Burundi: Govt Finds Likely in Travel, Tourism

Burundi recognizes the travel, tourism and hotel sector can be a sector with big probable.

Burundi has, with help from government, taken a number of methods to create. That is becoming performed via a regulatory framework with policies, advertising and incentives geared to heighten the profile in the sector as among the pillars from the economic climate.

The sector depends heavily on manpower; it's an field that has a considerable prerequisite on human interaction. Employment yielded across varied demographics (youthful, old, and ladies, guys, experienced and unskilled) by this sector is among the ideal attributes place forward for its improvement in Burundi - as in other establishing nations while in the planet.

Improvement of this sector necessitates major comprehending in the complexity of task creation, competencies (soft and difficult), and know-how transfer inside a nation like Burundi that is definitely building its embryonic tourism business.

Addressing problems of bad client providers in Burundi is evident along with the foundations in the sector are topic to crumble if remedies usually are not element on the improvement system. Therefore, there is certainly require for urgent action within this regard.

Unskilled and unqualified manpower issues can only be addressed by way of various measures taken from public and private stakeholders functioning collectively in synergy. It is actually starting to become acknowledged that human capital improvement for your tourism sector in Burundi may have to come from enhanced, Government funded training, supported through the private sector as being a essential player.

Nobody can dispute the truth that well-developed foundations really are a prerequisite for constructive productive improvement; precisely the same guidelines apply on the tourism and hospitality sector. Minimizing unemployment, stimulating expertise and information is really a mission embedded in ideas of the publish conflict nation like Burundi. The tourism and hospitality market is geared to offer you medium to long lasting sustainable answers to long term problems.

Because 2008, the government of Burundi may be committed on the advancement of tourism, viewing it as being a powerful financial pillar of sustainable improvement, presenting in various shapes and types, from heavy investment like infrastructure to soft investment regarded as competencies.

The demanding query for Burundi is the way to tackle the serious lack of experienced and experienced manpower. Hence, the tourism and hotel market demands the very important ingredient of sizeable investment to produce human sources.

OPINION

It truly is surprising to find out that a nicely created hotel in Bujumbura may be focusing heavily on establishing infrastructures to serve buyers, but forgetting the important cup of tea nevertheless must be served. Basically, the menu that pleases the consumer is definitely the 1 than offers services using a smile.

This specific sector of tourism and hotel strikes the cord once the consumer receives what he expects. Failure to acknowledge that severe and productive investment within this location of consumer services is usually a profound error of judgment.

Right here, the narrative shifts from human sources during the generic sense, to certainly one of much more "basic" human capital accounted for from the stability sheet and price range. The notion of brushing up around the soft and challenging techniques must be engrained from the culture of individuals investing during the sector. The not infrequent perception that capabilities are really subjective and relative calls for critical discussion.

Several jobs inside the Tourism market is often executed devoid of an excessive amount of of coaching necessary. Having said that this isn't the situation with regard to these jobs which yield rewards. One example is certified Chefs, qualified advertising workers, exemplary tour guides and client services agents are usually not born together with the abilities; enhancement and experienced coaching would be the necessary.

Notwithstanding these truths, the sector in Burundi is evolving. The manner and circumstances by which people today supply tourism companies in lots of respects have remained timeless, but there may be substantial beneficial transform.

The truth that tourism operate stays menial and under-valued in Burundi reflects the investment and sources allocated to addressing the gap in between the shortage of experienced manpower and buyer providers.

Some contradictions are rooted inside the perceive nature from the tourism marketplace getting restricted vocational and educational possibilities, together with obtaining a track record for bad employment practices. Fueling this perception would be the maximize in reduced price tourism companies throughout the spectrum (aviation, tour operators and so on..), which inevitably prospects to minimal price labor as well as knock - on impact on products excellent and consumer support.

It really is inevitable that we're significantly less very likely to discover basic alterations in Human sources and Improvement from the foreseeable potential in Burundi if your program of advancement continues on its present program.

OPINION

Hence it's as much as the stakeholders to conduct a skills-gap inventory evaluation, with all the aim of assisting inside the formulation of the extensive nationwide policy agenda for integration, coordination and implementation of tourism and hospitality schooling.

Collectively, the basic advancement of certified, educated and experienced labor forces is critical, specifically at this individual phase of improvement, offered the fee of development and long term trends during the light with the probable that our nation needs to present.

Extra importantly, tourism investment and advancement policy will really need to be geared for dual functions - tricky and soft infrastructure - to be able to facilitate and strengthen tourism.

I see Human Sources Advancement being a neglected region in Burundi While in the field of Tourism and Hospitality. Human Sources Improvement is under-valued and in the identical time a pressing concern and that is proving challenging to grasp and integrate during the priorities of traders and stakeholders.

Striving for far better companies in our hotels, our restaurants, our airport and travel companies, just isn't some thing we must inquire for, it's the least they might present.

Allow Burundi increase the bar by speaking about it and asking for much better solutions, it truly is our ideal allow our voices resound as a result of our selections: who's well worth our Franc, Dollar, Euro and Sterling? To attain it, Burundi has to push for dialogue to the want for manpower capabilities while in the tourism and hotel business.

Human resource would be the lungs of tourism and hospitality. Without having it, the sector dies.

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Obama, Biden show up at inaugural prayer services in Wa Nationwide House of worship

Rows of pastors and priests, imams and rabbis supplied prayers for President Obama at an inaugural worship services Tuesday, their varied depictions and requests of God seeming to embody the challenge of unifying an America divided on every little thing together with the purpose of faith.

"To numerous Americans, we really feel like a home divided that are not able to stand. We come across ourselves divided and desperately longing to search out popular ground," the Rev. Adam Hamilton, leader of the 16,000-member Methodist church in Kansas, stated in his sermon to Obama and two,200 invited visitors in the inaugural prayer services at Washington Nationwide Cathedral. "This may possibly be, this bringing with each other of our nation, a much more significant challenge than anything at all else we encounter."

The tradition of the prayer support for newly sworn-in presidents goes back to your start out on the nation, and because the 1930s a lot of the solutions are actually held in the cathedral. They've come to be more and more interfaith more than time and also have integrated nationwide clergy from your Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh traditions. To the initial time, the 23 faith leaders integrated an openly gay clergy member: the Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, moderator of Metropolitan Neighborhood Church, a Christian denomination that focuses on outreach for the LGBT neighborhood.

