Hardscaping: Bringing Functionality and Longevity to Your Landscape
July 22nd, 2011You’ve thought about your home’s landscaping, but have you thought about its hardscaping? What’s that you ask? It just might be the best way to take your property from bland to beautiful with a little creativity and design help.
What is Hardscaping?
While softscaping includes lawn, floral and plant design on your property, hardscaping refers to any non-garden design elements around the exterior of your home. Paved walkways, fences, patios, water fountains and rocks are just a few items that are included under the umbrella of hardscaping. These Read more…
Oil tops US$100 for first time since early June
July 22nd, 2011NEW YORK – Oil topped US$100 (S$121) per barrel for the first time since early June on Thursday as a private research group said the US economy should keep growing this year while European leaders discussed more financial aid for Greece.
The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3 per cent in June. The increase suggested the economy won’t fall back into a recession over the next few months, even with high unemployment and a weak housing market.
Officials in Europe prepared a new rescue package for Greece at an emergency summit in Brussels. The move strengthened the euro relative to the dollar.
Tags: Early June, First Time, June
Reader Mailbag: Dog Days
July 21st, 2011What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Dealing with no credit 2. Handling changing mindsets 3. Spousal disagreements over budgeting 4. Car loan payoff 5. High pay, hate my job 6. House financing question 7. Running for school board 8. Career choices 9. Starting a side business 10. The future of the penny
The dog days of summer are here. That means sun tea, getting really sweaty outside, dry grass, occasional big and noisy thunderstorms, wonderful trips to the pool and to the lake, and falling to sleep with the noise of the ceiling fan.
Q1: Dealing with no credit Bad credit due to bankruptcy 10 years ago (gone from credit report now). I h
Tags: Mailbag, Reader Mailbag
Express Scripts and Medco, which employs 1,800 in Memphis, to combine
July 21st, 2011Medco’s automated pharmacy is shown in Willingboro, N.J. Medco’s merger with Express Scripts Inc. will cut costs and improve patient care, thepanies said.
The top two U.S.panies managing prescription drug benefits are uniting in a $29.1 billion deal they say will help achieve key goals of the health care overhaul: reining in costs and improving patients’ health.
Express Scripts Inc. announced an agreement Thursday to buy larger rival Medco Health Solutions Inc., abination that would handle the prescriptions of about 135 million people, more than one in three Americans.
That will give them even more clout in demanding discounts from drugmakers, who are dealing with falling or stagnant revenue as blockbuster drugs taken daily by millions are getting cheaper genericpetition.
The deal will likely have local implications as Medco’s specialty pharmacy unit is based in Memphis, where it employs 1,800. Read more…
Tags: Express Scripts, Medco
Wrongdoers will get caught: ATO boss
July 21st, 2011The jailing of a Western Australian company director for tax fraud should send a clear message to everyone, the boss of the Australian Tax Office has warned.
“If you deliberately do the wrong thing you will face serious consequences,” tax commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo said after WA director Joanne De Hollander was sentenced yesterday to three years’ jail.
Hollander faces a non-parole period of 20 months for understating cash business sales by over $5.6 million and underpaying GST obligations by $514,000 for two companies of which she was sole director.
“Not declaring cash income and making fraudulent GST claims is illegal,” Mr D’Ascenzo said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Doing the wrong thing towards your obligations insults those in the community including other businesses who do the right thing. Read more…
Tags: Boss