Stephanie Chick: Fear- The Other 99 Percent

There is a single force that occupies Wall Street, Main Street and corporate suites across America. This force has a stranglehold on the psyche, stripping people of their power and killing their desire for success. That force is Fear, and it is choking dreams and keeping 99 percent of people from unleashing their genius.

That's not to say that the fear is unwarranted. There is high unemployment, global unrest and international money woes. With so much anxiety going on around us, it's no surprise that we fear losing our jobs, taking a risk, and pursuing a dream. In this period of economic uncertainty, one of our biggest fears is of not being able to financially support our families.
When I considered leaving Hewlett-Packard to start my own executive coaching firm, my husband and I had just bought a new house and our son was attending private school. Fear showed me all the reasons I shouldn't make the move. It could take years to build a client base. We might run out of money and be unable to pay the mortgage or my son's tuition. I could fail. I was giving up a good job with a steady paycheck. Every time one fear faded, another one quickly replaced it.

Fear is with you when you fall asleep in the evening. And it's there staring you in the face when you wake up the next morning.

But the truth is, fear won't bring you job security or help you thrive in today's tough economy. In fact, fear only accomplishes one thing. It keeps you from believing that you have the power within to change your life and chart your own destiny.

Unfortunately, only a tiny 1 percent of people have taken this life-changing lesson to heart. Ninety nine percent of people are driven by fear and only 1 percent are determined to live free. One percent of people are free from fear -- not because they're lucky or economically advantaged or because they've been given more opportunities. They are free because they've chosen to be. They've decided to reject their fears and limiting beliefs, and they see problems only as possibilities.

The first way to break free from fear is by accepting reality. Accept that there are no guarantees. There is no stability. The world is in constant free fall. Life is unpredictable. If you're still hoping and wishing that things will return to normal, wake up, because this is the "new" normal. You'll never be in control so you might as well get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

The next way to fight fear is to "Face Everything And Respond." When you're ready to make a change, look your fears directly in the face. Don't run and hide. Instead, acknowledge your discomfort and be willing to listen to the message behind it. Then address those concerns immediately. That's what I did when it was time for me to leave HP. My biggest fear was not being able to survive during my business's start-up phase. The message behind my fear was that I needed to provide a safety net for my family. So I decided to sell all of my HP stock to make ends meet. It was a tough choice to make but after doing it, fear didn't have so tight of a grip. Five years later my coaching business is thriving but I still have new fears to face. Fear will never go away. You've got to be prepared to tackle fear every day.

Once you break free from your fears, you'll finally be able to follow your dreams. My former client, Dawn, did just that. In 2008, at the height of the recession, she gave up a secure job at a stable company to pursue her dream of starting a real estate business. Dawn left with a seven-month severance check, her 401k assets, and her desire and determination to make her business work. Many days she was afraid. After all, she was the primary breadwinner in her family, and she knew she was taking a huge risk to pursue her calling. But a year after walking away from her job, Dawn bought her first apartment complex and now she's well on her way to fulfilling her destiny. For once in her life, she's truly happy and at peace. That's something you'll never feel as long as fear is in the driver's seat.

So now is the time for you to decide which mindset you will occupy in 2012. Do you want to be among the 1 percent who aren't afraid to let their genius take flight? Or will you be in the 99 percent -- living in fear for the rest of your life?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-chick/conquering-fear_b_1160070.html

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Russian parliament opens after fraud-tainted vote (AP)

MOSCOW ? The parliament chosen in a fraud-tainted election that set off protests throughout Russia has opened its first session with leading members calling for more genuine debate to win back the voters' trust.

Under Vladimir Putin, the parliament has served as little more than a rubber stamp for government initiatives. The outgoing speaker once famously said it was "not a place for political discussion."

Before Wednesday's session began, however, police broke up a small protest outside and arrested about a dozen people. Some wore signs saying "we didn't vote for you."

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the minority nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, says people would be less likely to protest if they saw real debates being held in the State Duma, the elected lower house.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_parliament

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Bears WR Hurd facing federal drug charges (AP)

CHICAGO ? Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was locked up in federal custody Thursday as his stunned teammates learned he had been charged with trying to set up a drug-dealing network following his arrest with more than a pound of cocaine.

