HD/DVD/ipod/divX quality Today Download Ted Movie $$ Watch ...

Ted (2012)

Watch Or Download Ted Movie
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of Ted. In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish?and has refused to leave his side ever since.
Genre(s): Comedy
Director(s): Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Mila Kunis , Seth MacFarlane , Joel McHale , Giovanni Ribisi
USA (06-29-2012)
EnglishNow what more would a user want while Watch & downloading Ted (2012) movie, if he is already getting great sound and picture quality besides being assured of getting the complete movie? So Watch & download Ted (2012) movie today and enjoy this comedy that will surely make you hold your stomach as you watch the hilarious events taking place in the lives of the main characters.
So, to ensure that your experience of Ted (2012) movie Watch & download does not turn into a nightmare, get the subscription of a authentic website. You will not only be able to make innumerable movie Watch & downloads, but can also Watch & download Ted (2012) movie with I pod format,along with various other movies available on that particularAnd, with , it has become quite e`asier to Watch & download Ted and that too with quality and safety. From the website, you can Watch & download Ted and any other recently released movies of Hollywood even Bollywood, Filipino and other movies too. Browse them by their genre like action, animation, sci-fiction etc. It?s all as easy as ABC and even a novice user Watch & download Ted movie from the website.
Today Download Ted Movie and this website will give you great additional Bonuses! And best tutorials and spyware free programs on the internet only to be really disappointed? WELL NO LONGER! There?re only two stakes of entertainment world, TV shows and movies. Enjoy it once with theater sound on high pitch speakers and you won?t forget the experience. I am through now it?s your turn to check it out at your own as best things need not to persuade. Download Ted Movie

Source: http://www.submitanarticle.us/hddvdipoddivx-quality-today-download-ted-movie-watch-ted-online.html

alyssa bustamante protandim weightless ellen degeneres jcpenney yeardley love nba all star reserves rock center

China main money rate up, market awaits next bank reserve cut

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-main-money-rate-market-awaits-next-bank-064519445--sector.html

yelp huntsville al channel 2 news adrienne bailon yelp stock honda classic news channel 5

What killed 11-year-old girl at Fla. mini-golf course?

By Andrew Mach, msnbc.com

An 11-year-old girl vacationing with her family died Wednesday at a miniature golf course in Florida, according to local reports.

Ashton Jojo was trying to find her lost golf ball at a putt-putt golf course, when witnesses say she fell into in a 2-feet-deep pond around 2 p.m. at the Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Fla., according to the Orange County Sherrif?s Office.

Hotel employees told WESH 2 News they believe?girl was electrocuted.

Witnesses said they heard the girl scream out in distress. Deputies said another resort guest, Christopher Burges, tried pulling her out of the water but was injured in the process. Jojo was taken to Celebration Hospital where she later died.

An Orange County Sheriff?s Department spokesperson told msnbc.com that the cause of death is still under investigation, but police are looking at electrocution as a possible cause.

Representatives from the resort said the accident is still under investigation.

Deputies said Jojo was in town just days after her birthday on vacation with her parents and a brother from New York.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/28/12459803-what-killed-11-year-old-girl-at-mini-golf-course-in-florida?lite

fred thompson fred thompson red hook romney tax return the tree of life movie academy award nominees 2012 2012 oscar nominations

Google Chrome'un Oyun Yelpazesi Geni?liyor

? ?? K???k ?apl? bir?ok oyunu web ma?azas?nda bulunduran Google Chrome, oyun yelpazesini geni?letiyor. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Chrome'a geliyor.

?

? ?? Yap?lan a??klamaya g?re Square Enix'in bu oyunu, sonbahar itibariyle Google'?n internet taray?c?s? ?zerinden oynanabilir olarak sunulacak. Konuyla ilgili Square Enix'in Avrupa aya??ndan "Google ile birlikte yak?n ?al??ma i?erisinde yer almaktan dolay? mutluyuz." a??klamas? gelirken, gelecek i?in daha fazla oyunun m?jdesi de verildi.

?

