Real Estate Pro of the Week: Elizabeth Newlin of Mesa, Ariz.

Elizabeth Newlin, Realtor?, CSE, ELC, MIATM.

Quite an impressive list of designations, especially considering she?s the only real estate agent in the world who holds them.

Don?t go running for NAR?s website to look for classes, however, because I?m pretty sure they don?t offer the chance to obtain the ?Certified Sparkle Examiner,? the ?Expert-Level Cartwheeler? or even the ?Master in All Things Mothering? designations.

Or, call her the ?Certified Expert Master, for short,? Newlin jokes.

A Weekend Class Does Not an Expert Make

Those designations were self-bestowed after Newlin helped a buyer on a short sale deal. It seems the listing agent assured her that all would go well because she holds a CDPE. She then proceeded to ask Newlin to instruct her buyers to deposit their full earnest money with title, immediately, and to ?have the buyer start inspections and appraisal as soon as possible,? Newlin said on her blog.

It turns out it was the agent?s first short sale, yet she was passing herself off as a certified expert to both her client and Newlin?s. The whole ordeal prompted a frustrated Newlin to claim, ?Yes, I pretty much want to create a class and call it ?Designations are as Important In RE as a Coach Purse to My 18 Year Old Cat.??

If you?re getting the idea that Newlin has no problem speaking her mind, you?re right. To illustrate further, ask her what she?s all about.

?I?m a real estate agent, and a mom ? 47 percent of one and 53 percent of the other. I?m not telling which is which,? she begins.

?I have a compulsive need to confess my embarrassments and failures. I love Pinot Grigio and bacon equally. If someone would just make a Pinot Grigio with bacon top notes I would stand in line to buy it,? she concludes.

Writing is Boring?

Newlin began her real estate career five years ago after realizing that her writing career was boring her ?to death,? as she put it.

?I had my degree in creative writing and photography and I was a technical editor, working on technical manuals. It was horrible and boring,? she confessed.

?I was watching one of those shows about real estate agents and I thought, ?You know, I can do that. I like people and I like houses and what I?m doing now is horrible,?? Newlin said.

She ended up in real estate school, taking night classes while she was on maternity leave. ?That was during the peak when everybody was getting a real estate license,? she explained. ?I did a couple of deals really quick right after I got my license. I made these huge paychecks, so I quit my job,? she concluded.

Unfortunately, she quickly found out that practically nobody gets two huge deals within weeks of getting a license, but she bounced back and stuck with real estate.

Today, Newlin?s marketing plan is based on a Facebook and blogging model that has propelled her real estate practice to 100 percent referral-based.

Not surprising considering this woman is a people magnet.

?I write a humor blog. It?s weird because people think that a real estate blog should constantly be showing your knowledge of the market and I never do that.? Newlin explained. ?I?ll write a couple of posts about things you should know about real estate but I always do it tongue in cheek. For the most part I just write ridiculous stories.?

Ridiculous? Newlin is the mother of three sons ? 5, 8 and 12. Now, it?s been a long time since my kids were that age, but when I read her blog posts I feel like I?m right back there with the rug rats ? especially this post.

Newlin is relatable. And not just to her peers, but to any woman who has juggled a career and a family.

?They [her clients] trust me because I?m genuine, and I think people believe what I say because I have no problem saying what I think, at all times, so that makes them trust me with real estate too, which is funny, but it totally works,? she said.

The Fabulous Facebook

Some agents ?get? Facebook, and some don?t. Newlin not only gets it, she has mastered it.

?I have a huge following with a ton of people that I went to high school with who just read it because they think I?m funny and they know who I am,? she explained, and went on to joke, ?They refer people to me because they think I?m funny, and it really has very little to do with whether they think I?m any good at real estate.?

Give This Woman a Cape

When she isn?t busy being a modern-day Erma Bombeck, or shimmying down a balcony to rescue her clients who went to check out the balcony at a listing and got locked out of the house, or fleeing a vacant listing with another buyer and his kids because of strange goings-on in the garage, Newlin still finds time to spend with her three sons ? and time for herself.

?I have a million hobbies,? she said. ?I take ballet classes and I take trapeze classes. I like to hike, and I hiked the Grand Canyon this year; it?s an amazing experience, I recommend it to everyone,? Newlin said.

The one misperception about real estate agents that Newlin would banish if she could is ?the slimy stereotype,? she began, ?that idea that what we?re trying to do is talk people into buying or selling a house. That?s not what we?re all about,? she concludes.

