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Extended StayAmerica

2010-09-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

Extended StayAmerica is an American hotel company. It was founded in 1995 in South Carolina as an extended-stay hotel, catering to businesspeople.

The first Extended StayAmerica hotels opened in 1995 by a number of founders including management from Blockbuster Video and AutoNation. In 1996, Extended Stay America acquired StudioPLUS, further continuing its growth. During this time, the company also acquired Crossland Economy Studios. The company also added various brands offering different levels of service, like Extended Stay Deluxe and StudioPLUS. By August 2001, the company was added to S&P 400.

Blackstone took Extended Stay America private in May 2004 to form a new company,Extended Stay Hotels. It paid close to $2 billion in cash as well as over $1 billion in debt. At the time, Extended Stay America had 425 hotels, but Blackstone added about 255 properties from other acquisitions including Homestead Village, which it agreed to buy for $600 million two months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.^[1]

In 2007 Extended Stay Hotels was sold to the Lightstone Group for $8 billion. The sale was one of the biggest non casino hotel deals in history.

On June 16, 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing $7.1 billion in assets and $7.6 billion in liabilities. The company intends to keep operating all its properties through bankruptcy by using its substantial cash flow rather than debtor-in-possession financing.

Jeff Overton's consistent year has him climbing the US Ryder Cup chart

2010-09-08T05:36:00.001-07:00

AKRON, Ohio — Even avid golf fans might be surprised to see who is No. 4 in the U.S. Ryder Cup team rankings this week.

Tiger Woods? Nope. He's ninth. Stewart Cink? He's at No. 13.

Try Jeff Overton, hardly the name that comes to mind when you consider the best American players in 2010.

"It's not like I'm Tiger Woods," he said. "Maybe if we could ever win instead of finish second, maybe we'd have a little better chance of (being known)."

Overton is listed so high among U.S. golfers for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor because he's played consistently well all year. He's had three seconds and two thirds, barely missing out on his first career win several times.

On Sunday at the Greenbrier Classic, it took Stewart Appleby's stirring 59 in the final round to beat him. The 27-year-old Indiana University graduate also was runner-up at the Zurich Classic and the Byron Nelson.

"This year I've been able to get inside the top three a lot, but I haven't been able to get that win," he said Wednesday, the day before the start of the Bridgestone Invitational. "Hopefully, I'll be able to keep plugging along.

"Like (former British Open champion) Ian Baker-Finch said, 'You keep knocking on the door enough times, eventually something is going to happen.' "

Overton's scoring average is 69.81, third-best on the PGA Tour. He is 12th on the money list with more than US$2.4 million. He's up to No. 47 in the world rankings after starting the year at No. 186.

A native of Indiana, he is the son of a former baseball player and quarterback at Indiana State. He said he gets his competitive fire from his dad.

He also dates an opera singer.

Asked where they met, he laughed and said, "Bloomington, Ind., the No. 1 opera school in America."

Overton said he knows about as much about opera as his girlfriend knows about golf.

For instance, his girlfriend's mother came out to see him play once. He made a bogey and she said, "What did he do? He made a bogus?"

So far this year, he's been anything but bogus when climbing those Ryder Cup charts.

"(Making the team) would be half the goal, and then the next half of the goal would be to figure out a way to go win the USA some points," he said.

That was perhaps the case for Justin Rose for his first decade as a professional. In six full years (and parts of four or five others), he never won on American soil. Second-place finishes at the Texas Open in '06, Bridgestone in '07 and Memorial in '08 not only whetted his appetite for winning, but also increased questions about why he wasn't winning.

Rose turned 30 last week but he's been celebrating all year in the U.S.

Wins at the Memorial and AT&T National have pushed him up the charts in the world rankings. He was 70th to start the year but is now 19th. After years of promise mixed with disappointment, he is considered a threat to win every tournament.

"I said before I started winning that my game was in great shape," he said Wednesday. "I didn't need to do anything different; I didn't need to work on anything.

"I guess it was the patience factor of just letting it happen."

Overton window

2010-09-08T05:35:00.002-07:00

Overview

At any given moment, the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, which a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office. Overton arranged the spectrum on a vertical axis of “more free” and “less free” in regards to government intervention. When the window moves or expands, ideas can accordingly become more or less politically acceptable. The degrees of acceptance of public ideas can be described roughly as:

Unthinkable Radical Acceptable Sensible Popular Policy

The Overton Window is a means of visualizing which ideas define that range of acceptance by where they fall in it. Proponents of policies outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public so that the window either “moves” or expands to encompass them. Opponents of current policies, or similar ones currently within the window, likewise seek to convince people that these should be considered unacceptable.