Source: http://www.bolumsonucanavari.com/Haberler-Google_Chromeun_Oyun_Yelpazesi_Genisliyor-29214.htm

al green burger king delivery etta james at last john king obama sings al green heidi klum and seal ohare airport

GOP wins contempt fight, but legal dispute looms

FILE - In this June 12, 2012 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. In email exchanges with subordinates in February and March 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder and the department's second-highest official expressed growing concern that something might have gone wrong in a federal gun-smuggling probe called Operation Fast and Furious. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - In this June 12, 2012 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. In email exchanges with subordinates in February and March 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder and the department's second-highest official expressed growing concern that something might have gone wrong in a federal gun-smuggling probe called Operation Fast and Furious. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

From left, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-NY, walk out of the Capitol, arm-in-arm, as members of the Congressional Black Caucus and many House Democrats protest the vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, Thursday, June 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

From left, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Rep, Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, and many House Democrats walk out of the Capitol during the vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, Thursday, June 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., center, holds hands with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., next to Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., right, as House Democrats leave the Capitol in protest of a House vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, Thursday, June 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012, after members of Congress walked off the House floor in protest of a contempt of Congress vote for Attorney General Eric Holder. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

(AP) ? House Republicans have won a historic political fight to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, but the GOP likely is still a long way from obtaining documents it wants in an investigation of a bungled gun-tracking operation.

The road leading to a possible lawsuit by the House was filled with emotion Thursday. More than 100 Democrats walked up an aisle and out of the chamber to boycott the first of two contempt votes, saying Republicans were more interested in shameful election-year politics than documents.

Republicans demanded the documents for an ongoing investigation, but their arguments focused more on the need for closure for the family of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Two guns from the gun-tracking operation called Fast and Furious were found near his body after a shootout in Arizona.

Democrats promised closure as well, but said a less-partisan Republican investigation ? not contempt resolutions ? was the only way to get it.

Adding to the emotion of the day, the family of the slain agent issued a statement backing the Republicans.

"The Terry family takes no pleasure in the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder. Such a vote should not have been necessary. The Justice Department should have released the documents related to Fast and Furious months ago," the statement said.

It all happened on the day that President Barack Obama's health care law survived in the Supreme Court, prompting some Democrats to speculate that the votes were scheduled to be overwhelmed by news stories about the ruling.

About five hours after the court ruled, with news sites flooded with information about the health care ruling, the House voted 255-67 to declare Holder in criminal contempt ? an action that could lead to criminal prosecution but probably won't.

The matter goes to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who works under Holder.

In previous contempt cases, federal prosecutors in the nation's capital have refused to act on congressional contempt citations against members of their own administration.

A second vote of 258-95 held Holder in civil contempt and allows the House to bring a civil lawsuit in an effort to force him to turn over the documents.

In past cases, courts have been reluctant to settle disputes between the executive and legislative branches of government.

The issue became more complicated when Obama invoked a broad form of executive privilege, a legal position that is designed to keep private certain communications of executive branch agencies.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is conducting the investigation and subpoenaed the documents, will consult with the House counsel's office about a court challenge to the administration's decision not to cooperate, committee spokesman Frederick Hill said.

Thursday's debate was about Justice Department documents written after Fast and Furious was shut down. The subpoena covered a 10-month period from February 2011, when the Justice Department denied that guns purchased in the U.S. were allowed to "walk" across the border into Mexico, to early December 2011 when the department acknowledged the earlier assertion was in error.

Republicans said the contempt citations were necessary because Holder refused to hand over ? without any preconditions ? documents that could explain why the Obama administration took 10 months to come clean about gun-walking. The operation identified more than 2,000 illicitly purchased weapons. Some 1,400 of them have yet to be recovered in the failed strategy to track the weapons to gun-running rings.

African-American lawmakers led Thursday's walkout in support of Holder, the nation's first black attorney general. Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi, who joined them, protested that Republicans had gone "over the edge" in their partisanship.

Seventeen Democrats voted with Republicans in favor of the criminal contempt resolution, while two Republicans ? Reps. Scott Rigell of Virginia and Steven LaTourette of Ohio ? joined other Democrats in voting against it.

Twenty-one Democrats supported the Republicans in the civil contempt vote, but all the votes against the resolution came from Democrats.

The National Rifle Association pressed hard for the contempt resolutions, leaning on members of both parties who want to stay in the NRA's good graces.

Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesman, said all 17 Democrats who voted for criminal contempt had previously received an "A'' grade from the organization.

Holder said afterward that the vote was merely a politically motivated act in an election year

"Today's vote may make for good political theater in the minds of some, but it is ? at base ? both a crass effort and a grave disservice to the American people. They expect ? and they deserve ? far better," Holder said in New Orleans.

