Naughtmuch Directory ? Simple DIY Home Improvement Suggestions

One of the most crucial areas to consider with any type of home repairs, renovations or decorating is your budget. It?s essential that you figure out the estimated cost before you begin any work. Make sure you figure in the extreme likelihood that the actual finishing cost will be at least ten percent higher than the figure you first estimate. That?s simply the way it usually works. There will always be some unexpected reasons for a project to cost more than you think it will cost. You might need more materials than you had estimated, there might be mistakes that need to be corrected, you might find other problems to be addressed as well.

When you prepare for your home renovation project, you may be able to save money on materials and tools. You might be able to find the items you need at a lower price however you don?t want to concede to a lower quality. Recycle centers or places like Re-Stores sell new materials for nearly half the price of those sold in hardware or home improvement stores. You can greatly reduce your costs, while still using good quality materials, if you can find the things you need at these places. When it comes to tools, either locally or on the Internet, you can generally find used ones that are still in good shape.

In terms of DIY projects, flooring offers you more options than any other. There are several possibilities for putting in new floors that aren?t very expensive and that anyone can do. For instance, laminate wood floors are something that you should be able to install, even if you haven?t ever done anything like this before now. The pieces will snap together and there isn?t any need to do any surface refinishing. While it isn?t as sturdy as floors made from more expensive materials, this will offer your home a much better look, particularly where the floors are concerned. Vinyl is another fantastic flooring option and comes in all sorts of different colors and styles. Vinyl is super simple because the tiles will come with some self adhesive backing on them.

With all of the many plans for DIY projects around the home, there should be lots you can do. Some jobs will be costly and quite ambitious, while many will be inexpensive and simple. No matter what you plan to do, it?s essential to carefully consider what?s involved, including the costs, materials and any permits you might need. Giving your home a new look will be easier to figure out, when you are following these types of home improvement guidelines. Source: wreathpro. Also check out how to advertise on google.

Source: http://naughtmuch.com/simple-diy-home-improvement-suggestions/

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The Daily Troll: Local jobs up, stocks down. Mayors want soda-free food stamps. Energy secretary makes promises at Hanford.

Art work by Noel Franklin

The Daily Troll: News for your evening commute.

Jobless rate drops

Washington state's jobless rate fell to 6.8 percent last month, dipping below 7 percent for the first time since 2008, according to the Employment Security Department. The state has regained 79 percent of the jobs it lost during the great recession. The Seattle metro area had its own breakthrough: May's 4.7 percent mark represents the first time the jobless rate has been below 5 percent since the recession got rolling. The Seattle Times notes that 5 percent is considered full employment. Wall Street isn't happy, because the national recovery led the Federal Reserve to outline plans today for ending its fiscal stimulus program.

Food stamps and sodas

Mayor Mike McGinn joined more than a dozen other big city mayors in calling on Congress to ban the use of food stamps for the purchase of soda and high-sugar drinks. As Linda Thomas reports on MyNorthwest, the American Beverage Association panned the idea saying the ban won't solve the nation's obesity problem, which "affects Americans of all income levels." Health problems related to nicotine and alcohol consumption affect all income groups too, but we don't allow folks to spend their food stamps on cigarettes and booze.

Hanford pedal to the metal?

New U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited Hanford, where he promised to develop a new plan for the nuclear cleanup by the end of summer. He also promised to hold contractors more accountable for the quality of their work, according to KING 5. The station's Gary Chittim reports that Moniz answered media questions while standing in a cramped hallway waiting for a tour of the troubled nuclear reservation. Doing the minimum at Hanford is a time-honored federal tradition maintained by administrations of both political parties.

Sweetly early

Harvest of Washington's official state veggie ? the Walla Walla sweet onion, of course ? is off to an early start, according to one report. Eastern Washington TV station KVEW/KAPP says the crop is coming in about a week and a half ahead of schedule. The onions, originally brought over from France, are distinguished by their mild, sweet taste. And they tend to have a short season: First come, first served.

Solstice cover-up

The Seattle area's weather is turning cloudy, with increasing chances of rain just in time for the longest day of the year: Thursday is the solstice with sunset at 10:04 p.m..) Predictable. But it's been a great spring with lots of chances to enjoy the lengthening days. Here's a shot from TimeAndDate.com, which has loads of weather and time information.

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Source: http://crosscut.com/2013/06/19/thedailytroll/115101/troll-hanford-jobs-seattle-soda-food-stamps-walla-/

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Fed says it will continue $85B in bond purchases

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will maintain the pace of its bond-buying program to keep long-term interest rates at record lows. But it offered a more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy and job market.