If you haven?t figured it out yet, Newlin loves her job. ?I like the people and I like the flexibility. I like that I take my kids to school and I pick them up every day. I hated working in an office where it was the same every day. Sometimes real estate makes my head explode because it can get so crazy, but I?m never bored.? And neither are her clients.

Tagged as: agent, arizona, career, mesa, real estate

Source: http://www.realestate.com/advice/real-estate-pro-of-the-week-elizabeth-newlin-of-mesa-ariz-55629/

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Carrey gets serious about career, grandparenthood

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Jim Carrey has delivered more than his share of great performances. But this undercover act wasn't one of them.

While receiving press in a Las Vegas hotel room, he was wearing large sunglasses and a sparking gold patchwork blazer.

"This is my Vegas camouflage," he joked. "If I walk around town in this (jacket) no one can see me. It's fantastic. It's the way I blend in in this town. Isn't it nice? I mugged Gustav Klimt," Carrey said, referring to the Austrian painter whose early 20th century works featured gold galore.

That's about as funny as Carrey would get on this day in Sin City promoting "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," opening Friday. The Vegas-set comedy is about a burned-out old-school magician (Steve Carell) threatened by a newcomer (Carrey) who'll literally risk his life to wow audiences and attain fame.

"This is the guy with the Christ complex," Carrey explained. "This is the guy who looks at other people like he knows everything and they know nothing, and their problems amuse him."

It is perhaps the darkest character that Carrey has ever delivered in an out-and-out comedy.

"I could never be the type of person who thinks, 'Now this works. So, I'm just going to do this forever,'" Carrey said.

It's just the latest transformation for Carrey, who last year had a solo exhibition of his paintings and now has a children's book on the way ? something Carrey said he did in part for his grandson, born to Carrey's daughter Erin in February 2010.

"Sometimes when you go to a movie, that can be that. But when you read your kid a story, that is just a little slice of heaven," he said.

Carrey's also making music, having teamed with indie-rock band The Eels for his new single, "Cold Dead Hand," which has an anti-gun theme. "Charlton Heston would not like it," Carrey commented.

"You know, I'm always risking it and pushing it," Carrey said. "I've got nowhere to go. I have no other options. I don't have a trade."

____

AP Entertainment reporter Natalie Rotman contributed to this story.

____

Online: www.jimcarrey.com

____

Follow Michael Cidoni Lennox on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeCLennox

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/carrey-gets-serious-career-grandparenthood-143947813.html

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Argentines celebrate Francis as their 'slum pope'

A man pushes a cart past the Virgin of Caacupe church in the Villa 21-24 slum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, March 14, 2013. Residents here proudly recall how the Buenos Aires archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio would arrive on a bus and walk through the mud to reach the young members of the slum's church. How he sponsored marathons and carpentry classes, consoled single mothers, blessed the local chapel and washed the feet of recovering drug addicts. How he became one of them. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

A man pushes a cart past the Virgin of Caacupe church in the Villa 21-24 slum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, March 14, 2013. Residents here proudly recall how the Buenos Aires archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio would arrive on a bus and walk through the mud to reach the young members of the slum's church. How he sponsored marathons and carpentry classes, consoled single mothers, blessed the local chapel and washed the feet of recovering drug addicts. How he became one of them. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

In this April 2000 photo courtesy of the Espinola family, Buenos Aires' Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio poses for photo with Angela Espinola, 12, left, and her sister Eliza, 9, during an Easter procession organized by the Virgin of Caacupe church in the Villa 21-24 slum in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more than a billion Catholics worldwide, he's Pope Francis. For Argentina's poorest citizens, who crowd into the many so-called ?misery villages? that surround the capital, he's proudly known as one of their own, a true ?slum pope.? (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Espinola family)

Cristian Marcelo Reynoso, who works as a garbage collector, walks to work near the Virgin of Caacupe church in the Villa 21-24 slum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, March 14, 2013. ?Four years ago, I was at my worst and I needed help. When the mass started he knelt down and washed my feet. It hit me hard. It was such a beautiful experience,? said Reynoso referring to then Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Reynoso, 27, is trying to kick off an addiction to crack cocaine through the local church's rehab program. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Cristian Marcelo Reynoso, center, poses inside his home with his children, Milagro, 5, left, Oriana, 3, bottom, and Nahuel, 10, right, in their home in the Villa 21-24 slum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, March 14, 2013. At Villa 21-24, a slum so dangerous that most outsiders wouldn't dare go in, Jorge Mario Bergoglio often showed up unannounced to share laughs and sips of mate, the traditional Argentine herbal tea. Reynoso, 27, said their favorite soccer club, San Lorenzo, ?was going through a bad streak the last time they talked, and he told me that even if it was losing you couldn't desert it ... It's like people. We all hit the bottom of the well, but you can always be rescued from the bottom.? Reynoso is trying to kick off an addiction to crack cocaine through the local church's rehab program. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

