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2. personal finance
3. lending
4. personal loans

Life!
The Charlotte Post
Maximize tax
benefits from
charitable gifts
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 SECTION B
Mating
finance
with
romance
Charlotte is among
North America’s top
sugar daddy cities
By Herbert L. White
[email protected]
BRANDPOINT
You answer calls to support
your alma mater, the local
animal shelter and the
American Red Cross with
gifts of money and volunteer
time. And after cleaning out
the closets, dressers, kitchen
cabinets and garage, you take
a trunk load of donations to
the thrift store.
You know your gifts of
cash, time and household
items may be tax deductible,
but what do you need to do
to verify that and maximize
your deduction?
"Being charitable can cut
your taxable income, as long
as you follow a few simple
rules," says Jessi Dolmage,
spokesperson for popular
digital tax preparation brand
TaxACT. "Those include giving to eligible organizations
and
keeping
accurate
records."
To determine if you've
donated to eligible organizations, search the IRS' database of Exempt Organization
Select Check at www.irs.gov.
Most religious organizations
and government agencies are
eligible, even if they're not
listed in the database.
Keeping detailed records is
important for accurate valuation of your gifts (and in turn
your tax deduction) and in
the unlikely event of an
audit. Dolmage says records
should include organization
name, donation date and
amount.
For monetary gifts, keep
the written acknowledgment
from the organization with
the donation date and
amount. A canceled check or
card statement with the
transaction date also suffices
for gifts under $250.
If you receive merchandise,
benefits or privileges in
exchange for a gift, you must
subtract the value of those
from the original gift
amount. If your payment is
more than $75, the organization must give you a written
statement with a description
and estimated value of the
merchandise, goods or services.
For noncash donations,
document the charity name,
date and location of the
items, along with a reason-
ably detailed description of
the items. If you receive a
receipt from the charity,
keep it with your records.
The IRS requires additional documentation for vehicle donations. You must
receive a written acknowledgment or Form 1098-C
from the charity for the
vehicle.
Noncash donations, such
as clothing, kitchen gadgets
and furniture, must be in
good condition or better.
The tax-deductible amount
of those items is the fair
market value, the price if
they
were
exchanged
between willing buyers and
sellers. Special rules apply
to donations of cars, boats
airplanes, property subject
to debt, investments that
have appreciated in value
and inventory from your
business.
Mobile apps can make
tracking throughout the
year painless. Donation
Assistant by TaxACT tracks
cash, noncash and recurring gifts, with FMVs for
more than 1,300 commonly
donated household items.
You can also save photos of
your
donations
and
receipts. When doing your
taxes, import the information and TaxACT Deluxe
will calculate your maximum deduction and complete your tax forms.
You can deduct charitable
gifts you made between
Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 only if
you itemize deductions on
Form 1040 Schedule A. In
order to itemize, all of your
itemized deductions must
exceed the standard deduction amount based on your
adjusted gross income and
filing status.
Additionally, you must
file Form 8283 if your noncash contributions total
more than $500, and
include a qualified appraisal of property worth more
than $5,000.
Download
the
free
Donation Assistant app at
www.taxact.com/apps and
learn more about the tax
rules of charitable giving at
www.irs.gov and www.taxact.com/taxinfo.
Five things about
getting approved
for business loan
Charlotte is a sugar daddy hot spot.
The Queen City is 18th in North
America in the number of successful
men seeking “mutually beneficial”
relationships at 4.18 per 1,000,
according to the dating website
seekingarrangement.com. Atlanta is
the continent’s sugar daddy capital
with 19.64 per 1,000 men, a 50 percent increase over last year.
Charlotte has more sugar daddies
per 1,000 than some of North
America’s largest cities: Dallas, Texas
(2.78), New York (2.39) and Los
Angeles (1.99).
The website reports 1,244 registered Charlotte sugar daddies, with
the average age of 43. Seeking
Arrangement spokeswoman Kirsten
Johnson said 15 percent are married
and their average net worth is $7.2
million. The average assistance they
provide to a sugar baby is $3,023 a
month.
African-Americans make up 8.9 percent of Charlotte’s sugar daddies,
while 43.3 percent of sugar babies are
black.
“Most people equate a sugar daddy
with someone like (Playboy magazine
founder) Hugh Hefner, but this is not
the case.” says Brandon Wade,
founder
and
CEO
of
SeekingArrangement.com. “Sugar
daddies are young, successful men
who do not have time to traditionally
date.”
The number of men who sign up to
become sugar daddies is rising,
according
to
seekingarrangement.com’s annual
demographics study. The website
defines a sugar daddy as a financially
successful man who is “willing to
provide a certain lifestyle for a
young, attractive person in return for
friendship or companionship.”
The average North American sugar
daddy is 44 years old and has a net
worth of approximately $7.7 million.
He’ll spend approximately $4,183
monthly on a sugar baby.
The number of married sugar daddies globally has dropped from 46
percent to 29 percent in the eight
years since Seeking Arrangement’s
first survey. The reduction is an indicator that more single men are
embracing the lifestyle. Atlanta, for
instance, has 28 percent married
Skincare tips for cooler temperatures
BRANDPOINT
It's almost that time of year
again, the time of year when
you forget about sunburns
and start worrying about
windburn. Yes, sadly, the
cooler months are here and
winter is around the corner.
That means long coats,
scarves and an entirely different skincare routine.
Skincare you say? True, it's
easy to forget about your
skin when it's covered by all
those extra layers, but dermatologist Dr. Anne Chapas,
who is the founder and medical director of Union Square
Dermatology, says cooler
months are when skincare,
particularly lip care, is most
important. "The skin is our
first line of defense against
environmental elements, but
the skin on our lips has
extremely unique properties.
It is one of the most sensitive
areas of skin, so they require
special attention in order to
SEEKINGARRANGEMENT.COM
maintain a healthy appearance," Chapas said.
With that in mind, Chapas
offers these tips to help you
keep your lips and the rest of
your skin feeling and looking
healthy no matter the temperature.
• Nurture your lips. The
cooler months are hard on
your lips. Not only are they
exposed to cooler temperatures daily, behavioral habits
like biting or licking your lips
can also be damaging. "What
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Please see FIVE/2B
most people don't realize is
that common behaviors such
as drinking wine or coffee
and eating salty or acidic
foods can dry out the lips,"
says Chapas. "But drinking
plenty of water to stay
hydrated and applying a
moisturizing lip balm can
help counteract the effects of
these activities and improve
your lip health." Chapstick
Hydration Lock Moisturize
Compact more sporty than expected
RIDES: FIAT 500 SPORT
By Tim Hileman
Myths and misconceptions about the reason banks decline
loans and the rate at which this happens are as common
today as ever. As a banker, it’s my goal to bring clarity to the
process, and explain what it takes for a business to get a loan
and why a loan application may be declined.
Let me share a few credit basics small business owners
should know before applying for a loan that may make the
loan review process easier to understand.
For a banker, evaluating a credit application means reviewing the five C’s of credit: credit history, collateral, capital,
conditions and capacity. You may have heard of these five
general areas that help determine whether a business loan
will be approved. Yet here are five things you may not know
about the five C’s:
Did you know both business and personal credit history are
important when pursuing business credit, particularly smaller loans? Looking at credit history helps us answer the question: How has the borrower handled credit obligations? Both
ISTOCK
sugar daddies. North America’s sugar
daddy cities (Per 1,000 men)
1. Atlanta (19.64)
2. Vancouver, Canada (13.02)
3. Orlando, Fla. (12.52)
4. San Francisco, Calif. (12.23)
5. Las Vegas, Nev. (11.68)
18. Charlotte (4.18)
19. Calgary, Canada (3.93)
20. San Antonio, Texas (3.78)
28. Miami, Fla. (2.68)
29. New York City (2.39)
30. Los Angeles, Calif. (1.99)
The 2015 Fiat 500 sport.