The NRA contended the administration wanted to use Operation Fast and Furious to win gun control measures. Democrats who normally support the NRA but who voted against the contempt citations would lose any 100 percent ratings from the group.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-06-29-Fast%20and%20Furious/id-fc27ecc3007d4d77b4ff2db2088868bc

shaun white taxes game of thrones season 2 trailer sag award winners girl scout cookies screen actors guild royal rumble results

Infinity Blade is Epic's most profitable ever game | Games industry ...

Forget Gears of War or Unreal Tournament ? iOS series Infinity Blade is the most profitable game Epic has ever made.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told GDC Taipei, as reported by Gamasutra, that: "We've been very happy with the game industry's growth.

"For a while we were worried that the divide between the console growth in the west, and the growth of PCs, would increase. The most profitable game we've ever made, in terms of man years invested versus revenue, is actually Infinity Blade. It's more profitable than?Gears of War.

?[We?ve been] very, very surprised to see how fast smartphone and tablet devices are improving."

That?s not to say that Sweeney is joining the ?console death? prediction ranks. Instead, he believes that console gaming is now simply one piece of a wider puzzle.

"Nowadays the high end of the game business is in these console game," he added. "I think the console business we see in the United States and Europe will be just another platform.?

my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle spinal stenosis the forgotten man mike jones just friends

Bright young people drop out of school | Edge ADHD Coaching

About 7,000 students in the U.S. become high school dropouts every school day. That?s 1.2 million students who will not graduate from high school ? each year.

It?s easy for important information to get lost in today?s never-ending flow.? But Edge Foundation founder, Neil Peterson, worries about the bright young people who are being lost because not enough of them are getting the help they need.

That?s why we continue to make innovations to find ways to empower more students with ADHD. The Puget Sound School-Based Coaching Program is one step to reaching previously underserved students within a school-based setting.

This one-of-a-kind intervention brings coaching into schools with a high proportion of at-risk students. Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma (Tacoma Public Schools) and the Big Picture School in Burien (Highline Public Schools) are the two schools participating in the pilot program which is offered at no cost to these at risk students.

Students who are at-risk of dropping out can fall into a downward spiral; coaching can change that. Just read the words of one of the students who received coaching this year:

?My attendance was bad, so we made up this thing where I would text my coach when I came to school. ?And, so, I?ve been texting her, letting her know. It gave me this push to start improving. ?While I was improving on one priority; it makes all the other priorities better too. ?You see, all of these goals kinda come down to my self-image? they reflect how I feel about myself. My coach didn?t give me answers. ?She made me ask questions. ?She made me get my own answers.? ? Alicia B.

We are currently raising money to extend this program for another year and we need your help.? All funds raised this summer will be matched, dollar for dollar, by the Johnson Scholarship Fund (JFS).

Edge is also measuring progress against its goals for participating students to refine the program and make it duplicable in other schools. Our goal is to see:

  • significant improvements in learning and study skills, will to learn, and self-regulation and
  • significant improvement in the areas of self regulation, including discipline, classroom behavior, attendance, homework completion, credits earned, progress toward high school graduation, and preparation being accepted to college.

In the end we hope to have developed a promising and replicable school-based model for ensuring the success of middle and high school students with ADHD or severe executive functioning challenges.

We value every contribution. When each of us gives a small amount, we can do great work together.

Donate today!

Related Posts

-->

frozen four joe avezzano kanye west theraflu joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday

Under scrutiny, Vatican bank opens its doors

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? The Vatican bank, one of the most secretive institutions in the secrecy-obsessed Vatican, opened its doors to journalists Thursday in a bid to show it's serious about fighting money-laundering and being more financially transparent.

During a near three-hour power-point presentation, the bank's director Paolo Cipriani outlined the peculiar nature of the Institute for Religious Works, the bank's official name, and sought to refute media allegations that it has been less than cooperative with requests for financial information from Italian authorities.

The bank has long been the subject of rumor and scandal ? earned in part because of its role two decades ago in one of the most spectacular banking collapses in Italy, and ongoing suspicions by Italian investigators that it hasn't abided by anti-money laundering norms.

In his first ever press conference, Cipriani said that his aim in coming before reporters was to "remove the veil and shadow of the past and do the utmost to respect the needs of the Holy See."

