Retirement benefits for state and local employees have come under enormous funding pressure because of the recession, slow recovery in tax receipts, and cutbacks in federal stimulus and support spending. The 2010 shortfall in public pension and healthcare benefits was nearly $1.4 trillion, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. That's the difference between what the states have on hand and the benefit obligations they have promised to pay retirees.

[See Top-Rated Funds by Category Ranked by U.S. News Mutual Fund Score.]

The retirement prospects of public employees are, of course, directly affected by the adequacy of retirement benefit funding. But the health or weakness of state retirement benefits also affects a state's broader tax and spending environment. States with well-funded retirement systems are less likely to boost taxes on their residents than states with public retirement programs in poor financial shape. If you're nearing retirement, a state's fiscal health may play a big role if you're considering moving to a place.

Pew says 2010 is the most recent year when it could review data on all 50 states. It notes that nearly every state took steps in 2011 and 2012 to narrow its pension shortfall and that many acted on healthcare benefits as well. "States have responded with an unprecedented number of reforms that, with strong investment gains, may improve the funding situation they face going forward," Pew says, "but continued fiscal discipline and additional reforms will be needed to put states back on a firm footing."

Pensions. States set aside funds to cover future pension obligations. Pew says states' total funding shortfall for pensions was $757 billion in 2010. Closing that gap would mean states had achieved 100 percent coverage of their pension obligations. Pew and other experts say adequate pension funding should achieve at least an 80 percent ratio of pension plan assets to retiree payment obligations.

[See Avoiding Common Investing Mistakes.]

Here are the 10 states with the highest percentage of funded pension obligations in 2010:

Wisconsin: 100 percent

North Carolina: 96 percent

South Dakota: 96 percent

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State Retirement Benefit Gap Getting Wider

By Satyajit Das, derivatives expert and the author of Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk (2011)

Jonathan Fenby (2012) Tiger Head, Snake Tails: China Today, How It Got There and Where It is Heading

Robert Frank (2011) Who Repod My Jet: the manic millionaires, and why theyll lead us to the next boom and bust

John Coates (2012) The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust

Personal relating to an individual or what serves the interest of that individual. Personality distinctive assemblage of qualities which defines an individual, frequently in modern life conflated with celebrity. These three books deal with the personal and personality in the financial world.

In an increasingly crowded list of books purporting to explain China, Jonathan Fenbys Tiger Head, Snake Tails is a standout, providing very personal insights into the Middle Kingdom rarely found elsewhere.

Mr. Fenby is in an excellent position to write about the subject, having been the Editor of the South China Morning Post in HK for many years. His resistance to the newspaper following an overt pro-China line as demanded by the owner may have been a factor in his contract not being renewed. He continues to be closely involved with China, heading a team at the research service Trusted Sources. His direct knowledge and immediate experience provides the substance that defines the work.

Most books on China are polemical tracts, rooted in Sino-philia or Sino-phobia, sometimes both simultaneously. Sino-philia believes in the Chinese model. For example, The Economist asserts that: [Chinese leaders make] rational decisions that balance the needs of all citizens over the long term. Francis Fukuyama and Nancy Birdsell believe that China can avoid the delays of a messy democratic process because the bureaucracy at its upper levels is capable of managing and coordinating sophisticated policies.

Sino-phobes fear that China is hell-bent on conquering the world, capturing its resources and enslaving its peoples. They hold China accountable for everything, including the unsolved death of Marilyn Monroe and the mysterious forces behind the assassination of an American president in Dallas.

The discussion and binary opinions are driven by the fact that economically and politically China is being called upon to play a central role in the world. The debate is focused on what the world requires rather than what China sees as its own interests and a realistic assessment of its abilities. Treading a nuanced path, Tiger Head, Snake Tails develops the thesis of an emerging country, seeking to deal with complex problems of economic development, social structure, political system and the unshakeable legacy of its history.