By Winfred B. Cross
shirt in a heartbeat.
Nope, I just found that
notion, well, silly.
You know, I’ve always
That was until I drove the
thought that calling certain
Fiat 500 sport, but, again, it
cars “girl” cars was a bit silly. may have been more the
Certain colors, sure. Pink is
color than the car that
primarily
for
women,
screamed girl. although businessmen can
I’m not a fan of red. I know
get away with a pink tie or
SPECIAL TO THE POST
my friends in Kappa Alpha
Psi fraternity would disagree
but I think it looks better on
women than men (my friends
in Delta Sigma Theta sorority
would probably agree). Red is
fine on cars if on an outright
sports car like a Corvette,
Mustang, Camaro, Porsche or
Please see GREAT/2B
ANY Ferrari. But the little 500
is not any of those.
Yeah, they call it a sport,
but it’s more sporty than
sport. You need to move up
to the tire smoking Abarth
model to get a 500 that’s got
some giddy in its up. The
sport motors along leisurely
on a tuned (but not sport
tuned) suspension. Linked to
a six-speed automatic, the
sport gets to 60 miles per
hour in about 12.4 seconds,
which is slow, even for economy cars. You can get an
overall 30 miles per gallon
with a mix of highway and
city driving, but the 10-gallon
fuel tank does not allow for
extended cruising.
If you are thinking I didn’t
like the little Fiat, you are
wrong. I’m a fan of small,
well built cars and the 500
fits into both categories.
Don’t know if I could live
with a car with white interior
(or white trim pieces for that
matter) but the interior is
quite modern for a throw-
Please see FIAT/2B
Fiat 500 is tiny, but sporty
with all the right amenities
2B
Continued from page 1B
back car. It’s roomy for two people but the
folk in the back will complain on a long trip,
especially if they are bigger than kid size.
The seats are comfortable but the sport
comes only in a coupe so entering and exiting will take some trickery.
The 500 comes with all the modern safety
stuff including multistage airbags, antilock
disc brakes, hill start assist and front seat
reactive head restraints. Keyless entry,
power windows, air conditioning, handsfree communication, cruise and tilt steering
are also standard at the $17,500 price tag.
My test car also came with auto climate
control, heated front seats, SiriusXM radio,
Tom/Tom Navigation, triple coat red paint
and 16.5-inch aluminum wheels, which
brought the price to $22,200.
There are other cars that are either the
same size or a tad larger that make more
sense in this price range. Mini Coopers, VW
Beetles, Ford Focus or a myriad of small cars
made by GM, Toyota and Nissan could fit
the bill nicely and perhaps less expensively.
But there’s something about this little
Italian car that makes sense. It’s fun to look
at, not bad to drive and, if nothing else, will
start a conversation. I’m a bigger fan of the
Abarth model but I could live with this 500
sport. Really, I could.
Just not in red with white interior. Must be
the dawg in me and I ain’t talking Georgia,
either.
Reach
Winfred
Cross
at
[email protected].
Five things about getting
approved for business loan
Continued from page 1B
business and personal credit
are relevant. On the personal
side, a lender will look at the
business owner’s history of
credit management including
FICO score and details of
their credit record. A lender
also will want to know
whether the business applying for credit has paid suppliers and other business obligations in a timely manner,
including those to other
financial institutions.
That’s why a deep tenured
business and personal credit
and deposit relationship with
a bank can make a difference.
When you pursue a loan at a
bank that knows you, a
banker can see your current
balances relative to 12month averages and annual
sales – and can better determine whether your business
has strong enough cash flow
for new credit. And a banker
can see if a business avoids
overdrafts. It helps tell the
lender whether the business
is credit-ready.
Did you know that when it
comes to “capital,” a banker
wants to see that an owner
has a significant investment
of personal capital in a business? When a lender sees the
owner invest money in the
business, it shows that the
business owner is committed
to succeeding. What’s more,
a business owner with assets
that can be converted into
cash in case of a sudden
downturn in revenue will be
better able to operate his or
her business and repay debt. A lender wants to see that
the assets of the business
sufficiently exceed its liabilities, and to understand how
quickly and easily those
assets can be turned into
cash.
Did you know that “conditions” are both internal and
external factors that affect
the ability of a business to
repay a loan, as well as the
intended use of the loan? For
example, on the external
side, conditions can be economic factors, such as the
strength of the housing market for businesses that are
tied closely to this important
sector. In today’s improving
economy, conditions in
many industry segments are
getting better, giving banks
confidence in lending to
those segments.
On the internal side, conditions include the borrower’s
business experience and
knowledge. A lender will ask:
Is the owner someone who
has extensive experience in
the industry or relatively
new? In some cases, business
references and education are
personal factors that can
affect conditions. Both internal and external conditions
can be important indicators
of a business’ ability to survive and thrive, and therefore
its ability to repay its credit
obligations.
Did you know that “collateral,” when it’s required, is a
secondary source of repayment to a lender in case of
default?
Collateral
can
include personal assets – like
investments and CDs – and
business assets – such as real
estate, inventory, equipment
and accounts receivable.
Collateral doesn’t replace
good payment history or
showing your ability to handle the proposed debt level.
Nobody wins when a bank
turns to the final option for
repayment of liquidating collateral. In fact, it often results
in a loss to the financial institution – it’s absolutely the
last thing a bank wants to do.
A healthy business that’s
using credit the right way is a
win for the business, for the
bank and for the community.
Did you know that a lender
looks at cash flow and debt
to determine whether a business has the “capacity” to
handle new credit? Before
extending a loan, a banker
wants to make sure a busi-
Halle Berry: Deep
down, women love
sexy undergarments
By Frazier Moore
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK – What's in a
bra? Femininity, sexiness
and
self-empowerment,
says Halle Berry, who is
launching a lingerie line she
says will do it
all.
The Oscarw i n n i n g
actress is reviving Scandale, a
lingerie label
Berry
born in France
in 1932.
“We've taken this brand
and revamped it,'' Berry said
in an interview Thursday.
“But we've kept all the qualities of the Parisian sort of
style intact.''
The collection of 10 bras
and panties will be sold by
Target, and while “rich with
history and heritage,'' will
boast “a very good price,''
said Berry, who, beneath her
lacy dress displayed a black
Illusion demi bra (less than
$20).
Berry is an owner of the
Scandale Paris line and said
she plays a hands-on role in
design, declaring, “I think I
have a pulse on what
American women want.''
She agreed that, for guys,
the choice of undergarments is largely a question
of boxers or briefs. “But
most women know that
Great skincare tips for fall’s
cooler temperatures
Thursday, October 30, 2014
The Charlotte Post
LIFE/The
what you put under your
clothes is the first step in
making yourself feel good
about yourself.''
Women buy lingerie mainly for themselves, she went
on, quickly adding, “When
they find something they
feel good in, and that makes
them feel sexy and feminine
and empowered, their partners also reap the benefits.''
Berry, who won a Best
Actress Academy Award for
the 2001 drama “Monster's
Ball,'' came to television last
summer in the CBS sci-fi
series “Extant.'' For this film
veteran, series TV, with its
faster-than-film pace and
longer-than-film hours, was
“a rude awakening,'' she
confessed. But now she's
braced to resume production for next season in
February.
Despite the excitement
her entry into series TV
ignited, reviews for “Extant''
were mixed and ratings less
than spectacular.
“That was disappointing,
you might say,'' she admitted, “but at least we got
picked up. I think we
learned a lot from the first
season.''
She noted that many
series take time to break
through into long-running
hits.
“I hope that will be our
case,'' she said.
ness has the ability to repay a
loan given its other pre-existing loan or payment obligations. Typically lenders look
for a business seeking credit
to have a debt-to-income
ratio of no more than 40 to
50 percent, depending on its
credit score.
Profitability and cash flow
are essential components of
capacity. A business must
have enough positive cash
flow to meet both short-term
and long-term commitments.