However, TV cameras and recording devices were barred and Cipriani didn't take spontaneous questions from reporters; rather the Vatican spokesman selected some that had been previously submitted and posed them to Cipriani, an affable, fast-talking Italian who nevertheless seemed a bit overwhelmed by the whole encounter.

The visit comes on the eve of a crucial decision by a Council of Europe committee on whether the Vatican has complied with a host of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing norms.

A good compliance grade will enhance the Vatican's chances of eventually getting on the so-called "white list" of countries that share financial information ? a keen aim of both the pope and Cipriani, since the bank has to deal with financial institutions that insist that its books are clean.

The Institute, known by its Italian acronym IOR, was founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII to manage assets destined for religious or charitable works. The bank, located in a squat tower just inside the Vatican City gates is not open to the public.

It has about 35,000 accounts, belonging to religious congregations, dioceses, Holy See offices and Vatican officials. Cipriani said it has about ?6 billion ($7.5 billion) in assets and makes conservative, ethically-minded investments, about five percent of which are in the stock market and the bulk in bonds.

The bank has been in the news of late because of the unprecedented ouster of its president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who was brought in specifically to help usher in a new era of transparency at the bank. The bank's lay board of financiers removed Gotti Tedeschi last month, saying he was actually an obstacle to transparency.

On Wednesday, the board met for the first time since the ouster and began deliberations on the selection of a new president.

Cipriani didn't mention Gotti Tedeschi's name or refer to the ouster. He did however respond to some other issues that have arisen in recent months, including his being placed under investigation for alleged violations of Italy's anti-money laundering norms and the abrupt decision by JP Morgan Chase to close its Vatican bank account earlier this year.

Because the IOR isn't a traditional bank per se, it relies on commercial banks in Italy and elsewhere to carry out its transactions. Its 35-year relationship with JP Morgan came to an end when the U.S. bank asked for information about transactions beyond the scope of what the IOR was contractually required to provide.

Cipriani said the type of information JP Morgan was seeking involved "types of questions made by vigilance" authorities ? a reference to the Vatican's belief that Italian banking regulators were forcing JP Morgan to seek such information even though it went beyond what is required.

The questions didn't concern an individual suspect transaction, but rather general questions about the IOR's policies about joint accounts, accounts with delegates and other matters, Cipriani said.

Cipriani displayed a letter in which he told JP Morgan to go through the Vatican's financial intelligence unit to get the information it wanted. Instead, JP Morgan "unilaterally" closed the account, he added.

JP Morgan said it cannot comment.

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

celebration church new york auto show 2012 tulsa easter eggs pineapple upside down cake free ecards flying car

Members of Military Targeted by Predatory Financial Practices

Some servicemen and women serving abroad have found themselves not only facings the danger posed to them by their enemies, but threats on the home front from predatory financial practices aimed at them and their families.

Two military advocates with famous political ties ? Holly Petraeus, the wife of CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, and Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden ? testified before Congress Tuesday to discuss the progress made to protect 1.2 million servicemembers from becoming the victims of scams and defending themselves from financial risks.

From her conversations with servicemembers on 27 military bases across the country, Petraeus, who joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2011 as assistant director of the Office of Servicemember Affairs, found housing concerns, from delinquent mortgage payments to looming foreclosures, are top issues confronting military families. Often times, the servicemembers are not equipped with the financial education to protect themselves against these issues.

Petraeus said servicemembers are targeted by aggressive marketing practices from institutions of higher education, most often for-profit universities, and hounded by debt collectors preying upon military men and women, even citing one case where a widow was forced to immediately pay a debt upon her husband's death.

"We've seen a lot of practices that are really not ok, where they will call their place of business, their unit, repeatedly. Sometimes they will threaten to have them busted in rank. They'll threaten them with military justice which isn't theirs to administer, and in one of the worst cases I ever heard, they even hounded a combat widow that she needed to pay the debt immediately from the debt gratuity that she'd received when her husband was killed in combat," Petraeus said in an interview with ABC News.

Petraeus described the problems facing servicemembers when they seek loans over the Internet, which often have high interest rates, as well as auto title loans, with some lenders tacking on exorbitant service fees. She recounted the story of a servicemember who sought a 32-month loan for $1,600, paying over $500 a month. By the time the loan was complete, the service fees amounted to $15,000, all for a $1,600 loan.

Biden, who serves as attorney general in Delaware and is a member of the Delaware Army National Guard in the JAG unit, told ABC News that scam artists tend to target people who are vulnerable, have a steady source of income, like members of the military, and who deeply trust others.