Other formulations of the process created after Overton's death add the concept of moving the window, such as deliberately promoting ideas even less acceptable than the previous "outer fringe" ideas, with the intention of making the current fringe ideas acceptable by comparison (This might be a form of the “Door-in-the-face technique" of persuasion.)

‘Ill-equipped’ govt hospitals get swine flu medicine

2010-09-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

Around 35,000 Tamiflu tablets would be supplied to at least seven large hospitals run by the Sindh and city governments within a couple of days. — File Photo

KARACHI: Senior health officials working amid a swine flu alarm in the city have put their faith in antiviral medicines being provided to them, ignoring their health facilities’ lack of capacity for a fully-fledged treatment of patients reporting with a severe infection of the H1N1 virus.

nfection of the H1N1 virus.

Sources added that 35,000 Tamiflu tablets would be supplied to at least seven large hospitals run by the Sindh and city governments within a couple of days. However, the preparation of isolation wards in public sector hospitals for treatment and management of patients complaining of severe respiratory problems and chest infections would not be done anytime soon.

These hospitals would not be able to establish such wards with ventilators required exclusively for swine flu treatment.

The federal health ministry’s Director-General Dr Rasheed A. Jooma told Dawn on Friday that the swine flu death toll in the country had risen to eight. The deaths have been reported from Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad, according to him. The National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad, he said, had informed him that 37 persons were positive among the 190 tested for swine flu so far.

Pointing out that there had been a rise in swine flu cases being reported in Karachi, he insisted that the virus had been carried by someone coming from abroad.

The focal person on swine flu for Sindh, Dr Shakeel A. Mullick, said that the NIH had so far confirmed five swine flu cases in the province. Four of the patients had already tested positive by the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) laboratory while the other one was deported from Oman and quarantined at the federal health ministry facility near Karachi airport.

Flood Insurance

2010-09-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

You depend on your Homeowners Insurance to protect you from most perils, but your homeowner's policy doesn't cover you for everything - including damage from flooding. Many people believe that flood insurance is only necessary when you live in a rated flood zone, but that is not the case. Nearly 27% of all flood claims are made in non-flood zones. Don't be left unprotected - 21st Century Insurance wants you to have the peace of mind that you can get by knowing that your home is protected.

Please call (800) 222-2007 for a friendly consultation with a licensed specialist! We are available Monday through Friday, 8AM to 8PM, Eastern Standard Time.*

Why is swine flu (H1N1) now infecting humans?

2010-09-08T01:20:00.000-07:00

Many researchers now consider that two main series of events can lead to swine flu (and also avian or bird flu) becoming a major cause for influenza illness in humans.

First, the influenza viruses (types A, B, C) are enveloped RNA viruses with a segmented genome; this means the viral RNA genetic code is not a single strand of RNA but exists as eight different RNA segments in the influenza viruses. A human (or bird) influenza virus can infect a pig respiratory cell at the same time as a swine influenza virus; some of the replicating RNA strands from the human virus can get mistakenly enclosed inside the enveloped swine influenza virus. For example, one cell could contain eight swine flu and eight human flu RNA segments. The total number of RNA types in one cell would be 16; four swine and four human flu RNA segments could be incorporated into one particle, making a viable eight RNA segmented flu virus from the 16 available segment types. Various combinations of RNA segments can result in a new subtype of virus (known as antigenic shift) that may have the ability to preferentially infect humans but still show characteristics unique to the swine influenza virus (see Figure 1). It is even possible to include RNA strands from birds, swine, and human influenza viruses into one virus if a cell becomes infected with all three types of influenza (for example, two bird flu, three swine flu, and three human flu RNA segments to produce a viable eight-segment new type of flu viral genome). Formation of a new viral type is considered to be antigenic shift; small changes in an individual RNA segment in flu viruses are termed antigenic drift and result in minor changes in the virus. However, these can accumulate over time to produce enough minor changes that cumulatively change the virus' antigenic makeup over time (usually years).

