item goes on sale, you’ll no longer feel compelled to buy it, thus saving even more money in the long run.

Another useful tip would be to only allow yourself to purchase something if you are able to find a coupon for it. Websites like CoupounMountain.com provide free coupons you can use for online purchases. This is another great way to help you curb your shopping impulses and practice frugal living habits.

10. Change the Way You Eat Out

Giving up on restaurant dining and eating out may be a good tip to save money, but it probably won’t make you very happy. Instead of giving up on it completely, try changing the way you eat out. Always keep an eye out for promotions or deals. Restaurants tend to offer discounted meal prices during off hours, so try eating earlier or later than usual to save. Scan the appetizer section and see if you can turn an item into an entrée. Many times, a restaurant will have an appetizer and an entrée that are virtually the same, only the appetizer is a bit smaller and comes at a cheaper price. Also make sure you take advantage of any coupons you receive in the mail, or print your own from online.

10 Frugal Living Tips To Happiness On A Tight Budget is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

2. Possible Penalties – Whoever is at fault, they could still charge you interest for anything you owe.  It may not be fair but that’s just how it goes.
3. Refund – Most people get a refund, so if you don’t file as soon as possible, you are giving out an interest free loan.
4. Changes to Your Accounts After You Do Your Taxes – After you file your taxes, you might find out that you make changes to your 401k or IRA accounts (contribute more to stay under a certain tax bracket, or if you are ineligible for Roth IRA contribution but you added funds this year etc).  Filing last minute might not give you the necessary time to make those changes.
5. Coming up with Payment – If you find out that you owe money, you have no time to come up with payment if you file last minute.
6. You May Underestimate the Time it Takes to File – Did you get married, bought a house or change jobs last year?  These events could make your taxes much more complicated.  Filing taxes doesn’t always take 15 minutes.
7. Not All Tax Forms May Be Available – It’s much easier these days with all tax forms available online, but which ones do you need and how do you fill them out?  Are you really sure you know exactly what’s needed and that they will be available at your finger tips when you need it urgently?
8. You Could Need More Information – You almost never have all the documents ready when you file your taxes.  It would really suck when it’s 3 hours before deadline and you have to find your accountant to reprint your W2.
9. Post Offices May Close On Time – It’s pretty funny when people expect the post office to open late just so you can postmark your mail before the deadline.  Don’t expect someone to work late just because you are lazy.
10. Your Computer May Crash – Most of us can probably relate to working on something when the computer all of a sudden crashes.  All saved work is gone.  Forever.  (True story: I even had to redo something 4 times before because my computer kept crashing.)
11. You Forgot You Changed Computers – Many people change laptops but never remember that their old tax information is in the old one.  When you file your taxes last minute, expect a mad scramble.
12. The Laptop That Has All Your Information is at Work – Actually, it was at your previous work place as you changed jobs.
13. Unexpected Things Happen – You may get sick or some emergency may come up.  Don’t be sipping on medicine and trying to punch in all the numbers in your calculator at the same time.
14. Printing The Stupid Return – My tax accountant told me that in the old days, she had customers that spent 2 hours just printing the tax returns on ink jet printers.  Can you imagine the stress level at 10:00pm on April 15th if they were printing their return?
15. You Overpay for Advice – Whether it’s Taxcut, TurboTax or your accountant, expect to pay extra for advice.  When you are in a time crunch, there’s no time to figure out how to get the best deal for the expertise.

15 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t File Your Taxes the Last Minute is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

It took two years to reach this amazing milestone from the time I first arrived at LGEUS as an HE SCM. When I first came here in 2010, the market share of LG 3D TV was hovering below 5%, which really hurt my pride. However, things began to turn around last year when we introduced the new models of Cinema 3D TV with values far distinguished from our competitors.

Early this year, I could sense that we were on the right path at CES where our new models generated great responses for their superb design, image quality and performance, and left our competitors in the dust. When they were released in the U.S. market early this year, the new products made a splash among consumers and the market share began to show uptick thanks to ravish compliments from major media outlets. LG finally overtook our competitors around Black Friday, which marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the country.