The brighter view of the economy could be a hint that the Fed is moving closer to reducing its bond purchases. But the statement issued after the Fed's two-day policy meeting gave no indication of when that might happen.

Investors reacted initially by selling both stocks and bonds. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 34 points shortly after the statement came out; minutes earlier, it had been down just 16. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note shot up to 2.27 percent from 2.21 percent just before the statement came out.

In the statement, the Fed says the economy is growing moderately. And for the first time it said the "downside risks to the outlook" had diminished since fall.

Timothy Duy, a University of Oregon economist who tracks the Fed, calls the statement "an open door for scaling back asset purchases as early as September."

The fact that the Fed foresees less downside risk to the job market "gives them a reason to pull back" on its bond purchases.

The Fed says it will keep buying $85 billion a month in bonds until the outlook for the job market improves substantially. The goal is to lower long-term interest rates to encourage borrowing, spending and investing.

The central bank also said that it would maintain its plan to keep short-term rates at record lows at least until unemployment reaches 6.5 percent.

The Fed also said that inflation was running below its 2 percent long-run objective, but noted that temporary factors were partly the reason.

The Fed also released its latest economic projections on Wednesday, which predicted that unemployment will fall a little faster this year, to 7.2 percent or 7.3 percent at the end of 2013 from 7.6 percent now. It thinks the rate will be between 6.5 percent and 6.8 percent by the end of 2014, better than its previous projection of 6.7 percent to 7 percent.

It said inflation could run as low as 0.8 percent this year. But the Fed predicts it will pick up next year to between 1.4 percent and 2 percent.

The statement was approved on a 10-2 vote. James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, objected for the first time this year, saying he wanted a stronger commitment from the Fed to keep inflation from falling too low.

Esther George objected for the fourth time this year, again voicing concerns about inflation rising too quickly.

Ultra-low rates have helped fuel a housing comeback, support economic growth, drive stocks to record highs and restore the wealth America lost to the recession.

Financial markets have been gyrating in the four weeks since Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress the Fed might scale back its effort to keep long-term rates at record lows within "the next few meetings"? earlier than many had assumed.

Bernanke cautioned that the Fed would slow its support only if it felt confident the job market would show sustained improvement. And he also told lawmakers that the Fed must take care not to prematurely reduce its stimulus for the still-subpar economy.

The Fed announced after its September meeting that it would purchase $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds for as long as it deems necessary. And in December, the Fed expanded the program to $85 billion a month, adding $45 billion a month in Treasury bond purchases. The Treasury purchases replaced an expiring bond-purchase program.

Job growth picked up after the Fed announced the latest round of bond purchases. Since October, the economy has added an average of 196,500 jobs a month, up from 157,000 a month in the previous eight months.

Last month, the U.S. economy added a solid 175,000 jobs. But the unemployment rate is still high at 7.6 percent. Economists tend to regard the job market as healthy when unemployment is between 5 percent and 6 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fed-says-continue-85b-bond-purchases-180245664.html

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Protesters out again in Brazil's biggest city

A man holds a banner that reads in Portuguese: "No violence Brazil, peace and love," in front of a burning national television vehicle, set on fire by protestors, in front of City Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. On Tuesday, thousands of people marched on Sao Paulo?s City Hall building, where a small group fought police in an unsuccessful attempt to force their way in. Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broke out across this continent-sized country, uniting multitudes frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

A man holds a banner that reads in Portuguese: "No violence Brazil, peace and love," in front of a burning national television vehicle, set on fire by protestors, in front of City Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. On Tuesday, thousands of people marched on Sao Paulo?s City Hall building, where a small group fought police in an unsuccessful attempt to force their way in. Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broke out across this continent-sized country, uniting multitudes frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

A demonstrator holds up a Brazilian flag in front of a group of protestors gathered in the main plaza of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broke out across this continent-sized country, uniting multitudes frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

Protestors gather in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broke out across this continent-sized country, uniting multitudes frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

Protestors destroy ATM machines at a local a bank in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Thousands of demonstrators flooded into a square in Brazil?s economic hub, Sao Paulo, on Tuesday. Sparked earlier this month by a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares and organized via social media, the nationwide protests are giving voice to growing discontent over the gap between Brazil?s high tax burden and the low quality of public infrastructure, echoing similar mobilizations in Turkey, Greece and other parts of the globe where weariness with governments has exploded in the streets. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

Dianine Nunes holds a banner that reads in Spanish; "We are fighting for quality in education, heath and transport," during a protest near the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Brazilian nationals gathered to condemn the heavy tax burden in Brazil, corrupt politicians and woeful public education, health and transport systems as the nation hosts the Confederations Cup soccer tournament and prepares for next month's papal visit.(AP Photo/Ivan Pierre Aguirre)

SAO PAULO (AP) ? Tens of thousands of Brazilians again flooded the streets of the country's biggest city to raise a collective cry against a longstanding lament ? people are weighed down by high taxes and high prices but get low-quality public services and a system of government infected with corruption.

