Latest Posts

  • Entertainment 0

    Melvin Manhoef and the fine line between entertainment and MMA effectiveness

    There is a certain expectation of any fight involving Melvin Manhoef. Someone is going to get knocked out — whether it be Manhoef or his opponent. Pound-for-pound, the Dutch kickboxer is one of the most exciting MMA fighters around. That doesn’t always translate into winning fights, but Manhoef also knows his entertainment value is one of the reasons he is employed by a big organization like Bellator. “I do my show and I hope people enjoy it,” Manhoef told MMAFighting.com. “This is what I want to do for Bellator. I want to make great fights.” Yes. But at age 38, there’s something else Manhoef covets: ...
    On February 13, 2015 / By
  • Social 0

    Your 3 biggest Social Security questions answered

    Do you think today’s 50-year-olds can count on getting their Social Security benefits when they retire? Will we get any money at all from the Social Security system? — Anita, Littleton, Colo. You can’t adequately prepare for retirement without factoring Social Security into your plans. Which is why I want to address not just the question you posed, but two other important Social Security questions people often grapple with. 1. Can I count on Social Security when I retire? The latest Social Security Trustees Report projects that the Social Security trust fund will run out of money in just 18 years, or 2033. But even if that f...
    On February 11, 2015 / By
  • Finance 0

    US jobs market booms as recovery accelerates

    The United States added 257,000 jobs last month and the number of jobs created in November and December was revised sharply higher. January was the 11th consecutive month in which more than 200,000 jobs were created – the best run since 1994. The Labor Department said on Friday that an additional 147,000 jobs were added in both November and December. That brought the total to 414,000 and 329,000 respectively. An average of 336,000 jobs have been created a month for the past three months – the best three-month pace in 17 years and underlining the strength of the economic recovery in America. A year ago, the three-month average stoo...
    On February 9, 2015 / By
  • Technology 0

    Four takeaways from Deloitte’s 2015 technology trends report

    The exponential speed at which technological innovation changes the way we work is staggering. For IT leaders and decision-makers, being competitive often means staying on top of emerging trends that could impact their industry. On Tuesday, February 3, professional services firm Deloitte released its sixth annual technology trends report, which looks at aspects of technology that will affect the future of IT. The report is titled “The fusion of business and IT” and it examines the following eight trends: CIO as chief integration officerAPI economyAmbient computingDimensional marketingSoftware-defined everythingCore renaissanceAmpl...
    On February 5, 2015 / By
  • Entertainment 0

    Aspire Entertainment, Newsweek Partner to Develop Magazine Stories for TV, Movies

    Aspire Entertainment has inked an exclusive two-year development deal with Newsweek to create and distribute films, TV series and other content on various platforms based on stories published in the magazine. The deal makes sense. Aspire’s chief, producer Mark Ciardi, has frequently drawn on true stories for previous films such as “Million Dollar Arm,” with Jon Hamm, and “Miracle,” with Kurt Russell. Ciardi’s stock in trade has been inspirational sports dramas. His former shingle, Mayhem Pictures, had been headquartered at Disney since 2002. Last year, he and longtime producing partner Gordon Gray parted ways, and Ciardi launched ...
    On February 3, 2015 / By
  • Real Estate 0

    Where We Live: Potomac Greens has not-so-old townhouses not far from Old Town

    In 2008, when they relocated to Northern Virginia, Shane and Nicole McCullar put together a wish list for their house hunting that looked like this: They love to travel, so they wanted to be able to jump on a plane without a long commute from home. They wanted to be in the suburbs, but close to the District so they could regularly visit museums. Though they desired to be in walking distance to Old Town Alexandria, they didn’t want to actually live in an old house. The McCullars settled on Potomac Greens, a community of 227 townhouses off the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Alexandria. “We got to pick our lot and all the specific fin...
    On January 30, 2015 / By
  • Social 0

    Why is GOP going after Social Security?

    Paul Waldman is a senior writer with the American Prospect magazine and a blogger for the Washington Post. (CNN)Social Security is often described as “the third rail of American politics” — touch it and you’ll get zapped. So why do Republicans keep sidling up to it and sticking their fingers out? There’s a brewing controversy in Congress over a small part of the program, which is just the latest version of an old routine that goes like this: Republicans say Social Security is going broke, and they propose changes that would cut benefits or otherwise undermine the program. Democrats shout “Republicans are tr...
    On January 28, 2015 / By
  • Finance 0

    Better U.S. housing market makes it easier to trade up

    (Reuters) – Joe and Debbie Valerio, a couple in their 60s, put their Westport, Connecticut, home of more than 20 years on the market because it was getting too big for them. When they found a nearby condo they loved, they pounced. That set off a chain reaction allowing Peter and Leah Baiocco, a couple in their 30s, the ability to trade up. The Baioccos lived a few miles away, contemplating a future move to a bigger home once kids came along. With favorable economic conditions, they jumped at the chance to buy the Valerios’ $2.7 million house last April. After renting it out for nearly a year, the Baioccos’ starter house in F...
    On January 26, 2015 / By
  • Technology 0

    We are all sitting too much, and technology isn’t helping

    A pair of new articles published in the BMJ this week highlight the debilitating effects of sedentary lifestyles and suggest a new public policy focus on getting the most inactive people moving. The average American is now sitting or otherwise inactive for over eight waking hours per day — a figure which only rises with age — and no age group above 30 is committing more than 30 minutes to moderate or vigorous activity per day. All adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week — a broadly supported guideline that has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the new BMJ papers suggest that ...
    On January 22, 2015 / By
  • Entertainment 0

    The promise of ‘The Nightly Show’

    Fans of Comedy Central’s late-night hour of news and “news” can relax. The Jon Stewart factory appears to have produced another terrific host with Larry Wilmore, one whose approach is quite different from that of his predecessor in the 11:30 slot, Stephen Colbert. While Colbert was the emperor of “truthiness” and lies, a live-action cartoon of American arrogance, Wilmore is all about “Keeping It 100,” as in keeping it 100 percent real, particularly when it comes to race. In Monday’s debut of “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” Wilmore’s approach was more conventional than that of Colbert, but then a show like “The C...
    On January 20, 2015 / By