B.B. King - Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale ...

For the average 87 year old, New Year's Eve usually means a night of sleeping up-right on the couch at a family function. For blues legend, B.B. King, it's just another working night.?

The undisputed King of the Blues was kind enough to grace the Broward Center with his presence this December 31, and while a night of the blues might not seem like the most joyous way to segue into a fresh rotation, a great time was had by all -- none the least, by B.B. himself!

Patrons sipped champagne as they filed into the Broward Center's lavishly adorned theater from the sprawling lobby area. Some were gussied up to the nines, others came as they were, most were smiling in anticipation. The audience was soon greeted from the stage by a young man that had previously been seen standing in front of a merch booth, noodling on an acoustic guitar as he greeted the early crowd.?

Fingerstyle guitarist Shaun Hopper was given the distinct honor of warming the crowd for King. Hailing from the southern bits of Georgia, Hopper's exuberant display of guitar wizardry was the perfect way to shake the crowd loose, without being redundant in the way another blues artist might have been.?

Hopper turned his single acoustic guitar into an entire band, a la guitarists Tuck Andress and Tommy Emmanuel. Hopper gave the treatment to songs that included Stevie Wonder favorites, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," and even the theme music from the Mario Bros video game -- complete with iconic sound effects from the game!?

Hopper was big on audience participation, addressing the crowd throughout the songs and making the performance feel as intimate as one of the pub gigs he said he was accustomed to playing in Georgia. The highlight of the young man's set was his rendition of the Leonard Cohen (and then Jeff Buckley) classic, "Hallelujah," which was the only number Hopper sang, but he certainly made it count. The arrangement of the song featured Hopper's heartfelt vocal playing off of the extended and flowing chords he played on his guitar, punctuated by unique taps, pinches, and plucks of his guitar's strings that captured the entire room's attention.?

After Hopper requested to meet literally every one in the audience after the show, King's band made it to the stage. The seven-piece band laid into a swinging introduction number to warm up, get levels, and rile up the audience for Mr. Riley B. King's entrance. The legend made it out to the stage after another song of solos and swinging drums, courtesy of Florida native Tony Coleman. The audience was on their feet for his entrance, and King was in great spirits, taking a plenty of time to hand out guitar picks to all who ventured to the front of the stage. Decked out in his signature silk jacket, King took his throne and sorted-out some stinging stabs of blues from his black Gibson, Lucille.?

King's guitar sound held in it the sort of impact that just doesn't fade with time: The man might move a little slower these days, and the songs lose a bit of structure to King's wonderful stories and crowd interactions, but there is simply no denying the incredible amount of soul that this man possesses. King's voice is as strong as ever, crying out over the deeply pocketed blues created by his backing band, King hit his stride during crowd favorite, "Rock Me Baby." King's guitar stabs, always phrased like a human voice, careened through the room as he bellowed through "Key to the Highway," and the night was as much a comedy routine as it was a blues review.?

King is extremely funny, with a seemingly unquenchable thirst for the love of the ladies. Throughout the night, the Mississippi native took passes at women in the audience, told anecdotes about the ladies being compelled to disrobe in front of the band's guitarist Charlie Dennis (who was no slouch himself), and doing his well known chair-bound shake and jive frequently to the delight of the audience. Between classics like, "The Thrill is Gone," and Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean," King rung in the new year with grace, style, and hilarity, and the world will no-doubt be a far worse place when the man finally hangs up Lucille and calls it a night.?

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Source: http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/countygrind/2013/01/bb_king_broward_center_fort_lauderdale_new_years_eve_review.php

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Clinton leaves hospital after treatment for clot

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2012 file photo, U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a news conference at the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations in Perth, Australia. Clinton was released from a New York hospital on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2012 file photo, U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a news conference at the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations in Perth, Australia. Clinton was released from a New York hospital on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was released from a New York hospital on Wednesday, three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head.

Clinton's medical team advised her Wednesday evening that she was making good progress on all fronts and said they are confident she will fully recover, said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines. Doctors had been treating Clinton with blood thinners to dissolve a clot in a vein that runs through the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear.