That was the repeated message Tuesday night in Sao Paulo, where upward of 50,000 people massed in front of the city's main cathedral. While mostly peaceful, the demonstration followed the rhythm of protests that drew 240,000 people across Brazil the previous night, with small bands of radicals splitting off to fight with police and break into stores.

Mass protests have been mushrooming across Brazil since demonstrations called last week by a group angry over the high cost of a woeful public transport system and a recent 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Sao Paulo, Rio and elsewhere.

The local governments in at least four cities have now agreed to reverse those hikes, and city and federal politicians have shown signs that the Sao Paulo fare could also be rolled back. It's not clear that will calm the country, though, because the protests have released a seething litany of discontent from Brazilians over life's struggles.

Yet, beyond complaints about the cost for bus and subway rides, protesters haven't produced a laundry list of concrete demands. Demonstrators mainly are expressing deep anger and discontentment ? not just with the ruling government, but with the entire governing system. A common chant at the rallies has been "No parties!"

"What I hope comes from these protests is that the governing class comes to understand that we're the ones in charge, not them, and the politicians must learn to respect us," said Yasmine Gomes, a 22-year-old squeezed into the plaza in central Sao Paulo where Tuesday night's protest began.

President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, hailed the protests for raising questions and strengthening Brazil's democracy. "Brazil today woke up stronger," she said in a statement.

Yet Rousseff offered no actions that her government might take to address complaints, even though her administration is a prime target of demonstrators' frustrations.

The protests have brought troubling questions about security in the country, which is playing host this week to soccer's Confederations Cup and will welcome Pope Francis in July for a visit to Rio de Janeiro and rural Sao Paulo.

Brazil's media has scrambled to cover the sprawling protests ? coverage that in some cases raised the ire of protesters, in particular that of the powerful Globo TV network. Whenever what appears to be a Globo helicopter swoops over a demonstration, protesters hiss, raise their fists and chant slogans against the network for what they say was its failure to widely show images of a violent police crackdown on protesters last week in Sao Paulo.

Brazilian demonstrations in recent years generally had tended to attract small numbers of politicized participants, but the latest mobilizations have united huge crowds around a central complaint: The government provides woeful public services even as the economy is modernizing and growing.

The Brazilian Tax Planning Institute think tank found that the country's tax burden in 2011 stood at 36 percent of gross domestic product, ranking it 12th among the 30 countries with the world's highest tax burdens.

Yet public services such as schools are in sorry shape. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found in a 2009 educational survey that literacy and math skills of Brazilian 15-year-olds ranked 53rd out of 65 countries, behind nations such as Bulgaria, Mexico, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, and Romania.

Many protesting in Brazil's streets hail from the country's growing middle class, which government figures show has ballooned by some 40 million over the past decade amid a commodities-driven economic boom.

They say they've lost patience with endemic problems such as government corruption and inefficiency. They're also slamming Brazil's government for spending billions of dollars to host next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics while leaving other needs unmet.

A November report from the government raised to $13.3 billion the projected cost of stadiums, airport renovations and other projects for the World Cup. City, state and other local governments are spending more than $12 billion on projects for the Olympics in Rio. Nearly $500 million was spent to renovate Maracana stadium in Rio for the World Cup even though the venue already went through a significant face-lift before the 2007 Pan American Games.

Attorney Agatha Rossi de Paula, who attended the latest protest in Sao Paulo along with her mother, called Brazil's fiscal priorities "an embarrassment."

"We just want what we paid in taxes back, through health care, education and transportation," said the 34-year-old attorney. "We want the police to protect us, to help the people on the streets who have ended up with no job and no money."

Although a single group set the protests in motion with its demonstrations last week calling for lowered transit fares, the mass gatherings are showing no evidence of any central leadership, with people using social media to call for marches and rallies. Groups of Brazilians also staged small protests Tuesday in other countries, including Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Denmark.

A cyber-attack knocked the government's official World Cup site offline Tuesday, and the Twitter feed for Brazil's Anonymous hackers group posted links to a host of other government websites whose content had been replaced by a screen calling on citizens to come out to the streets.