At last in November, LG 3D TV surpassed the 50% mark in the U.S. market share, overpowering our competitors as the product favored by consumers. I realized that – and I am sure our competitors must have as well – it is useless to flood airwaves with ad campaigns or make greatest sales pitch at the store, unless the product itself is a real deal.

LG Cinema 3D TV, Takes the No. 1 Spot in the U.S. Market is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

At least 2 Number of retailers subjected to protests by employees upset that their Thanksgiving dinners will be ruined because they have to work that night. Nearly 200,000 online signatures have been collected in an online petition opposing Target’s midnight opening; workers are also protesting the midnight opening of Best Buy. Employees of Toys R Us and Walmart, which are both opening on Thursday evening hours before midnight, aren’t bothering to protest holiday hours—perhaps because workers know there’s no prayer the corporate bosses will change plans if it means hurting sales.

5 Percent that shoppers would save, on average, by waiting until after Cyber Monday to purchase Consumer Reports-recommended TVs and cameras, according to an analysis of price fluctuations during last year’s holiday season.

9.5 Average percentage discount off the sticker price for new cars purchased on Black Friday—supposedly the best day in all 2011 to buy a car.

12 Number of days that a young couple in Florida is camping out on the concrete sidewalk in front of a Best Buy in order to be the first in line for Black Friday sales.

(MORE: 6 Black Friday Secrets Those Deal Sites Won’t Tell You About)

12:30 Time (a.m.) that Macy’s stores in Massachusetts will open in the wee hours of Black Friday/Thanksgiving night. Nationally, Macy’s is opening at midnight, but because of blue laws in Massachusetts and other states, employees are prohibited from working before midnight on Thanksgiving. Because that leaves no time for stores to prepare for Black Friday, opening times have been adjusted.

17 Percentage increase in frequency of promotional e-mails sent by retailers to shoppers in early November, compared to a year earlier, according to Internet marketing firm Responsys.

20 Number of years that Buy Nothing Day has been celebrated (by some) the day after Thanksgiving as an anti-consumerism alternative to Black Friday. For the big anniversary this year, the Buy Nothings are encouraging consumers to really try to consume less—perhaps through a Buy Nothing Christmas rather than just a single Buy Nothing Day.

24 Days before Black Friday that Amazon’s Black Friday deals page went live.

26 Number of hours in a row Toys R Us stores will be open, from 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night until 11 p.m. on the evening of Black Friday.

30 Approximate size of each group of shoppers allowed into Target stores at a time when the doors open for Black Friday; the system is in place to avoid a dangerous, chaotic stampede of consumers rushing into stores at the stroke of midnight. After 10 or 20 seconds, another group of 30 will be allowed inside.

(MORE: Black Thursday: Will Shoppers Really Show Up at Stores on Thanksgiving Night?)

17, 44, 55 Various percentages gathered in surveys forecasting the proportion of American consumers who will actually shop over Black Friday weekend. A survey from the NPD Group has it that just 17% of consumers will start their shopping on Thanksgiving weekend this year. A Discover Financial poll is more optimistic for retailers, indicating that 55% of consumers will take advantage of Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday deals. The Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey, meanwhile, says hat 44% of consumers are likely to shop on Black Friday of 2011, down from 47% last year and 52% in 2009. In yet another poll, from last year, less than one-quarter (24%) of consumers said they’d be physically shopping in stores on Black Friday.

34 vs. 70 According to another survey, 34% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to physically go shopping on Black Friday, whereas 70% said they’re somewhat likely to shop online for gifts that day.

90 Percentage of Black Friday shoppers who will be buying goods for themselves or their families that day; only 10% of survey respondents said they’d be shopping to purchase gifts for others.

300 Markdown, in dollars, for the Blackberry Playbook tablet at Staples on Black Friday; normally $499, it’ll sell for $199 (until it’s sold out).

30,000 Height in the air, in feet, at which airline passengers will be encouraged to go shopping starting on FlyBuy Wednesday, a new promotion running from the day before Thanksgiving through January 2, 2012, during which fliers get 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi access on planes—as well as access to special deals from more than a dozen online retailers.

(MORE: Holiday Price War: Hot Market for e-Readers Under $100, Tablets Under $200)

60 million Estimated number of smartphones that’ll be used by shoppers over Black Friday weekend; some 21 million of those consumers plan on making purchases via smartphones over the weekend.

