Over the last thirty years the community development field has moved away from its early focus on helping homeowners maintain and improve their properties towards the development of new affordable housing. Fueled by the resources of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC) and a confident economy, and in flight from lead remediation requirements for housing rehab, non-profits as well as for profit developers and local governments began to shift towards the promotion of new construction – both rental and homeownership – and away from housing rehab aimed at assisting individual owners.

The time has come to shift back.

Hundreds of thousands of foreclosed properties, declining property values and the loss of home equity, the absence of conventional credit, the need to make older houses energy efficient, opportunities to stimulate the local small construction trades and building supply markets – all of these factors demand that we look again at housing rehabilitation as an important policy option.

We need tools to promote the repair and rehabilitation of our older housing stock. Historically, the federal government played a leadership role in promoting home rehab and we need the Federal government to play this role again. A key role government can play is to authorize a significant amount of funding for the Section 312 Loan Program. We need to revisit this old tool and reinvent it making it relevant to the current situation.

The 312 Loan Program was authorized in the Housing Act of 1964. It provided loans from the Federal government through local municipal governments to home owners and landlords at 3% for a twenty year term. The per unit rehab cost allowed was $27,000, which in the 1970s and 1980s was a significant amount of money. It was used often in Urban Renewal Conservation Areas to assist homeowners in improving their properties and where it had a fairly major impact. It also served as a key component in the Federally Assisted Code Enforcement Program (FACE) to help owners bring their properties into code compliance. And it was the source of financing in the Urban Homesteading Program where vacant properties owned by the Federal government where auctioned off for a dollar.

The 312 Loan Program had some issues. It was cumbersome and time consuming for borrowers. It took a long time to get loans approved and people often deferred work while waiting for approval. People who were savvy enough to use architects, i.e. people of higher incomes, were often the most successful in securing funds. As local governments began to use Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to support housing rehab, 312 became diminished as a tool and fewer funds were allocated to it. While the 312 Loan Program currently exists in the HUD menu of programs, it has no money allocated for it.

This needs to change.

Today we are confronted with a situation that demands a significant response. We as a nation want to overcome the effects of the foreclosure crisis and return more properties to productive use. We want to increase the energy efficiency of residential properties, and we want to stimulate the economy. These efforts are hampered by the absence of capital, but they are also hampered by an anti-government investment ethos on Capitol Hill. Why should government do what the private sector can do? Why bother funding an obscure program, the kind of “legacy program” that HUD in its strategic plan wants to shift its focus from?

Here are ten reasons:

1. It is a stimulus that everyday people in cities and inner ring suburbs can see and understand. While earlier stimulus efforts have created results that people can see, a national home improvement loan program can benefit thousands of citizens directly.

2. It promotes confidence. When someone sees their neighbor down the street put on a new roof or rebuild their porch it makes them feel more confident about the future of the neighborhood and it may lead them to seek to make repairs on their own. We need to put this dynamic in place.

3. It’s simple. Unlike several of the initiatives being developed by HUD that are marching down the same sad path of prior Federal interventions in cities, it is simple and understandable. It helps people and not just developers. It’s not social engineering and it doesn’t have a lot of moving parts. It can effectively be described in thirty seconds.

4. It’s a loan and not a grant. People paid on their 312 loans. Money invested in a national home improvement loan program will get substantially returned.

5. It has a multiplier effect. It creates jobs in the construction industry as well as in the building supply and manufacturing sectors of the economy.

6. The process can be improved. We know more than we did in the 1970s about how to bring products to consumers. With new technologies around developing the scope of work, loan origination and servicing software – and the potential for outsourcing these functions-all are potential ways this program can be more accessible and user friendly. We also know more about marketing and how to effectively promote such a program.

7. A delivery system exists to get this money out. We have a host of institutions like NeighborWorks America organizations, community development corporations, Community Development Financial Institutions, as well as delivery systems that still exist in local governments that can be organized to help citizens access these resources. We also have financial institutions that have been a delivery system for tax-exempt housing bonds that also could be part of a delivery system.

8. It can generate revenue for this delivery system. Charging loan origination and rehab service fees can generate revenue for cities and other providers.

9. It can promote widespread energy conservation. Borrowers could be required to have an energy audit and make changes based on the audit findings. Borrowers who choose to install solar heat could receive an interest rate benefit for their whole project.