Following the drama and pomp with the inauguration ceremony along with the let-loose vibe of Monday night's inaugural balls, the prayer services - even inside the cavernous neo-Gothic cathedral in Northwest Washington - felt just about intimate, with 3 rows of faith leaders seated on the dais several feet in front with the 1st pew, which held the president and initially lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill Biden.

To the dais have been a number of the United States' most prominent clergy, individuals who represent a number of the country's greatest faith communities. In a single row, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, was seated up coming to Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head in the Episcopal Church, who was seated following to Archbishop Demetrios of America, primate on the Greek Orthodox Church in America.

Numerous prayers had been made available, considerably, from your center of your nave. Imam Abdullah Khouj, through the Islamic Center of Washington, gave a conventional contact to prayer in Arabic just right after Cantor Mikhail Manevich of Washington Hebrew Congregation intoned a prayer in Hebrew.

Obama was made available a quilt of prayers to a God described utilizing distinct names and personalities. Wuerl gave a studying describing humanity as "afflicted in each way but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair." Nationwide Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson termed to "faithful God .?.?. that you are gracious, O lover of souls."

Still leaders of organized religion are distinctly mindful of the issues of reaching a shifting America. The fastest-growing faith group during the nation includes those who say these are religiously unaffiliated.

Hamilton, the Methodist minister from Kansas, seemed created for this time, this president; he has written on embracing "the gray" place and calls himself a "passionate centrist." His sermon was a plea for that shaping of some shared priorities, ideally - to his thoughts - ones revolving all around "a deep and abiding faith in God." It attempted to forge U.S. historical past to scriptural historical past, weaving the story of Moses looking for freedom for Hebrew slaves together with the poem for the Statue of Liberty ("Give me your exhausted, your bad, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free of charge .?.?.") and together with the anniversary in the Emancipation Proclamation.

Hamilton prospects a single of your largest mainline Protestant churches inside the nation, but in his sermon he mentioned that America's pews are filled with deeply divided people today.

Numerous "congregations normally do not know why they exist, nor do they've got a compelling image in the long term that unifies them. Sadly, this feels genuine of America currently," he stated.

As a result of substantial safety, visitors with the support had to arrive an hour or two early. By midmorning, the ornate nave looked just like the merger of the Washington political gathering along with a conference of notables through the clerical local community. Heads of feel tanks, in sober suits, mingled with clergy from each and every imaginable faith local community sporting a range of colorful robes and head coverings, in the white wrap of your Bahai for the Jewish yarmulke.

Amid the political heavyweights had been Lawyer Common Eric H. Holder Jr., U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Well being and Human Companies Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Household
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Property Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick (D).

The cathedral, the seat with the Episcopal Church while in the Usa, is usually selected to host memorial solutions and occasions honoring prominent U.S. leaders from throughout the political spectrum. However the cathedral's leaders have created news in latest weeks by taking progressive social stands.

The Rev. Gary Hall, the cathedral's new dean, announced in December the cathedral would start hosting same-gender weddings, and he also has taken up the reason for gun handle within the wake of final month's Newtown, Conn., college shootings.

Inaugural prayer companies are actually held constantly on the cathedral due to the fact 1933, using the exception of individuals following the inaugurations of Bill Clinton in 1993 and 1997.

Clinton chose Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic black church in downtown Washington, because the website for his prayer companies. The Obama family members worshiped at Metropolitan on Sunday.

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Kacsmar: Ravens need to win, Patriots ought to win

On Sunday, the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens every will perform inside their third AFC Championship game more than the previous 6 many years, the Patriots winning each along with the Ravens losing the two, like final year's 23-20 heartbreaker in Foxboro. It is also the third time the teams have met while in the playoffs inside the previous 4 many years.

No meeting appears additional evenly matched, and that is the primary rematch inside a conference championship considering that the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers met 3 many years within a row (1992-94).

It may very well be the last game on the fantastic profession for Ray Lewis, and long term Hall of Fame security Ed Reed is just not far behind him for retirement. As a result, the Ravens possess a smaller sized window of chance, however they will be the secondary story.

If your New England Patriots fall in the home or fail to win the Super Bowl this yr, it will eventually carry on the biggest run of playoff disappointment in NFL background.

Patriots should validate their record success

Even though coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady won 3 Super Bowls collectively from 2001-2004, that was an eternity ago. The only other present Patriots to get won a Super Bowl together with the crew are Deion Branch (backup receiver) and Vince Wilfork (as being a rookie in 2004).

New England's regular-season good results has only greater, but no extra championships have come. The Patriots did come excruciatingly near 3 times, losing two Super Bowls on last-minute touchdown drives through the New York Giants and blowing the biggest lead ever in the championship game (18 factors), losing to your Indianapolis Colts.

The 2007 season began with controversy right after the Spygate story of illegal videotaping broke, questioning the validity of New England's historic good results. Belichick answered with on the list of most dominant seasons in background.

Even though they had been nonetheless ahead of your curve offensively in these days, in 2007 the Patriots altered the dynamic of their group by including receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker, the latter defining the function with the slot receiver. There was minor comparison with their championship teams, which had been created on powerful defenses.

New England's 2007 offense became the 1st to utilize the shotgun on greater than 50 % of their plays, using components on the spread offense Belichick picked up on from university coach Urban Meyer.

The outcomes have been amazing since the 2007 Patriots scored a record 589 factors. Brady threw a record 50 touchdown passes with Moss catching 23 of them. Once the crew commenced 10-0, it had been outscoring opponents by 25.four factors per game, hunting like arguably quite possibly the most dominant group in historical past.

However the grind of the march to your best season took its toll. The Patriots fell behind by twelve factors towards the New York Giants in Week 17, but came back to win to clinch the only 16-0 normal season ever. Having said that, the game created self-assurance from the Giants, who took down the Patriots (twelve.5-point favorites) in Super Bowl XLII, holding by far the most prolific offense ever to just 14 factors. Brady, who scoffed at Giants' receiver Plaxico Burress' prediction of New England scoring 17 factors, was sacked 5 occasions right after enjoying pristine pass safety all season.

It nevertheless took the biggest drive in NFL background, engineered by Eli Manning, to acquire the 17-14 win, however the Giants pulled off the upset, leaving the Patriots which has a hollow 18-1 finish.

