The Petraeus case: infidelity, intrigue and politics

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

A June 23, 2011, file photo shows Paula Broadwell, second from left, watching as Gen. David Petraeus and his wife, Holly Petraeus arrive for a Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on Petraeus' nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

By Mike BrunkerNBC News

What began with David Petraeus? surprise resignation as CIA director on Friday resulting from an extramarital affair has now spiraled into a complicated story of infidelity, intrigue and politics.

Petraeus? admission of an extramarital affair quickly led to his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and an examination of her relationship with the decorated war hero. The length of the FBI?s investigation of ?menacing? emails sent to Petraeus? family friend Jill Kelley, and the timing of the announcement of his departure from the Obama administration fueled conspiracy theories. Then Gen. John Allen, Petraeus? successor as military commander in Afghanistan, was embroiled in the scandal, accused by U.S. officials of sending ?inappropriate? emails to Kelley.

To help you keep the facts straight, NBC News has compiled this timeline, based on reporting by NBC News and other published accounts:


Spring 2006 -- Paula Broadwell meets Gen. David Petraeus, when she introduces herself after he gave a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School, where Broadwell was working on a master's degree, the Wall Street Journal reported.?

October 2008 -- Petraeus takes over as head of U.S. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base. While serving there, he reportedly meets Jill Kelley and her husband, Dr. Scott Kelley. She is described in various accounts as a volunteer ?social liaison? between the community and the base.

2008 -- Broadwell begins her doctoral dissertation, "a case study of General Petraeus? leadership," according to Rolling Stone?magazine.??

June 2009 -- Broadwell and her husband, Scott, purchase a home in Charlotte, N.C., the Charlotte Observer reports.?

June 2010 -- Petraeus is named as replacement for Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan after the latter makes impolitic remarks to a Rolling Stone reporter. Broadwell decides to turn her dissertation into a book. ?

July 2010-July 2011 ? According to an online biography of Broadwell that was taken down after Petraeus? resignation, she made multiple trips to Afghanistan during this period, where she ?embedded with the general, his headquarters staff and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting across Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general as they are brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war.? ?

Aug. 31, 2011 -- Petraeus retires from the U.S. Army, departs Afghanistan.

Sept. 6, 2011 -- Petraeus takes over as director of the CIA.

Steven Boylan, a former spokesman for Gen. David Petraeus, discusses how the affair with biographer Paula Broadwell started, saying the general is "embarrassed and keenly aware of the hurt and pain he's caused."

Early November 2011 ? According to former Petraeus spokesman?Steve Boylan, who had spoken to his former boss after his resignation, Petraeus' affair with ?Broadwell began around this time, approximately two months after he took the CIA job. ?

January 2012 ? ?All In, The Education of General David Petraeus,? by Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb is published by Penguin Press.

May 2012 ? ?Menacing? emails ? five to 10 of them, according to the Wall Street Journal -- began arriving in Jill Kelley's inbox, NBC?s Michael Isikoff and Pete Williams report.?

Emails on 'comings and goings' of Petraeus, other military officials escalated FBI concerns

June 2012 ? The FBI investigation begins. A source close to Kelley tells Isikoff that she took the emails, which she viewed as harassing or menacing, to the FBI. The source said the anonymous emails didn?t mention Petraeus by name, but subsequent emails ? sent from multiple alias accounts -- contained references to the "comings and goings" of high-level military officials -- including events that were not on any public schedule. This raised the question as to whether somebody had access to sensitive -- and classified -- information about the CIA director.?

T.Ortega Gaines / Charlotte Observer via Reuters

Paula Broadwell is pictured before embarking on a national book tour to promote "All In," her biography of Gen. David Petraeus.

July 2012 ? Approximate end of the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus, according to former Petraeus spokesman Steve Boylan, who? tells NBC?s Kristen Welker in early November that it ended ?about four months ago.??

Late? summer --?Attorney General Eric Holder is told that agents have discovered an email link between Petraeus and Broadwell, which included exchange of ?explicit details of a sexual nature,? according to the Wall Street Journal.?

September ? FBI agents interview Paula Broadwell for first time, NBC?s Pete Williams reports.

Oct. 27? -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor speaks to an FBI agent who had worked on the Petraeus investigation, according to Cantor spokesman Doug Heye. The agent-- who had originally contacted Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican from Washington -- raised concerns that "sensitive information" relating to Petraeus may have been "compromised," Heye said. The timing of the tip to Reichert is not clear.