Tuesday night's march in Sao Paulo started out peacefully but turned nasty outside City Hall when a small group lashed out at police and tried to invade the building.

Different groups of protesters faced off, one chanting "peace, peace" while trying to form a human cordon to protect the building, the other trying to clamber up metal poles to get inside. At one point, one person tried to seize a metal barrier from another who was trying to use it to smash the building's windows and doors.

The air was thick with police pepper spray and smoke after demonstrators set a TV satellite truck and a police lookout booth on fire.

___

Associated Press writers Jenny Barchfield in Rio de Janeiro, Marco Sibaja in Brasilia and Jill Langlois in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-19-LT-Brazil-Protests/id-027286398f674f7ebd55a9d374917910

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Bieber behind wheel as car hits man in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Video shows Justin Bieber running into a photographer with his white Ferrari in Hollywood, but police say there was no crime and the injuries aren't life-threatening.

Lt. Craig Valenzuela says Bieber's car collided with the person at 11:45 p.m. Monday on Sunset Boulevard.

Valenzuela says nobody was cited or arrested and officers determined no crime was committed. He says investigators are trying to determine whether the pedestrian was in the roadway.

A video posted by TMZ.com shows Bieber getting into a Ferrari. He's surrounded by paparazzi and as the car drives off, one falls to the ground and grips his knee.

A request for comment from Bieber's publicist, Melissa Victor, was not immediately returned.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bieber-behind-wheel-car-hits-man-hollywood-133825909.html

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Blackberry Q5 to make early debut in the UAE tomorrow

Earlier than expected (and a little pricier than we'd hoped), the BlackBerry Q5 will go on sale tomorrow in the UAE. We know that its radios are primed for AT&T 3G and while the build might not rival the flagship BB10 device, it's another option for any that can't relinquish the tactile joys of a physical keyboard. It will launch, priced at 1,499 AED (just above $400), which nets you BlackBerry's latest OS spread across a 3.1-inch touchscreen with the aforementioned keyboard nestled below. Interested in hopping on a red-eye flight for the third device since the company's name change? Then we'd recommend reacquainting yourself with our first impressions.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/19/blackberry-q5-early-release-date-june/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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North Carolina?s state education boss wants to exempt teachers from income tax

North Carolina legislators probably won?t act on a proposal by the elected supervisor of the state?s public school system to exempt teachers from the burden of personal income taxes.

June Atkinson, North Carolina?s superintendent of public instruction, recommended the unusual tax policy on Monday, reports The Charlotte Observer. The Democrat indicated that she would not have advocated such a teacher tax cut if teachers would instead receive a salary increase next year.

North Carolina?s Republican governor, Pat McCrory, had asked for a one-percent raise for teachers statewide. However, the budgets which have ultimately materialized in both legislative chambers do not include the request.

Atkinson reasoned that a tax exemption for teachers would be a good way to increase take-home pay in the absence of raises, according to local CBS affiliate WRAL.

Atkinson guesstimated that allowing teachers to dodge state income taxes would cost The Tar Heel State roughly $300 million. The chief fiscal officer in her department calculated a more conservative cost of about $250 million.

The increase would make net salaries for North Carolina teachers more competitive with teacher salaries in other states across the region.

?Let?s keep our competent teachers in North Carolina classrooms. Let?s position North Carolina to be a more attractive state for new teachers. Exempt them from paying personal state income taxes,? Atkinson wrote in a statement.

Harnett County Republican Rep. David Lewis, who helped craft his chamber?s tax plan, doesn?t think Atkinson?s idea is a good one.

?I don?t think that particular one is as well thought out as it should have been,? he told The Observer.

Lewis suggested that tax-exempt status for teachers could cause private school teachers, home-schooling parents and a throng of people in various other situations to argue that they, too, should be liberated from the burden of state taxes.

Figures from WRAL show that salaries for North Carolina?s teachers rank 46th nationally.

Bill Cobey, the state?s board of education chairman and a Republican, has said that boosting teacher compensation is among his main goals.

The state?s starting salary for teachers is $30,800 a year, notes The Observer. It typically takes years of experience for teachers who don?t hold advanced degrees to start earning more than $40,000 annually.

A number of school districts statewide pay teachers in addition to the relatively low wages paid by the state.

According to the website Tax-Rates.org, the marginal tax rate in North Carolina for an individual making a salary between $12,750 and $60,000 is 7.0 percent. The rate for a married couple in the same income bracket is slightly higher.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-carolina-state-education-boss-wants-exempt-teachers-073616117.html

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