Virenza Cipla swine flu Medicine | Virenza Swine Flu Drug

2010-09-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

Treatment of Influenza
VIRENZA is indicated for treatment of uncomplicated acute illness due to influenza A and B virus in adults and pediatric patients 7 years and older that has been symptomatic for no more than 2 days.

Prophylaxis of Influenza
VIRENZA is indicated in adults and pediatric patients 5 years of age and older for prophylaxis of influenza.

VIRENZA is not recommended for treatment of patients with underlying airways disease (such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION
VIRENZA is for administration to the respiratory tract by oral inhalation using Revolizer device only.

Patients scheduled to use an inhaled bronchodilator at the same time as VIRENZA should use their bronchodilator before taking VIRENZA.

Treatment of Influenza
The recommended dose of VIRENZA for treatment of influenza in adults and pediatric patientsaged 7 years and older is 2 inhalations (one 5-mg capsule per inhalation for a total dose of 10 mg) twice daily (approximately 12 hours apart) for 5 days.

Two doses should be taken on the first day of treatment whenever possible provided there is at least 2 hours between doses. On subsequent days, doses should be about 12 hours apart (e.g., morning and evening) at approximately the same time each day. There are no data on the effectiveness of treatment with Zanamivir when initiated more than 2 days after the onset of signs or symptoms.

Homeowners Insurance

2010-09-08T01:18:00.000-07:00

Most likely, your home is your biggest investment, so shouldn't you protect it with the same level of quality insurance that you do your automobile with 21st Century Insurance? At 21st Century Insurance, we offer Homeowners insurance* that is designed to provide you with the peace of mind that you deserve.

There are many benefits available to you by purchasing a Homeowners policy through 21st Century Insurance:

21st Century Insurance customers receive a 10%** discount on homeowner insurance.
We offer full replacement cost coverage for your home and personal property.
We have hassle-free, online*** customer service , available 24-hours a day.
Several payment options available to fit your needs.

For PA Customers interested in Homeowners products, please call (877) 392-5630 for a friendly consultation with a licensed specialist! We are available Monday through Friday, 8AM to 8PM, Eastern Standard Time, and Saturday and Sunday, 9AM to 6PM Eastern Standard Time.

Family Boaters Insurance

2010-09-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

When you're out on the water, the last thing you want to worry about is whether you have the right insurance coverage for your boat. That's why Foremost developed a policy specifically for boats. Foremost is a national leader in specialty insurance, and offers solid, reliable coverage. They offer coverage for personal property, as well as for towing and assistance so you won't have to be stranded on the water or the side of the road. They even provide protection for your trailer.*

Call Foremost for a free policy rate quote at (800) 903-8114. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8:30AM to 8PM, Eastern Standard Time.

La Quinta Inn comes to Panama

2010-09-08T01:16:00.002-07:00

La Quinta hotel chain is a very successful no frills business model and I will be curious to see how well they will do here in Panama. They have been operating for many years in Costa Rica near the airport and you can always be assured of reasonable value and good customer service. Maybe they can help set a new standard here in Panama.

Goldberg said the limited-service brand, based in Dallas, is planning for “explosive” growth in Mexico, Latin America South America and continuing its “aggressive growth” in the U.S.

The numbers tell the story. Rajiv K. Trivedi, Executive Vice President of Franchise & Chief Development Officer, said La Quinta plans to open five hotels in Mexico this year and has up to 20 properties under development in Mexico, as well as 15 others in the pipeline in Central America. New construction on a hotel in Panama is expected to start this year and the brand is reviewing conversion opportunities in Panama.

Although no properties are in the pipeline for South America, Trivedi said the brand has started discussions and is establishing infrastructure with employees on the ground developing relationships.

“In the entire region, Columbia and Brazil have the biggest opportunities after Mexico,” he said.

Goldberg added that Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala are target markets. The company also is looking east, and plans to introduce its brand to China and India.

The challenge is to maintain control of the brand and, as Trivedi put it, find the right path. That means determining the right ownership structure -- a management contract, a franchise or a combination -- and building the type of hotel that will meet the changing needs of guests.

Entering Autos that took place at the Laquinta Inn in Dublin

2010-09-08T01:16:00.000-07:00

Entering Autos that took place at the Laquinta Inn in Dublin

Anyone with information in reference to entering Autos that took place at the Laquinta Inn in Dublin. The suspects were driving what is believed to be a late model Chevy Malibu with tinted windows and no hubcaps. Vehicle possibly has a dent on the right front fender near the top. The suspects were two black males weraring white t-shirts and possibly blue jeans.