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Satyajit Das: Personal versus Personalities

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Fujitsu, the market leader in document imaging scanners, today introduced the newest addition to its portable ScanSnap product lineup for PC and Mac users. The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i is enhanced with faster scanning speeds, the ability to send and store scanned documents to Android and iOS compatible devices, and new functionality allowing users to easily upload scans to cloud-based services such as Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs, SugarSync and Salesforce Chatter.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120622/SF28993)

The compact Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i, weighing in at just 3.1 lbs., provides the same easy-to-use one-button scanning and reliable operation as its predecessors, giving consumers and business professionals the most productive, versatile scanning experience at home or on the go. Now, with the addition of its new features and functionalities, the ScanSnap S1300i delivers an array of capabilities that no other document management company offers in a compact scanning solution. New and enhanced features of the ScanSnap S1300i include:

"We're excited that ScanSnap has integrated Dropbox into their devices via the Dropbox API to give our mutual users a great solution for digitizing and managing their content across multiple platforms," said Ilya Fushman, head of Platform Business Development and Corporate Development, Dropbox, Inc.

"In the constantly evolving and fast-paced world that we live in today, people need a versatile and flexible solution to help them keep up with the demands and that is exactly what the ScanSnap S1300i is designed to do," said Scott Francis, vice president of marketing, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. "From its ability to scan directly to multiple cloud-based services and mobile devices, to its PC and Mac compatibility, to its compact size, the ScanSnap S1300i allows consumers and business professions to be even more productive and paperless anywhere they go."

Simple, Versatile, Powerful

ScanSnap S1300i comes with software for PC and software for Mac so users who use both can optimize their ScanSnap for either platform, making the scanner even more portable and versatile when space is an issue. In-box software includes:

Additional Productivity Features

The next generation ScanSnap S1300i can be powered by USB (USB cables and AC power adaptor included) and provides the rich intelligence and productivity capabilities that have made the ScanSnap line an award-winning device. Key innovative features of the ScanSnap S1300i include:

Pricing & Availability

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Fujitsu Introduces New Personal and Portable ScanSnap Scanner With New Productivity Features, Faster Scanning Speeds ...

Katy Perry blames world tour, surging career for split with Brand

Katy Perry is finally talking about her split with Russell Brand, and she's not pointing any fingers, more or less.

In her new movie, "Part of Me," Perry says the biggest strain on their marriage, which all but ended when he filed for divorce six months ago, was her packed touring schedule, with Perry using her rare days off to take trips to see Brand.

In one scene, People reports, Perry is seen sobbing uncontrollably backstage just before her show. Eventually, she rallies. "Start time," she says before hitting the stage.

And it didn't help, she says, that her career was taking off.

"I thought to myself, 'When I find that person that's going to be my life partner, I won't ever have to choose (between the partner and my career) ... they won't be threatened or have weird motives," Perry says. "Then I started to realize, that's not true. That fairytale I had is not true for me right now."

She also says the last thing she wanted was for the marriage to unravel.

"I have that same belief system with everything, from career to my life to my personal life, everything," she says. "And I will do everything it takes to not fail. And I did everything it took but it still failed."

Justin Bieber flunks art history test on 'Letterman'

But what about the 15th?

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Katy Perry: Russell Brand divorce because of work, success: Favorite people

Everyones definition of success is different and it depends on a lot of different factors. But what remains the same is that everyone wants to succeed in life, and as productivity blog Dumb Little Man points out, the first step is to define what success means to you so you know when youre satisfied.

Photo by Michael Lemmon.

The question might seem obvious, but as Dumb Little Man points out its probably not as concrete of an idea as it seems. Most people are going to list a good salary, health or a happy family life as their idea of success, but they need personal definitions:

Unless youre clear on exactly what a good salary means to you, its going to be hard for you to be satisfied. And the same goes for other areas, like your health and your family life. Sure, you cant put a figure on those but you can write down a detailed description of what success will look like in those areas.

Until you define your version of success, you dont really have anything to strive for and you dont know when to stop pursuing it. Defining success might seem simple, but its worth the extra mental effort to make sure you have a good working definition for yourself.

Do You Know What Success Means for You? [Dumb Little Man]

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Define Success Before Trying To Pursue It

EUGENE, Ore. (21-Jun) -- Julia Lucas only lives about a mile from historic Hayward Field, site of the USA Olympic Trials which open here on Friday. But, her journey to the starting line started thousands of miles away in North Carolina last September when the battered and then dejected athlete tried to reconnect to what she truly loved about running.

"I said after U.S. Nationals last year that this is the last year I've got to make it work," the 28 year-old athlete told Race Results Weekly in an interview here today.