Brady tore his ACL within the initially quarter with the initially game in 2008, however the Patriots nonetheless managed to finish 11-5 behind Matt Cassel. Nonetheless, they became just the 2nd 11-5 group ever (1985 Denver Broncos) to not qualify for that playoffs.

Returning to start out the 2009 season, Brady led the Patriots to a thrilling comeback win more than Buffalo in Week one, but that will be Brady's only game-winning drive from the season. The 2009 crew struggled to near video games out, which was the hallmark of New England's earlier accomplishment inside the decade.

The season-changing second came in Week ten once the Patriots (6-2) played the Colts (8-0) in prime time. The moment holding a 17-point lead from the fourth quarter, the Patriots faced a 4th-and-2 at their particular 28, holding onto a 34-28 lead with two:08 left. Most coaches would punt, but Belichick kept the offense about the field. Brady's pass to Kevin Faulk was brief in the very first down, and Peyton Manning threw the game-winning touchdown with 0:13 left in the 35-34 comeback win.

From that stage the Patriots completed just 4-4, lost Welker to injury in Week 17, and hosted the Ravens inside the Wild Card round. Ray Rice began the game with an 83-yard touchdown run, and Brady turned the ball more than 3 times inside the initial quarter. Baltimore led 24-0 at that stage, and went on to win 33-14. The Ravens lost in New England by a 27-21 last in Week four.

In 2010 the Patriots once more started out to evolve their offense just after drafting tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. They completed the normal season on an eight-game winning streak, turning the ball more than just a single time (+23 in turnover differential), and averaging 37.four factors per game (a minimum of 31 factors in just about every game). No overall performance was a lot more remarkable than a 45-3 rout of your Jets in Week 13.

The 2010 Patriots scored 518 factors. Brady won his 2nd MVP award, starting to be the very first unanimous choice ever. He threw 36 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, going a record 335 pass attempts with out an interception.

This was the scariest group getting into the playoffs in recent times. Obtaining clinched the league's greatest record (14-2), the Patriots had currently beaten the Steelers (39-26), Jets (45-3), Bears (36-7) and Packers (31-27). People 4 teams ended up currently being the last 4 in 2010, because the Patriots fell flat on their encounter in your own home within the Divisional round against the Jets.

Brady threw an interception on his initial possession, snapping his streak. Mark Sanchez confidently guided the Jets to an upset win, although the scoring juggernaut managed 11 factors while in the game's to start with 58 minutes against Rex Ryan's defense. Two late scores had been also very little also late since the Jets won 28-21.

From 2006-2011, Brady set a NFL record with 31 consecutive wins in the home while in the frequent season. But hidden inside the streak had been these two household playoff losses.

In 2011 the Patriots once more reshaped their offense, entirely using Gronkowski and Hernandez, now inside their 2nd season, to your tune of 169 receptions for two,237 yards and 24 touchdowns. Gronkowski had the biggest getting season ever by a tight finish with 18 complete touchdowns.

Brady passed for five,235 yards (2nd most in NFL background), as well as Patriots scored 513 factors inside the season. Nevertheless they once more couldn't remedy Tom Coughlin's Giants, losing in the two the normal season and Super Bowl, scoring 17 factors this time in the 21-17 reduction.

Right here the Patriots are once again in 2012, scoring 557 factors while in the common season, which can be the third-highest complete in NFL background. Certainly one of their newest offensive developments will be the utilization of one-word play-calls to run a no-huddle offense so speedy the defense are not able to even get set (here is taking a look at you, Houston). It had been yet another stellar common season, and now they sit two wins far from that elusive ring.

But we've got noticed this prior to. During the finish, a group the Patriots played from the normal season has come back to beat them, and that is what has took place all 6 occasions during the playoffs considering that 2005. It may be Baltimore, who previously beat the Patriots 31-30 in Week three (in Baltimore), or it can be the San Francisco 49ers within the Super Bowl, who also beat the Patriots this yr.

Practically all the gamers around the Patriots don't understand what it is actually wish to win a Super Bowl, however the shadow Belichick and Brady carry more than the group meshes their previous title achievement collectively with all the regular-season records given that 2007.

These two eras are mutually unique, as well as failure to win a championship within this offense-driven era need to reflect extra poorly to the crew, Belichick and Brady than it has up to now.

The Patriots are 76-20 (.792) while in the frequent season considering the fact that 2007, which can be on the list of finest six-year runs ever. It's also the very best run to not create a championship.

Regardless of every one of the offensive records, the Patriots haven't sealed the deal because that final Super Bowl win practically eight many years ago. New England has previously had 3 of your highest-scoring teams in NFL historical past and only managed to score 14, 21 and 17 factors within a season-ending reduction for which it had been the favourite just about every time.

Being a 9-point favourite in excess of Baltimore, the Patriots clearly are not able to win the Super Bowl this Sunday, nevertheless they can shed a different shot at 1 immediately after nevertheless yet another historic common season.

The possibilities are operating out for Brady and Belichick. Though these two can rest on their laurels, background won't deal with the Patriots as kindly with out a championship to validate this era's good results.

Ravens look for breakthrough win and excellent ending for Lewis

Nobody must be sleeping around the Ravens. The return of leader Ray Lewis has lifted the group, because they hope to make that storybook ending which has a walk-off Super Bowl victory, loved in previous many years by John Elway (1998) and Jerome Bettis (2005).

The Ravens are while in the AFC Championship game for that third time given that 2008, the commence in the John Harbaugh/Joe Flacco era. Once more they may be to the road, possessing lost 23-14 in Pittsburgh (2008) right after Flacco threw an interception returned to get a touchdown by Troy Polamalu.

There exists the bitter taste of final year's reduction, by which Patriots defensive back Sterling Moore knocked what would happen to be the game-winning touchdown from Lee Evans' hands with 22 seconds left. Seconds later on, Billy Cundiff rushed and missed the game-tying kick, just the 2nd time in historical past a kicker missed a do-or-die field intention in the championship game or Super Bowl.

(The 1st time was once the Buffalo Bills' Scott Norwood missed the game-winner in Super Bowl XXV, lifting then-New York Giants defensive coordinator Belichick along with the win.

Harbaugh came from Philadelphia, the place he was the distinctive teams coordinator throughout the Eagles' streak of 3 straight losses during the NFC Championship (2001-2003). His group has adequate big-game working experience to acquire in excess of the hump, nevertheless it is often a difficult undertaking to win in Foxboro.