"She's eager to get back to the office," Reines said in a statement, adding that the secretary and her family are grateful for the excellent care she received at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Reines said details of when Clinton will return to work will be clarified in the coming days.

Clinton had been in the hospital since Sunday, when doctors discovered the clot on an MRI test during a follow-up exam stemming from a concussion she suffered earlier in December. While at home battling a stomach virus, Clinton had fainted, fallen and struck her head, a spokesman said.

"Grateful my Mom discharged from the hospital and is heading home," the secretary's daughter, Chelsea, wrote on Twitter. "Even more grateful her medical team (is) confident she'll make a full recovery."

Earlier Wednesday, the State Department said Clinton had been speaking by telephone with staff in Washington and reviewing paperwork while in the hospital.

"She's been quite active on the phone with all of us," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Before being released from the hospital, Clinton was photographed Wednesday getting into a black van with her husband, Bill, Chelsea and a security contingent to be taken elsewhere on the sprawling hospital campus. The last time Clinton had been seen publicly was on Dec. 7.

Clinton's physicians had said Monday that there was no neurological damage but that they planned to keep her in the hospital while they established the proper dose for the blood thinners. They said Clinton, 65, had been in good spirits and was engaging with doctors, family and aides.

Sidelined by her illness for most of December, Clinton was absent on Dec. 21 when President Barack Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to succeed her when she steps down at the start of Obama's second term, as had long been planned. The illness also forced to cancel scheduled testimony before Congress about a scathing report into the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, although she could still testify in the future.

"She has said that she is open" to going before Congress, Nuland said Wednesday, while Clinton was still hospitalized. "We are working with them now on their schedule, because there's also a question of when they are going to be in."

Clinton had expected to return to work this week and had already started to resume regular phone contact with her foreign counterparts. On Saturday, the day before the clot was discovered, Clinton had a half-hour conversation with Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. envoy to Syria, in which the two discussed the state of affairs in that country, her spokeswoman said.

Also on Saturday, Clinton spoke by telephone with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, discussing recent developments in Syria, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.

The illness has also raised questions about Clinton's political future and how her health might influence her decision about whether to run for president in 2016, as prominent Democrats have been urging her to consider.

Clinton suffered from a blood clot in 1998, midway through her husband's second term as president, although that clot was located in her knee.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-02-Clinton/id-42c96d5882504b24836589c72aae4c71

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US immigration reform will happen ? at last | The A-List

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Source: http://blogs.ft.com/the-a-list/2013/01/01/us-immigration-reform-will-happen-at-last/

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NHS Ban On Ads For Breast Augmentations - Business Insider

Aggressive advertising used by providers of cosmetic surgery is more suited to "selling double glazing" and should be curbed, an interim report on the industry has said.

Offering operations as competition prizes should also be banned, according to a wide?ranging review of the regulation of cosmetic surgery being led by Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director. The review comes following the scandal in which 50,000 British women were given faulty implants. The PIP breast implants, made in France, were passed by European regulators but the filling was then switched from medical grade silicone to industrial filler normally used in mattresses.

The interim report contains responses from the medical professions, clinics, patients and the public following a call for evidence on the state of regulation of all cosmetic procedures, from injectable skin fillers and Botox to laser and light hair removal and surgery. The findings include a call for tighter restrictions on advertising and greater enforcement of existing legislation. Many feel that cosmetic procedures should be subject to the same advertising ban as prescribed medicines.

The writer and broadcaster Vivienne Parry, a review committee member, said: "Aggressive marketing techniques are often used to maximize profit. This may be the right approach for selling double glazing but not for people having or considering whether to have surgery.

"Everyone who decides to have cosmetic surgery should have time to think about the risks. Time?limited deals and offers on voucher websites pressure people to make snap decisions."

There are also calls for a ban on offering a free initial consultation, which puts pressure on the patient to go through with the surgery and for that consultation to be with the surgeon carrying out the work or at least a medical professional. Experts are concerned that nurses operating on commission are often the first person seen by the patient, who is subjected to pressure sales techniques.

Offering surgery as prizes in competitions and two?for?one offers should be banned, the report says.

