Orlando, Fla. January 21, 2011 David Leopold of Dreaming With Entrepreneurs, has joined with CelebrityPress and noted business development expert, best-selling author and speaker, Brian Tracy, to publish a new book titled, Counter-Attack: Business Strategies for Explosive Growth in the New Economy.…
It warned the Government in October to expect an exceptional early freeze but
only made the warning public a month later.
It raises questions over whether the public, transport networks and councils
could have been better prepared if warned of the Big Freeze sooner.
The chill caused chaos just before Christmas with airports and roads closed,
faltering fuel deliveries, cancelled rubbish collections and trains stranded
on lines overnight.
The agency’s longer-term announcements were scrapped in March after it faced
widespread criticism following a series of gaffes.
They included predicting a barbecue summer in 2009 which became a washout and
a forecasted “mild winter” turned into one of the coldest in 30 years.
BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said the Met Office had kept the
predictions secret because it was embarrassed by its earlier mistakes, and
instead of a seasonal forecast stuck to looking only a month ahead.
Mr Harrabin said: “With Britain shivering through a third winter in a row,
shouldn’t the weather forecasters have warned us well in advance? Why didn’t
the Met Office tell us?
“The truth is it did suspect we were in for an exceptionally cold early
winter, and told the Cabinet Office so in October.
“But we weren’t let in on the secret because the Met Office no longer
publishes its seasonal forecasts due to the ridicule it suffered for
predicting a barbecue summer in 2009.”
The Met Office the BBC’s official forecaster denied failing to
share October’s prediction because of the risk of embarrassment.
A Met Office spokesman said: “In late October we informed the Cabinet office
that there were early indications of a cold start to winter.
“Following public research we were told that a monthly outlook would be
of more use which is why we now have the 6-15 day and 16-30 day forecast on
our website.”
The Cabinet Office said the “information is shared as appropriate between
departments and with local responders” but could not say how October’s
forecast was shared.
U.S. office landlords had the first
net increase in occupied space in three years in the fourth
quarter, a sign the market is beginning to recover, said Reis
Inc., a New York-based property-research firm.
Office buildings added 2.5 million square feet (232,000
square meters) of occupied space in the fourth quarter, compared
with a loss of 14 million square feet a year earlier, Reis said
in its report. It was the first rise in net absorption since the
fourth quarter of ᎈ7.
The office vacancy rate was unchanged from the third
quarter at 17.6 percent, remaining at the highest level since
1993, as supply also increased. The last time vacancies didn’t
rise quarter to quarter was in the third quarter of 2007,
according to Reis. Vacancies stood at 17 percent a year earlier.
“Vacancy has finally appeared to have stabilized,” Ryan
Severino, an economist at Reis, said in the firm’s quarterly
survey of the office market. While the leasing environment
remains “difficult,” vacancies are more likely to fall than
rise in coming quarters, he said.
The market has benefited from a pickup in the economy, Reis
said. Sales at retailers rose more than expected in November
while manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest pace in
seven months. Growth has been hindered as companies remain
reluctant to boost hiring 18 months after the end of the
recession. The unemployment rate rose to a seven-month high of
9.8 percent in November as payroll growth slowed to 39,000 from
172,000 in the prior month, according to the Labor Department.
Effective rents, or what tenants actually pay, fell to an
average $22.09 per square foot from $22.43 a year earlier, Reis
said. They were up from $22.04 in the third quarter, the first
quarter-to-quarter increase in effective rents since 2008’s
second quarter.
Asking Rents
Landlords’ asking rents dropped to $27.53 a foot from
$27.79 a year earlier and were up from $27.50 in the third
quarter, according to Reis. It was the first quarterly increase
in asking rents since the third quarter of 2008.
“The increase in asking rents is a positive development
and demonstrates that landlords finally feel confident enough
about their prospects to move beyond simply adjusting
concessions,” Severino said.
A total of 2.3 million square feet of new office space came
to market in the fourth quarter, the lowest since Reis began
publishing quarterly data in 1999.