152 million On the high end, the projected total number of consumers who plan on shopping over Black Friday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s about half the population of the U.S.! But, the NRF survey clarifies, only 74 million say they’ll definitely hit the stores, while the rest will wait to see if the sales (and consumer moods) are conducive to shopping. Also, this is a projection of shoppers over the entire weekend, not necessarily Black Friday itself.

Black Friday 2011: By the Numbers is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

An artist’s rendering of the Mars rover as it might appear on the planet.

Despite that goal, space agency officials behind the $2.5 billion rover, formally known as the Mars Science Laboratory, downplayed expectations that the rover’s chemical sensors would detect Martians, even in the form of microbes.

“We’re on the hot seat here. We don’t want to promise more than we can deliver,” mission scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., said at a briefing Tuesday.

Still, Grotzinger said, “I would be surprised if we didn’t find something that looks like a formerly habitable environment.”

Weather permitting, Curiosity will lift off Saturday at 10:02 a.m. ET aboard an Atlas V rocket on an eight-month trip to Mars.

The 1,982-pound rover is the size of a small car. It will explore the 96-mile-wide Gale Crater, which is a suspected former lake bed with a 3-mile-high mound in its center.

“Looking for signs of life on Mars has been a 40-year mission,” NASA astrobiology chief Mary Voytek said as she noted the Viking lander missions of the mid-1970s.

In 2004, the rover Opportunity discovered crater layers left by water, an ingredient for life that has since been seen by other orbiters and landers.

“We’re now looking for other conditions necessary for life,” Voytek said.

Curiosity will explore Gale Crater’s basin for the first 98 weeks of its mission, equal to a Martian year. It will examine clay layers likely left behind by a lake several billion years ago.

The rover will blast and analyze rock samples with a chemistry-sensing laser, “like an arm that can reach out 20 feet away,” says David Blake of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. A drill-equipped robot arm will deliver closer samples to the chemistry lab inside the rover for analysis.

Although only the first two years of the mission have been approved, Curiosity will roam Mars powered by a nuclear battery rated to last at least 14 years. Like previous NASA deep-space missions, the rover battery has been tested for impact in the event of a launch disaster.

Following that mission, the rover will likely ascend the 3-mile-high mound at the crater’s center, moving at about a half-mile an hour on six wheels, looking for sulfur-rich sands left behind by receding lake levels. “All in one place, probably the entire early history of Mars” resides inside Gale Crater, said NASA’s Ashwin Vasavada.

Some scientists held out hope for Martians. If a “creature came up and banged us on the head, we don’t want to ignore it,” said chemist Steven Benner of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., who spoke at the NASA rover briefing on Tuesday.

“But that is pretty far down on the likely list.”

Mars rover to explore crater for more clues is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

Holding power is a “curse, not a blessing,” yet most Egyptians retain “absolute confidence” in the army, Mukhtar El Moula, a member of the ruling military council, said at a press conference in Cairo today. Voting will start on schedule on Nov. 28, with the army helping police to ensure security, and a new government should be in place by then, he said.

The violence in Cairo and other cities including Alexandria has left at least 38 people dead in the past week, state-run Nile News said today. It threatens to derail the parliamentary election and undermine government attempts to secure financing for an economy still struggling to recover from the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service today cut Egypt’s credit rating to B+, four steps below investment grade. It cited renewed violence amid a “highly polarized political landscape” that has weakened public finances and will lead to further declines in international reserves. An auction of local debt today raised less than half the target amount while yields surged to record levels.

The army council’s chief, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, promised on Nov. 22 to replace the current Cabinet and hold presidential elections by the end of June that will complete the transfer of power to civilians.

Life ‘Normal’

El Moula said today that the army hasn’t fired at the protesters who have occupied Cairo’s Tahrir Square for the past week, and instead acted to break up clashes between them and police. Outside Tahrir, life in Egypt is “normal,” he said.

Tear gas filled roads leading from Tahrir Square late yesterday. Red-eyed protesters, many wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from the tear gas, carried the wounded out of Mohammed Mahmoud street, one of the thoroughfares leading off the plaza that has been the focus of clashes.