Week of Oct. 29 ? FBI agents interview Petraeus and Broadwell (for a second time), according to NBC?s Michael Isikoff.

Approximately Oct. 30-31 ? Somewhere around this time frame, Petraeus traveled to Tripoli to conduct his own personal inquiry into Benghazi, according to author Bob Woodward, appearing on "Meet the Press" on Nov. 11. NBC?s Andrea Mitchell confirmed that Petraeus had recently traveled to Libya.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell and the Washington Post's Bob Woodward visit Meet the Press to examine the fallout from CIA chief David Petraeus' extramarital affair.

Oct. 31 ? After conferring with his chief of staff, Steve Stombres, and Richard Cullen, a former attorney general of Virginia, Cantor had Stombres call the FBI chief of staff to relay the information he had received from the FBI agent, NBC News has reported.

Nov. 1 -- Cantor aide Steve Stombres is told by the FBI that it cannot confirm or deny an investigation, but the bureau official assured the leader's office it was acting to protect national security.

Nov. 2 ? The FBI concludes its investigation, according to NBC News? Michael Isikoff, citing senior U.S. law enforcement official; the? last FBI interviews with both Broadwell and Petraeus also took place this day, NBC?s? Pete Williams reports, citing federal officials.

Nov. 6 ? Justice Department informs Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Nov. 7 ? Clapper informs the White House.

Nov. 8 ?? Petraeus calls White House Deputy Chief of Staff Thomas Donilon and asks to see the president, NBC?s Andrea Mitchell reports. The White House tells Obama of the FBI investigation of Petraeus and his admission of an extramarital affair.

Nov. 9 ? Obama accepts Petraeus? resignation; Senate and House leaders first learn of it from media calls. They then speak to Petraeus, but don?t hear directly from the president, Mitchell reported.

Nov. 11 ? Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott, issue statement: "We and our family have been friends with Gen. Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children."

Afghanistan military commander Gen. John Allen investigated for 'inappropriate' emails

Chuck Burton / AP

FBI agents carry boxes and a computer from the home of Paula Broadwell in Charlotte, N.C.

Nov. 12 ? In a surprise statement during a trip to Australia, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announces that U.S. General John Allen, who succeeded Petraeus as military commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation over allegations he exchanged ?inappropriate? emails with Kelley, the woman who triggered the investigation of Petraeus. Meanwhile, FBI agents carry out a four-hour ?consensual search? of Broadwell?s home in Charlotte, N.C., leaving with eight to 10 cardboard boxes.

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    Source: http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/13/15119278-infidelity-intrigue-and-politics-a-timeline-of-the-david-petraeus-case?lite

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    Terran Militia Meeting 1

    From just outside the doors, a commotion could suddenly be heard.

    "Sir, please stand back..." An alarmed, feminine voice: the marine stationed outside the door.

    "What are you talking about?!" A gruff, angry voice demanded, complete with a thick Japanese accent, "this is my room! Militia Meeting! I am Militiman! Hai!"

    "Sir, you're not even wearing your SHOES on the right feet. Please stand back or I WILL tase the ever-living shit out of-"

    There was a scuffling. The sounds of exchanging blows. Cussing (some in English, some not). Finally, the unseen battle climaxed as the doors to the militia conference room were suddenly thrown open in a frenzy, revealing the proud visage of Old Man Onigiri, standing before his fellow Militiamen like a general before his troops.

    "Hoi! Friends! Am I la-GAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

    It was at this point that Onigiri was tased directly in the ass. The man practically jumped three feet in the air before slamming down on the conference table, a small, electric bud jutting out of his rear. He twitched twice and lay still, groaning as drool pooled out of his mouth.

    "S-sorry sirs..." the marine gasped as moved to grab Onigiri. He uniform was ripped in three places. Two of those rips were around her bust. "...I'll just... remove him..." She began to drag the Taiyou off the conference table.