Baltimore is 2-4 against New England given that 2007, but every single reduction was a nail-biter that went down for the wire. These teams know one another very well, as well as the Ravens can stage to several constructive indicators soon after dealing with a so-so normal season.

The Ravens presently have beaten the Patriots this yr, plus the 503 yards of offense they piled up that evening would be the most New England has permitted this season. The Patriots have enhanced on defense considering the fact that Week three, but so has Baltimore.

The postseason continues to be the only time this yr the Ravens have had their significant 4 on defense intact. That is Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata. Even though they've faced 174 offensive snaps the final two weeks, this defense is back to generating plays and limiting factors. They are going to also get some assist through the reality that Rob Gronkowski is out to the Patriots.

If winning a Super Bowl lately is far more about peaking with the proper time, needing to conquer adversity, then the Ravens match the bill. They've got the rallying cry to win a single for Lewis, Flacco is thriving with major pass plays just after the crew replaced offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, and just after the Giants, no group has provided the Patriots much more troubles than the Ravens.

New England's not the only constant winner on this game that lacks a current championship. The Ravens are just the sixth group to ever win a playoff game in 5 consecutive seasons, nevertheless they will be the only group to not attain a minimum of one particular Super Bowl. Only the 2000-04 Eagles failed to win a Super Bowl, even though another 4 teams all came by not less than as soon as.

With legacies around the line, and windows closing on a lot of the game's greats, this must be a traditional AFC Championship.

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Oelwein indigenous donates kidney; begins incidents involving contributor

One kidney donation set off a chain reaction of comparable excellent deeds at one particular Des Moines hospital. In one particular week, 5 individuals donated their healthful kidneys to other folks in will need.

The guy who started off all this, Tyler Weig, is initially from eastern Iowa. Weig graduated from Oelwein Large College in 2001. He essentially went to prom with KWWL's Danielle Wagner, also an Oelwein graduate.

Tyler Weig now lives within the Des Moines region. He assisted conserve a daily life by determining to donate a kidney to a finish stranger.

"Right now its beginning to hit me, what it implies, how specific it's," explained Tyler Weig.

On Monday, Weig went into surgical treatment to get his kidney eliminated, to become transplanted right into a patient who necessary it to survive. Dr. Cass Franklin eliminated his kidney through a 3 hour operation though one more patient waited to obtain it.

"Today I get blessed which has a new kidney," explained Lance Beyer.

The Mercy workers place the healthier organ into an ice bath to put together it. A brief time later on, physicians started the lengthy intricate transplant surgical treatment on 42-year-old Lance Beyer of Pella, who had kidney condition for 25 many years. Just after an effective surgical procedure, two days later on, the 2 met to the very first time.

"So you are the donor? Value it. Thanks lots. It really is operating true superior," explained Beyer.

But how can you thank anyone to the present of existence?

"I see his household, what he'll be capable to do now helps make me satisfied," explained Tyler Weig.

Weig's need to conserve 1 man or woman set off a chain reaction that bring about a different kidney transplant that similar day.

45-year-old Jay Lindahl of Boone was wheeled in to get one more kidney. Turns out his donor was the wife from the to start with recipient.

"You can give your kidney to an individual, anyone can help my husband in that way, it is a no brainer," stated Julie Beyer.

Her kidney was not a match for her husband, so she paid it forward to aid a stranger alternatively.

Just after operating on these two pairs Monday, two far more kidney transplants had been carried out Tuesday. On Wednesday, even 1 a lot more. None on the recipients knew his donor, but 4 donors had been mates or household of one more patient during the chain who they wished to assist but did not match.

5 new beginnings and 10 lives impacted by a single preliminary and generous present.

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National football conference 2010 nfl playoffs: 49ers fall Green bay packers 45-31

Ever considering the fact that coach Jim Harbaugh gave second-year quarterbackColin Kaepernick the starting up nod above hot-handed Alex Smith, the query has hovered in excess of the 49ers like a cloud.

Did Harbaugh make the appropriate choice?

The impressive and elusive Kaepernick made available a resounding solution Saturday evening by using a record-setting efficiency within a 45-31 victory in excess of the Packers in the divisional playoff game at Candlestick Park.

On the evening when Kaepernick became Keepernick, the 49ers quarterback torched the Packers with his arm and his feet, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for two.

He scored on runs of twenty and 56 yards. The 56-yarder was the longest run by a quarterback during the playoffs, surpassing a 51-yard run from the Titans' Steve McNair in Jan. 2000.

"Guy's taking part in football, guy, he's which makes it come about," 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree explained of Kaepernick. "He's a playmaker."

Kaepernick also shattered Michael Vick's mark of 119 yards rushing -- the former postseason rushing record by a quarterback -- using a game-high 181 yards on 16 carries.

"The offense that we've produces a great deal of confusion with all the quarterback we've got who can run as quickly as he can," mentioned tackle Joe Staley, a part of an offense that gained 323 yards about the ground and 579 complete. "He may also throw the ball downfield. We wish to move the chains any way we are able to, but it truly is terrific to move the ball together with the ground game."

Kaepernick received off to a bumpy start out ¡§C his 2nd pass was intercepted and run back 52 yards for the touchdown ¡§C but he under no circumstances lost his composure, upstaging Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the NFL's reigning most important player.

"Anytime your teammates have self-confidence in you and so they truly feel very good about what you are carrying out, it helps make you're feeling like you happen to be accomplishing the ideal points," Kaepernick mentioned.

The Packers have been outscored 21-0, within the 2nd half and had two turnovers that led to 49ers touchdowns.

"It's very aggravating," stated Rodgers, who threw for 257 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. "To go out and perform like that may be disappointing. We did not do sufficient on offense to aid our defense."

To the 2nd consecutive season, San Francisco has sophisticated for the NFC championship game the place it'll encounter the winner of Sunday's game among the Seahawks and Falcons.

"They competed like maniacs," Harbaugh stated of his gamers, "and now we have received an additional week of operate."

It had been a large day for your Harbaugh loved ones, with Jim's older brother, John, coaching the Ravens to a double-overtime win at Denver.

"That was a authentic football battle," Jim mentioned on the Ravens' 38-35 victory. "Had an opportunity to observe a few of it in advance of our game. Truly feel good for John and his group."