Security forces and protesters reached an agreement to end fighting there, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported today. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the agreement would hold.

“Leave! Leave means go!” protesters in Tahrir chanted, referring to Tantawi. “Down with military rule!”

‘Betrayed’ By Army

“We want the transfer of power to a national salvation government,” said Omar Kamel, who was among the protesters to spend the night in the square. “We don’t want the military council in charge any more. People feel betrayed by an army they trusted.”

United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay condemned the “clearly excessive use of force” by police. Pillay said she urged authorities to end the “apparent improper use of tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.”

Health Ministry official Hisham Sheeha told state television that at least 350 people were injured yesterday, most suffering from gas inhalation, and about 3,000 had been injured since the start of the unrest.

A survey published by the Brookings Institution and Zogby International on Nov. 21 found that 43 percent of Egyptians believe that the military rulers are seeking to slow or reverse the gains of the uprising against Mubarak. The study was conducted among 3,000 people in five Arab countries last month, and cited a margin of error of 1.8 percent.

Generals Apologize

Military council members Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Assar and Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Hijazi apologized on behalf of the council for the violence in Tahrir Square, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported yesterday. Interior Minister Mansour El-Essawi has suggested postponing the country’s first round of parliamentary elections, Al-Jazeera news channel said.

“The key to resolving the present crisis and minimizing risks of a repeat is to quickly transfer power from the military to credible civilian authorities, namely an interim government acceptable to the political parties and protest movement,” the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in an e-mailed comment. “The new government should have the ability to review the transition’s timetable and process.”

Tantawi said he had accepted the resignation of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, which will stay in place until a new government is formed. He also said the military was willing to hand over power immediately, “if the people so want, through a referendum.”

Bond Yields Surge

After the military council took over power from Mubarak, it dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, saying it aimed to hand power to a democratically elected government within six months or when elections are held. Before yesterday’s announcement, no date had been set for presidential elections and a timetable for transition indicated the vote may not be held before 2013.

Egypt’s economy grew 1.8 percent in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, its weakest performance in at least a decade. Foreign currency reserves have declined about $14 billion this year to $22.1 billion last month.

A slump in Egypt’s benchmark dollar bonds in the past 10 days has sent yields about 1 percentage point higher. The debt traded to yield 6.92 percent at 12:50 p.m. local time, the highest since January. The government raised less than half of its target at a sale of treasury bills today, selling six-month bills to yield 14.4 percent and one-year bills at a record 14.932 percent.

–With assistance by Ahmed A. Namatalla and Mahmoud Kassem in Cairo. Editors: Ben Holland, Digby Lidstone.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mariam Fam in Cairo at mfam1@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net

Egyptian Army Says Holding Power Is a ‘Curse’ It Can’t Escape is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

So how can we display this simple sticky post in our theme?

Follow these simple steps:

To show featured post only in the home page, you can use the code below.

Source code

<?php if(is_home() !is_paged()): ?>
<?php // Featured posts go here.
include (TEMPLATEPATH . "/featured.php"); ?>
<?php endif;?>

Adding the new template where we can call the feature post from. Simply add the new template to your wordpress directory under the name ( featured.php ). This file will contain the featured post elements (Numbers, Category, Style, etc..).
To add the code that shows the featured post content (featured post image – featured post title – excerpt – and the featured category). Look at the example code below.

Source code

<!– start Featured –>
<?php query_posts("showposts=1&cat=6"); ?>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<div id="featured">
<div id="featured2">
<div id="featurediv">
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<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Continue reading <?php the_title(); ?>"><img src="<?php $values = get_post_custom_values("Thumbnail"); echo $values[0]; ?>" alt="Continue reading <?php the_title(); ?>" /></a>
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<div><?php edit_post_link(‘Edit’, ”, ‘ |’); ?> Posted by <strong><?php the_author(); ?></strong> on <?php the_time(‘d M Y’); ?> under <?php the_category(‘, ‘) ?> | <?php comments_popup_link(’0 Comments’, ’1 Comment’, ‘% Comments’); ?>
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<?php endwhile; ?><!– end Featured –>

I would consider this the simplest way to show Featured article in WordPress blog.