U.S. Magistrate Young Kim ordered Hurd held until at least Friday while prosecutors and defense attorneys work out bond details before he is sent to Texas to face charges.

The handcuffed Hurd declined to comment on the charges. Asked before the hearing if he was still a member of the Bears, he said: "As far as I know." He shook his head when asked if he had talked to anyone on the team.

"Sam intends to fight these charges, and we intend to defend him fully," said high-profile defense attorney David Kenner, one of Hurd's lawyers. "We have complete confidence in him."

Kenner told The Associated Press that he and partner Brett Greenfield had not evaluated all of the information in the case. But Kenner ? who successfully defended rapper Snoop Dogg against murder charges ? said he had other cases where the evidence appeared to be stacked against his client.

"They start off looking terrible, and then we end up with `not guiltys,'" Kenner said.

Kenner and Greenfield said they expected Hurd to be released from custody Friday.

Hurd, 26, was arrested Wednesday night after meeting with an undercover agent at a Chicago restaurant, according to a criminal complaint that says the player was first identified as a potential drug dealer over the summer as the NFL lockout was coming to an end.

Hurd told the agent that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week to distribute in the Chicago area, the complaint said. He allegedly said he and a co-conspirator already distribute about four kilos of cocaine every week, but their supplier couldn't keep up with his demands. A kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.

Hurd told the agent "his co-conspirator is in charge of doing the majority of the deals" while he focused on "higher-end deals," the complaint said.

He agreed to pay $25,000 for each kilogram of cocaine and $450 a pound for the marijuana, according to the charges, and then said he could pay for a kilo of cocaine after "he gets out of practice." He walked out of the restaurant with the package and was arrested.

The criminal complaint was filed in Texas, where the U.S. attorney said Hurd faces up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, or half a kilogram.

Hurd's agent, Ian Greengross, did not return messages seeking comment. The NFL said it was looking into the incident while the NFL Players Association declined to comment.

Coach Lovie Smith said the arrest was a disappointment and a "total surprise," adding that Hurd was still a member of the Bears for now.

"Sam wasn't in meetings this morning and that's how from there of course we started searching trying to find out why a player wouldn't be here," Smith said. "There was no tipoff, didn't know it was coming."

Smith said there was no reason to believe Hurd had problems when the Bears signed him before the season.

"No issues, no reason. I'm in shock over it. I never saw it coming," Smith said. "But just like I think I know most of you, you don't really know what people do once you're not with them. But I know that anyone we bring through here, we've had an extensive search to find out everything, if there is something out there, and that wasn't the case. There was nothing we knew about Sam."

Hurd, a San Antonio native who played college ball at Northern Illinois, spent five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and is in his first stint with the Bears. He has contributed mostly on special teams, playing in 77 games overall with six starts and two career touchdowns. He has played in 12 games this year, catching eight passes for 109 yards.

The complaint says an informant tipped off authorities in Texas in July, leading to an investigation in which an unidentified acquaintance of Hurd's "negotiated" for approximately five kilograms of cocaine on the player's behalf. The acquaintance wanted to buy the drugs quickly to take it to a "northern destination that same day," the complaint said.

The Bears reached a three-year deal with Hurd this summer that was reportedly worth up to $5.15 million, including a $1.35 million signing bonus and base pay this season of $685,000.

The deal was announced on July 29 ? the day after federal authorities say he had agreed to a "consensual interview" with Homeland Security investigators over $88,000 in cash that had been seized in a car he owned in the Dallas area. The money was inside a canvas bag that authorities said was covered in a plant-like material that tested positive for "properties of marijuana."

The acquaintance told authorities that Hurd "routinely leaves large amounts" of money in his vehicles, while Hurd said the money was indeed his and that he had given the car to his acquaintance, a car shop employee, for maintenance and detail work.

Hurd showed authorities a bank statement he said showed he had withdrawn $88,000 from his account, but authorities said it did "not reflect the transactions and amounts" he claimed.