The Packers saw their season open and near with losses to your 49ers. They dropped their opener to San Francisco 30-22 at Lambeau Field.

Saturday's rematch featured Rodgers, a 49ers fan in Northern California who wore a Joe Montana T-shirt below his pads being a kid, and Kaepernick, who was born in Milwaukee and grew up idolizing Brett Favre.

Crabtree caught two touchdown passes for that 49ers, and Frank Gore and Anthony Dixon each and every ran for any score.

Regardless of it getting his initial postseason start out, Kaepernick was unflappable, even following the pick-six interception to begin the game. He came back about the up coming possession and orchestrated an eight-play, 80-yard drive that ended with his 20-yard keeper for any
touchdown. That came on third-and-8, and -- as opposed to his longer touchdown run -- was not a planned run for him.

"Man-to-man coverage, they doubled Crab, broke down and I saw a operating lane," the quarterback explained using a shrug.

Place merely by Packers receiver Greg Jennings: "We lost to a greater group right now."

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Wells Fargo Profit Jumps, but Mortgage loan Small business Slows

Wells Fargo WFC -0.85% & Co. posted a larger-than-expected 24% rise in fourth-quarter net income despite signs that a mortgage-refinancing boom that has boosted profits at a number of large banks may be fading.

But investors focused on a second consecutive quarterly decline in a figure analysts use to gauge future gains in the lucrative home-loan business enterprise.

In addition, a surge of deposits and near record-low interest rates continued to squeeze profit margins at the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets.

The drop in the San Francisco company's mortgage loan pipeline is "likely to be a source of concern," said Citigroup C -1.14% analyst Keith Horowitz.

Overall, fourth-quarter net income was $5.09 billion, or 91 cents a share, compared with the year-ago $4.11 billion, or 73 cents a share. Revenue rose 6.3% from a year earlier to $21.95 billion. The figures beat Wall Street analysts' consensus estimates.

Shares of Wells Fargo, up 22% over the past year, dropped 30 cents, or 0.8%, to $35.10 amid a broad pullback in financial shares.

A $30 billion rise in deposits during the quarter, to $945.75 billion, underscores an industrywide struggle to make new loans; credit-worthy borrowers are scarce amid soft employment growth and stagnant incomes.

Chief Executive John Stumpf said on a call with analysts that the company feels "no urgency" to put the excess funds to work. "Virtually all these deposits are part of relationships," he said. "This is going to benefit this company for years and years and years to come."

Wells Fargo currently lends out about 80% of its deposits, while banks typically like their loan-to-deposit ratio to be near 100%. Chief Financial Officer Timothy J. Sloan acknowledged the slow pace of economic growth has affected the bank's ability to lend. "It's not where we'd like it to be," he said.

As a result of the deposit inflow, net interest margin?aan important gauge of lending profitability?awas 3.56%, down from 3.66% in the third quarter and illustrating the impact of low interest rates on profits. "I think you have to recognize that this interest-rate environment is very difficult," said Fred Cannon, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The results also point to early signs that an end may be coming for the U.S. home-refinancing boom, which has been spurred by low interest rates and has resulted in a lucrative stretch for large mortgage loan banks including Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase JPM -0.02% & Co.

Mortgage-banking income for the fourth quarter totaled $3.07 billion, up 30% from a year earlier. But mortgage loan originations fell 10% from third-quarter levels to $125 billion, and the company's unclosed-mortgage pipeline dropped for the second quarter in a row, tumbling 16% to $81 billion at year-end from $97 billion at Sept. 30.

The drop in the mortgage loan pipeline is especially important to Wells Fargo, which has become the nation's biggest mortgage loan lender as rivals such as Bank of America Corp. BAC -1.27% have pulled back from the company amid hefty losses. Early signs show that Wells's U.S. mortgage-market share slipped slightly, according to Mr. Sloan, but full numbers won't be known until other banks report earnings.

Mr. Cannon said it is unclear if the pipeline at Wells has slowed because the bank is tightening its standards or if its market share has slipped.

But Paul Miller, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, cautioned against reading too much into the numbers.

The second and third quarters tend to be stronger ones for home loan production.

"A lot of people are looking at the pipeline decline and saying it's the beginning of the end," he said. "I think it's more seasonality than anything else."

Mr. Sloan said he didn't know if the refinancing boom was coming to an end, but said "it's prudent to plan for an environment where volumes come down and margins come down."

Total loans at the bank rose 4% from a year earlier to $799.6 billion. Wells kept on its book some $10 billion of mortgages, forgoing fees that lenders can reap when selling loans to the government-backed home loan investors Fannie Mae FNMA 0.00% and Freddie Mac FMCC -1.69% but adding to the company's income stream.

Wells recorded a $644 million fourth-quarter pretax charge for its portion of a foreclosure settlement announced earlier this week.

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Taft classroom shooting: Heroic energy prevents more violence

Authorities praised the heroic actions of college officials that prevented additional bloodshed soon after a 16-year-old student at Taft Union Higher College close to Bakersfield burst right into a classroom Thursday. He allegedly shot a boy while in the chest and attempted to fire a 12-gauge shotgun at one more student.

A neighbor saw the student strolling to your college by using a gun and named 911 about 9 a.m. The suspect was supposed to become within the classroom he burst into, which was filled with about 28 college students. The suspect waved the gun in unique directions and following firing on the victim, aimed at an additional student and missed, Youngblood stated.

A teacher and campus supervisor have been ready to evacuate the classroom well before any individual else was injured. The teacher suffered a small pellet wound to his head and an additional student could have suffered hearing injury, authorities explained. The suspect had as several as twenty rounds in his pocket.

"They did an excellent task of safeguarding the youngsters," explained Ed Whiting, chief on the Taft Police Division. "We cannot thank them adequate for what they did nowadays."

"This is really a tragedy but not as terrible as we consider it could possibly are actually," Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood explained.

Jacob Jackson, a sophomore at Taft Union Substantial College, was within the campus library once the intercom crackled Thursday morning, announcing a lockdown.

"We're supposed to get a lockdown drill following week. I believed it had been a drill going early," Jacob, 15, explained. "I figured out it had been authentic when I heard the helicopter and sirens."

Shortly following 9 a.m., a shooting was reported in the science constructing, that is separate from exactly where Jacob and his classmates sat for over an hour, lights off, doors locked. "I was just contemplating, 'I do not need to die,' " Jacob stated.