Patients should also be given a cooling?off period by introducing a two-stage consent process and better information should be provided on the side?effects, including photographs of expected bruising and scarring.

There is also a call for greater training of those offering cosmetic surgery, including the protection of the title "surgeon" and regulation that only medically qualified staff could administer injectable treatments.

Sir Bruce said: "It's not always acknowledged that people undergoing cosmetic interventions are not only consumers but also patients. They are taking decisions about medical procedures that can have a profound impact on their health and wellbeing.

"The responses to the call for evidence send a clear message that the current regulatory framework doesn't do enough to support patient safety."

Dr Rosemary Leonard, a review committee member, said: "It is wrong that the first consultation is with a sales person rather than a medical professional. Surgery is a serious step, and a patient must be told about the immediate side effects after surgery as well as any potential long?term effects."

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons warned that the report did not go far enough.

Rajiv Grover, the organization's president, said: "The call for a medical professional rather than a salesperson to hold the initial consultation with prospective patients is a dangerously broad and inadequate definition.

"The only person holding a consultation with a patient should be the surgeon who will be performing the procedure. Otherwise, the professional could still be, for example, a nurse working on commission for practitioners based either here or even abroad.

"Recognised medico?legally, informed consent is essential for patient safety and only the surgeon carrying out the actual operation should be involved in the process. Achieving anything less at the end of this exercise would make a mockery of the review ? if not turn it into an outright sham."

The review group will report in March with recommendations.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/nhs-ban-on-ads-for-breast-augmentations-2012-12

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Obama: Deal to avert fiscal cliff 'in sight'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The contours of a deal to avert the 'fiscal cliff' emerged Monday, with Democrats and Republicans agreeing to raise tax rates on family income over $450,000 a year, increase the estate tax rate and extend unemployment benefits for one year, officials familiar with the negotiations said.

But with a midnight deadline rapidly approaching, both sides were at an impasse over whether to put off automatic, across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1, and if so, how to pay for that.

One official said talks were focused on a two-month delay in the across-the-board cuts but negotiators had yet to agree on about $24 billion in savings from elsewhere in the budget.

Officials emphasized that negotiations were continuing and the emerging deal was not yet final. President Barack Obama was to speak about the status of the negotiations from the White House Monday afternoon.

The proposal in the works would raise the tax rates on family income over $450,000 from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, the same level as under former President Bill Clinton. Also, estates would be taxed at 40 percent after the first $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple, up from 35 percent to 40 percent.

Unemployment benefits would be extended for one year. Without the extension, 2 million people would lose benefits beginning in early January.

A Republican official familiar with the plans confirmed the details described to The Associated Press.

The officials requested anonymity in order to discuss the internal negotiations.

Unless an agreement is reached and approved by Congress by the start of New Year's Day, more than $500 billion in 2013 tax increases will begin to take effect and $109 billion will be carved from defense and domestic programs

Though the tax hikes and budget cuts would be felt gradually, economists warn that if allowed to fully take hold, their combined impact ? the so-called fiscal cliff ? would rekindle a recession.

Urgent talks were continuing Monday afternoon between the White House and congressional Republicans, with longtime negotiating partners Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at the helm. Underscoring the flurry of activity, another GOP aide said the two men had conversations at 12:45 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Monday.

An agreement on the proposed deal would also shield Medicare doctors from a 27 percent cut in fees and extend tax credits for research and development, as well as renewable energy.

The deal would also extend for five years a series of tax credits meant to lessen the financial burden on poorer and middle-class families, including one credit that helps people pay for college.

The deal would achieve about $600 billion in new revenue, the officials said.

Despite the movement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned that time was running out to finalize an agreement.

"Americans are still threatened with a tax hike in just a few hours," said Reid, D-Nev., as the Senate began an unusual New Year's Eve session.

Liberal Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, took to the Senate floor after Reid to warn Democratic bargainers against lowering levies on large inherited estates and raising the income threshold at which higher tax rates would kick in.

"No deal is better than a bad deal. And this look like a very bad deal the way this is shaping up," said Harkin.