New York
“These are only the nascent stages of a recovery in the
office market,” Severino said. Improvement in the office market
will reflect what happens in the economy and labor market, where
growth remains “inconsistent,” he said.
New York office vacancies declined to 11.4 percent from
11.6 percent in the third quarter and effective rents rose 1.5
percent from the prior quarter, Reis said. Washington maintained
the lowest vacancy rate at 9.9 percent, while Detroit had the
highest vacancy at 26.9 percent.
The number of markets that registered quarterly effective
rent declines fell to 40 out of 79 in the quarter from 46 out of
79 in the third quarter, Reis said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Hui-yong Yu in Seattle at
hyu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Kara Wetzel at
kwetzel@bloomberg.net
Upload A Photo Of Your Messy Office For A Chance To Win A $10,000
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Office Depot has launched a Facebook sweepstakes with the goal to find “America’s Messiest Office.”
From today through January 31st, users can upload a photo of their messy, unorganized office space or desk to Office Depot’s Facebook page for a chance to win a variety of prizes.
The grand prize winner of â€America’s Messiest Office” sweepstakes will win a $10,000 office makeover. Additionally, 10 visitors daily will win a $100 Office Depot gift card, and everyone who submits a messy office photo will receive a special Office Depot coupon good for a future purchase.
Visitors to Office Depot’s “Americaâ€s Messiest Office” Facebook tab will also be able to view and post comments on other messy office photos, browse and purchase an assortment of products.
“We are in the midst of National Get Organized Month, and Office Depot wants to help our customers kick off the new year with a commitment to getting organized,” said Jeff Herbert, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Office Depot.
“Through this exciting new promotion, one lucky winner will walk away with a dream office that is sure to help them work smarter in the new year.”
“s” : “odp”,”k” : “a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00″,”o” : “”,”j” : “”
BOCA RATON, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
From January 2 to January 8, Star
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After the Bell Before the Bell Booyah! Newsletter ETF Daily BEIJING (Hollywood Reporter) – China’s box office gross sales rose 61% in 2010 to $1.47 billion, boosted by Hollywood imports such as “Avatar,” local hits such as “Aftershock,” local media said Monday citing a leading media regulator.
From January through December, China’s moviegoers bought tickets worth 10 billion yuan, up from the 6.2 billion yuan ($908 million) they spent on the movies in 2Ǡ9, Wang Taihua, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, told China Daily.
Wang said China made 500 films in 2010, ranking the nation third behind Bollywood and Hollywood in terms of annual film output, according to a story in the state-run English-language newspaper. This was 100 films fewer than SARFT said were made in China in 2009.
Although much of the gain in Chin
“Aftershock” – in which a mother and daughter rebuild their relationship 32 years after they were separated by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake – became China’s highest-grossing homegrown film of all time, raking in more than 660 million yuan.
China’s 2010 box office growth coincided with the addition of an average of three new theatrical screens each day, bringing the nation’s total to 5,690 screens in about 1,800 cinema
The first half of the year got off to a lightning fast start with gross box office sales up 86%, China Film Group data showed.
Industry research showed that a disproportionate amount of that sales growth came from the premium paid for increasingly popular 3D screenings of Hollywood imports such as “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
China’s screen count is far smaller than the 40,000 in nearly 6,000 cinemas that currently serve the U.S., where the p
However, 2010 annual gross box office revenue was projected to hit $11 billion – 7.5 times greater than China’s take.
Ranked No. 2 in the world, Japan’s annual 2010 box office gross was expected to be tallied at $2.5 billion.
China’s media regulators expect China will overtake Japan in box office sales by 2015. WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Monday sharply criticized Belarus f
Belarus on Friday ordered the closure of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) office in Minsk, in an apparen
“The United States deeply regrets the government of Belarus’s decision to terminate the mission of the OSCE office in Minsk,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
“It was founded to assist the Belarusian government in institution-building, promoting the rule of law, and e
“Unfortunately, this is a st
The move to close the office came as Belarus held hundreds of opposition supporters arrested in the mass protest against the December 1
In Minsk, foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh said his government had decided to end the OSCE office’s mandate because “of the lack of objective reasons for retaining an OSCE mission in Belarus.”