Teammates said they couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"It's a situation that you don't, I don't, want anybody to be in, especially a close friend, a teammate that I've been playing with now for four or five years," said wide receiver Roy Williams, who played with Hurd in Dallas before being reunited on the Bears this year. "Especially a guy from Texas with a wife and a daughter. ... I know it has to be tough for him because he has his family."

Linebacker Brian Urlacher said it's sad for Hurd, who he called a good teammate and good guy. But he said it won't affect the team's play.

"Football-wise it's not going to be an issue," Urlacher said. "We'll go out there and practice like we do every day and hopefully put it behind us when Sunday gets here."

In 2009, four years into his NFL career, Hurd established a charitable organization, Running with the Hurd, aimed at mentoring kids. The organization sponsored a football camp in the South Texas city of Harlingen last year.

Hurd's sister, Jawanda Newsome, told the San Antonio Express-News in 2008 that her brother was paying to fix up their parents' home as well as covering his younger brother's junior college tuition. She said she worried about her brother because he was so prone to give his money away.

Newsome told the newspaper Thursday she is hoping people will refrain from speculating about her brother's case.

"We need to see what the outcome is," she said. "He has a lawyer. I hope San Antonio doesn't lose its trust in Sam. We are praying for a positive outcome, because we don't yet know hard-core facts either."

Linebacker Lance Briggs said the Bears were going to focus on practice and Sunday's home game against Seattle.

"You hate to see this happen to anyone. That's just it. We all make mistakes," Briggs said. "You don't go through a football season without distractions. Distractions are expected. This is a game where we're professionals and you have to approach it that way.

"There's a sports side, there's a business side and then there's a personal side. And, when it comes to business as a professional, you have to take care of business."

___

AP Sports Writer Rick Gano in Lake Forest, Ill., and AP writers Danny Robbins and Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_bears_hurd_arrest

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Chavez: New regional group revives Bolivar's dream (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? South American independence hero Simon Bolivar once dreamed of unifying several nations as a counterweight to their powerful hemispheric neighbor, the United States.

Two centuries later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is tapping into that legacy at a two-day summit of the Americas starting Friday. Chavez describes the new regional bloc that excludes the U.S. as a tribute to his idol, saying the time has come to put an end to U.S. hegemony.

"This is the achievement after 200 years of battle," Chavez said Thursday. "The Monroe Doctrine was imposed here: America for Americans, the Yankees. They imposed their will during 200 years, but that's enough."

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega echoed Chavez's statements, saying it's time for Latin American and Caribbean countries to ensure the policy of U.S. intervention to protect hemispheric nations, declared by President James Monroe in 1823, is never revived.

"We are sentencing the Monroe Doctrine to death," said Ortega, speaking before joining fellow presidents for the summit's opening ceremony on Friday.

Chavez also sees the nascent Community of Latin American and Caribbean States as a tool to strengthen regional integration.

"We must march toward what Bolivar called a great political body," Chavez said.

The 33-nation bloc, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, includes every country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unlike the Washington-based Organization of American States, or OAS, it will have Cuba as a full member and will exclude the U.S. and Canada.

Cuban President Raul Castro also supported Chavez's stance as he arrived Friday, saying the creation of the new bloc is "the biggest event in 200 years."

Many Latin American leaders, however, say they see CELAC as a forum to build closer economic and political relations across the region rather than a platform for challenging U.S. policies.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said at the summit's opening ceremony that it will be a group "to work in favor of unity and prosperity." He hosted a summit last year at which leaders pledged to form the new bloc.

Chavez embraced leaders one by one as they walked to a stage at the ceremony.

Some of Chavez's opponents, including small groups of university students, put up protest signs on Caracas overpasses. Denouncing the country's high crime rate, some signs read: "Presidents, welcome to the crime capital." Police swiftly removed the signs

Many leaders referred to Bolivar's legacy, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who called Bolivar an inspiration, but did not cast Washington as the region's unwelcome neighbor.

"Our countries are demonstrating this vocation for a common future," Rousseff said at a meeting with Chavez on Thursday. "Two hundred years ago, Caracas stood out like a light for the independence struggle. ... I believe in Bolivar's dream."