A lender will carefully consider the cash flow of a business to gauge the probability
of repayment.
Again, a long-term relationship with a bank can help,
since the banker knows the
customer, and is able to see
deposit inflows to have a
good idea of business
income and sales.
When you understand the
five C’s of credit, you have
pretty good idea what it takes
to get a business loan. Small
business approval rates are
increasing, and the reason
should come as no surprise.
Healthier businesses, better
balance sheets, and stronger
revenues mean more businesses today qualify for credit.
Now, it’s up to all of us in
banking to keep spreading
the word about how more
small businesses can get
credit-ready before pursuing
a loan.
Tim Hileman is senior vice
president, business banking
manager at Wells Fargo in
Charlotte.
Get social with
The Post @
twitter.com/thecharpost
Continued from page 1B
and Renew is a dual-ended
lip balm that delivers longlasting moisture to the lips
and works great to keep the
skin on the lips moisturized
and replenished in the cooler
months.
• Protect your hands. Your
hands are often left exposed
during the cooler months,
especially if the cold air has
dried your skin, making
gloves or mittens painful to
wear. Chapas says products
that contain shea butter and
lanolin are great for counteracting the abuse your hands
endure.
• For your scalp. A thicker,
moisturizing shampoo will
reduce dryness on your scalp
and prevent itchiness as temperatures drop.
• Remember the time of
day. Don't use the same skincare products for day and
night. Instead, use products
with protective, moisturizing
benefits to guard your skin
during the day. At night,
switch to heavier creams that
offer more hydration. Your
skin will absorb this extra
moisture while you sleep. For
example,
ChapStick
Hydration Lock Day & Night
contains two distinct formulas specific for day and nighttime use.
• Don't forget the sun. Just
because you've traded in
your sunburn for windburn
doesn't mean you don't need
SPF. "UV damage can happen
year-round," Chapas said. "In
fact, we are closer to the sun
in the wintertime, and the
sun can reflect off the snow,
further amplifying its rays
and causing sun damage.
This makes it so important to
incorporate sun protection
into your skincare routine,
regardless of the season."
Areas like the lips where skin
is thinner will need even
more attention and protection, since they are so sensitive
On those coldest days
when you're bundled in layers, remember your skin
needs extra protection and
these simple tips will help
your skin stay healthy during
the cold weather season. To
learn more about protecting
your lips visit ChapStick on
Facebook or Twitter. For
more information on Chapas,
visit the Union Square
Dermatology website.
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Ebola: A crash course in
fear and how it hurts us
3B
Pucker up while
lip balms, treatments
have their moment
Thursday, October 30, 2014
The Charlotte Post
LIFE/The
By Seth Borenstein
said. That was true even for
those at the bombing.
Bruce McEwen, a neurosciWASHINGTON – Ebola is
entist who studies stress at
giving Americans a crash
Rockefeller University in New
course in fear.
York, said the fear can lead
Yet, they're incredibly less
people to change their
likely to get the disease than
lifestyle, making them isolate
to get sick worrying about it.
themselves, lose sleep, stop
First, the reality check:
exercising, change their diet
More Americans have marfor the worse and drink or
ried Kim Kardashian – three –
smoke.
than contracted Ebola in the
“It's likely to cause them
U.S. The two Dallas nurses
problems down the road
who came down with Ebola
even if there is no direct
were infected while treating a
infection,'' McEwen said.
Liberian man, who became
infected in West Africa. The
GOOD FEAR VS. BAD FEAR
New York doctor who has
There are two types of fear
tested positive for Ebola had
that can almost come down
been treating people in West
to good fear and bad fear.
Africa.
The good fear is the type
Still, schools have been
we
look
for
around
closed, people shunned and
Halloween in haunted housmembers of Congress have
es or on roller coaster rides at
demanded travel bans and
amusement parks. It's short,
other dramatic action – even
intense, gets our juices going
though health officials keep
and removes boredom, said
stressing that the disease is
Vanderbilt University psychionly spread through direct
atry professor David Zald.
contact with bodily fluids
“There's a benefit of being
from an infected person, and
afraid. In controlled situathe risk to Americans is
tions, many of us enjoy
extremely low.
briefly being afraid,'' Zald
That's because Ebola pushsaid. “It can whip our attenes every fear button in our
tion to the here and now like
instincts, making us react
nothing else.''
more emotionally than
There's a sense of mastery
rationally, experts say.
or bravery that comes out of
“The worry that people are
walking out alive from a
being subjected to as a result
haunted house or giant roller
of the hysteria around this is
coaster, Zald said.
probably doing more damThat type of acute-butage than the actual disease,''
short stress actually makes
said E. Alison Holman, a proour immune system work
fessor at the University of
better, McEwen said.
California, Irvine, who studBut long-term exposure to
ied the health effects of popstress has the reverse effect
ulations worried after watchon the immune system.
ing coverage of the Sept. 11
That's when it elevates our
attacks, the Boston Marathon
blood pressure and conbombing and Iraq war.
tributes to heart disease.
“Frankly flu is more serious.''
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE IMPACT OF FEAR
Holman found in studies
published by the American
Medical Association that the
people who spent more time
watching television coverage
on the Sept. 11 attacks – and
reported fear and anxiety –
were three times as likely to
report new heart problems.
The more coverage they
watched, the more physical
ailments they reported, she
said.
Similarly, after the Boston
Marathon bombing, people
who watched six hours or
more of coverage reported
far more stress than those
who watched less, Holman
Jesus
who?
Jesus
why?
By James Washington
HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES
For someone who grew
up when and how I did,
the question of Jesus continues to mystify many of
my so-called and some
real friends, when it
comes to my recognized
newest super hero. If you
allow yourself to view
Christianity as some kind
of sanitized version of
European
colonialism,
then it is no wonder that
many regard this version
of religion as a cop-out
when compared to more
ancient religions of the
world; particularly those
with
African
origin.
However, when you do
due diligence and study, it
becomes clear how the
religion of Christ has been
manipulated
down
through the ages for political and economic purposes. Man still kills in the
name of his or her God,
whatever that name might
be. Religious conflict is
still the single biggest reason people die at the
hands of their fellow man.
Really check out the
Middle East, Lebanon,
Pakistan, and India. Look
at the so’called “hot
spots” around the globe
and I’ll bet you find religious persecution of some
type at the center of the
conflict. But, before I go
too far down this road,
allow me to put forward
Please see JESUS/4B
UNDERSTANDING
THE
RISK OF FEAR
One of the major unknown
problems with risk and fear
is that the public doesn't
understand how at risk they
are from worry, not disease.
“It'll do far more damage
than the disease,'' said David
Ropeik, who teaches risk perception and communication
and has written two books on
risk.
Doctors and government
officials tell us not to worry
and how hard it is to get
Ebola, which is re-assuring,
Ropeik said. But “all the
alarms are filling up on our
radar screens,'' and we give
more weight to the alarms
because of the fear of death,
he said.
Ebola pushes “all those fear
buttons'' because it is new
and foreign, said George
Gray, director of the Center
for Risk Science and Public
Health at George Washington
University.
Part of it is just the fear of
the unknown, said Mark
Schuster, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical
School. “It's not a name that's
familiar. It doesn't sound like
an English word. It comes
from another continent.''
Americans who say they
don't quite understand how
Ebola is transmitted report
being more worried than
those who say they do,
according to an Associated
Press-GfK Poll conducted in
the past week and released
Wednesday. Overall, 58 percent of those who acknowledge they don't understand
Ebola very well say they are
concerned it will spread
widely in the U.S., compared
to 46 percent of those who
say they understand Ebola
transmission.
We fear what we can't control. People often fear the far
less deadly plane travel than
driving because they aren't in
control. Seeing trained medical professionals catch the
disease despite protective
gear only adds to the fear,
Zald said.
Instead of using dry statistics such as 1 in 150 million,
comparing your chances of
contracting Ebola in America
to that of marrying Kim
Kardashian helps people
understand and visualize
risk better, Zald and Schuster
said.
