KIMCHI

BIMBIBAP so yummmmy

KOREAN STEW…

Japan Earthquake, April 7, 2011: 7.4 magnitude new earthquake hits off Japan, tsunami warning issued

Two people were killed, over 90 injured, according to Japan broadcaster NHK World.

Read more: Japan Earthquake, April 7, 2011: 7.4 magnitude new earthquake hits off Japan, tsunami warning issued ~ MyKiRu IsYuSeRo http://mykiru.blogspot.com/2011/04/japan-earthquake-april-7-2011-71.html#ixzz1IuXDzBfE

Less than 2 hours before the said earthquake in Japan, North American country Mexico was also hit by a strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake.

The April 7 earthquake in Japan was already the strongest in the world since the March 11 quake that happened in the same country. And it all happened in less than a month.

Let’s continue to include Japan and its people in our prayers.

Read more: Japan Earthquake, April 7, 2011: 7.4 magnitude new earthquake hits off Japan, tsunami warning issued ~ MyKiRu IsYuSeRo http://mykiru.blogspot.com/2011/04/japan-earthquake-april-7-2011-71.html#ixzz1IuXOxePw

DAEJI BULGOGi….try it!

PAD THAI…

RED CURRY…

y Jilian Mincer
Monday, March 14, 2011

• Email
• Print

Leave it boomers to flout one of the long-held rules of retirement planning. Afraid lawmakers will soon lift the retirement age of Social Security or shrink benefits, many are ignoring the traditional advice of financial planners and retirement experts everywhere and taking their benefits as soon as possible. Are they right to rebel?

The number of Americans opting to take Social Security at 62 — currently the youngest age allowed — is on the rise. In 2009, 42% of 62-year-olds claimed benefits, up from 38% in 2007, according to economists at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. And while more recent data is not yet available, financial planners and industry experts say the ranks of early claimers are still growing. This, despite the fact that by delaying benefits individuals stand to boost their payments by 7% to 8% each year until age 70. “The mentality is that getting something now is better than nothing later,” says Richard Rosso, an adviser with Charles Schwab Corp. in Houston, who says he’s been “begging” many of his clients to delay claiming Social Security — often to no avail.

While some boomers have been driven to tap Social Security early out of necessity after losing jobs or savings during the downturn, many are reacting to the growing chorus of politicians calling for Social Security reform, says Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution. Last month, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie urged lawmakers to increase the retirement age of Social Security, while Senators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul have proposed reducing payments to wealthier Americans. More than half of Americans support both initiatives, as long as they take effect in the distant future, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. As a result of all the political rhetoric, fears about Social Security, once at a hum, “have risen to a crescendo in the last six weeks,” Rosso says.

Are all those fears realistic? Most advisers and retirement planning pros say no. “It’s so off the mark,” says Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. “There is no question the benefits will be paid. The worst that could happen is that the system would be able to provide only 80% of the benefits under current law.” The Social Security Administration has estimated that beginning in 2037 benefits could be reduced by 22% and could continue to decline, barring any changes to the system.

[10 Bargain Retirement Hot Spots]

But even these shortfalls are a ways out, and do little to explain why boomers are scrambling now to claim benefits. Likewise, the proposals being floated in Washington seem to target younger generations of Americans, say advisers. “When we look at the proposals, very few would impact those in or near retirement,” says Chad Terry, director of retirement solutions at the Principal Financial Group. He says longevity and inflation could be more of a risk to portfolios, but “there are some who will take it [Social Security benefit] no matter what,” he says. “They feel I’ve contributed, I’m eligible, I’m going to take it.”

Another explanation: Advisers say the average pre-retiree typically underestimates the impact of taking benefits early. For example, a top-earner retiring at 62 would get $1,803 a month. By waiting until 66, he’d increase that amount to $2,442, and delaying until 70 would bump the monthly payment to $3,256, according to Rande Spiegelman, vice president of financial planning at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. Another way to look at it: someone who delays taking Social Security until 66 rather 62 will collect more money over time if they live until at least age 77.

[Bad Money Habits to Drop]

That could have an enormous impact on retirement income, says Christine Fahlund, senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price. She says, for example, a couple who earns $100,000 a year and has $500,000 saved could expect to receive about $50,000 a year in Social Security payments and other income if they claim at 62; that same couple would get almost twice as much a year in Social Security benefits ($96,000) if they wait until 70, says Fahlund.

In specific situations, the decision to claim does make sense, say advisers, like if you’re in poor health or unemployed. Otherwise, they recommend delaying retirement (and social security payments) in order to boost their retirement savings, which likely took a serious hit during in 2008. A February report by the non-profit Employee Benefit Research Institute found that nearly half of the early boomers — those 56 to 62 — are at risk of not having enough retirement income for “basic” costs in retirement such as food, transportation and housing. And taking social security early won’t help as much as it seems.

___ 

It now is a virtual law of viral newsgathering: Once a major, newsworthy event happens, the world of social media—Facebook, Twitter and the like—will send compelling broadcast footage of that event caroming through cyberspace.

And that’s definitely been the pattern with the horrendous earthquake and tsunami that have devastated Japan. After the jump, a few of the videos that have gone viral over the past few days.

 Here’s video from the ground that was posted to Facebook by James MacWhyte, an American living in Tokyo, that has now made its way to Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uJN3Z1ryck&feature=player_embedded

And here’s video taken from a helicopter on Friday as the tsunami made landfall on Japan’s eastern coast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w3AdFjklR50

goooodnight….

thats alot of places, i would hate to move around that much. i lived in antelope my whole entire life. 

nice to meet you, i am also from sacramento. what part? 

Indonesia volcano burns whole villages

‘The heat surrounded us and there was white smoke everywhere’

Villagers carry a woman as they flee their homes following another eruption of Mount Merapi in Klaten, Indonesia, Friday.

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia — A surge of searing gas raced down the sides of Mount Merapi on Friday, smothering houses, cattle and villagers in its path. The death toll after the volcano’s largest eruption in a century soared to 122.

The worst hit village of Bronggang lay nine miles (15 kilometers) from the fiery crater, just on the perimeter of the government-delineated “danger zone.” Crumpled roofs, charred carcasses of cattle and broken chairs — all layered in white ash and soot — dotted the smoldering landscape.

The zone has since been expanded to a ring 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the peak, bringing it to the edge of the ancient royal capital of Yogyakarta, which has been put on its highest alert.