Plans for the new organization, which grew out of the 24-nation Rio Group, have been in the works since a 2008 summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Chavez's closest allies share his hopes of a region increasingly free of U.S. influence.

"With the creation of CELAC, Chavez is realizing his Bolivarian vision and dream for the region. Other CELAC participants will recognize Chavez for that and give him due credit," said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. "There is a strong strain of regionalism throughout Latin America and the Caribbean."

Chavez has long sought inspiration in the legacy of Bolivar, who in the early 1800s served as president of Gran Colombia, a republic made up of much of northern South America and modern-day Panama until it broke up into individual states following years of dissent and political upheaval.

Chavez calls his political movement the Bolivarian Revolution and has changed the country's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Last year, Chavez even oversaw the opening of Bolivar's coffin to re-examine the cause of his death, and the Venezuelan government is building a new mausoleum to house Bolivar's remains.

Bolivar was an admirer of the American Revolution, although he warned the unrivaled power of the United States could eventually pose a threat to the young nations of Latin America that had won independence from Spain.

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, hailed the CELAC as an alternative to the OAS.

"It's time to have a forum that's more our own, closer to our reality, without the bias in favor of North America," Correa said.

Leaders of Mexico, Chile and other countries said the new bloc will complement, not replace the OAS.

The OAS, meanwhile, announced on Friday that it will hold its next general assembly in June in Bolivia, whose president, Evo Morales, is a close ally of Chavez.

___

Associated Press writers Ian James and Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.

___

Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_summit

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Small business latest focus of House Republicans (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The House on Thursday passed legislation that would give more weight to the impact of federal regulations on small businesses, whose owners can be a powerful political force and are being courted by both parties.

The bill, which went to the Senate on a 263-159 vote, was the first of three Republican measures that attempt to curb what GOP lawmakers say are aggressive and sometimes costly regulations by the Obama administration.

Earlier this week, the White House budget office announced that if the bill passed Congress, senior administration advisers would recommend a veto.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said, "Job creation is the key to economic recovery, and small businesses are America's job creators. In the current economic climate ... we simply cannot overburden small business with costly and wasteful regulations."

The committee's top Democrat, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, said the latest Republican attempt to stop the administration from issuing new rules was part of "an anti-regulation tidal wave."

He said Americans would suffer if the administration was prevented from protecting Americans' health and safety. "This is a very dangerous process," he said.

While the Republican-run House has passed numerous bills this year to overturn or delay proposed rules, most were aimed at specific proposals. The latest bills would not be limited to any particular rule or agency.

A 1980 law requires federal agencies to assess the economic impact of regulations on small businesses. If the impact is significant, less burdensome alternatives must be considered.

Republicans believe, however, that federal agencies are ignoring their obligation to do a thorough analysis. The House-passed bill would empower a small business advocacy office, part of the Small Business Administration, to make sure that requirement is being fulfilled.

The assessment would have to include indirect impacts of proposed rules that are not specifically designed to regulate small business.

Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chairman of the House Small Business Committee, said the bill would force agencies to consider how their actions affect small businesses.

"Some may argue that agencies already do this when they draft regulations. However, nearly 30 years of experience ... shows that agencies are not considering the consequences of their actions. And it is about time that they do so," he said.

OMB Watch, a nonprofit advocacy organization that monitors federal regulations, objected to the legislation and said it was too broad.

"Virtually any action an agency proposes ? even a guidance document designed to help a business comply with a rule ? could be subject to a lengthy review process," the group said.

"By requiring additional and wasteful analyses, this bill would make it impossible for federal agencies to protect the public and respond to emerging hazards."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_go_co/us_republicans_regulations

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Rocker Tommy Lee sued by former assistant (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Never mind Dr. Feelgood -- Tommy Lee might want to put in a call to his attorney right about now.

The former assistant for the Motley Crue skins-pounder filed a lawsuit against Lee and Lee's company, Mayhem Touring, in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday, claiming that he was worked virtually around the clock, and that Lee made improper deductions from the assistant's paycheck.