Authorities sooner or later moved the college students and employees to an auditorium, but explained they could not say what was happening. Rumors have been flying, Jacob stated, that an individual had opened fire inside a classroom.

A 16-year-old student was shot and wounded in the college, sheriff's officials stated, and was in essential but steady ailment. Authorities explained the suspect, also a student, utilised a rifle and attempted to shoot a 2nd student but missed.

A third student was taken to an spot hospital with probable hearing injury following the shotgun was fired near to her ear, authorities explained. A fourth suffered small injuries when she stumbled in excess of a table.

Panicked moms and dads rushed towards the college. Several mentioned they feared the worst following the Dec. 14 massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary college that killed twenty college students and 6 adults.

Mary Jackson, Jacob's mom, will work inside the college district's foods services division. She was inside a junior substantial college kitchen two blocks away when she and her co-workers have been informed to lock the kitchen doors.

"My initially instinct is my son," Jackson stated. "I started out bawling and fell towards the floor."

She left the constructing and ran towards the higher college, the place she heard that two college students had been shot.

"How do I realize it was not my son? It had been horrible ?a I got a text from my son that stated, 'I like you,' " she stated. "I broke down. Just after about 3 hrs, we lastly got to speak."

Jackson explained she's just glad her youngsters ?a her daughter attends an elementary college following to Taft Union ?a are secure.

"It was an extended, horrible, horrible feeling in my abdomen that I want on nobody," she mentioned.

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MTV's 'Washington Heights' Elite: The actual Forged within the Heights' Renaissance along with Changing the landscape of Fact Television

From the network that gave us The Hills and Jersey Shore comes a demonstrate as opposed to any of its predecessors. Positive, MTV's Washington Heights follows a equivalent reality Television formula ¡§C documenting 6 mates who have been born and raised in Manhattan's northern-most neighborhood ¡§C but in contrast to Lauren Conrad and Co., J.P. and his buddies have heart, plus they dress in it just about as proudly because they put on their enjoy on the Heights.

For your cast of Washington Heights, this is not only a area the place they reside: it can be a culture, it can be a life style, and most importantly, it is property. J.P. and his good friends ¡§C Reyna, Frankie, Ludwin, Fred, Rico, Jimmy and Taylor ¡§C grew up during the Heights, only a couple of blocks far from each other. An aspiring rapper, J.P. (who goes through the moniker Audubon) conceived the thought for that docu-series 3 year before production.

"New York City has by no means been portrayed this genuine or this difficult," J.P. informed Celebuzz. "And it really is not HBO. It truly is not a film. There have been exhibits that glamorized the intercourse with the city, the clothing along with the clubs, but our display is about culture. That is what helps make it entirely unique. There is in no way been this significantly culture on Television prior to."

"The display has not taken off, and I truly feel like we have previously manufactured historical past just by becoming an all-Hispanic cast on tv," he extra. "And 3 from the 4 creators are Hispanic. I am proud of us previously!"

On the other hand, the docu-series does fall victim to a number of reality display tropes. From the 1st episode, and explosive fright involving Reyna and Eliza fractures the group for any vast majority of your season.

"It's like when you happen to be strolling down the street and there is usually somewhat Chihuahua barking in the Pit-bull," Rico joked of Reyna's feisty mindset.

The 2 have nonetheless to resolve their variations. ("Sometimes, she has that encounter and I just need to slap her," stated Reyna.) But based on the cast, that is not indicative of your complete series.

"That's the primary and final time a large battle occurred among us," mentioned J.P. "That messed up every little thing. I was not speaking to Jimmy for, like, 4 months just after that battle. That battle sucked. I dislike reliving that second, but matters happen?- I am glad we get that from the way in which during the initially episode so from the finish on the season, individuals could have forgotten about this. That is not what the demonstrate is about.

Rather, the series aims to highlight the Heights the way in which J.P. and his buddies see it: like a cultual Mecca.

"It's been an extended time coming," mentioned Frankie, a functionality poet. "People are often inspired by people today from comparable walks of lifestyle, so I cannot wait for men and women to check out what inspires us mainly because hopefully, it'll inspire them."

"We inspire one another to complete superior," additional Fred.

In advance of joining the cast, Fred, now an aspiring style designer, was doing work in property ¡§C and admittedly, he was miserable.

"I was not chasing my dreams, I was chasing what my mother and father desired me to undertake," he stated. "And when I'd hang out with J.P. as well as Ludwin, who was like, 'All I would like to do is paint,' I recognized that I ought to be going soon after my dreams precisely the same way they had been going immediately after theirs."

"I just could not see myself within a retail retailer or at a restaurant," extra Reyna, an aspiring singer. "I choose to wake up loving what I am carrying out."

"That's why I just lately quit my career," laughed Fred.

In element, that is the appeal of Washington Heights. It follows a group of optimistic youthful persons because they aspire for anything better than their conditions ?a no alcohol-induced fights, sloppy hook-ups or smush rooms needed. Within the Heights, these youngsters struggle with genuine issues. Jimmy virtually ended his promising baseball job offering medicines soon after his father was sent to prison; Ludwin feels suffocated by his girlfriend's insecurities; and J.P. see's his mother's economic struggles first-hand.

Meanwhile, MTV's other midseason reality series Buckwild ¡§C which follows a group of wild buddies in West Virginia ¡§C is additional with the identical in the network that turned GTL right into a home title. Some could possibly wonder in case the artistic renaissance represented in Washington Heights could also bring about a cultural shift for MTV; a single could only hope.

"You're likely to really feel like you are viewing mates," stated J.P. "You're not likely to truly feel like you happen to be viewing these folks which you can not recognize with. You will not be like, 'Who the hell are these folks?'"

18invest

Countrywide influenza episode builds up

The nationwide flu epidemic is having worse from the day: On Wednesday, Boston -- that has a population of no less than 600,000 -- declared a public overall health emergency following the virus killed in excess of a dozen individuals.

No less than 3 extra states -- Montana, South Dakota and Arizona -- are now reporting widespread flu, bringing the complete to 44 states. As well as the CDC says the percentage of individuals likely to the hospital for remedy of flu signs has doubled previously month.

The emergency in Boston was declared right after confirmed circumstances of flu reached 700. There have been just 70 at this time final year. Across the state, 18 individuals have died.