Letting tax rates rise for couples with incomes of $450,000 a year is a concessions for Obama, who campaigned for re-election on a pledge to set the levels at $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. It also marked a significant concession by Republican leaders who pledged to continue the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for all income earners. .

The hope of the White House and lawmakers was to seal an agreement, enact it and send it to Obama for his signature before taxpayers felt the impact of higher income taxes or federal agencies began issuing furloughs or taking other steps required by spending cuts.

Regardless of the fate of the negotiations, it appeared all workers would experience a cut in their take-home pay with the expiration of a two-year cut in payroll taxes.

"This whole thing is a national embarrassment," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Monday on MSNBC, adding that any solution Congress would swallow at this late stage would be inconsequential. "We still haven't moved any closer to solving our nation's problems."

In a move that was sure to irritate Republicans, Reid was planning ? absent a deal ? to force a Senate vote Monday on Obama's campaign-season proposal to continue expiring tax cuts for all but those with income exceeding $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

In one sign of movement on Sunday, Republicans dropped a demand to slow the growth of Social Security and other benefits by changing how those payments are increased each year to allow for inflation.

Obama had offered to include that change, despite opposition by many Democrats, as part of earlier, failed bargaining with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, over a larger deficit reduction agreement. But Democrats said they would never include the new inflation formula in the smaller deal now being sought to forestall wide-ranging tax boosts and budget cuts, and Republicans relented.

"It's just acknowledging the reality," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said of the GOP decision to drop the idea.

As the New Year's Eve deadline rapidly approached, Democrats and Republicans found themselves at odds over a host of issues, including taxing large inherited estates. Republicans wanted the tax left at its current 35 percent, with the first $5.1 million excluded, while Democrats wanted the rate increased to 45 percent with a smaller exclusion.

The two sides were also apart on how to keep the alternative minimum tax from raising the tax bills of nearly 30 million middle-income families and how to extend tax breaks for research by business and other activities.

Republicans were insisting that budget cuts be found to pay for some of the spending proposals Democrats were pushing.

These included proposals to erase scheduled defense and domestic cuts exceeding $200 billion over the next two years and to extend unemployment benefits. Republicans complained that in effect, Democrats would pay for that spending with the tax boosts on the wealthy.

"We can't use tax increases on anyone to pay for more spending," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

_____

Eds: Associated Press writers David Espo, Andrew Taylor, Alan Fram and Josh Lederman contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-fiscal-cliff-deal-emerging-172515776--finance.html

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Fiscal cliff showdown already damaged economy

13 hrs.

Martha C. White , NBC News contributor

Even if eleventh-hour wrangling among lawmakers yields a solution to the worst-case fiscal cliff scenario, some say damage has already been done.?

The political brinkmanship has hurt investor confidence and consumer spending, and if a prolonged stalemate drags into the early months of 2013, the price of Washington?s inaction on the economy could be even steeper.

?I think we have seen effects of the uncertainty over the last few months, intensified over the past few weeks,? said Alice Rivlin, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. ?Companies and banks have a lot of cash, but they?re not investing. ... It may partly be because they don?t think the aggregate demand is there but it might also be the uncertainty? over the prospect of rising tax rates and cuts in government spending, she said.

While the markets were quiet as of midday Monday, the calm followed a two-day slide as Wall Street grew pessimistic that Congress would come to a compromise. ?In the market, we?ve seen almost day by day reactions, positive and negative, to the fiscal cliff,? said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial.

?If they can?t reach some kind of compromise here, it?s going to set the stage for a very negative environment that will last for months,? he said. ?There?s no doubt it will be a drag on equities.?

Last Thursday, the Conference Board?s monthly Consumer Confidence Index posted a second consecutive decrease, this one much larger than its November drop. Although Americans are more upbeat about business and jobs conditions today, their outlook for the next six months is gloomier. More people in December said they expect fewer jobs, lower income and worsening business conditions in six months.

?Consumers? expectations retreated sharply in December? The sudden turnaround in expectations was most likely caused by uncertainty surrounding the oncoming fiscal cliff,? director of economic indicators Lynn Franco said in a statement.