Michael Anthony Sullivan, who claims to have worked as Lee's "procurer, Man Friday, chauffeur, guide, bookkeeper, attendant, door-keeper, agent, butler, valet, attendant, cook, shopper, nanny, bodyguard, maid, nurse and nursemaid" from January 2005 to March 2011, says that he was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for Lee.

The suit says there were "long periods of time during which Sullivan was required seven days a week, without a single day off." It also claims that Sullivan's schedule was particularly grueling when he was on the road with Lee, with 80- to 100-hour work weeks being the norm.

Despite the alleged marathon hours, the suit claims, Sullivan never received overtime compensation for his extra work.

Moreover, according to Sullivan, Lee was in the habit of making improper deductions from Sullivan's pay. When the rocker had Sullivan move into his home to better serve him and his family, the suit says, Lee began deducting $1,000 a month for rent -- even during the last six months of his employment with Lee, when he was no longer living at the house.

Sullivan further alleges that Lee took money out of his check for a car-insurance deductible stemming from an accident that occurred when Sullivan was bringing Lee's car to the mechanic to get the brakes fixed. He says Lee deducted for cell-phone charges relating to calls that Sullivan made on his employer's behalf.

After Sullivan and Lee parted ways, according to the suit, Lee trash-talked his former hired hand throughout the industry, engaging in "a campaign of disparagement" and "defamatory comments" that "have damaged Sullivan's reputation and have interfered with Sullivan's existing and potential employment opportunities."

Sullivan claims to have lost two tour-manager positions, with the bands Godsmack and Bush, because of Lee's alleged smear campaign.

Sullivan is seeking "no less than $50,000" -- the amount he says that he's out because of the lost work --- plus punitive damages "in an amount sufficient to punish Lee and make an example of him."

A representative for Lee did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.

(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/people_nm/us_tommylee_lawsuit

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FIFA could suspend officials under investigation

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By FRANK JORDANS

updated 11:18 a.m. ET Nov. 30, 2011

ZURICH - FIFA should consider suspending officials who are under criminal investigation as part of its effort to clean up the organization, an independent anti-corruption expert hired by the govering body said Wednesday.

Swiss professor Mark Pieth said FIFA also should examine ways to make the election of its presidents more transparent and impose term limits for officials to avoid entrenched loyalties resulting in favors being swapped.

"We are talking about serious stuff here and not everybody will like this," Pieth said at FIFA headquarters to present a preliminary report containing proposed reforms.

Pieth said the opening of an official probe against FIFA committee members or employees could become a threshold for putting their involvement at FIFA on hold.

Calls have grown for FIFA to tighten its ethics rules following allegations of bribe-taking by senior officials, including executive committee members.

Prosecutors in Brazil have said they will investigate FIFA executive member Ricardo Teixeira for money laundering and tax crimes. Teixeira is the head of the 2014 World Cup organizing committee. He's been linked to a bribery scandal at FIFA's former marketing partner ISL, which owned World Cup television rights until its 2001 bankruptcy.

Pieth said it would be up to FIFA to decide whether to accept the proposals that will be submitted before the annual members meeting in May.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said Tuesday that he intended to honor his promise to members and governments to reform the structure of the organization and make it more transparent.

Pieth, whose previous jobs have included investigating the U.N.'s oil-for-food scandal in Iraq and advising the Swiss government on new laws to combat money laundering, said he saw his role akin to that of coaching a troubled squad.

"We are coaches in bringing them back to the road of virtue," said Pieth, adding that he wouldn't be looking too closely at the past.

Pieth told The Associated Press that claims surround the rigging of votes to host the World Cup and other allegations needed to be investigated, but not by his committee.

"I have to take a decision," Pieth said. "I either go into the past or into the future."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Crystal Palace knocks out Man U

Manchester United was knocked out of the League Cup quarterfinals by Crystal Palace, with Glenn Murray scoring in the eighth minute of overtime to give the second-tier club a 2-1 victory Wednesday night and its first win at Old Trafford since 1989.

Season set

Major League Soccer's 2012 season will open March 10 with six games.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45493590/ns/sports-soccer/

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