10. It is more “shovel ready” than many stimulus efforts. Large public works projects require significant planning. Home improvement projects require planning and bidding out jobs but this process is usually less complex.

A national home improvement loan program based on the 312 Loan Program is not a panacea for urban ills. It is not an anti-poverty program – it is a home improvement program that can benefit low-income as well as other income homeowners – and as such can have a larger constituency.

Can’t the private market do this? Sure, but it isn’t. Capital is not flowing like it once did. Lenders aren’t doing much in the way of home improvement lending and both supply of capital and demand for such capital is down. Equity lines that financed home improvement in the last several decades have dissipated, Demand needs to be stimulated. Providing an attractively priced loan product that is marketed well can stimulate that demand.

So how much would this cost? An initial allocation of $2.5 billion would potentially generate 50,000 loans with an average loan size of $50,000. Fees charged to borrowers for rehab services and origination could produce $100,000,000 – $125,000,000 in revenues throughout the delivery chain. $20,000 in materials purchases on a $50,000 rehab job could provide $1 billion in materials purchases for 50,000 projects, along with various sales tax revenues those purchases generate. This kind of volume would provide work for thousands of contractors, laborers, architects, building suppliers, and manufacturers of building supplies. It would also provide an interest rate return for the Federal Treasury.

For a redesigned 312 Loan Program to be effective in today’s environment it would need a few changes. First, change the name. 312 means nothing to anyone outside government. The name does not encourage one to borrow money. Second, raise the interest rate to 5%, but retain the ability to finance projects at 3% if they meet certain criteria, like the installation of solar energy or the rehab of a foreclosed property. Third, raise the per unit amounts to $57,000 per unit, and $75,000 for the rehab of a vacant property. Fourth, make the loan available in cities and older suburbs with no qualifying income requirements, so that people would not have to be low-income to borrow the funds.

This is a conservative program. It is about conserving what we have – our rich and diverse housing stock – by promoting maintenance and improvement. It is easy to understand. It supports rank and file homeowners and not just developers. It engages all homeowners and is not limited to low income borrowers. While driven by the Federal government it allows for partnerships with local banks and non-profits with consumer lending capacity. It has the potential to stimulate local economies and lessen the cost burdens on municipal governments. But most of all it is a loan and not a grant program. It will return money to the Treasury.

Innovation is not only inventing new things. When we look ahead for change sometimes we ignore what worked in the past. We assume that just because something was done once, its shelf life has expired and can’t be done again. Reinvention is also innovation. Repositioning old products to make sense in a new situation can be just as innovative as inventing complex new programs that look good on paper but don’t deliver. Let’s get real. Let’s keep things simple. Let’s reinvent 312.

Michael Schubert is the Principal of Community Development Strategies, a consulting firm that focuses on building organizational capacity for planning, implementing, and evaluating neighborhood revitalization strategies. For the last twenty years Michael has worked with municipal and state governments, foundations, and non-profits to improve neighborhoods. He can be reached at mfscds@aol.com

A nation that has the ability to attain air superiority in short order, also possesses the negotiation power through the principle of “negotiating from a position of strength” – almost to the point that nearly guarantees that in international diplomatic matters the other side will yield far in advance of political impasse. This is a good thing, and for the United States, it’s a great thing. It’s also a wonderful thing for freedom and liberty around the world as long as we hold to our ideals.

You see, the United States of America has the greatest Air Force in the world, and we have the second best Air Force the world too, it’s called the U.S. Navy. Depending on who you talk to in which branch of the military, they will trade barbs and tell you that the Navy has better air power, and that the Navy’s wings are made of gold, and the Air Force’s wings are made of lead, that’s how come they are the silvery pewter color. But I digress.

Nevertheless, the whole concept of air superiority seems to have originated from the military diaries, and writings of the author of; “The Command of the Air,” Giulio Douhet who was a general of artillery in the Italian army in the 1920s. His writings span from 1909 to 1929, and some of his thoughts were published after his death.