"They go to people who are taught to trust others and rely on others. Sometimes these young men and women who serve our country so heroically and so patriotically, they trust people, and sometimes they're not as, don't have as some of the background with how they should take care of their money, and they become susceptible to and vulnerable to people who are fraudsters and scamsters," Biden told ABC News.

Biden, who completed a tour of duty in Iraq in 2009, said in the hearing before the Senate committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, that he witnessed first-hand the additional pressures placed on servicemembers facing foreclosure or financial problems while they are serving abroad, and he pressed the government to enhance financial protections for soldiers and their families while they are abroad.

"When you send a man or woman to go fight a battle for this country and off to war, they need to be focused on one thing, and that is doing the job, two things really--doing their job as their commander in chief tells them to do and two getting home safely to their family," Biden said.

Last week, financial regulators introduced new guidance that would help military members deal with mortgage companies when they have underwater loans or are forced to move to new bases for work. The new guidelines would alleviate servicemembers of the burden of having to sell their homes in difficult housing markets if they face a Permanent Change of Station order. An estimated 185,000 servicemembers are homeowners who receive PCS order each year.

Biden and Petraeus argued for the need to restructure financial education programs for new members of the military as well as make training and resources more accessible and work to expand programs to the Internet. Petraeus, who said she understands first-hand as a military spouse the hardships servicemembers and their families face, said she feels an obligation to protect servicemembers from predatory practices.

"It makes me very indignant. It makes me angry, and that's part of the reason I do this job because our servicemembers, we've asked so much of them, especially in the last 10 years. They're volunteers. They volunteered to go serve their country in a place where they may be at risk in their lives and the fact that they're being financially hassled here at home when they're doing that kind service for us, I don't think is OK," Petraeus said. "I feel like it's incumbent on me to see what I can do to protect them."

"I really do have to wonder about some of the people that apparently without conscience target the military to rip them off," Petraeus added. "There are people that just seem to -- it's all about money and they don't care how they get it."

Attorneys general across the country are working to protect service men and women from predatory practices in the financial industry, and Biden sent a warning to those engaging in such practices.

"If you don't follow the law in any given state or a federal law, then you're going to have state authorities and or federal authorities coming after you for making sure you don't rip off some of the most capable and patriotic people serving this nation as we speak," Biden said.

Also Read

trisomy 18 ozzie guillen ozzie guillen buster posey eric holder eric holder carole king

Housing prices rise in warm weather states

Bill Sikes / AP

In this April 26, 2012, file photo, a sign advertises a pending residential real estate sale in Framingham, Mass.

By Bill Briggs

For the third straight month in April, American home prices twitched a tinge higher?as values in the ?sand states? further firmed while listings in some key northern cities continued to chill, a heavily monitored survey reported Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed a year-over-year decrease of 1.9 percent?but?a 0.7 percent national bump?from March to April on a seasonally adjusted basis (1.3 percent non-seasonally adjusted), led by ongoing price rallies in a clump of warm-weather markets thumped by the slump, including Miami, Tampa, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

?I?ve seen (listings here) jumping just like they did back in the day when the banks were approving everything,? said Michelle Tremblay, a Realtor with West USA Realty in Phoenix.

Since last October, home values in Phoenix have inched 12 percent higher, gaining ground during each of the past six months, according to the Case Shiller index.

From Tremblay?s vantage point, however, those loftier home values are akin to steroid-swelled athletes: synthetically pumped prices caused by banks stockpiling foreclosed properties and purposely keeping them off the market until area prices truly soar. Then those same financial institutions can cash in by selling those properties at fatter profits.

?We can see on the street what?s vacant and what?s not. We?re watching these (foreclosed and non-listed) houses just sit and rot,? Tremblay said. ?The banks are letting these houses just deteriorate.

?They?re holding them and releasing them slowly to drive the value up.?

Some Realtors in another so-called ?sand state,? California, recently have joined that chorus, offering similar, albeit unproven, theories about banks hoarding foreclosures and thus shrinking inventory in most markets.

In three California cities on the Case Shiller index -? Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco -? home prices have increased during February, March and April.

Fellow ?sand state? cities Miami and Tampa each have posted five straight months of home-value gains. Las Vegas, the largest metro area in Nevada ? the fourth ?sand state? ? in April notched its third month in a row of heightened property prices, according to Case Shiller?s survey.