Mistakes and wrong statements by public health officials and politicization of the
issue only make fear and
public trust worse, said
Baruch Fischhoff, a professor
of decision sciences at
Carnegie Mellon University.
Add wall-to-wall coverage
that makes Ebola easy to picture.
“You create this hysteria
about Ebola and unfounded
fear, and people get all worried,'' Holman said.
Ropeik said, thinking about
how worrying can make us
sick may put Ebola more in
perspective: “We need to fear
the danger of getting risk
wrong ... Chronic worry is
really bad for our health.''
Secularism
grows as U.S.
Christians go
‘churchless’
By Cathy Lynn Grossman “Christian” box on a surRELIGION NEWS SERVICE
If you’re dismayed that one
in five Americans (20 percent)
are “nones” — people who
claim no particular religious
identity — brace yourself.
How does 38 percent
sound?
That’s
what
religion
researcher David Kinnaman
calculates when he adds “the
unchurched,
the
neverchurched and the skeptics” to
the nones.
He calls his new category
“churchless,” the same title
Kinnaman has given his new
book. By his count, roughly
four in 10 people living in the
continental United States are
actually
“post-Christian”
and “essentially secular in
belief and practice.”
If asked, the “churchless”
would likely check the
Stop by
and
visit
the Post’s new
and
improved
website
www.
thecharlottepost.
com
vey, even though they
may not have darkened
the door of a church in
years.
Kinnaman, president
of the California-based
Barna Group, slides
them into this new category based on 15 measures of identity, belief
and practice in more
than 23,000 interviews
in 20 surveys.
The research looked at
church worship attendance and participation,
views about the Bible,
God and Jesus, and
more to see whether
folks were actually tied
to Christian life in a
meaningful way or tied
more by habit or person-
See SECULARISM/4B
By Leanne Italie
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK – Artisanal or
oozing with luxury, lip
balms are having a
moment.
Joining cutesy offerings
intended for kids and go-to
standards around for years
are newer lip scrubs, color
tints and balms that ask
buyers to put their money
where their mouths are for
good causes.
The world market for lip
care products is projected
to reach $1.7 billion by
2015. In the United States,
lip treatments were valued
at $534 million in sales last
year.
“There's definitely an
explosion in popularity. It's
sort of the Angelina effect,''
said Erin Flaherty, beauty
and health director for
Marie Claire magazine,
referring to the lipendowed Angelina Jolie.
“Moisturized lips look
plumper, so it's a cheap
and easy way to make your
lips look bigger and sexier,''
Flaherty said.
Balms and other treatments come in a range of
price points, from $1 or so
at the drugstore all the way
up to fancy Creme de la
Mer's The Lip Balm at $55.
High end or economical,
consumers are interested
year-round.
“Everyone's looking for a
little bit of fun,'' said Tad
Kittredge, a spokesman for
Burt's Bees in Durham. “It's
a healthy alternative to
candy or gum as a treat.''
Flaherty's
magazine
recently asked about
20,000 readers about lip
balm and other beauty
tools, tricks and tips. She
said 48 percent cited lip
balm as their must-have
beauty solution at the
office.
Hand cream was a distant
second.
Asked for the one beauty
product they'd want on a
desert island, other than
sunscreen, 36 percent said
lip balm.
“Women wear a little bit
less makeup now than they
used to,'' Flaherty said.
“There's more of an
emphasis on great skin and
looking effortless. And a lot
of women are intimidated
by lipstick.''
Here's our liptacular look
at treatments for the
mouth:
TINTS ABOUND BUT
CLEARS ARE POPULAR
Treating lips with some
bonus color is definitely
happening, Flaherty said.
But she finds it telling that
35 percent of respondents
in Marie Claire's “most
wanted'' survey picked the
clear,
medicated
Maybelline New York's
Baby Lips Dr. Rescue as
their favorite product
launched between October
2013 and October 2014.
Flaherty likes the Sugar
balms from Fresh for sunscreen and tint. She's also a
fan of Dior's Addict Lip
Glow Sheer. It reacts to the
wearer's pH balance for a
customized, long-lasting
flush.
Burt's Bees balms, now
iconic after more than 30
years, come in about 10 flavors, but the original
beeswax balm with vitamin
E and peppermint oil
remains the most popular,
Kittredge said.
FASHION DESIGNERS
DO LIP BALMS
As in nail polish, fashion
designers are fond of lip
balm collaborations.
Rachel Roy is among the
latest,
according
to
Flaherty. There's a limited
edition set of four for EOS,
the company that brings
you those unique eggshaped balms.
Not the first designer to
team up with EOS, the Royinspired balms are intended to evoke travel with flavors called Indian Summer,
Orange Blossom, Aloha
Hawaii Strawberry Kiwi and
St. Barth's Sunrise Pink
Grapefruit.
Some designers have
struck out on their own
with
branded
balms,
including Anna Sui's in a
distinctive rose-motif tin.
“The fact that you're seeing designer collaborations
in lip balms proves just
how much of a moment lip
balms are having,'' Flaherty
said.
LIP BALMS AND
THE LUXURY MARKET
Plenty of balms are available at drugstore checkout,
but luxury treatments have
reached the lips.
The geisha-inspired company Tatcha offers a touch
of gold with its Camellia
Nourishing Lip Balm – actual gold. There's a hand-laid,
24-karat gold leaf that sits
across each $36 jar. The
idea is to drag a finger
across the balm and the
leaf, which crushes on contact and offers an added
shimmer.
“It's sort of a bridge
between skin care and cosmetics,'' Flaherty said.
STOCK PHOTO
ECO CHIC
AND LIP BALMS
Many lip products tout
natural ingredients and
lots of beauty companies
give back to good causes.
But newcomer Zoe MesnikGreene, a 21-year-old senior at the University of
Washington in Seattle, has
taken that a step further.
She debuts her Fair Trade
lip balms Nov. 1 as a way to
help children in Peru, India
and Burkina Faso receive
surgery on cleft lips and
palate birth defects, using
small-scale farmers for certain sustainable ingredients she sources in those
countries.
About 5 percent of each
$4.99 balm goes to the
nonprofit Smile Train,
which provides the surgeries.
Why lip balm? MesnikGreene said 7 of 10 people
use lip balm every day and
have three or four products
at a time.
``They pull it out
between one to 12 times a
day, so why not a product
that is so accessible and so
affordable,'' she said.
LIP SCRUBS
AND PLUMPERS
In addition to balms,
other lip treatments have
multiplied.
Fresh sells a Sugar Lip
Polish with brown sugar
crystals for exfoliating. At
the higher end, Kaplan MD
has its Lip 20 Mask for $48,
instructing users to let it sit
on the lips for three to five
minutes for a tingling sensation
from
papaya
enzymes.
LIP BALMS AND MEN
Stewart & Claire, a
Brooklyn-based
newbie
founded
by
Kristin
Donnelly, sees hope in
guys and balms. About 30
percent of her customers
are men and one of their
favorites is a floral called
La Nuit, with jasmine.
“In the way that coffee
has gone very specialty
and ice cream has gone
very specialty, more micro
lip balms are following
suit,'' Donnelly said.
She blends natural ingredients into Mint Julep and
Old Fashioned flavors. Her
Autumn balm was inspired
by Indian Chai and
includes
ginger,
cardamom, cinnamon and
black pepper.
“I tried to think about it
like a perfumer where you
have top, middle and base
notes,'' she said. “I wanted
to do something more
grown up.''
There’s another way to keep up with the news
@ thecharlottepost.com
The Charlotte Post
Secularism grows as U.S.
Christians go ‘churchless’
4B
Continued from page 3B
al history.
Ed Stetzer, president of
LifeWay Research, once
called nominals — people
attached by name only
— “survey Christians.” They
don’t want to cut ties with
their parents or go all the
way to atheism, Stetzer said,
“so they just say ‘Christian’
since it is the default category from their heritage.”