    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/RsQEQ3Az9vA/viewtopic.php

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    Irsfederal Tax Rates | Workers Blog

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    Source: http://tascceoblog.com/2012/11/13/irsfederal-tax-rates/

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    FAMILY Family Entertainment music review by stefro

    4 stars Having burst onto the British rock scene with 1968's eclectic psychedelic debut 'Music In A Doll's House', Family, a group who have always defied easy categorisation, performed a characteristically abrupt about-turn with the release of this follow-up effort 'Family Entertainment'. Issued in 1969 with sleeve art directly parodying The Doors 'Strange Days' album, this sophomore release for the most deliberately eschewed the acid-rock overtures of its predecessor, instead producing a more song-orientated album that reflected the various band members love of folk, blues and rock 'n' roll. A veritable melting pot of ideas, 'Family Entertainment' may just be the most atypical of all Family albums, showcasing the rich and unique mixture of styles that saw the group positioned alongside many of the same era's progressive rock acts. The progressive rock tag is, of course, rather misleading, yet whatever genre you may think Family inhabit - whether it be art-rock, acid-rock or psychedelic blues - there is no denying that this one of the few outfits capable of producing an utterly original sound thanks to the winning blend of Roger Chapman's throaty vocals and the multi-instrumental talents of his bandmates. Whilst 'Music In A Doll's House' certainly leant towards the more lysergic end of sixties rock, 'Family Entertainment' instead serves up a colourful jaunt through a veritable mix of sonic territories, taking in rustic ballads, avant-garde rock stomps and bluesy pop numbers to name just a few. Highlights include the rousing fan favourite 'The Weaver's Answer', a tune which would quickly become a live staple; the brassy, head-nodding 'Hung Up Down'; the jazzy and atmospheric 'How-Hi-The-Li'; and the mid- Western cowboy drawl of the delightfully bouncy banjo-strummed 'Dim'. Its a heady experience, and like many of the best records this gets better with each additional listen, the dense instrumental passages constantly throwing up new surprises for the eagle-eared listener. A true original then from one of the great cult groups, 'Family Entertainment' is best described as an album full of character and charm; although it may not be progressive rock per se, this is still inherently progressive music chock full of creativity. In a word: excellent. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

    stefro | 4/5 | 2012-11-13

    Share this FAMILY review

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    Source: http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=857723

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    European Union Nations Weigh Capping Banker Bonuses

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union countries will consider a proposal this week for an absolute cap on the total bonus paid to bankers, EU officials said on Sunday, a reform Britain is unlikely to support.

    The idea to cap total bonus payouts, including share options, at between three and five times salary, will be discussed at a meeting of EU diplomats and lawmakers on Monday alongside a suggestion to limit just the cash bonus bankers receive to the level of their salary, one of the officials said.

    A cap would represent the most radical clamp down yet on banker pay in Europe. It would, however, be politically difficult to push through such a reform if Britain, as expected, objects.

    Its finance minister, George Osborne, who wants to protect London's position as Europe's top financial centre, has said he would fight any bonus caps from Brussels.

    Policymakers worldwide have made little progress in limiting pay for an industry that caused a financial crisis in 2008, forcing bank bailouts by taxpayers.

    An automatic cap of three times salary would be applied under the proposal to be discussed on Monday although a bank's owners could loosen this limit. "Shareholders could decide to go for five times," said the official.

    A second official said: "There should be a final push so that there is a political agreement at the meeting of finance ministers on December 4," adding that changes to any cap were still possible.

    The proposal is being tabled by officials from Cyprus, who hold the rotating presidency of the European Union and are leading preparations ahead of a meeting of the bloc's finance ministers on Tuesday.

    Banks have also lobbied against the change, saying the cap could strip them of talented staff. Current EU rules already force banks to defer up to half the bonus for at least three years.

    The EU has tougher bank pay curbs than guidelines laid out by the Group of 20 top global nations but some countries such as Germany want further reform.

    The European Parliament, which also has a say in setting rules, wants the total of all elements of a bonus to be no more than basic salary, a step too far for some countries.

    The cap is one element in a package of rules that implement a global accord, known as Basel III, requiring lenders to triple the amount of basic capital they must hold to weather shocks unaided by taxpayers.

    (Additional reporting by Claire Davenport; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

    "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

    Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/european-union-banker-bonuses_n_2115242.html

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    US colleges, especially in Midwest, see record number of foreign students

    When it comes to foreign students, most college officials prefer to emphasize the international flavor and cultural enrichment that they bring to America?s schools.

    But in an era of generally falling public funding for universities, there?s no denying the economic benefits of America?s booming foreign-student population.

    In its annual Open Doors Report on trends in international college education, the Institute of International Education (IIE) cites the Commerce Department in claiming that foreign students ? who came to the United States in record numbers in 2011 ? contribute nearly $23 billion annually to the US economy.