A woman prays inside the Virgin of Caacupe Church in the Villa 21-24 shantytown in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, March 14, 2013. Residents here proudly recall how the Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio would walk in arrive on a bus and walk through the mud to reach the young members of the slum's church. How he sponsored marathons and carpentry classes, consoled single mothers, blessed the local chapel and washed the feet of recovering drug addicts. How he became one of them. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? For more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide, he's Pope Francis. For Argentina's poorest citizens, crowded in "misery villages" throughout the capital, he's proudly known as one of their own, a true "slum pope."

Villa 21-24 is a slum so dangerous that most outsiders don't dare enter, but residents say Jorge Mario Bergoglio often showed up unannounced to share laughs and sips of mate, the traditional Argentine herbal tea shared by groups using a common straw.

People here recall how the Buenos Aires archbishop ditched a limousine and would arrive on a bus to their little chapel; how he sponsored marathons and carpentry classes, consoled single mothers and washed the feet of recovering drug addicts; how he became one of them.

"Four years ago, I was at my worst and I needed help. When the Mass started he knelt down and washed my feet. It hit me hard. It was such a beautiful experience," said Cristian Marcelo Reynoso, 27, a garbage collector trying to kick a cocaine addiction through the church's rehab program.

"When I saw the news on the TV, I began screaming with joy, and look, I'm still trembling," Reynoso said. "El Chabon (The Dude) is so humble. He's a fan of San Lorenzo (the soccer club), like me. You talk to him like a friend."

Long after he became a cardinal in 2001, this "prince of the church" wore a simple black T-shirt with a white collar. For many at the slum's Caacupe Virgin of the Miracles Church, it's nothing short of a miracle that their friend is the pope.

"He was always part of our slum," housewife Lidia Valdivieso, 41, said after praying while resting her palm on a statue of St. Expeditus, patron saint of urgent and impossible causes. Her 23-year-old son has cerebral palsy and is learning carpentry at the church's technical school.

"When I heard the news I couldn't believe it. Having a 'papa villero' (slum pope) is the most beautiful thing that can happen to us. I still remember him going on long walks through our muddy streets or talking to our children," Valdivieso said.

Inside the concrete block chapel, there's a painted message commemorating Bergoglio's inauguration, and another big painting of Pope John Paul II, but no sign of Benedict XVI whatsoever. Near the altar, there's a large black-and-white poster of Carlos Mugica, an iconic Argentine slum priest who was killed in 1974 by a right-wing death squad intent on eliminating the "liberation theology" he preached.

Bergoglio never favored liberation theology because of its alliances with armed leftist guerrilla movements in the 1970s. But he has done much to follow in Mugica's footsteps, sponsoring all sorts of outreach programs in Argentina's slums.

This can be messy work, obliging priests to challenge drug dealers for the slum-dwellers' allegiances, and putting their beliefs, even their lives, at risk. Sometimes compromises must be made.

Just a few steps from the chapel, melted candles stand in a red shrine to the pagan folk hero Antonio "Gauchito" Gil, a 19th century outlaw revered among Argentina's poor for sharing his stolen bounty with the poor.

Many Argentines are as likely to pray for miracles from "Gauchito" as they are from authorized Catholic saints, but Bergoglio didn't object to the shrine's presence next to his chapel.

"For more than 20 years he came here. He's always been close to us and his impact on this slum is huge," said the parish priest, Lorenzo "Toto" de Vedia.

Cameras followed Bergoglio once as he washed the feet of 12 young men at a rehab center. "Then he kept coming back, taking confession and counseling them," Vedia said. On the priest's desk lay a newspaper with a huge, one-word headline: "FRANCISCO."

"You can tell that the church is going to change," Vedia said. "The fact that he chose the name Francisco says it all. It says: *Let's stop messing around and devote ourselves to the poor. That was St. Francis* message and now 'Francisco' can live it."