Kinnaman now has the
numbers to back that up.
“We are far from becoming
an atheist nation,” he said.
“There are tens of millions
of active believers in
America today. But the wall
between the churched and
the churchless is growing
higher and more impenetrable as more people have no
muscle memory of what it
means to be a regular attender at a house of worship.”
How these people think,
pray and use their time is
shifting away from a faithbased perspective. As a
result, a churchless or secular worldview “is becoming
its own social force.”
When political scientists
burrow into election results,
they may find that church
attendance is less and less
useful for predicting or evaluating political social and
cultural attitudes. If you are
not around people of strong
belief, there’s not a lot of
LIFE/ The Charlotte Post
spillover impact. Stephen Mockabee, an
associate professor of political science at University of
Cincinnati, has compared
church attendance to medication: “It’s not only the
drug but also the dose that
matters.”
The churchless come in
several tribes, according to
Kinnaman. About a third (32 percent)
still identify as Christian.
They say they believe in God
but they’re wobbly on connections. Kinnaman calls
them “Christianized but not
very active.”
That might include Katie
West of Mount Sterling, Ky.,
or Mike Wilson of Webster
City, Iowa.
West keeps the Christian
label because, she said, “I
follow or at least try to follow the teachings of
Christ.” She avoids religious
services “unless roped into a
wedding or funeral,” but
considers herself “a spiritual
person without looking at a
Bible.”
Wilson is the paid webmaster for a Lutheran church but
he can’t recall the last time
he attended a worship service or read the Bible. He
checks the Christian box if
asked in a survey, even
though he resonates more
with Buddhist and other
Eastern philosophies.
“Religion is the starting
point to enlightenment, but
at some point you have to
take that leap of faith and
make your personal relationship with God exactly that —
personal,” Wilson said. “So if
you can find a religion that
encompasses that better
than Christianity, I will call
myself that.”
Other “tribes” among the
churchless include:
• 25 percent are self-identified atheist or agnostics.
Kinnaman calls them “skeptics.” And their ranks have
changed in the last two
decades. The percentage of
women is up to 43 percent
from 16 percent since 1993.
Highly educated and more
mainstream than before,
“this group is here to stay,”
he said.
• 27 percent belong to
other faith groups such as
Jewish or Muslim or call
themselves spiritual but not
religious.
• 16 percent are Christians
— people with a committed
relationship with Christ,
Kinnaman said — who don’t
go to church anymore.
Kinnaman predicts no
change in direction. He concluded: “The younger the
generation, the more postChristian it is”:
•
Millennials
(born
between 1984 and 2002) —
48 percent
• Gen X-ers (born between
1965 and 1983) — 40 percent
• Boomers (born between
1946 and 1964) — 35 percent
• Elders (born in 1945 or
earlier) — 28 percent
Karen King, 52, a dispatch
scheduler for a local transit
agency in Mount Vernon,
Wash., knows her state is
among the least churched in
the nation. Yet among the
secular crowds, there are
plenty of churchgoers.
“I know because I schedule
people to get to churches
through Dial-A-Ride. There
must be 40 or 50 churches
between Mount Vernon and
nearby Burlington.”
And King goes to none of
them.
The granddaughter of a
Presbyterian pastor, King
says she hasn’t been to
church for a worship service
in more than 30 years. Her
daughter, a millennial and a
pagan, doesn’t go either.
Although King still thinks
of herself as a Christian, she
has stepped back from
denominational
brands.
Instead, she says, she just
tries to show love.
“I do random acts of kindness. I talk to God when I
think I need to. I think I have
a good connection to Mother
God and Father God.“
outspoken, shameless, selfless, compassionate, passionate, an equal opportunity
employer self-confident and
self-aware. Can you name a
more committed individual
to his beliefs? This guy was a
blessing to anyone who
would listen, a teacher, a
provider, a source of
strength and of course an
obedient son respectful of
His elders and, I suppose, in
so many ways, larger than
life. I am not trying to portray
Jesus as something or someone whom He wasn’t. I’m just
trying to give you a perspective on why He is my Lord
and Savior. God, or Godliness
aside, this man I’ve come to
admire so much for what He
stood for, and certainly what
He said He came to die for.
Me. I mean come on. Who
wouldn’t want to lead men
on a path of resistance to
eliminate their persecution
for what they believe in? Who
wouldn’t want to change the
hearts and minds of people
to be more accepting of
mankind’s differences in
order to accept their similarities within the human race?
But more than anything else,
who among us wouldn’t want
to change the face of the
world by bringing it a concept of love so strong that
even death cannot weaken it;
but by death strengthen it for
all time? I’m telling you, the
more I see Jesus, the more I
see in human terms why
those who can, continue to
undermine, distort and dilute
the reality of the man.
To Him, neither wealth, nor
class, nor birthright distinguished one in the great
scheme
of
things.
Preferential treatment is not
accorded one based on circumstance. The measure of
any man comes in terms of
love, prayer, faith, service
and acceptance of God as
God. I keep telling y’all, Jesus
was a bad boy. But if you
don’t know Him for yourself,
firsthand, I’m afraid you’ll
fall prey to the version given
you by those who have their
best interest at heart and not
yours. That includes priests
and pastors, kings and presidents, CEOs, capitalists and
communists; anyone who
would keep you down so
they might stay up. I could go
on forever but that is not my
intent today. Jesus is forever,
not me. I’m just here for the
moment trying to give you
the basis for making the
most out of the opportunity
of this platform. Jesus came
to be blessing. I’m just trying
to follow His lead.
James Washington is a
Houston Forward Times
columnist.
He joins a chorus of psychologists and religious leaders who have departed from
the once-popular therapy.
In 2009, the American
Psychological Association
adopted a resolution urging
mental health professionals
to avoid reparative therapy.
Since then, California and
New Jersey have passed laws
banning conversion therapy
for minors, and several other
states have considered similar measures.
Earlier this year, the
50,000-member American
Association of Christian
Counselors amended its code
of ethics eliminating reparative therapy and encouraging
celibacy instead.
John Paulk, who was once a
poster boy for the ex-gay
movement, apologized in
2013 for the reparative therapy he used to promote.
Earlier this year, Yvette
Schneider, who had formerly
worked for groups such as
the Family Research Council,
Concerned
Women
for
America
and
Exodus
International, published a
“coming out” interview with
GLAAD calling for bans on
reparative therapy. Also, nine
former
ex-gay
leaders
have denounced conversion
therapy.
“There were utopian ideas
about reparative therapy that
frankly weren’t unique to
evangelicalism,” Moore said.
“That was something that
came along in the 1970s and
1980s about the power of
psycho-therapy to do all
sorts of things that we have a
more nuanced views about
now.”
Exodus International, one
of the most prominent ex-gay
ministries shut down in
2013, and others followed.
While
groups
such
as Restored
Hope
Network still exist, many religious leaders are now
encouraging people with
same-sex attraction to consider celibacy.
“The idea that one is simply
the sum of one’s sexual identity is something that is psychologically harmful ultimately,” Moore said. “And I
think also we have a situation
where gay and lesbian people
have been treated really, really badly.”
Moore said the ERLC is
working with parents of
those who are gay and lesbian.
“The response is not shunning, putting them out on the
street,” he said. “The answer
is loving your child.”
For years, those who were
gay or struggled with homosexuality felt like they had
three options: leave the faith,
ignore their sexuality or try
to change. But as groups like
Exodus have become increasingly unpopular, a growing
number of celibate gay
Christians seek to be true to
both their sexuality and their
faith.
A newer question among
some Christians is whether
those with same-sex attraction or orientation should
self-identify as gay.
In his address Oct. 27, traditional marriage advocate
Sherif Girgis plugged the
website Spiritual Friendship,
intended for Catholics and
Protestants who identify as
gay and celibate. Some
Christians are debating over
whether identifying as gay or
having a same-sex orientation is itself unbiblical.
