United Extends Waiver to Foreign Service, FS Pets Cheer

AFSA 's request for a meeting with United's CEO Jeff Smisek or with an appropriate Vice President resulted in a call today from Hershel Kamen, United?s Senior Vice President for Alliances, Regulatory Affairs, and Policy. ?Mr. Kamen told us that United Airlines has decided to extend its military pet travel policy waiver to members of the U.S. Foreign Service who are traveling on official change-of-station orders. This will include USG employees traveling to take up assignments in our embassies and missions abroad from all agencies.

We have not received official notification in writing and are awaiting details about what the waiver provides, but this decision is a direct result of this collective action that you made possible by your quick and united action.? We want to let you know right away.

Huge thanks to all of you who wrote quickly and eloquently to United!? Volume, speed and content combined for successful collective action and a message that was heard.? This is a real success and validation of collective action for a good cause, and for standing up for the Foreign Service and what we do in service to our country.

We extend our appreciation to the work of Under Secretary Kennedy and his staff and to the Director of Logistics Operations in the A Bureau to get GSA authorization to use alternate U.S. carriers or code shares. This option should remain in place because the option to transport pets as accompanied baggage is the standard we need for ourselves and for our animal companions.

AFSA also extends our appreciation and thanks to six members of Congress ? Nita Lowey, Jim Moran, Chris Van Hollen, Donna Edwards, Gerry Connolly and Eleanor Holmes Norton who wrote to United in support of extending the waiver to members of the U.S. Foreign Service.

AFSA extends a big thank-you to the Overseas Briefing Center, and to volunteers from AAFSW, the Foreign Affairs Friends of Animals Network (FAFAN), the FSpets Yahoo Group as well as from our FS pet owners themselves for their great work for this cause.? It would not have happened without you all!

We appreciate United's decision to extend this courtesy to a large and dedicated customer group, demonstrating their appreciation of the service and sacrifice of the U.S. Foreign Service on behalf of the United States.? We hope to work with United to help them improve their level of service to customers and to make PetSafe a program that is safe for pets globally.

AFSA will publicize the details of what the waiver provides as we learn them. Until then, you may read about the military waiver on the?

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Jessica Simpson Freaking Out About Birth?Wants C-Section

Jessica Simpson Freaking Out About Birth…Wants C-Section

Jessica Simpson is getting cold feet about her upcoming baby’s birth. The singer wants to opt for a cesarean section because she is so scared [...]

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Eyes-on Whiteman Technology's Delta DVR, plus more hardware details

Eyes-on Whiteman Technology's Delta DVR, plus more details on its internals

Did the recent revelation of the Delta DVR, with its six tuners, AMD silicon running Windows Media Center embedded and 3TB HDD have you viewing your current DVR with disdain? Well, stop reading now, because we got to speak with the man who created the Delta DVR, Ryan Whiteman, and found there's even more to like about his potential TiVo killer. Read on after the break for the full scoop.

Continue reading Eyes-on Whiteman Technology's Delta DVR, plus more hardware details

Eyes-on Whiteman Technology's Delta DVR, plus more hardware details originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space Shuttle Discovery Makes Final Takeoff (VIDEO)

Space Shuttle Discovery

Space shuttle Discovery atop a 747 carrier jet departs the Kennedy Space Center, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Discovery is being transported to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

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WASHINGTON ? The space shuttle Discovery soared over the Washington Monument, the White House and the Capitol in a high-flying salute to the nation's capital Tuesday.

The world's most traveled spaceship, hitching a ride on top a Boeing 747 jet, took a couple of leisurely spins at an easy-to-spot 1,500 feet around Washington after a flight from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Thousands packed the National Mall to watch the pair swoop by.

"Look at that ? that thing is mammoth," said Terri Jacobsen of Bethesda, Md. She brought her 12-year-old home-schooled son to the mall to watch the flyover

The shuttle-jet combo was set to land at Dulles International Airport. On Thursday, it will be towed to its permanent installation at the Smithsonian's annex in northern Virginia.

Discovery departed Florida's Kennedy Space Center at daybreak. Nearly 2,000 people ? former shuttle workers, VIPs, tourists and journalists ? gathered along the old shuttle landing strip to see Discovery off. A cheer went up as the plane taxied down the runway and soared into a clear sky.

The plane and shuttle headed south and made one last flight over the beaches of Cape Canaveral ? thousands jammed the shore for a glimpse of Discovery ? then returned to the space center in a final salute. Cheers erupted once more as the pair came in low over the runway it had left 20 minutes earlier and finally turned toward the north.

Discovery ? the fleet leader with 39 orbital missions ? is the first of the three retired space shuttles to head to a museum. It will go on display at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, taking the place of the shuttle prototype Enterprise. The Enterprise will go to New York City.

Endeavour will head to Los Angeles this fall. Atlantis will remain at Kennedy.

NASA ended the shuttle program last summer after a 30-year run to focus on destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. Private U.S. companies hope to pick up the slack, beginning with space station cargo and then, hopefully, astronauts. The first commercial cargo run, by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is set to take place in just another few weeks.