    QUIZ: Are you as well read as the average 10th-grader?

    And state officials from California to Indiana acknowledge that, with state legislatures cutting back on university budgets, in-state tuitions would be rising even faster if not for the fast-growing number of foreigners on America?s campuses.

    How fast? Foreign enrollment was up almost 6 percent last year, to 764,495 ? a nearly one-third jump over the past decade. Last year marked the sixth year in a row of increases in foreign students in the US, after several years of decline in the years just after 9/11.

    Where do the foreign students come from? China sends the most, at 158,000, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. Saudi Arabia, with a 50 percent jump over the previous year, had the largest increase, thanks to a substantial new government scholarship program.

    On the other hand, a growing number of China?s students in the US are being sent by families with the newfound financial ability to pay for an overseas university education. A growing number of those Chinese students are coming as undergraduates.

    And where are these international students enrolling? California is still the top destination by state, and New York City is the top urban magnet. But one trend that this year?s Open Doors Report reveals is a growing interest among foreigners in the American Midwest.

    Large state universities in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana figure in the list of the top 20 schools with the highest international enrollment, with Indiana racking up a 10 percent increase in international students over the previous year ? to 22,194 ? the largest percentage increase of any state.

    Indiana University in Bloomington is a good example of the transformation taking place in many large Midwestern universities ? accommodating not just more international students overall, but many more foreign undergraduates. Five years ago, Indiana had less than 100 undergraduate Chinese students, but that number has skyrocketed to more than 2,200, out of some 6,100 total Chinese students.

    The Open Doors Report also offers a snapshot of American students studying abroad. The report shows a slowing increase, with last year?s number ? 273,996 ? up 1.3 percent over 2010.

    Still, the IIE points out, the number of US students overseas has tripled in the past two decades ? another significant factor in America?s growing exposure to the globalizing economy.

    QUIZ: Are you as well read as the average 10th-grader?

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    Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-colleges-especially-midwest-see-record-number-foreign-230404565.html

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    Follow These Hints When Buying Commercial Real Estate ...

    When selling or purchasing commercial real estate it is important to have everything done properly. Regardless of how talented or educated you might be in this arena, there?s always something that you might know that can help you. This article can shed more light on this subject.

    Don?t underrate the importance of your relationships with lenders and investors when you?re in the market to purchase commercial property. Often, commercial real estate is sold before ever being listed as being for sale. The only way you might find out about it is through the network of people you have carefully developed over time. Private lenders and investors are often in the know and can be key to informing you of a potentially good deal.

    Find the right financing company first. Obtaining commercial loans is much more complicated than securing a residential home loan. These loans are actually a lot better in a number of ways. Although you have to pay more upfront for the property, it?s worth it because you won?t be held personally liable if the deal falls through. In addition, you can borrow down payment funds from people you know to secure a commercial loan.

    You probably do not want to sign a lease form that is standard when you are leasing a commercial piece of real estate. Sometimes, a long lease contains not only standard lease clauses, but extra agreements that the real estate company sneaked into the lease without discussing with you. If you read the lease with care, it can help you from having a horrible experience.

    If you are considering purchasing property, keep in mind that there is a very real threat that inflation is going to spike soon. At one point, most leases included provisions that protected the involved parties from the economic effects of inflation. This protection is rarely available today, so signers are more less protected to losses due to inflation.

    When you are setting up your home office or commercial property for selling purposes, consider the Asian art of feng shui. Spaces that allow energy to flow freely, without obstacles, also appeal to buyers.

    There is always more to learn about real estate activity in the commercial markets. Work under the assumption that there is more to learn, so that you will always be seeking out new information and new ways to profit from your investments. Apply these ideas with wisdom, and you shall profit.

    Sim Sadler is a real estate expert and has been buying and selling commercial real estate for over 25 years, through every market you can imagine.

    Source: http://www.simsadler.net/follow-these-hints-when-buying-commercial-real-estate-3/

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    Charisma And The Visual Arts

    Charisma And The Visual Arts

    Charisma Spencer came by her first name in a very unusual way. She wasn?t named charisma because she was charismatic ? not if you define charismatic. How could anyone know if this newborn was charismatic? No, she was named Charisma because the attending nurse misspelled her name on the birth certificate, the day she was born.