“It’s not the way I would
articulate it because I think it
puts in an appendage to a
Christian identity,” Moore
said. “So I don’t see them as
enemies who are trying to be
destructive, I just don’t think
it’s the best way to approach
it.”
Rosaria Butterfield, a former lesbian who rejects the
“ex-gay” label and the movement behind it, said
Christians should not use
“gay” as a descriptive adjective. Moore interviewed
Butterfield, whose address at
Wheaton College generated
protests earlier this year, during Tuesday’s conference.
“There is no shame in
repentance because it simply
proves that God was right all
along,” Butterfield told
Moore.
Another conference speaker and Moody Bible Institute
professor Christopher Yuan
teaches a more traditional
message of celibacy for those
who, like him, are attracted
to the same sex. He shuns
labels, but he believes more
younger Christians are selfidentifying as gay and celibate.
“I’m kind of label-less,”
Yuan said before his address.
“I think I’m a dying breed,
though.”
Jesus who? Jesus
why? Why not?
Continued from page 3B
the life of Christ as one,
which I am in awe of and one
which has caught and held
not only my attention, but all
of my respect, admiration,
praise and worship.
As I’ve said, to whomever
will listen, Jesus was and forever will be a bad man. Folks,
you can say whatever you
want to but He was indeed a
man’s man. As a matter of
fact, what wasn’t Jesus? He
was a revolutionary. He was
probably a socialist given his
predisposition to feed the
hungry and take care of the
poor. He was definitely anti
establishment. I don’t know
anyone more against the status quo than Christ. He was
Southern Baptist leader denounces
gay conversion treatments as
‘severely counter-productive’
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
NASHVILLE,
Tenn.
–
Southern Baptist leader
Russell
Moore
denounced reparative therapy at a conference here, saying the controversial treatment that attempts to change
a person’s sexual orientation
has been “severely counterproductive.”
Moore, who is president of
the Southern Baptist Ethics
and
Religious
Liberty
Commission, spoke to a
group of journalists as part
of the commission’s national
conference on Oct. 28. He
gave similar remarks to a
audience of 1,300 people at
the conference.
“The utopian idea if you
come to Christ and if you go
through our program, you’re
going to immediately set free
from attraction or anything
you’re struggling with, I don’t
think that’s a Christian idea,”
Moore told journalists.
“Faithfulness to Christ means
obedience to Christ. It does
not necessarily mean that
someone’s attractions are
going to change.”
M
o
o
r
e
said evangelicals had an
“inadequate view” of what
same-sex attraction looks
like.
“The Bible doesn’t promise
us freedom from temptation,” Moore said. “The Bible
promises us the power of the
spirit to walk through temptation.”
Moore attributed the trend
in decades past towards
reparative therapy to other
therapies popular at the time.
Helping You
Find The Right
Church For
Your Faith
Journey
Thursday, October 30, 2014
C.M.E.
PARKWOOD INSTITUTIONAL
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
802 Tom Hunter Road • Charlotte, NC 28213
704-921-4915 (Ph) • 704-921-4917 (Fax)
Website: www.parkwoodcme.org
Sunday Worship
8:00 & 11:00 AM
Sunday School
9:30 AM
Bible Study
Wednesday 12 Noon Thursday 6:30 PM
TRANSPORTATION AVAILABLE
BAPTIST
Dr. Cathy C. Jones
Reverend
The Prophet’s Column
6183 NC Highway 109 South, Wadesboro, NC 28170
The Love Of The Word (Part -- Last Part)
If you had rather love this present evil world, you'll
never know my Lord as long as you go on in that realm.
You are just passing through this world to that which is
to come. Where will you spend eternity? If you fail to
come to know Christ is this life, it can be said of you as
it was said of Judas; "it had been good for that man that
he had never been born." Most in my reading audience,
and I'm writing to millions in the audience, will never be
saved. You say; 'that is an awful statement to make, Bro.
Teacher." Yes, awful but true. In your daily walk, how
many do you meet that love to talk about the Lord Jesus
Christ and how He redeemed them by His precious
Blood? There on your job at the office, how many talk to
you about how God saved them by His Grace? You just
don't hear it, do you? No. If you know the Lord Jesus
Christ, you love to talk about Him. You business men
should have a copy of God's Word there in your office.
When I was in the office, Louise, I had a copy of my
Bible there on my desk. But you let a businessman take
a copy of the Word of God with him to work. It'll create
such a stir! They'll think he has gone crazy. Yet you go to
your church each Sunday. And you'll say as a sickening
unsaved religionist said; "I don't bring my religion on the
job." Brother, I would not give that man two cents for his
religion. I would not feed his religious profession to the
goats, if I had some goats. Friends, Christ and Christ
alone is Salvation. And you are going to hate this world
if you are ever to be saved. You must leave the world
behind in coming to Christ, You must and will die to this
world. Have you gotten to Christ? Cousins, have you
gotten to Christ?
Your Gospel Editor and Teacher,
J.M. Little
Advertisement
a&e
The Charlotte Post
Out & About
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 PAGE 5B
Motown founder brings
musical home to Hitsville
Raymond Luke (center) is young Michael Jackson in “Motown the Musical.” The production plays Charlotte next August.
DANIEL COSTON FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Legendary Mexican-American musicians Los Lobos played at
the Knight Theater on October 26.
DANIEL COSTON FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Former NFL player and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad hosted
the My Hero Gala at Time Warner Cable Arena on October
25. The event benefited the Charlotte Hornets Foundation and
featured current and former Hornets players.
DANIEL COSTON FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Barbara Jackson and Doris Williams enjoyed the Hunters
Moon gala, held at the Rosedale Plantation on October 27.
Stage production of ‘Motown the Musical’ plays Charlotte in August 2015
By Jeff Karoub
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT – Berry Gordy Jr. took his “Motown the Musical''
production to Broadway and a few other places first. Yet they
were mere proving grounds for its date with Detroit.
The Motown Records founder says his latest creation has
sharpened its storytelling to match the songs, many originally recorded at Hitsville, U.S.A. That's the former studio right
down the street from the Fisher Theatre, the musical's home
for the next few weeks.
“Bringing Motown to Motown is like the greatest gift in the
world to me and I'm grateful for the fact that I'm even able to
bring (the musical) to the place where I grew up,'' Gordy told
The Associated Press from inside the former studio building
that now houses the Motown Museum. “This place was where
I was that crazy little kid running around with all these crazy
dreams. Now I bring it back in all its full glory.''
The musical’s U.S. tour includes a stop in Charlotte Aug. 25Sept. 26, 2015.
The 84-year-old was back in the real Motown last week for
opening night. It's where the label started in 1959, and scores
of stars and hits were created, before it decamped for
California in 1972. It was hard not to be moved by the energy
in the theater, but that came as much from the talent offstage
as on: Smokey Robinson sat a row in front of Gordy, Stevie
Wonder two ahead of Martha Reeves. They and other Motown
vets came onstage at the end to offer some heartfelt thanks
and for Wonder to trade verses on “I Wish'' with his actorcounterpart, Elijah Ahmad Lewis.
Likewise, Gordy is energized by the play's success and excited to bring it to Detroit stronger, tighter and more focused
than when it opened on Broadway early last year. More than
60 songs provide the groove and key guideposts for a story
chronicling how his empire rose, fell and rose again.
Highlights include “War,'' “What's Going On?'' “My Girl'' and
“Dancing in the Street.''
He's flooded by memories in the museum, which once
housed his apartment, office and studio. Some are prodded by
Spirits move 'Ouija' to No. 1 movie
Olivia Cooke stars in “Ouija.”
By Jake Coyle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DANIEL COSTON FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Ramona Holloway, her mom and their dog Henri enjoyed the
Ties & Tails gala held at the Westin on October 25.
pictures and artifacts featuring the Supremes, Wonder,
Robinson, Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. And moments
that played out inside the building find their way into the play.