You can get a copy of his work still today, in fact the University of Alabama Press reprinted his work in 2009; ISBN: 978-0-8173-5608-8. Now then, on page 28 the author speaks of the overwhelming importance of air superiority, and therefore I’d like to ask the following questions;

In our modern age does air-superiority mean the ability to fly stuff around without being shot down, or merely preventing your enemy from flying around and then watching from the air, and sending in missiles to assigned targets? And what about the no-fly zone that the NATO forces put on Libya which cause the fall of Moammar Khadafy? The ability to do that was all about air superiority, and once it had been established the game was over, and Khadafy was finished, as it was just a matter of time.

Khadafy should’ve never pushed NATO, and should’ve backed off very quickly as soon as they said they might put up a no-fly zone. In essence that was the beginning of the end. Other nations would be wise, especially if they don’t have the potential capacity to maintain air superiority, to get along better in the world. Perhaps Khadafy’s demise, and the fall of his regime might be something that the Iranian regime might want to take a look at; who knows? Indeed, hope you will please consider all this and think on.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Military Technologies. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

There are speculations that there will be a global food shortage before the end of the year 2010. This may or may not be the truth. The truth is that the prices you pay for food and for all of the other things you use in your daily life are steadily increasing. The truth is that unemployment is at an all time high and there does not appear to be a solution to that on the horizon. There is also a truth that for those of us that still have a source of income our jobs are not guaranteed but we are guaranteed to have relatives and friends that could use our help in the upcoming year. The only thing we can do is plan for these occurrences and try to prepare for the uncertain future ahead of us.

One thing that you can do at this time is to start stockpiling things like toothpaste, toiletries, cleaners, and other non perishable items. Whenever you go into a store and they have a really good price on some of these commonly used items buy extra and store it. Look at the discount buggies and the clearance bins for great prices on items like shampoo and bath soap. You will find bottles of shampoo marked down to only twenty five cents per bottle. When items are in the clearance bins there is generally no limit on the amount of them that you can purchase. You can stock up and save a tone of money this way. You can also buy extra and share it with some of the people who you know are having a more difficult financial time than you are.

Stop throwing out bread that is going stale. Nine times out of ten you throw away bread that is on the verge of going stale and then you purchase croutons for your salads. You may even purchase bread crumbs to cook with. You can save a lot of money if you will simply take the bread you would have thrown away and toast your own croutons. You can also toast the bread and make your own bread crumbs. If you like your bread crumbs seasoned then add the flavorings you enjoy and seal these items in airtight containers.

If you are really going to be able to make it through the uncertain future ahead of us you will need to establish a group of people that you can share with. Each of you will be able to grow things or make things that everyone can use. If you grow excellent tomatoes then you can share with your friend who grows beautiful squash plants. Together we can help each other survive the hard times that are headed our way.

A measure working its way through the Michigan Legislature would make the state the nation’s 45th to allow residents to carry stun guns as a means of self defense. Wisconsin became the 44th on November 1.

Stun guns, which discharge an electrical current between two frontal prongs to temporarily disable an attacker when they make contact is differentiated by Tasers, which shoot out a pair of electrically charged probes up to 15 feet, more like a handgun. The Taser has more often been in the news stemming from lawsuits resulting in death, but proponents insist they are far less dangerous than firearms.

According to Sen. Rick Jones, a Republican from western Michigan, who is introducing the legislation, he states that “You could use it when you could use a gun, and you must have all the training that goes into a concealed pistol license. I think it’s just common sense that someone would rather use electricity rather than a gun when they can.”

The Michigan Senate approved the measure 35-3 in October. The House, which holds a 63-47 Republican edge, has referred it to a judiciary committee. Jones said he doesn’t foresee organized opposition to it in the House or from Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.

Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island are the other states that make it illegal for residents to possess stun guns, along with Illinois and the cities of Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the District of Columbia which impose tight restrictions.

“Taking down a ban is very difficult and very challenging,” said Steve Tuttle, spokesman for Taser International. “That’s why it’s significant that Wisconsin did it.”

Many strongly oppose the legalization. “We feel a great number of questions need to be answered,” said Mark Fancher, staff attorney for the Michigan Civil Liberties Union. “We are concerned about these devices, period.”

Most states ban them from schools and courts, and some have other restrictions such as limiting their use to homes and businesses, or requiring a permit to carry one in public. All 50 states allow law enforcement to carry them.

Law enforcement and the military buy about two-thirds of the Tasers sold, Tuttle said, and the rest are bought by the public. A typical Taser price for consumer models can run from over $900 for the Taser X26, to around $400 for the Taser C2. By comparison, handheld personal stun guns car vary from batons and flashlights to disguised cell phones and lipstick applicators, and run anywhere from $29 to $99.