    She was supposed to be named Chariena after her great grandmother who had lived in a small English village, many years ago. Chariena was famous in England for having saved so many influenza victims with her herbs and potions. But, Charisma would never be called Chariena.

    When Mrs. Spencer had gotten home from the hospital and discovered the error on the birth certificate she recalled a certain kind of connection she had felt when she first looked into her newborn daughter?s eyes. There was something magnetic about the child and the tiny gray eyes made you feel something cozy when she looked back at you.

    Maybe the name Charisma would actually suit the child better. Deciding to sleep on the issue, Mrs. Spencer went to bed having no idea she would, ultimately, opt to keep the misspelled name for her baby. The next day she talked it over with her husband who was secretly delighted because he had felt mixed about the name Chariena from the beginning.

    Years later when Charisma graduated from high school there was a long line of well-wishers begging her to keep in touch. Charisma was indeed charismatic. Anyone who knew charisma knew she could charm you off your feet without even trying. She had a big heart and her heart was opened to the world.

    Charisma was a dazzling combination of fine qualities. She had integrity, she was compassionate, honesty was her policy, and she always thought of others first. Charisma graduated from The High School of Music and Art and had been accepted to Pratt Institute, one of the finest Visual Arts colleges in the world. Art was Charisma?s greatest love and her greatest talent.

    On this day, out of the blue, Charisma began remembering a particular spring day, years ago, when she had lain in the hammock in her backyard. She had won an art award at the school that day and was basking in the praise.

    In her musings, Charisma had wondered if it was safe to say there was a connection between the dictionary definition of charisma and the dictionary definition of visual art. Could there be a certain charisma to the creation of art? She had laughed because she was certainly a Charisma that had a definite connection with visual art.

    Remembering that long ago day got her to thinking about it all over again. She knew there was such a thing as ?charismatic art.? She had heard the term before. And, there certainly were charismatic artists, throughout history. Around and around her thoughts went. She would think the subject to pieces if she allowed herself.

    ?? Hello! ? Wake up! ? Stop daydreaming,? she said to herself. Charisma crossed the street and headed for the art supply store in the middle of the block. She had run out of art supplies and was late for studio practice at the school. Snuggling into her warm, wooly scarf Charisma hunched her shoulders against the cold and hurried down the street.

    Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/visual-graphic-arts/charisma-and-the-visual-arts

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    Defend New York: Experts on protecting against storms

    ? 2011 The Museum of Modern Art

    Architecture Research Office (ARO) ? Proposed "greening" of Lower Manhattan. Parks and freshwater and saltwater wetlands create new ecosystems, facilitating greater ecological connectivity, improving water quality, and enhancing opportunities for habitat growth.

    By Becky Bratu, NBC News

    The killer storm that hit the East Coast last month and left the nation's largest city with a crippled transit system, widespread power outages and severe flooding has resurfaced the debate about how best to protect a city like New York against rising storm surges.

    At a news conference the day after superstorm Sandy made landfall, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the city must plan and prepare for the reality of extreme weather patterns in the future.

    "There has been a series of extreme weather incidents," Cuomo said Oct. 30.?"That is not a political statement. That is a factual statement. Anyone who says there's not a dramatic change in weather patterns, I think is denying reality."

    Before the storm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration had said it was working to analyze natural risks and the effectiveness of various coast-protection techniques, including storm-surge barriers.


    In a 2011 report called "Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan," NYC's Department of City Planning listed restoring degraded natural waterfront areas, protecting wetlands and building seawalls as some of the strategies to increase the city?s resilience to climate change and sea level rise.

    "Hurricane Sandy is a wake-up call to all of us in this city and on Long Island," Malcolm Bowman, professor of physical oceanography at State University of New York at Stony Brook, told NBC News' Richard Engel. "That means designing and building storm-surge barriers like many cities in Europe already have."

    Hurricane Sandy provides 'wake-up call' for cities at risk of flooding

    Bowman points to storm surge barrier projects in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in the Netherlands as models. In the Netherlands, a country where a considerable part of the population lives below sea level, such barriers help control flooding in some of the most densely populated areas.

    ? 2011 The Museum of Modern Art

    Oyster-tecture implemented in the Bay Ridge Flats area, with reef, floating paths, anchorage areas for oyster harvesting, and constructed islands.

    "If we had such barriers in place during Hurricane Sandy there would have been no damage at all," Bowman said.