In his first appearance at St. Peter's Square, the first Latin American pope bowed to the crowds and asked for their blessing. Back in Argentina, his friends in the slums recognized the gesture as the same sort of humility that won their hearts.

In the 13th century, St. Francis of Assisi made it his mission to respond to the poor and show that through simplicity and love, a stronger foundation for the church could be built.

Pope Francis' "mission is now to go on a pilgrimage to all lands, to walk with the people, to lead a church that walks," said Mercedes Trovato, 24, a youth volunteer who wore a wooden cross around her neck.

Bergoglio's friends say he's fundamentally shy. He hardly ever grants media interviews, preferring to speak from the pulpit. But he did agree to chat recently with Jaidr Flores, a 22-year-old host on the parish's Radio FM La 96.

"He was hesitant at first. But I convinced him, and at the end of the interview, he started laughing and said: "You did it! You got me on air!'" said Flores. "One day I went to visit him at his office and I was amazed to see how many pictures of the volunteers and recovered drug addicts from this community he had on his desk. He truly cares for us."

___

Luis Andres Henao on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-15-Slum-Pope/id-b65cdf74019c42699c9fbaef679b2b1a

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Watch The Galaxy S 4 Live Video Stream Right Here! | TechCrunch

The Galaxy S 4 is upon us and this is the official Samsung webcast. Of course you can follow along with our liveblog, or, if it floats your boat, watch the live video stream embedded here.

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is hardly a secret at this point. Most everything has leaked including a comprehensive review earlier today. But still, this is Samsung?s latest flagship, the phone designed as the company?s answer to the iPhone 5, HTC One, and all the rest. Tune in; Samsung likely has a good show planned

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/14/watch-the-galaxy-s-4-live-video-stream-right-here/

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A Moroccan to compete in the Free Fight competition in Holland ...

By Youssef El Kaidi

Morocco World News

Fez, March 10, 2013

Under the supervision of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation, and in cooperation with Mejiro Gym Club ? Amsterdam, Holland hosts on Sunday, March 10^th, 2013 an international sport competition in Free Fight. Many international champions will take part in the competition, including five Moroccans; namely, the former world?s champion in kick boxing and free fight Hassan Chkirech, Reda Bida, Ali Motawakil and Ahmed Ben Ahmed.

In a statement to Morocco World News, former world champion Hassan Chkirech explained that the objective of his participation in this international event and his fight against the former world champion Bryan Feldman is to integrate Moroccan champions in the competition and allow them to gain more experience in this sport (free fight) which is not yet recognized by the Morocco Ministry of Youth and Sports.

He went on to say that his personal participation under the name of ?Taza Federation for Creativity and Development? is not but an evidence of the absence of a Royal Moroccan Federation for Free Fight despite the existence of more than 25 Free Fight clubs scattered along the country. Recently, the League of Sous-Massa-Deraa and the League of Chaouiya for Free Fight were founded and in the near future the League of the East will follow.

In his last training session before setting out to Holland, Hassan Chkirech stated that the Federation of Taza for Creativity and Development is recognized by the International Free Fight Federation and it includes highly distinguished Moroccan champions who will mark their first participation in an international competition. The latter, Chkirech said, will probably be streamed lively on Eurosport channel.

? Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/03/81741/a-moroccan-to-compete-in-the-free-fight-competition-in-holland/

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Cybersecurity threatens US-China relations: WH official

Carolyn Kaster / AP file

National security adviser Tom Donilon speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington on Thursday, May 17, 2012.

By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

?

Chinese leaders must address cybersecurity threats emanating from their country on ?an unprecedented scale? or risk weakening the economic relationship between Beijing and the United States, White House national security adviser Tom Donilon said Monday.

?U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyberintrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale,? said Donilon.? ?The international community cannot afford to tolerate such activity from any country.?

The remarks, delivered to The Asia Society in New York, are the first by a White House official to specifically name China as a threat to U.S. cybersecurity.

Though Donilon focused mainly on the danger to U.S. businesses, he did acknowledge the risk such an attack could pose to U.S. national security.? He said that the issue has become ?a key point of concern and discussion with China at all levels of our governments? and that President Barack Obama has vowed to do what is necessary to protect America?s interests against cyberattacks. ?

During last month?s State of the Union address, Obama highlighted how vulnerable America?s financial institutions, power grid and air traffic control systems could be to an attack.? The president, who has signed an executive order to help address those concerns, called on Congress to pass comprehensive legislation that would better secure online networks to help protect against attacks.