One feature standard with Taser devices is that they discharge confetti marked with serial numbers that can be used to trace where the cartridge was purchased and by whom. Taser says this function prevents people from using them carelessly.

Ron Sass is the founder of The Covert Eye ( http://www.thecoverteye.com/ ), which is dedicated to watching over your home, family, and business when you’re not there. Along with offering the latest in personal protection items at an affordable price, they also carry a complete line of security gear, hidden cameras, Nanny Cams, home and personal alarms, GPS tracking units, listening and recording devices, as well as many “How-To” articles pertaining to securing your home or office, keeping track of your teens, how to watch over your children when you’re not there, safeguarding your valuables and possessions, and how to protect yourself against an attacker.

Hailed to be the third largest Arab country of the Middle East in terms of size, Saudi includes a major proportion of Arabian Peninsula. The enthusiastically named region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the place that contributes to a bulk of world news. However, talking about Arab news alone, then it includes not only a specific city or town of this Arab Country but each and every corner of the Arab nation from north to south and east to west, it includes all. Precisely, everything from daily happenings of around the World, including trade and development news, is included in the Arab world news. For all this widespread coverage, there are numerous efficient sources that are indebted to the news centers across the globe, which shower their sheer efforts and hard work for bringing the happenings of entire globe to one particular area.

In addition, the country boasts of its huge Arab news’ network. Arab news network is known among the biggest and most popular news gathering podium across the globe. There are a gamut of channels and newspapers that have contributed big to make the Arab news network grow wide and strong too. Arab News network ensures an extensive coverage of the local as well as the regional news also. From Islam based, business or sports news to the news from the local business holders, the numerous newspapers channels serving in the country claims to be respectively working on a widespread platform thereby capturing news related to each and every aspect.

We all are well familiar with the fact that modernization and newer techniques are taking over the older ones. Similarly the present trends have now bought out internet communication to serve people as a good mean to read and collect knowledge about the world around affairs and news, on which the entire globe is dependent currently.

Irrespective of any particular area of interest, internet has today become a robust source of information be it in any field you name and desire to collect information about. And this is the reason that for showering more reliability and speed in it, it now has its implication in almost every new dimension. Thus access to the latest Arab news can be now easily fetched over the internet with the help of all the available and presently serving viable news sources.

To serve the people with updated news and fresher stuffs, owners of many news channels in the region run their own websites, with the help of which they are able to instantly and directly reach out to a billion of readers at the earliest possible.

Like many other search engines including Yahoo, Google etc, Yabhath is the one that can be opted to serve you with quick Arabic contents from updated Arabic web news to contents in Semitic languages like Amharic, Hebrew etc.

Looking for news in Arabic? Visit us for latest Arabic news.

It was the end of November, less than a week until Thanksgiving. People were preparing to have big feasts. The stores were stocking up on supplies. Seaport Seafoods, Child’s, and A&P were all having pre-Thanksgiving sales. Mothers were standing in line at Muller’s so their children could see Santa on Saturday.

LaGrange Jr. High’s PTA was preparing for a performance of a comedy entitled “Here Comes Charlie.” People were discussing the political rallies that had been held at the Marion High Gym and Watson’s Café. Gills Long, a gubernatorial candidate, had already started his day speaking in cities surrounding Lake Charles.

As game show enthusiasts settled in to watch Password that Friday, the game shows were interrupted with a news broadcast. The news that President Kennedy had been shot was announced. All Lake Charles residents were shocked that something so terrible had happened in the United States.

However, if one just opened the newspaper and glanced, it looked like an ordinary day. Ads ran with no messages of sympathy. Weekend events weren’t cancelled. Even McNeese held classes scheduled Saturday. The only ad that didn’t run after the assassination was for Billup’s Supply that sold “Shotguns of all kinds.”

Everything seemed to change when Monday came. Businesses closed and flew the flag at half mast as Kennedy was laid to rest. Sam Tarleton told of the friendliness Kennedy brought to Lake Charles. He observed that all bumper stickers reading “Had Enough, Vote Republican” and “Ban the Brothers” were removed from the backs of cars as he recalled Kennedy’s 1959 visit to the city.