    But before Sandy and even before 2011's Hurricane Irene pummeled the New York area, a 2010 exhibition called "Rising Currents: Projects for New York?s Waterfront" at the Museum of Modern Art brought together five teams to re-envision the coastlines around New York Harbor and to offer creative solutions to address the rising water levels.

    Organizer Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, told NBC News that when Sandy hit, the images and ideas from Rising Currents came roaring back.

    Bergdoll said he was pleased people remembered the exhibition, "but obviously not so pleased with people saying, ?Wow, you know, you guys predicted this and then nothing was done.?"

    ?I don?t like to be suddenly typecast as the Cassandra of architecture," he added.

    Bergdoll said a seawall and the proposals presented in the exhibition, which included artificial islands, reefs and ways to make the surfaces of the city more absorptive, are not mutually exclusive.

    ? 2011 The Museum of Modern Art

    New Aqueous City: Storm barriers between man-made islands are inflated when storm surge flooding occurs.

    FEMA-funded rapid reconstruction program to begin in NYC, mayor says

    ?The Stony Brook people are right to look to the Netherlands, but I wouldn?t look to the Netherlands simply because they have a seawall; they also built intelligently for knowing that their flooding is frequent," he said.??The designers and the innovative thinkers need to be involved in the thinking of these issues now, rather than having them solved by politicians and engineers, and then letting them be designed by others."

    Sandy, a category 1 hurricane, sent a record 14-foot storm surge into New York Harbor and flooded subway tunnels and airports. It forced the closure of the stock market for two days, the first time that's happened for weather-related reasons since 1888. The Rising Currents projects were modeled for a category 3 storm, Bergdoll said.?

    ? 2011 The Museum of Modern Art

    The Acquaculture Research and Development Center consists of a series of laboratories and testing beds. The second floor and roof are stable, but the floating docks rise and fall with the tide, allowing for controlled testing of aquatic species in the estuarine environment of the harbor. Studies at the ARDC focus on the interdependencies of farmed species with the goal of developing a balanced and environmentally beneficial cultivation of the harbor.

    Some of the projects showcased at Rising Currents include:

    • Ways to make the surfaces of the city more absorptive (through porous sidewalks) and more able to deal with water, whether coming from the sea or sky;
    • Parks and freshwater and saltwater wetlands in Lower Manhattan;
    • Artificial islands or reefs (including ones made of recycled glass) to make the shoreline more absorptive and break the waves.

    ?You need to plan assuming that [Sandy] is not a one-time event," Bergdoll said.

    ?What is really needed, I think, is a combination of the large-scale gestures and then the incremental ones," he said, adding that the city's building codes should be re-examined.

    City administrators were involved in the exhibition, Bergdoll said, and they took it "very, very seriously," but he said it's worrisome that Sandy happened in the twilight of an administration that will be gone next year.

    Rising Currents continues to live online, and Bergdoll said the next step would be to put a price tag on the different proposals.

    ?I think what?s really needed is to figure out how to make it as a bridge from a hypothetical study to something that could become a plan of action," he said.

    NBC News' Richard Engel investigates what experts say can be done to better protect coastal cities from storms like Sandy. Sandy sent a record 14-foot storm surge into New York Harbor, flooding subway tunnels and airports.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/10/15052860-ideas-on-protecting-new-york-from-future-storms-float-to-surface?lite

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    RoyaleRoom ? A Premium Real Estate WordPress Theme | Blog ...

    People move all the time and that makes real estate marketing one of the biggest businesses in the world. As a property agent/broker, you need a weapon that helps you sell. Competition is harsh and people are becoming smarter. You need an efficient way to market homes to potential buyers. Face-to-face sales pitch and property viewing are the basics but you need something just as powerful. We say, an online property-listing website.

    RoyaleRoom?is the latest theme creation from ColorLabs & Company. Specially tailored for real estate brokerage firms, the theme functions as a company website as well as a property search engine. This way, your website can market your properties and also your company in one go. Feature-wise,?RoyaleRoom?fully supports?IDX-MLS search with the dsIDXpress plugin, Google Maps services, and property filtering by price, type, location and feature.

    We?ll implement more features to RoyaleRoom as we receive more feedback. At this stage, grab a copy of RoyaleRoom and shoot us with any suggestions or feedback by filling the comment box below or submitting them to our Idea & Feedback Forum!

    Source: http://colorlabsproject.com/blog/royaleroom-a-premium-real-estate-wordpress-theme/

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