The president never mentioned China during his high-profile address.

But on Monday, Donilon was much more direct, detailing three requests for Beijing, including recognition of the severity of the problem, ?serious steps? to address it and establishing guidelines of acceptable norms in the digital realm. ??

?Both countries face risks when it comes to protecting personal data and communications, financial transactions, critical infrastructure, or the intellectual property and trade secrets that are so vital to innovation and economic growth,? said Donilon.

James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Donilon?s remarks indicate an aggressive shift in how the administration deals with China. It is a pivot, Lewis said, that comes as more and more data pours in pointing to China as the biggest culprit behind cyberattacks.

?The atmosphere has just changed; the data is overwhelming,? he said.

Lewis said protecting digital institutions is more diplomatically framed as an economic issue instead of a security one to avoid stirring threats of military action. Still it is significant the debut of the administration?s sterner policy came from the president?s top security adviser, he said. ??

A report released in February by a private security firm that found a Chinese military unit hacked more than 140 businesses, mostly inside the United States.? It?s a claim the Chinese government denies.

Media giants The New York Times and Wall Street Journal say they had been hacked for months and through an investigation with the FBI, traced the intrusions back to China.? The Wall Street Journal said the hacking was aimed at monitoring the newspaper?s China reporting, a claim that the spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry called ?irresponsible.?

White House spokesman Jay Carney said cybersecurity will be one of the priorities the president addresses with congressional leaders when he visits Capitol Hill this week.

And the United States is not alone. European countries have suspected China has infiltrated their computer systems as well.? Nations could retaliate with sanctions against Beijing.

?It?s become a problem that China can?t ignore without harming their economy,? said Lewis.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/11/17273068-cybersecurity-threatens-us-china-relationship-white-house-official-says?lite

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U.N. peacekeepers freed: Syrians release 21 hostages

Syrian rebels have released 21 U.N. peacekeepers held hostage for four days. The peacekeepers crossed from?Syria?to safety in Jordan on Saturday afternoon.

By Ben Hubbard and Karin Laub,?Associated Press / March 9, 2013

A U.N. peacekeeper from the Philippines UNDOF force works at the Quneitra Crossing between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Saturday, March 9. Syrian rebels freed 21 U.N. peacekeepers on Saturday after holding them hostage for four days.

Dan Balilty/AP

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Syrian rebels freed 21 U.N. peacekeepers on Saturday after holding them hostage for four days, ending a sudden entanglement with the world body that earned fighters trying to oust President Bashar Assad a flood of negative publicity.

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The episode is bound to prompt new questions about U.N. operations in war-torn?Syria. The peacekeepers were part of a force that has spent four decades monitoring an Israeli-Syrian cease-fire without incident.

The Filipino peacekeepers crossed from?Syria?to safety in Jordan on Saturday afternoon, said Mokhtar Lamani, the Damascus representative of the U.N.-Arab League peace envoy to?Syria.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed their release, and called on all parties in?Syria?to respect the peacekeepers' freedom of movement.

The peacekeepers were seized Wednesday and were held in the village of Jamlah in southwestern?Syria, near Jordan and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Their captors from the Martyrs of the Yarmouk Brigades initially said they would only release the hostages once Syrian troops withdrew from the area. In the days leading up to the abduction, rebels had overrun several regime checkpoints and apparently feared reprisals.

However, as the abduction made headlines, the rebels eventually dropped their demand and began negotiating a safe passage for the peacekeepers with U.N. officials. On Friday, a U.N. team tried to retrieve the hostages, but aborted the plan because of heavy regime shelling of the area.

On Saturday, another U.N. team headed toward Jamlah to try again, said a rebel spokesman, who spoke via Skype, insisting on anonymity for fear of reprisals.

He said the U.N. team aborted the mission because of fighting in the area, and that the rebels instead escorted the hostages to the Syrian-Jordanian border.

Lamani said the U.N. team was near Jamlah and was waiting for the rebels to hand over the hostages when the rebels changed their minds and instead drove the peacekeepers to the Jordanian border.

"They asked us to wait for an hour as they negotiated between themselves. Then we were surprised to hear to hear the news from a satellite channel that they had reached Jordan," he said. "Praise God in the end that all of them were released safely."

For its part, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a letter to the United Nations that was shared with the media that the Syrian army had held its fire in the area "out of concern for the security and safety of the UN forces."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/9HuOpksMkSw/U.N.-peacekeepers-freed-Syrians-release-21-hostages

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