Gordy recalls mourning in his office on the day President
John F. Kennedy died. In storms Gaye, unaware of the news
and angry that his song wasn't getting proper promotion while
the latest from the lighter-skinned Smokey Robinson was.
Things escalate: Gordy calls Gaye “boy,'' the artist implies the
Motown chief is a liar. They nearly come to blows, but Gordy
manages to impart that this tragic day should be a reminder
to focus on more important things.
The story Gordy calls “completely true'' becomes a powerful
moment in the production. So he sought more passion and
even a touch of violence from Clifton Oliver, the actor playing
him.
Gordy said he shared a Motown principle with the cast –
“You'll always be successful if you tell the truth and make it
entertaining.'' Still, the truth can be dicey when dealing with
old memories and fallen icons like Gaye, who can't offer any
counterpoint. But in creativity there's conflict, and he wanted
all sides to come through onstage.
“I think about the fights and the arguments we had,'' he said
of the man once married to Gordy's late sister, Anna Gordy
Gaye. “Yet I've always said, ‘Marvin Gaye was the truest singer
– the truest artist – I've ever known.'''
Gordy's jaunt down memory lane takes literal turns as he
walks through the museum. He passes the area now serving
as a replica of his apartment down a narrow set of stairs he
joked was once his getaway from bill collectors to the former
Studio A. Behind him is the studio's original Steinway grand
piano, recently refurbished with money from former Beatle
and Motown fan Paul McCartney. On the wall are classic photos of Motown stars in the same cramped studio.
“I can't believe that it's this small,'' Gordy says, echoing the
words of tourists from across the globe when they enter some
of pop culture's most hallowed ground. He pauses and takes
it all in. “So much stuff coming full circle. It's amazing.''
NEW YORK – The spirits
moved “Ouija'' to No. 1 at the
box office, with the boardgame adaption leading the
weekend with a $20 million
debut, according to studio
estimates Sunday.
The horror movie release,
timed to Halloween, attracted
more moviegoers at the North
America box office than the
violent Keanu Reeves thriller
“John Wick.'' The R-rated hitman revenge tale from
Lionsgate opened with $14.2
million in second place.
Last week's top film, the
Brad Pitt World War II action
film “Fury'' dropped to third
with $13 million. In two
weeks, the Sony Pictures
release has made $46.1 million.
Board-game adaptions such
as “Ouija'' have had a checkered history at the box office,
with
the
big-budget
“Battleship'' – the last Hasbro
game turned into a movie –
famously flopping in 2012.
But “Oujia,'' made by
Blumhouse Productions and
released by Universal Pictures,
was made for just $5 million,
and scared up moviegoers
with a micro-budget summoning of brand-name
occult.
Universal also could claim
the top spot in the world's
other top market, China,
where the Scarlett Johansson
sci-fi film “Lucy'' opened with
$19 million. Since opening in
July, “Lucy'' has made $434
million worldwide, proving
the
global
appeal
of
Johansson.
Two Fox releases rounded
out the domestic top 5. David
Fincher's marital noir “Gone
Girl,'' starring Ben Affleck,
made $11.1 million in its
fourth week, bringing its
cumulative total to $124 million. It will soon pass
Fincher's “Benjamin Button''
($127.5 million) to mark the
director's top box office hit.
In its second week of
release, the animated fantasy
“The Book of Life'' earned
$9.8 million.
As Hollywood's awards season begins to heat up, limited-release titles also made
noise at the box office. Easily
leading all films in per-screen
average were Alejandro
Inarritu's black comedy
“Birdman (or The Unexpected
Virtue of Ignorance),'' starring
Michael Keaton, and the
Edward Snowden documentary “Citizenfour.''
Laura Poitras' “Citizenfour''
drew a $25,000 average opening in five theaters for the
Weinstein Company's Radius
unit. Expanding to 50 theaters
in its second week, Fox
Searchlight's “Birdman'' took
in an average of almost
$29,000 per screen.
VARIETY.COM
Next weekend's top film is
essentially already decided.
Christopher Nolan's space
travel thriller “Interstellar,''
one of the year's most anticipated releases, opens in
select theaters Wednesday
and then wide on Friday.
Nolan, an ardent advocate for
film, is releasing the movie
first in about 240 theaters
that still project 35mm or
70mm, rather than digital.
VARIETY.COM
“Ouija” is the latest board game to be turned into a movie, following the likes of the 2012 big-budget flop “Battleship.”
Classified
The Charlotte Post
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Childless, married couple seeks to adopt. Will be handson mom/devoted dad. Preplacement assessment approved by Better Living Agency on 6/26/2014. Expenses
APARTMENTS
LITTLE ROCK APARTMENTS
Accepting applications for 1, 3 & 4 bedrooms
We accept applications Monday thru Thursday
9-11:00 am and 2:00-4:00 pm.
For more information, contact
Gwen Perry at 704-394-9394 ext 13.
CAREER TRAINING
MEDICAL BILLING TRAINEES NEEDED! Doctors & Hospitals
need Medical Office Staff! NO EXPERIENCED NEEDED! Online Training gets you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. Careertechnical.edu/nc. 1-888-512-7122
Can You Dig It? Heavy Equipment Operator Training! 3
Week Program. Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators. Lifetime
Job Placement Assistance with National Certifications. VA
Benefits Eligible! 866-288-6896.
AVIATION MANUFACTURING CAREERS- Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for
qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance. 877-300-9494.
EMPLOYMENT
BANKING
Thursday, October 30, 2014
FOR SALE
PAGE 6B
EQUIPMENT
SAWMILLS from only $4397.00- MAKE & SAVE MONEY with
your own bandmill- Cut lumber any dimension. In stock
ready to ship. FREE Info/DVD: www.NorwoodSawmills.com.
1-800-578-1363 Ext.300N
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LOSE UP TO 30 POUNDS in 60 Days!
Once daily appetite suppressant burns fat and boosts
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Attention: VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS!
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CALL NOW: 1-800-613-1760
MEDICAL SUPPLIES
Medical Guardian - Top-rated medical alarm and 24/7
medical alert monitoring. For a limited time, get free
equipment, no activation fees, no commitment, a 2nd
waterproof alert button for free and more Only $29.95 per month. 800-620-0156
Safe Step Walk-In Tub. Alert for Seniors. Bathroom falls
can be fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation. Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch Step-In. Wide Door. Anti-Slip
Floors. American Made. Installation Included. Call 800807-7219 for $750 Off.
Acorn Stairlifts. The AFFORDABLE solution to your stairs!
**Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!** Buy Direct & SAVE. Please call 1-800-291-2712 for FREE DVD and
brochure.
INTERNET/TV/SATELLITE
Save Time!
Place Your Ad
Online
Quote, Click, Pay
www.thecharlottepost.com/Submit_Clfd
Deadline: Monday @ Noon
Prior to Thursday’s Edition
BIDS
To: All Interested M/WBE Subcontractors
Re: C203494 – Montgomery County (Troy Bypass)
Triangle Grading & Paving Inc. will be bidding this project
as prime contractor to the NCDOT on November 18th 2014
at 2pm and is soliciting quotes from all interested NCDOT
Certified DBE Contractors.
Subcontracting opportunities exist in: Clearing & Grubbing,
Excavation/Hauling, Construction Surveying, Bridge Construction, Asphalt Breaking/Removal, Storm Sewer Installation/Supply, Permanent Signs, Asphalt Pavement
Construction, Traffic Control, Pavement Marking, Erosion
Control, Signal Installation.
Plans and specifications are available for review at the following locations:
IIn person at 1521 Huffman Mill Road, Burlington, NC 27215;
Online
at
the
NCDOT
Website:
http://dotwxfer01.dot.state.nc.us/dsplan/2014%20Highway%20Letting/11-18-14/Plans%20and%20Proposals/
Triangle Grading & Paving Inc. is willing to review any responsible quotes and will negotiate terms if appropriate.