Techniques To Display Featured Articles in WordPress Blog Using Simple Sticky Post is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

Italy’s president appointed former European Commissioner Mario Monti on Sunday to head a new government, while in Greece Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank policymaker, has been sworn in as prime minister.

Both leaders have been charged with pushing through reforms and austerity plans to restore their countries’ tattered credibility.

“Everything went to plan if you like over the weekend, so we’re seeing a positive reaction,” said Michael Turner, strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney.

Japan’s Nikkei share average .N225 rose 1.5 percent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.8 percent. .T

The euro traded around $1.3770, up about 0.2 percent, having risen as high as $1.3811 in early trade.

Traders warned the market’s continued positive reaction hinges on how Italy’s planned sale of 3 billion euros of five-year bonds on Monday is received by the market.

Italian 10-year bond yields soared above 7 percent last week to levels seen as unsustainable. Borrowing costs of more than 7 percent have previously driven Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts.

While Italian yields have come off their peaks they remained elevated. Analysts fear Rome’s potential inability to fund itself could be a systemic risk given the size of its economy and its status as the world’s third-largest government debtor.

Commodities markets were mostly higher, with U.S. crude creeping above $99 a barrel, Brent crude gaining 0.3 percent to $114.44 and gold rising 0.2 percent to around $1.792 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Stocks, euro rise on hopes of progress in Europe is a post from: Follow your interests and what’s happening around the world

In Portland the authorities fenced off parks the protesters had emptied out over the weekend in the face of a city-issued eviction notice.

But demonstrators regrouped in the street in the afternoon, blocking traffic in a standoff with ranks of Portland Police officers in riot gear. Police from at least one other Oregon city were reported to be reinforcing the Portland units.

Up to a thousand protesters — with more continuing to arrive — were in a section of street near the parks. About 15 demonstrators had been arrested, but the confrontation was generally peaceful, observers said.

Police, face-to-face with the protesters, have repeatedly told them that if they don’t move out of the road, or appear to be resisting arrest, chemical agents and impact weapons — apparently beanbag guns — might be used and demonstrators could be subject to arrest.

On their side the protesters chanted: “I don’t see no riot here, take off your riot gear,” “The whole world is watching,” and “We are peaceful people.”

Officials have also moved over the weekend to dismantle a protest camp in Salt Lake City, Utah, while in Denver, police on Saturday removed mattresses, cooking grills and tents illegally placed on a public sidewalk.

Seventeen people were arrested, Denver police said on Sunday.

Encampments sprang up in several cities in recent weeks in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York to protest what demonstrators see as economic inequality and undue influence over U.S. politics by corporate interests.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Citing health and safety issues, some officials have urged demonstrators to take down the camps and others have used such concerns as reasons for police to force the issue.

In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter on Sunday ordered beefed-up police patrols at the city’s protest site, saying conditions were “dramatically deteriorating.”

“This movement has changed and the people have changed,” he said. “We are now at a critical point where we must reevaluate our entire relationship with this very changed group.”

He said communication has broken down between officials and protesters, and city concerns over fire hazards, litter and a lack of toilets have gone unaddressed.

Added to that are thefts, assaults and an alleged sexual attack at the camp at Dilworth Plaza, he said in a statement.

The mayor said a $50 million makeover of Dilworth Plaza is planned and by opting not to move, “Occupy Philly is now purposely standing in the way of a nearly 1,000 jobs for Philadelphians at a time of high unemployment.”

In Salt Lake City authorities moved to dismantle a camp at a downtown park and arrested 15 people on Saturday.

In Oakland, California, the scene of previous clashes between police and demonstrators, city hall issued a third eviction notice on Sunday. It warned protesters they faced “immediate arrest” if they continued to camp out in the city’s plaza and parks.

The city offered alternative emergency accommodation at two local area homeless shelters, and laid on a shuttle service to one that was not within walking distance of the encampments.

In St. Louis, Mayor Francis Slay has warned protesters they have to decamp but has offered to continue talks to find a permanent place for the protest.

The nationwide protest movement, which started in New York in September, has voiced opposition to what the demonstrators see as an unfair concentration of wealth in the United States. Among other issues, they object to corporate excesses and bailouts of major banks.

(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix, Dave Warner in Philadelphia, and Bruce Olson in St. Louis; Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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