Mediaboss Marketing

Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid is wrong in his complaints Sunday over U.S. Soccer methodology and alleged skullduggery very, very wrong. And to his big bowl of Wrong Salad, the man ladled on a heaping helping of Bad Timing dressing.

Frankly, Schmid probably owes a round or two of apology beers. And his complaints well, they dont even make sense.

And yet, he managed to be just a little bit right. Its tricky, but he pulled it off.

Schmid sent serious ripples across the U.S. Soccer pond Sunday when, in comments to the Seattle Times, he essentially accused U.S. Soccer of rigging the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup site selection process.

The comments in question:

Obviously the coin is not favorable for us. It seems to land on the right side for K.C. and D.C. United, whose president of one club and coach of the other have been on the executive committee of U.S. Soccer. Surprisingly. Being very frank, I think U.S. Soccer is trying to make it difficult for us to win an Open Cup. Its almost like sometimes I get the feeling that theyd rather not see us win it again, for whatever reasons. Maybe they think it dilutes the value of the Cup or theyre getting pressure from some others that think Seattle can only win it because theyre playing at home.

Oh, my.

Theres quite a bit more where those came from, too.

Mostly, its just wrong to go all conspiratorial like this, lobbing public accusations with absolutely no base of supporting evidence.

Schmid is talking about coin flips that determine host rights and matchups. And Seattle has had some bummer luck in the coin tossing. Still

See more here:
Schmid sees conspiracy in Open Cup

Kiwi Bruce Anstey won one of the most thrilling races in Isle of Man TT history when he won the Supersport TT today by just .77 of a second from Cameron Donald.

Once long time leader Michael Dunlop retired on the third lap, there was never more than a couple of seconds between Anstey, Donald and Gary Johnson with only the smallest margin - .62 of a second - separating the trio at Ramsey Hairpin on the final lap. However, Johnson ran out of fuel on the final drop down the Mountain and Anstey's final lap of 126.634 mph was enough for him to come home for his ninth TT win - 10 years after his first back in 2002.

A road traffic accident caused a two-hour delay to the proceeding but when it did start it was the two Dunlops, Michael and William, who were fastest out of the blocks. Michael led through Glen Helen on the opening lap - albeit by just .25 of a second and, in typical Supersport fashion, it was close across the top 10. Johnson was in third, 1.5 seconds adrift, and he was followed by Donald, Anstey, Ryan Farquhar and John McGuinness with just a further 1.5 seconds splitting third to seventh.

Irish eyes were smiling on Michael Dunlop though at the head of the field and with the fastest lap of the race, 126.948 mph, his lead increased to almost 22 seconds at half race distance. Johnson took over the runner-up spot when they came into the pits to refuel and William was still in third with Anstey now up to fourth ahead of Donald.

Things began to change on the third lap and when Michael Dunlop was reported late at Glen Helen, it handed the lead to Johnson with an advantage of 3.5 seconds over new second-placed man Donald. Anstey was another second behind and William Dunlop a similar gap behind in fourth. Then news came through that Michael Dunlop had stopped at Ballig Bridge.

Johnson was in trouble though and as he ran out of fuel on the drop down the Mountain, he pushed in to eventually finish in 28th place and William Dunlop took advantage to clinch the final podium spot, his first top three finish around the Mountain Course. Farquhar overtook McGuinness as he circulated with Donald, but the Irishman also ran out of fuel on the final lap at Creg ny Baa and so McGuinness took fourth ahead of James Hillier, who recorded his best-ever TT finish.

The results mean Anstey now leads the TT Championship with 41 points closely followed by Donald on 40 and McGuinness on 38.

Continue reading here:
Antsey Wins Isle of Man TT Thriller

04-06-2012 06:17 An explanation of the MPF system for expats living in HK.

See the original post here:
MPF for expats in HK.mp4 - Video

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Rayoniers (RYN) chairman, president and CEO, Paul Boynton, is scheduled to present at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) 2012 REITWeek Investor Forum, Tuesday, June 12, at 9:30 a.m. in New York.

Boynton will discuss Rayoniers overall strategy and three core businesses. The presentation will be webcast live over the Internet. Interested parties are invited to listen by logging onto http://www.rayonier.com and following the link at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the presentation.

About Rayonier

Rayonier is a leading international forest products company with three core businesses: Forest Resources, Real Estate and Performance Fibers. The company owns, leases or manages 2.7 million acres of timber and land in the United States and New Zealand. The company's holdings include approximately 200,000 acres with residential and commercial development potential along the Interstate 95 corridor between Savannah, Ga., and Daytona Beach, Fla. Its Performance Fibers business is one of the world's leading producers of high-value specialty cellulose fibers, which are used in products such as filters, pharmaceuticals and LCD screens. Approximately 45 percent of the company's sales are outside the U.S. to customers in approximately 40 countries. Rayonier is structured as a real estate investment trust. More information is available atwww.rayonier.com.

Link:
Rayonier's Chairman, President & CEO to Present at REITWeek

(PRWEB) June 05, 2012

How to be successful in real estate with out an agent.

In some cases, it can take less than two weeks to get a real-estate agent license. So why use an agent to improve home sale?

There are a number of advantages to selling a home.

For homeowners, there are thousands of reasons to bypass real-estate agents selling property is easy "If you cut out all agents ... essentially cutting out on average about 6% of commission," says Warren gold of Tampa Florida "On a $300,000 home, that's about $18,000 of savings." But despite this huge potential savings, many home sellers especially in today's tough housing market think that a real-estate agent's expertise is essential.

Gold begs to differ and offers five reasons home sellers don't need agents:

1. Just point and click: With the rise of online real-estate search tools, homeowners are no longer beholden to real-estate agents for the resources and information they need to sell property. "The Internet has essentially changed the face of real estate," Gold says. "It's essentially leveled the playing field across the market."

2. With the emergence of online platforms designed specifically to market the homes of sellers not affiliated with agents such as For Sale By Owner.com homeowners no longer need agents to get their property in front of prospective buyers, Gold says. Plus, "agents leverage the Multiple Listing Service as their primary 'marketing tool,' "Gold says. But "anybody can access that if they want to pay for it." (Homeowners can put their homes on the MLS for a couple of hundred dollars, according to For Sale By Owner.com.)

3. Agents aren't appraisers: Appraisers not agents are the key to getting an accurate home valuation, Gold says. "An agent is going to give you their perspective based on what they are seeing, [but] they have no true professional training in that aspect,"Gold says. Home sellers working without an agent can obtain the services of an appraiser on their own for roughly $200 to $300, he says. "Even if an agent is used, an appraiser is still needed,"Gold says.

What's is the home worth?

Originally posted here:
How To Buy Real Estate Without an Agent. By Warren Gold of Tampa Florida