Lucas had finished ninth in the second heat of the 1500m, and would not run another track race for the rest of the summer. Her body, plagued over a 15-year running career with seven different stress fractures to her feet and legs, wasn't cooperating, and her spirits were low. She needed to reconnect with the roots of her success: her time competing at North Carolina State University, where she won the Atlantic Coast Conference 5000m title in 2005 and 2006, and finished fourth in the NCAA 5000m in 2007. She contacted her old coaches, Rollie Geiger and Laurie Henes, and asked if she could essentially rejoin her old team.

"I felt like it could work," Lucas remembered. She continued: "Also, just being around my college teammates that are truly supportive. I went back to North Carolina, and left beating my chest in warrior mode. It was an emotional rebirth."

Staying in Henes's attic, she worked out with the N.C. State team for six weeks last fall, living apart from her husband, Olympian Ian Dobson, for the longest period of their marriage. She loved the feeling of being surrounded by a team of young women.

"The team environment to me is extremely important," Lucas said. "When I left the team in college and went out to be a professional runner, that was impossible. I'm still not making any money. I've got to do it for some other reason. If I don't have that reason, it's impossible. Having teammates, it's not that they are my reason but they remind me of my reasons that I do this."

Feeling the healthiest she had in years, Lucas did two races last fall --a road mile in England and the USA 10-K Road Running Championships in Boston-- and put up satisfying results. She finished fourth in the 10-K, getting a road personal best of 33:39.

Returning here to Eugene to train with the Oregon Track Club Elite, a Nike-sponsored track and field team here, Lucas said she finally had learned to train in a way which would keep her from breaking down. Working with her coach Mark Rowland, she said she got the support she needed from him and the group, but was able to train in her own style. She said she was prone to injuries because of her running style.

"You've seen the way I run," Lucas said, looking embarrassed. "I'm just goofy. I'm just not the physical specimen, I'm not a thoroughbred."

Describing her running style as "gawky," Lucas said that grinding hard until it hurt was a recipe for disaster for her, and only led to the boom and bust cycles of getting fit only to get hurt again.

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(RRW) Athletics: Reborn Lucas Poised for Trials Success

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ho72xo30Lg

21-06-2012 15:32 Organize ahead of time to make the adoption of the Online Learning Center go smoothly. In this webinar we'll discuss options and offer helpful tips for settng up your school, creating classes, communicating with families, organizing student email addresses. You'll feel fully equipped and confident about taking the next step to get your online classes up and running. (Hosted by Vicki Weber on June 21st, 2012)

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Webinar: Back to School Prep -- Tips for Getting Students and Their Parents Ready for the OLC - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul4KQ7gLrCc

21-06-2012 21:49 My review of Chapter 13.

More here:
The Quality Delimma in Online Education Revisited - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucmkFmsmfWA

22-06-2012 09:37 TutorMee commercial video explain's the TutorMee concept!

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TutorMee Commercial Video - Video

DULUTH, Ga., June 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI), an IACET approved, nationally accredited, online child care and education training institution, is proud to announce that its students have completed more than 700,000 professional development course hours and more than 4,500 certificate programs online.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111019/MM90221LOGO)

CCEI has provided quality online professional development and certificate programs across the country since 2005, allowing child care professionals to continue their education from anywhere they have web access. CCEI students work in a wide variety of child care settings and appreciate the self-paced, user-friendly coursework that fulfills licensing, Head Start, and other training requirements. Most importantly, CCEI's research and competency-based professional development programs promote high-quality, effective early childhood education practices.

"ChildCare Education Institute continues to introduce new coursework on critical issues in the child care and education industry," said Maria C. Taylor, President and CEO of ChildCare Education Institute. "This latest milestone confirms our role as a top provider of quality training solutions."

All CCEI certificate programs and courses are available for purchase through online enrollment on the CCEI website. Professional development coursework is available as individual courses or as part of an annual, unlimited individual or center-based subscription.

About CCEIChildCare Education Institute provides quality, affordable professional development programs for continuing education, including over 100 English and Spanish online child care training courses to meet annual state licensing and Head Start training requirements. In addition to online training, CCEI offers online certificate programs, such as the Online Child Development Associate (CDA), Online Director's Certificates, and several other options.CCEI is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council, approved by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training to award IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs), and authorized under the Nonpublic Postsecondary Educational Institutions Act of 1990, license number 837.

For more information, visit http://www.cceionline.edu or call 1.800.499.9907.

ChildCare Education Institute, LLC 3059 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Duluth, GA 30097 1.800.499.9907

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Child Care Providers Complete Over 700,000 Hours of Online Professional Development through CCEI