?Realtors across the country are all talking about the same stuff: the banks are the ones in control right now and they know it and they?re going to make the money again ? and again and again,? Tremblay said. Not long ago, distressed homes ?were selling, I think, too cheaply. And the banks weren?t making the money that they wanted to. So they tightened their inventory.?

In response, Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner said?large banks are not colluding to hoard distressed properties until better days so as to squeeze more out of the values of those homes.?

"I don't think there's any concerted effort to hold properties back from the market," Vitner said. "The process to (work through and re-sell) foreclosure inventory is lengthy and there just seems to be a lot of hurdles out there to getting these properties to market. A lot of the best properties have been in foreclosure and have already sold."

But, Vitner acknowledged that some "small community banks are holding onto properties because the value that they could realize from selling the properties is so much more than what their books currently show, (meaning that listing those distressed homes) could have an inverse impact on their balance sheets."?

Robert J. Shiller, one of the two developers of the monthly index, agreed that ?it is an artificial market in that there is a lot of inventory held off.?

But Shiller, an Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University, sees still another hidden reservoir of prospective properties for sale ? ?a shadow inventory held off by homeowners who might sell if home prices come back up enough.?

Two weeks ago, market analytics service CoreLogic reported that the "residential shadow inventory" - which includes?bank-owned homes - had declined to 1.5 million units in April, representing a four-month supply as well as a 14.8 percent drop from the same month one year earlier. In April 2011, the?shadow inventory held a six-month supply of homes - roughly the same level as October 2008 when the housing crash began. Those CoreLogic figures seemed to bolster the view offered by Wells Fargo's Vitner that big banks are not holding back distressed properties, especially in markets where lenders have revved the pace of foreclosures.

A government market

Still, with about 90 percent of American mortgages held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Authority, ?it?s really a government market now," Shiller said. "So anyone contemplating speculating in housing has to think about what the government is likely to do. And we?re in limbo right now.

?We have a presidential election coming up. We haven?t resolved what were going to do with Fannie and Freddie ? presumably something will be done with them afterward.?

The latest S&P Case-Shiller results show on average home prices increased 1.3% in April, with David Blitzer, S&P 500 Index committee chairman.

In February 2011, the Obama administration issued a white paper that examined possible remedies for those two sputtering behemoths of housing finance. The report gave Congress options to mull. Banking giants backed the notion of axing Fannie and Freddie which, combined, ate up about $150 billion in bailout money. Groups representing consumers and the real estate industry have argued against scuttling Fannie and Freddie.

?Between all that ? and the mortgage-tax interest deduction that also has been questioned in this time of deficit cutting ? these things are on everyone?s mind,? Shiller said. ?But there?s not a way to forecast. I think forecasting political science is even more tenuous than forecasting economics.?

Projecting the direction of home prices in several vital northern cities has grown more challenging the past year. In Boston, home prices have dipped during six of the past eight months, according to Case Shiller. In New York, property values have declined for seven consecutive months. Chicago, up a tick in April, has nonetheless posted seven price drops in nine months, the index shows.

?Is any of that political and financial uncertainty perhaps fueling some fall-off in home prices those metro areas??

?I guess it is. People are holding off ... People are hoping for prices to go back up (in those cities),? Shiller said. ?And we?ll see the shadow inventory converted into real inventory if people start to see the prices go back up.?

But in Chicago, where home prices are off 7.2 percent since last August, the Case Shiller index reports, some Realtors are blaming another segment of the home-financing equation.

?The appraisers are keeping the prices low,? said Patrick Hawkins, a broker with Dream Town Realty in Chicago.

The last time Chicago property values were this depleted on the Case Shiller index: November 2000.

?Buyers are willing to spend a little more money right now. Inventory is low. But the appraisers just are reticent to come in with a strong enough number,? Hawkins said. ??What I?m assuming an appraiser would say is: It?s the market conditions, it?s people not having enough jobs, it?s the economy.

?Appraisers ? they?re killing the market. The prices have been driven down, beaten to a pulp.?

(The housing market is showing signs of life, but is it time to buy or sell a home? Join us Wednesday for a live web chat with Stan Humphries, the chief economist for real estate website Zillow. You can sign up here to ask your questions during out web chat at noon ET.)

Related story: How homicide homes hold their secrets

sotu boehner john boehner demi moore hospitalized james farentino somali pirates navy seals