Giving the rationale for the closure, he said only that the office’s mandate “had been fulfilled”.
But the move co
OSCE monitors issued a damning report on the presidential polls
Roger Harrabin, an environment analyst at the BBC, told the Radio Times: “The
“Can we rely on them if we are planning a garden party at the weekend? Or want
“In a few years time hopefully we’ll all have a better idea of whom to trust.
The decision to publish the assessment was welcomed by rival forecasters.
Piers Corbyn, the owner of WeatherAction, an independent forecaster, said:
The Met Office stopped making its long-term forecasts public in March after a
In 2009 a predicted barbecue summer” became a washout, while a subsequent
This winter, however, its seasonal forecast proved more accurate. Mr Harrabin
“The reason? The Met Office no longer publishes its seasonal forecasts because
Edmund King, President of the AA, said the Met Office had a “public duty” to
A spokesman for the Met Office said: “In late October we informed the CabinetOffice Depot Celebrates Star Teachers with Special Appreciation Days in January
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Office Depot Most Likely Retail Takeover Target in 2011: Poll
China’s box office hits $1.47 billion in 2010
a’s box office ticket sales came from Hollywood imports such as “Avatar” — which grossed $204 million in China alone — Wang said many Chinese-made films also had been commercial and critical successes, citing director Feng Xiaogang’s film “Aftershock” as an example.s, Wang said.opulation is less than a quarter as large.US regrets OSCE office closure in Belarus
or ordering the closure of the OSCE office in Minsk, saying it was a “step backwards” for democracy and human rights in the country.t response to the transatlantic security group’s stinging criticism of its presidential polls.ncouraging outreach to civil society. And the mandate of that mission is not completed, as the OSCE’s critical assessment of the presidential elections indicates,” he said.ep backwards in the development of democratic government and the respect for human rights in Belarus,” Crowley added.9 polls swept by President Alexander Lukashenko in a crackdown decried by the West.mes after OSCE monitors said after the polls that Belarus is still “a considerable way” from holding democratic elections.that listed a litany of vote count violations, saying its observers assessed the tally “as bad and very bad” in almost half of all observed polling stations.Met Office ‘kept winter forecast secret from public’
trouble is that we simply don’t know how much to trust the Met Office. How
often does it get the weather right and wrong. And we don’t know how it
compares with other, independent forecasters.
to know if we should take a brolly with us tomorrow? Or planning a holiday
next week?
By then the Met Office might have recovered enough confidence to share with
us its winter prediction of whether to buy a plane ticket or a toboggan.”
“This is a step in the right direction. The Met Office has got it repeatedly
and yet it remains the public service forecaster. There needs to be greater
competition. I hope this will encourage but it is vital that the assessors
and their measurements are independent and objective.”
series of major gaffes.
forecast of a “mild winter” turned out to be one of the coldest in 30 years.
said: “Why didn’t the Met Office tell us that Greenland was about to swap
weather with Godalming? The truth is it [The Met Office] did suspect we were
in for an exceptionally cold early winter, and told the Cabinet Office so in
October. But we weren’t let in on the secret.
of the ridicule it suffered for predicting a barbecue summer in 2009 – the
summer that campers floated around in their tents.”
publish its seasonal forecasts. He said that according to a recent AA survey
ofಔ,000 of its members only 3% of motorists bought winter tyres.
He said: “The Met Office has a public duty to tell us its forecasts so that we
can prepare for adverse weather. As it was many motorists were caught out.”
office that there were early indications of a cold start to winter.
Following public research we were told that a monthly outlook would be of
more use which is why we now have the 6-15 day and 16-30 day forecast on our
website.