?The recent numbers in retail sales for this holiday season have been dismal; well below expectations,? Mitchell Goldberg, president of ClientFirst Strategy Inc., said via email. ?The consumer has very quickly come to an understanding how the fiscal cliff could potentially impact him or her.?There?s evidence that the expectation of a rocky first half of 2013 is throwing a wet blanket on consumer spending. After a strong Black Friday, holiday spending failed to keep up its momentum. The MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse said holiday sales grew less than one percent from 2011.

What?s so frustrating to economists is that, absent the cliff standoff, a slew of recent economic indicators all give reason for optimism. Real GDP increased at an annualized rate of just over 3 percent last quarter, and data on housing, spending, employment and corporate earnings have been steadily inching higher.

The improvement isn?t as far or as fast as anyone would like, but Kaufman said the country has reached the point where most consumers were starting to relax and worry less about their jobs and their financial security; that is, until the cliff became front-page news.

Although most economists consider it remote, the biggest danger is that the country drifts along for weeks or even months without a deal and run headlong into the still-unresolved issue of the debt ceiling. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said this is unlikely, but if it happens, it?s ?definitely affecting spending.? Consumers would buy fewer durable goods, cars and other big-ticket items, and pare back discretionary spending on items like restaurant meals and vacations.Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of Pimco, told CNBC businesses were confronting a ?new normal [of] sluggish growth and persistently high unemployment and concerns about debt and deficits.? El-Erian referred to an ?uncertainty premium? curbing corporate investment and hiring.

Affluent Americans, whose spending helped lift the economy out of recession a few years ago, would be especially sensitive an extended period without a deal, said Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas. In the face of a volatile stock market and uncertainty over how much they?d owe in taxes, wealthy consumers would keep their wallets shut.? ?

?The debt ceiling, to me, is the bigger problem,? Kaufman said. If the situation gets down to the wire as it did last year, ?The market?s definitely going to have conniptions again.? Companies can anticipate and adjust to negative market conditions, he said, but only if they know what those conditions are. ?The problem is, right now they don?t know the rules.??

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/fiscal-cliff-showdown-already-damaged-economy-1C7785091

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Choosing the best Website Design Houston Companies

By Harry Hurt

The initial step to setting up a business on the Internet is to create an internet site. There are numerous means through which a person could construct a site.

One choice is to discover a web language and then construct a site from scratch. Nonetheless, for such an endeavor, you will have to have a considerably technical background in order to be totally comfy while dealing with a programming language.

On the other hand, there are many programs that you can download and make use of to develop an internet site for yourself. Such programs will enable you to create sites with varying intricacies in terms of functionality and other comparable facets.

The 3rd choice that the majority of individuals have the tendency to use is that of hiring someone else to develop your internet site for you. If you have the monetary resources at hand, it makes good sense to employ a professional who has significant experience in structure websites. Such a person will be able to comprehend what your demands are then equate them onto a websites.

How to search for web designers?

The Internet Industry is made up of freelancers along with people who work for businesses. A business will absolutely be more pricey than a freelancer but will likewise have the needed resources to handle a huge job. A freelancer, on the other hand, could not be well equipped to manage incredibly large jobs however will ensure specialized attention to your job. If you are looking for incredibly detailed oriented work and want to have the ability to interact with your employee every step of the way then employing a freelancer might be a good option for you.

There are a number of online portals that will facilitate your search for a freelance internet developer. You could additionally log onto search engines online. Using appropriate keywords like 'Houston Web Design' or 'Houston Website Design', you could get links to beneficial sites.

Website Design Houston Business

The Internet will allow you to find companies around the globe. Nonetheless, if you have a particular preference, you could exercise it to discover business within particular nations or cities all over the world. For example, a search term such as 'Web Design Houston' or 'Houston Web Designer' will link you with business or freelancers operating within Houston.

Similarly, you can modify the above pointed out search terms to alter the area criteria of your search.

If you wish to get a website built, simply go online today and begin searching.

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About the Author:

Source: http://www.milwaukeebusinessopportunities.com/2012/12/choosing-best-website-design-houston.html

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