"In the final two weeks alone we have doubled our quantity," mentioned Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the executive director with the Boston Public Wellness Commission. "So, if we carry on at this price to determine new instances, we'll have an explosion of flu while in the city of Boston. We seriously really need to get ahead of it at this time in time."

To complete that, officials are urging vaccination for everybody 6 months and older. Clinics will probably be offering free of charge shots this weekend.

Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania is acquiring as lots of as a hundred sufferers every day with flu-like signs and symptoms. A tent is create to take care of the significantly less major circumstances.

"We will need a total working energetic emergency dept for your neighborhood," explained nurse Terry Burger, who's in charge of infection management. "And this just permits us to check out the sufferers which have been not as sick. So mild illness, mild injuries...see them speedily, then discharge them."

About 60 miles south in Chadds Ford, the whole Coan family members got the vaccine, but eight-year-old Alex came down using the flu anyway.

"You cough quite a bit," he stated, "kind of sneeze a little bit, lay in bed all day."

His mom Christine explained: "As a mom, I was really disappointed that he got the flu, mainly because I needed to battle him tooth and nail to acquire the flu shot."

In recent times, the vaccine continues to be about 60 to 70 % powerful at avoiding the flu. A short while ago, scientists found this year's vaccine isn't guarding against a particular strain.

Dr. William Shaffner, that is to the panel that decides what goes inside the vaccine, stated: "There is surely an influenza B strain that is to choose from, an added strain which is creating about ten % from the mischief. And that is not from the vaccine and that accounts for several of the influenza which is available."

The CDC informed CBS News this year's vaccine continues to be pretty well-matched on the strains which are in existence. Even if the flu vaccine isn't going to stop the flu, it could possibly even now end issues like pneumonia and also death.

As for how does this outbreak compares historically -- a great deal of people today will not recognize that the flu varies in intensity from year to year. In a few many years it is mild; it may very well be reasonable; or it will get to get extreme. The CDC informed CBS News that this can be a reasonable to significant season, but it is effectively inside of what is historically a assortment of typical.

18invest

Swiss bank Wegelin to close after US tax evasion fine

Switzerland's oldest bank is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes.

Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay $57.8m (£36m; 44m euros) in fines to US authorities.

It said that once this was completed, it "will cease to operate as a bank".

The bank had admitted to allowing more than 100 American citizens to hide $1.2bn from the Internal Revenue Service for almost 10 years.

Wegelin, based in the small Swiss town of St Gallen, started in business 35 years before the US declaration of independence.

It becomes the first foreign bank to plead guilty to tax evasion charges in the US.

Other Swiss banks have in recent years moved to prevent US citizens from opening offshore accounts.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Usually when you cave in to the USA, you do it because you just want to get rid of it”

Dr Peter V KunzProfessor of economic law, the University of Bern

US Attorney Preet Bharara said: "The bank wilfully and aggressively jumped in to fill a void that was left when other Swiss banks abandoned the practice due to pressure from US law enforcement."

He added that it was a "watershed moment in our efforts to hold to account both the individuals and the banks - wherever they may be in the world - who are engaging in unlawful conduct that deprives the US Treasury of billions of dollars of tax revenue".

Otto Bruderer, a managing partner at the bank, admitted that Wegelin had sheltered US clients from tax between 2002 and 2010, and said it was aware that its conduct had been "wrong".

Mr Burderer's further admission that assisting tax evasion was common practice in Switzerland has caused huge concern among the Swiss banking community, according to the BBC's Switzerland correspondent, Imogen Foulkes.

"Some Swiss financial analysts are already speculating that Wegelin's $58m fine, which many had expected to be higher, was kept low by the US authorities in return for Wegelin clearly implicating the rest of the Swiss banking community in tax evasion," she said.

Inevitable demise

Wegelin effectively ceased to function as a Swiss bank almost a year ago.

US criminal accusations against three of its executives prompted the bank to sell off its core Swiss and other non-US businesses in January 2011.

The rushed sale protected Wegelin's non-US clients from the fall-out of any legal battle, and reflected fears that few clients would want to continue doing business with a bank being pursued by the US anyway.

The businesses were bought by Raiffeisen Bank, Switzerland's co-operative bank, which has since severed the few business ties that it had with the US.

The sale left Wegelin responsible only for its American clients, including those at the centre of the US authorities' probe.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Many believe the Swiss government is trying to square an impossible circle”

Imogen FoulkesBBC News, Geneva

Swiss banks' unease over Wegelin

Wegelin as an institution was then itself indicted by US authorities in February last year, and later declared a fugitive from justice when the bank's executives failed to appear in a US court.

The bank had vowed to fight the charges, claiming that because it only had branches in Switzerland, it was bound only by its home country's relaxed banking laws.

Its decision to cave in, and wind down its one remaining business, has made the bank's demise inevitable.

"Usually when you cave in to the USA, you do it because you just want to get rid of it," said Dr Peter V Kunz, an economic law professor at the University of Bern.

Having sold off all its non-US businesses, Mr Kunz believes the bank's partners would have been keen to end a potentially interminable legal dispute with the US in order to recover as much of the sale proceeds as possible from what had in effect become a shell company.

The desire to end the legal battle would have been given added pique by the fact that Wegelin's partners have personal financial liability for the bank.

'Aggressively pursuing'

Jeffrey Neiman, a former US federal prosecutor who was involved in a previous investigation into Swiss banks, said: "It is unclear whether the bank was required to turn over American client names who held secret Swiss bank accounts.

"What is clear is that the Justice Department is aggressively pursuing foreign banks who have helped Americans commit overseas tax evasion."

It remains to be seen whether US authorities will continue with, or drop, parallel charges against three Wegelin bankers, Michael Berlinka, Urs Frei and Roger Keller.

The decision to throw in the towel also marks a turnaround for Konrad Hummler, Wegelin's managing director since 1991, and one of the partners whose own personal finances were potentially at stake.

Mr Hummler, who is also chairman of the Swiss daily newspaper Neuer Zuercher Zeitung, has previously been unusually outspoken among Swiss bankers in calling for the country's authorities to block any disclosure of banking client details to the US authorities.

The Wegelin case comes four years after a far larger Swiss bank, UBS, agreed to pay a $780m fine to US authorities related to tax evasion charges. UBS also agreed to reveal the details of US account holders.