For at least the next three to five years ? until commercial passenger craft are available in the United States ? NASA astronauts will have to hitch multimillion-dollar rides on Russian Soyuz capsules to get to the International Space Station.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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This Transforming Table Magically Transforms From Rectangle to Circle [Video]

Don't get us wrong, we think Mauricio Affonso's expanding table is a clever idea that's been beautifully executed. But the transforming table's use of 400 wooden slats, which allows it to transform from a rectangular surface to a large round dining area, is just hundreds of dropped utensils waiting to happen. More »


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Rising flood insurance premiums could block potential homebuyers ...

By New Orleans City Business, April 16, 2012

National Flood Insurance Program rates increased again in February after dropping slightly in January throughout most of the New Orleans area, the exception being St. Tammany Parish, where there was a 30-cent drop.

The latest available figures as of Feb. 29 show annual premiums in Orleans Parish, where there are 90,001 policies, rose to $875.68 in February from $874.30 in January.

In Jefferson Parish, where there are 97,685 policies, average annual premiums increased to $754.83 in February from $752.85 in January.

For Realtors, flood insurance coverage in Southeast Louisiana can be a challenging part of the sales process.

?It can actually take someone out of affording a certain dollar-value,? said Renee Ferrera, CEO of Keller Williams Realty Crescent City Westbank Partners.

Ferrara noted that the cost of insurance can in some cases be upwards of $200 to $400 a month, a pricy addition to the average homebuyer?s already-delicate mortgage equation.

?It can kick somebody out of their loan-to-value,? she said.

Ferrara said her real estate team, like other companies, asks potential homebuyers to start looking for insurance options at the start of the process.

Ferrara said that from what she has seen, flood insurance prices have been rising everywhere, but are the highest in flood-prone areas of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes.

The average annual premium for the 6,092 policies in Plaquemines Parish grew to $770.35 in February from $767.99 in January. In St. Bernard Parish, 12,173 policies had an average annual premium of $596.43 in February, compared with $594.98 in January.

St.Tammany Parish?s 35,690 policies in February were at an average of $551.03, slightly less than the $551.33 January average.

FEMA also provided the following breakdown by municipality:

? Kenner: 16,155 policies at an average of $886.82 a month, up from the $884.42 average in January;
? Gretna: 3,737 policies at an average of $856.67, slightly more than the January average of $856.15;
? Slidell: 8,045 policies at an average of $826.48, more than the $823.65 average a month earlier;
? Covington: 1,385 policies at an average of $702.63, more than the January average of $701.46;
? Westwego: 1,530 policies at an average of $645.23, up from the $643.65 average in January; and
? Harahan: 2,650 policies at an average of $576.74, down from the month-ago average of $577.26.

Louisiana accounted for the third most premiums with policyholders having paid $346.69 million into the program. The total that would be paid out in a worst-case scenario for Louisiana would be $112.3 billion.

Statewide, there were 493,416 policies at an average of $702.63, up for a fourth month from the $701.83 average in January.

Florida had the most with nearly 2.06 million policies at an average of $489.48, followed by Texas with 656,335 policies at an average of $542.42.

There were nearly 5.59 million policies nationwide at an average of $624.96, more than the $623.84 January average.

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Eduardo Dantas and Alexander Gustafsson were the best of the weekend?s warriors

Eduardo Dantas leads off this week's edition of Weekend Warriors, your Monday morning look at the weekend's MMA. "Dudu" was the star of Bellator's show on Friday, choking Zach Makovsky unconscious in the second round of their title bout. With that win, Dantas became the new Bellator bantamweight champ and one of the hottest lighter weight prospects in MMA.

Marcos Galvao and Luis Nogueira both won their bantamweight semifinal tournament matches with unanimous decisions as they vie for the chance to face off with Dantas. In the featherweight tournament, an emotional Daniel Straus pummeled Mike Corey on the way to a unanimous decision win to earn a spot in the tourney final. Straus' training partner was killed in a car accident just a week ago. Staus will face Marlon Sandro for the featherweight tournament championship on May 11.

Gustafsson impresses in Sweden at UFC on Fuel 2

Alexander Gustafsson cemented his role as a top contender in the light heavyweight division with a convincing decision over Thiago Silva on Saturday. Brian Stann got back to his winning ways with a gentlemanly knockout of Alessio Sakara, and Dennis Siver got his first win at featherweight with a decision over Diego Nunes.

In his UFC debut Siyar Bahadurzada took home a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for his 42-second KO of Paulo Thiago. John Maguire earned a Submission of the Night bonus for his armbar of Damarques Johnson. Brad Pickett and Damacio Page were given Fight of the Night honors for the back-and-forth battle that ended with Pickett finishing Page with a second-round rear naked choke.

Team Faber gets the edge

On "The Ultimate Fighter," Joe Proctor, a protege of UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon, helped Urijah Faber's team take the lead. Proctor took out Chris Tickle with a first-round rear naked choke. John Cofer from Team Faber will face Team Cruz's Vinc Pichel.

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