Classes at McNeese and the Catholic schools were canceled. McNeese postponed its football game with southwestern Louisiana. Churches across town held memorial services. As the week went on, more stories of Kennedy started to appear.

Charles Murphy, who served as a deputy in the Calcasieu Parish sheriff’s department told stories of his boyhood friendship with Kennedy. He remembered that the Kennedys were a very close family in everything they did. He told of how he and Kennedy rehashed old time during his 1959 visit.

The former managing editor of the Lake Charles American Press wrote a poem called “Loaded Tongues” and many residents couldn’t believe that just last week they were admiring a picture of John Jr. sitting in a rocking chair. The assassination and burial of President Kennedy made it a sad Thanksgiving in Lake Charles.

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For the kinds of building, the exterior and interior should have balance in the construction. It is because when the typical of exterior is maximal, the interior is should be more or less same. Because when you will make the house you have to consider the interior of every single room inside. For example is the bathroom so that you can make a very clear design for you to arrange a proportional construction.

Actually there are many kinds of frameless shower doors as the options for you. They are custom frameless guard class, Custom shower enclosure, Custom Euro-style enclosure etc. those kinds of doors are made from glass. The architectural glass that is breakable and sensitive make the glass risky for using in the bathroom, but from the aesthetic or art by using frameless shower doors is nice. For you who have different view about the glass and the composition of the room, it is better for you to make the consultations so that you can be fully understood how good the frameless shower doors for you.

For complete information about the frameless shower doors, you can visit Na.en.showerguardglass.com. The glass becomes the favorite material for constructing the modern building because of its elegance.

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Think back to some of the best news stories you’ve ever read or watched. What were they? Most likely, those stories exposed something that wouldn’t have been known if it weren’t for the media organization that worked to bring it to your attention. In-depth stories that create change and shift public opinion are not made overnight. A journalist could put in weeks, sometimes months, of work on a story that just doesn’t pan out. The only way to produce ground-breaking news is to work at it, and hard.

When I got my start in journalism I wanted to make a difference. A positive difference. Media more than a decade later is a much different landscape which includes media organizations that are more concerned about promoting its news and attracting viewers and readers rather than letting the news quality speak for itself. A good product, no mater how little it is promoted, will eventually get the kind of attention that will carry years if not decades. That’s why in many markets, TV stations that rank #1 usually keep that rank for years to come. The media organization proves itself and the public not only takes notice but keeps coming back for more.

As a news “customer”, what do you expect from your news? Do you know what to look for in a fair and ethical media organization? In the fast-paced information world we live in today, sometimes you have to force yourself to ask the tough questions of the media you are exposed to.

WHAT CAN YOU DO

First, take a sheet of paper out. Figure out what kind of media gets your attention. Do you like news on sports, entertainment or politics? Do you prefer to get your news from national outlets as opposed to local? Further, do you find yourself getting most of your news online or through traditional platforms like print, radio and TV? Once you have identified what kind of news grabs your attention and which platform it comes from, you can better determine what kind of ethics those organizations adhere to.

Second, once you have identified your news niche, take note of the kind of stories that your media organizations are covering. Do they provide background information? How much are those stories promoted or teased? Are all sides of the story equally reported? If there is overbearing self-promotion, sensationalism (through the description of events, not the reporting of them) or one-sided angles, you know right away the promotion and shock value of the news story is more important than the story itself.

Third, did the media organizations try to get to the root of the issue the story addresses? Maybe the story is about a murder. But what was the motivation? What drove the people in the story to do what they did? In every story, even features, there is always a root that the story is attached. An ethical news organization will not only cover a story, but also keep it in context with how the story came to be.

Finally, how well does your news niche do at following-up the stories it covers. If a media organization is going to cover a story on a crime and suspect, that media organization also has an ethical responsibility to provide updates as the case moves forward.

A BIG TASK AT HAND

As a single news “customer” you may not think you have a lot of influence over the way the news you get is covered. That is why it is important to start taking notes of the news you are watching. Collectively, society is always in a position to drive the ethical nature of media. The more the public’s demand for ethical news erodes, the more media will follow suit giving its audience what they want or what they can accept.

Jason Lanning Tampa is a journalist operating his own website addressing his experience with irresponsible media and the consequences.

Published articles and Jason’s website not sponsored by or affiliated with any media organizations.