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Everyone is afraid of something. Spiders, heights, angry bees. But while spiders and bees can make a picnic challenging, they usually don't get in the way of doing a job. Unfortunately, my fear is public speaking.

The bad economy and the deteriorating commercial real-estate market have motivated some small-business owners to fight their tax assessments. Ann Jones of Columbia, S.C., thought there might be a mistake when she received a property valuation from Richland County in January. The co-owner of the Dog Eared Corner LLC, a pet-grooming company, saw her commercial property's value assessed at $287,000, after she had just bought the three-story building three months earlier for only $210,000.

" Preview: Obama's 2013 Budget February 13, 2012 - 3:00am By Libby A. Nelson WASHINGTON -- President Obama today will propose spending $8 billion on job training programs at community colleges over the next three years, part of a budget for the 2013 fiscal year that also would increase spending on Education Department programs and some scientific research. The president will outline the job-training proposal in more detail in a speech at Northern Virginia Community College this morning. But unlike past calls to spend more on community colleges, this plan is aimed squarely at an election-year message of "jobs, jobs, jobs" rather than the administration's goal of increasing the number of Americans with college degrees. The proposal, as outlined by Education Department officials Sunday evening, builds on job training programs already in existence -- especially the Trade Act Assistance Community College Career Training Program, which began making grants to community colleges in September. If approved by Congress, the president's proposal would provide $1.3 billion each per year to the Education and Labor Departments, on top of the trade act grants. While it's unclear whether the money would create new federal programs or build up existing ones, the funds would be spent at community colleges that train workers for jobs in high-demand fields, according to materials released by the Education Department. Programs that are especially successful at finding jobs for their graduates, or at placing those who traditionally have difficulty finding work, would be eligible for additional money. The grants would also be used to encourage partnerships between businesses, states, local governments and community colleges, and to create an online course to encourage entrepreneurs. The money would also support paid internships for low-income college students. But the plan would shut out for-profit colleges, which would not be eligible for the additional funds -- a move alm

"Workers fired or disciplined for bad-mouthing employers on social-networking sites are fighting back using a decades-old labor law-a new front in the murky battle over what workers can do and say online."

"Google Inc. is fighting off Facebook Inc. and other fast-growing Internet firms that are poaching its staff, a reversal for a company that has long been one of Silicon Valley's hottest job destinations. "

Most weekday mornings David Herbert, 44, is out the door by 4:15 a.m., hoping to get a jump on the 74-mile slog from his home southwest of Olympia, Wash. to downtown Seattle. Rather than fight traffic the entire way, the information technology manager drives 45 miles to Tacoma, boards the 5:35 a.m. train for the one-hour ride to King Street Station then takes a bus for the final 20 minutes of his commute to the office.

Obama will use his speech before a joint session of Congress tonight to marshal a sense of urgency behind his jobs agenda and to try to open a new phase in the fight over proposals to fix the economy.