If you need assistance with loan capital, obtaining bonding, lines of credit, insurance or joint pay agreements,
please contact us.
Please fax your quote by 5pm on November 17th 2014 to
336-584-0145 or email to [email protected].
Should you have any questions please call Chauncey
REDUCE YOUR CABLE BILL!
Get a whole-home Satellite system installed at NO COST Radcliffe Mann at 336-584-1745 ext. 132
Consultant - Applications Programming sought by Bank of and programming starting at $19.99/mo. FREE HD/DVR UpAmerica. Reqs: MS & 2 yrs exp; & SDLC exp w/in a lrg IT org. grade to new callers, SO CALL NOW 1-800-481-6659
Financial Payment System exp spprt & dlvry. Exp w/ Fraud
Levine Properties, LLC
Detection & Mngmt. Strng interpersonal sklls. Excllnt cmm- DISH TV Retailer. Starting at $19.99/month (for 12 mos.) &
10th Street Parking Deck
nctn sklls. Exp w/ distributed technologies incl. infrastruc- High Speed Internet starting at $14.95/month (where
Prequalification Request
ture & integration SW. Exp w/ IBM WebSphere App Server, available.) SAVE! Ask About SAME DAY Installation! CALL
IBM WebSphere Process Server, IBM WebSphere Integration Now! 1-800-405-5081
Rodgers is accepting job specific trade contractor preDeveloper & IBM Business Process Manager. AIX, Linux exp.
qualification applications for the Levine Properties, LLC –
DB2, Oracle exp. J2EE, JAVA exp. SOAP, XML exp. MQ exp. REDUCE YOUR CABLE BILL!* Get a whole-home Satellite
10th Street Parking Deck for the following bid packages:
Quality Center mngmt for test scripts documentation, ex- system installed at NO COST and programming starting
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plete Concrete Structure and Site Electrical. The prequaltion exp. App Testing coordination exp. Job site: Charlotte, CALL NOW 1-800-614-5355
ification deadline for submission is no later than Friday,
NC. Reference # 8FAVEJ & submit resume to Bank of
November 7, 2014 by 4:00 PM. Prequalification applicaAmerica HR Box 02, 161 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood, Get The Big Deal from DirecTV! Act Now- $19.99/mo. Free tions submitted late or incomplete will not be reviewed.
NJ 07040. No phone calls or e-mails. Must be legally au- 3-Months of HBO, starz, SHOWTIME & CINEMAX. FREE
Prequalification applications may be obtained at
thorized to work in the U.S. w/o sponsorship. EOE.
GENIE HD/DVR Upgrade! 2014 NFL Sunday Ticket. Inwww.rodgersbuilders.com, contact William Satterfield at
cluded with Select Packages. New Customers Only. IV
[email protected]
or
by
phone
704.537.6044 for further information.
TRANSPORTATION
DRIVER TRAINEES NEEDED! Become a driver for Stevens
Transport! NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED! New drivers earn
$800+ per week! PAID CDL TRAINING Stevens covers all
costs! 1-888-748-4137 drive4stevens.com
AVERITT EXPRESS New Pay Increase For Regional Drivers! 40
to 46 CPM + Fuel Bonus! Also, Post-Training Pay Increase for
Students! (Depending on Domicile) Get Home EVERY
Week + Excellent Benefits. CDL-A req. 888-602-7440 Apply
@ AverittCareers.com Equal Opportunity Employer - Females, minorities, protected veterans, and individuals with
disabilities are encouraged to apply.
SERVICES
AUTO
DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck or Boat to Heritage for the Blind.
Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. 800-337-9038.
FINANCIAL
Need a loan despite bad credit? Honest lenders won’t
guarantee a loan before you apply. Call the Federal
ATTN: Drivers- New Kenworth Trucks! APU equipped. Earn Trade Commission to find out how to avoid advance-fee
loan scams. 1-877-FTC-Help
up to 50 cpm Plus Bonuses! Full Benefits + Rider/ Pet Program. CDL-A Req - 877-258-8782. meltontruck.com/driHOME IMPROVEMENT
vers
All Things Basementy! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all
Drivers: Need CDL A or B to relocate vehicles from area of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Strucbody plants to various locations throughout U.S. - No tural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control. FREE ESTIMATES!
forced dispatch. We specialize in continuation trips to re- Call 1-800-698-9217
duce deadhead! 1-800-501-3783 or www.mamotransportation.com under Careers.
Join our Team! Guaranteed pay for Class A CDL Flatbed
Drivers! Regional and OTR. Great pay/benefits/401k
match. CALL TODAY 864-299-9645. www.jgr-inc.com
If you desire competitive rates and a company that cares
about you, call a recruiter at 1-866-764-1601 to get started
with Quality Drive Away! No CDL required, competitive
rates, great people!
LANGUAGE LESSONS
SPANISH CLASSES
Conversational Spanish classes available for all ages.
Affordable fees and small groups.
Omni Language Services, LLC
704.728.2501 or 704.788.1199
PERSONALS
Meet singles right now!
No
paid
operators,
just real people like you. Browse greetGordon Trucking, Inc. CDL-A Truck Drivers. Solo & Team Positions. Our Biggest Pay Increase Ever! Excellent Hometime. ings, exchange messages and connect live. Try it free. Call
now: 888-909-9906
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Earn up to $0.42/mile PLUS up to $0.03 per mile in bonus
pay! Call 866-291-2631 or SuperServiceLLC.com
NEW OTR ROUTES- Company Driver and Owner Operations; Solos or Teams wanted. Newer equipment, GPS and
benefits. Call PAM 855-894-7779 or pamjobs.com
FOR SALE
AUCTIONS
AUCTION- A&G Enterprises Fleet Alignment, November 8,
9am, Ashland, VA. Thermoplastic, Painting, Grinding, Trucks
& Equipment. Motley's Asset Disposition Group, 804-2323300 x.4. www.motleys.com/industrial. VAAL#16.
Real Estate, 7 parcels, Farm, Homes, Lots-Gorgeous Mountain Views! Nov. 7th & 8th, Mill Spring, NC; Landrum, SC.
United Country - Rogers Auctioneers, Inc. 919-545-0412.
RogersAuction.com. NCFL7360-SCFL3919
ABSOLUTE AUCTION- Independence, VA. 291 acres - 3
Tracts. Saturday, November 8th 10:30 am. 3.5 acres with
Warehouse. 10.04 Acres with commercial building. 277
Acres marketable mixed hardwood timber. Boyer Realty
& Auction. Jimmy Boyer VAAR1279. 336-572 2323. [email protected]
REAL ESTATE
MOUNTAINS
Rodgers strongly encourages the utilization of diverse business partners on all projects. This project will follow the
MWSBE recruitment and utilization guidelines set forth by
the City of Charlotte’s Business Inclusion program and
Mecklenburg County’s MWSBE program. Contact James
Clayton at [email protected] or by phone
704.537.6044 for further information.
NOTICE
CALL FOR UNCF
Planning Committee Members
Do you believe a mind is a terrible thing to waste? Do you
want to get more involved with making sure all Americans
have access to higher education? If so, we need you! In
order to grow the UNCF Walk for Education, we must continue to enlist and empower volunteers to help us extend
our reach. To learn more about volunteering on our 2015
UNCF-Walk/Run For Education planning committee
please contact:
Sandra Johnson, Development Associate
UNCF Charlotte Area Office
Phone: 704-377-8625
Email: [email protected]
You’re Doing Business with the
Right People
The Charlotte Post Publishing Company, Inc.
is a member of
NC Mountains- Custom built cabin on 2+ acres. $79,900.
Huge loft, lg deck, views, paved access, needs inside
work. 828-286-1666.
WANTED TO BUY
I Buy Houses. Cash.
866-301-5391
[email protected]
CharlotteNCHomeDeals.com
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