Anyone with information in reference to entering Autos that

La Quinta Inn & Suites Opens in Danbury, Connecticut

2010-09-08T01:15:00.001-07:00

Diamond Properties and Meyer Jabara Hotels have opened a La Quinta Inns & Suites hotel in Danbury, Connecticut.

Located at 116 Newtown Road, the La Quinta Inn & Suites Danbury is a complete renovation of an existing structure and features easy access on and off Exit 8 on I-84. The hotel has 135 guest rooms, each given a fresh contemporary look in the renovation.

Rates start at $89 per night and as at all La Quinta hotels, the La Quina Danbury’s Bright Side Breakfast and high-speed Internet access are free.

The La Quinta Inn & Suites Danbury has meeting space to accommodate up to 100 guests, a business center, and a fitness center. An Outback Steakhouse is immediately adjacent to the property and accessible directly from the hotel lobby.

In addition, the hotel features four different room choices: a standard room with two full-size beds; a king room; a king room with a sofa/sleeper for longer stays; and 10 suites for families or business travelers desiring extra space. All rooms include a refrigerator and microwave oven. Other amenities in each room include a 32-inch flat panel television, an in-room coffee maker, a hair dryer and an iron with an ironing board.

“We have operated hotels in the greater Danbury area since 1977 and are proud to be associated with this exciting new property” says Richard Jabara, principal at Meyer Jabara Hotels.

This photograph shows the new La Quinta Inn & Suites at 116 Newtown Road, Danbury, Connecticut

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Danbury community and to make this completely refurbished property available again. It’s exciting to bring a fresh new hotel experience to both business and leisure travelers that includes many of the amenities you would expect from a full service hotel,” says Vickie Miele, general manager of the property and a 20-year veteran of Meyer Jabara Hotels.

Located close to Western Connecticut State University, Danbury Fair Mall, Candlewood Lake, Danbury Hospital and the corporate offices of General Electric, Pitney Bowes, Duracell and IBM, the La Quinta Inn and Suites is offering triple La Quinta Returns points for stays through October 2010.

Meyer Jabara Hotels owns and operates hotels in 12 states and has been in business for more than 35 years. The company’s portfolio of hotels includes properties trading under the Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Hampton Inn and IHG and La Quinta brands, as well as several independent hotels.

Do Some Research and Calculations When Planning Your Retirement

2010-09-08T01:14:00.000-07:00

Once you have found an answer to this question, you can continue to assume that you need a term life insurance or whole life insurance. By investing in a term life insurance or whole life insurance cash received tax free, unlike other retirement plans. It is one of the most important parts of your retirement you need to make sure you organize and put together properly. Of course in order to determine what is best for their retirement and to support his family after they are gone you will have to do some research and calculations. Retirement planning is time, patience, knowledge, and of course life insurance.

Unlike IRA’s or 401(k)’s with whole life insurance and in some cases with term life insurance your retirement plan doesn’t have the complicated and unnecessary restrictions. With these investments for your future and retirement you and your family have a 10% tax penalty should the money be withdrawn before the age of 59 and a half amongst many others. You will need to do the proper research to determine whether this applies to you and if the other restrictions involved with alternative retirement plans will restrict your investment too much. Another great part to investing in whole life insurance is that most insurance companies actually use your money on the market and you have a chance of highly increasing your investment without the risk of losing it.

Universal Life Insurance

2010-09-08T01:13:00.000-07:00

Universal Life insurance is rattling a alteration of Entire Lifestyle. The insurance policy assets in the behavior is distributed from your cost example of your manner. The choice part is endowed in bonds and mortgages; the cost part of Universal Life is endowed in dollars activity funds. The money worth part with the behavior is ordered up as an accruement fund. Choice income is credited to your accruement fund. The loss of chronicle profit example is paid for out in the accruement fund. Unlike Total Living Insurance plan, the money attractiveness of Common Living Insurance news grows at a uncertain fee. Ordinarily, there’s a destined bleak peak peculiarity fee practical for the coverage. No concern how seriously the investments go by the insurance news corporation, you hap to be destined a sure bottom convey about the dollars percentage. If the insurance news methodicalness does well with its investments, the peculiarity convey about the dollars proportionality will enhance.