However, UBS neither pleaded nor was found guilty. Instead it and US prosecutors came to what is called a deferred prosecution agreement, with the fine being paid in exchange for the charges being dropped.

Switzerland's other major bank, Credit Suisse - with over a trillion dollars in total assets and another trillion in clients' money - remains under investigation by the US authorities, as does another high profile bank, Julius Baer, which is about a fifth of the size of Credit Suisse, as well as 11 other mainly local, cantonal banks.

Abandoning the hearth for Christmas

It's no miracle that Wendy Owan won't be stuck in highway traffic Christmas Day, carrying covered dishes to a family celebration in Brooklyn, New York.

The Queens resident made sure of it months ago.

Owan and her adult daughter will be leaving winter behind as they embark on the Carnival Miracle on Christmas Eve, setting sail for a seven-day cruise to Port Canaveral, followed by Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas. They return New Year's Day.

"I've never cruised during the holidays before, but I am so looking forward to leaving all the stress behind for eight wonderfully relaxing days at sea," said Owan, the New York School of Urban Ministry's director of ministry services, who has been doing post-Sandy relief work for weeks. "The Miracle apparently has a dome of some sort that can enclose the pool. I'm hoping for snow so that I can sail away in the midst of it in the pool."The prospect of traveling to a relative's home for the holidays or hosting all of those relatives leaves some people running for the hills -- or the sea, or the nearest resort. When everyone's a guest, no one relative or family has to bear the burden of taking care of everyone else. And no one relative gets to decide whose holiday traditions will be followed during the holiday season.

About 84 million Americans say they plan to travel over the holidays this year, according to a recent American Express Travel Spending and Saving Tracker Survey. Many of them aren't traveling to anyone's home, say American Express travel agents.

Resorts and cruise lines are popular choices

"I have so many clients that are actually looking to get away during the holidays, with large resorts and cruise lines being among the most popular," said American Express Travel agent Debbie Wynne-Parry. "Some may want to take advantage of those extra holiday days off so they don't burn as many vacation days during the year. Others may want to get away from the inclement weather, not want to deal with the hassle of cooking and cleaning. And many people are even turning to holiday vacations in lieu of presents, especially in cases where the family's children are a bit older."

Relaxation is usually the name of the game for people looking to get away for the holidays.

"For a multigenerational family, a cruise is a great way to meet up on one place but not meet up on anyone's home turf," said Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic. "There's less chance for family conflicts. You have your own space and time on a trip, but you can get together for dinner. You're not smooshed together all the time."

Five real-life wonderlands

Cruises are pricey, but ships do take care of meals and most decorations, leaving guests to decorate their room doors if they like.

But if you want to get rooms near each other, Brown advises booking for next year about nine months in advance. And buy travel insurance, she says, in case anyone gets sick or hurt in the meantime.

Land-based resorts also take care of the Christmas cheer and décor.

Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia, tries to attend to every Christmas detail for its guests, many of whom come 15 to a group year after year. Some holiday packages even include a small Christmas tree in the suite, so children can still find Santa's presents under a tree by the fireplace. Other holiday touches include carolers greeting guests at the entrance, Saturday lunches with Santa and sleigh rides that end up by the firepit with s'mores.

"You can still wake up Christmas morning with a tree by the fireplace and breakfast in our dining room with a buffet prepared by our chef," said Allison Patterson, Kingsmill's events director. "It makes you feel like you're home for the holidays, but you don't have to make the beds or wash the dishes."

Everyone's on "neutral ground"

San Franciscan Debbie Dare doesn't look for a "traditional" East Coast snowy holiday for her Christmas celebration. She's looking for fun, kitsch, good Chinese food and poker with her mom for her Christmas celebration in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is "neutral ground (not going to any one's hometown of Los Angeles or San Francisco), it's bright and shiny (there's always something new, a restaurant, another tacky celebrity niche store), the Chinese food in their Chinatown is excellent, and there's constant entertainment as nothing ever closes in Vegas, even on Christmas," Dare wrote in an e-mail.

Eight hotels that do the holidays right

Her family members have even established their own "Christmas in Vegas" rituals. "My favorite thing is to sit next to my mom and play pai gow poker. She taught me how. I always ask her for advice, each and every hand, and she does her 'mmmmmm, not like that' or when looking at her own hand, 'Jeezus, I got nothing!' I'm nervous and happy at the same time."

That works for her six-member family, which doesn't include any small children. But if you're still traveling with small ones, you may want a more traditional Christmas.

Make a plan for Santa and his presents

That can be hard to do via airplane, because anything that Santa brings on Christmas Day must be lugged back whenever you depart. (Driving vacations make it easier if you have trunk space.) After all, what child wants to wait until their best presents are shipped back? Consider trading the non-Santa presents before or after your travels and bringing stockings so there are some presents to open on Christmas Day.

If the family includes Santa believers, American Express Travel's Wynne-Perry suggests having them write Santa a letter to tell him where you'll be during Christmas.

Consider adjoining or interconnecting rooms for more family time (if you want it).

If you enjoy them, stick to the same rituals on vacation as you would at home. Make any restaurant reservations well in advance. And be aware of any baggage that comes with some presents, like battery requirements or travel rules. (Airline security frowns on Daisy Red Ryder BB guns.)

Top U.S. travel spots for 2013

And talk to your children, says Eileen Gunn, founder of FamiliesGo!, a family travel website.

"When the kids are 2 or 3 years old, they'll go along with whatever you say," even that Santa came early or is coming later, Gunn said. "At 6 or 7, they start asking questions. It depends on your kids, their ages and their inquisitiveness."

Drama may follow you on vacation

And remember you can't completely escape the family drama if you're traveling with the family that causes the drama (including yourself).

"You're not leaving everything when you travel with family," saidPauline Wallin, a psychologist with a practice in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. "There's an initial settling-in period when everyone is nice to each other. The way you interact with family on neutral territory won't necessarily show up for the first 24 to 48 hours. After that, you become like your family is used to becoming. At least when it starts to grate on you (at a resort), you can retreat to the pool."

Just don't be surprised if Aunt Susie makes a comment about your weight or Uncle Harold teases you about not being married yet. "If you can predict this going to happen, why are you so surprised when it does?" asked Wallin. "Remember that Christmas Day is just 24 hours. You can get through 24 hours. People can hold it together when there's a time limit."