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Kuwaiti business leaders to benefit from Sage's focus on the country's new industries

Following on efforts from the Kuwaiti Government to diversify the country's economy, Sage Software is touching down in the capital to address business leaders on the benefits of leveraging off technology to develop emerging sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and services. . more

Small business session set for Wednesday

A public forum about small business loan programs is planned Wednesday at the Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center.

The Area Wide Forum on Access to Capital is sponsored by the Otero County Economic Development Council and the Small Business Development Center at New Mexico State University-Alamogordo.

The event, set at the center at 800 E. First St., is to include information provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration, USDA Rural Development and development and finance companies that specialize in small businesses.

For more information

call 434-5272. . more

Pete Westermann, President, Total Logistic Control (Photo: Business Wire)

25/03/2008 12:00:00 Business Wire Total Logistic Control has named Pete Westermann as the company s new president.
Westermann has served as TLC s Chief Operating Officer since 2006, and has been instrumental in the company s recent expansion.
Westermann replaces Bob Koerner, the company s long-serving president.
"I am privileged to be building upon a foundation of both leadership and accomplishment," said Westermann, "I see a bright future ahead for TLC as we continue to focus our entire enterprise on improving our customers bottom lines." Westermann brings over 20 years of industry leadership experience to this new role.
Said Janel Haugarth, executive vice president, and president and chief operating officer of SUPERVALU s Supply Chain Services Organization, "We are pleased that Pete Westermann has agreed to take the reins at TLC. more

Latest Business Large Retirement Services News

Business This Week: Optimism for the New Year - Valdosta Daily Times

It’s difficult to find anyone who says that 2009 was one of their best years. From business and job woes to violence in the community, the year ended on a down note. Ever the eternal optimist, I am hopeful that next year will be much better, calmer ...

Bernard Schoenburg: Plenty of problems -- plenty of possibilities - State Journal-Register

It’s hard to believe that a new decade has begun. It’s also hard to believe that this summer will mark 18 years that I have been writing this column. It’s been more than 30 years since I first witnessed legislative action as a reporter covering ...

What will the next year be like? 2011 looks promising - Salt Lake Tribune

... employer matches to 401(k) retirement funds don't seem likely to get that money back even if the economy perks up -- a deficit compounded by expectations of higher health insurance ... into Las Vegas, Southern California and Phoenix.

Ponce mall revitalizes - St. Augustine Record

Families coming into the Ponce de Leon Mall in its '80s heyday got prescriptions at Walgreens, ate fried chicken at Morrison's Cafeteria and tossed coins and wishes in the center fountain. Then they might buy a paperback at Waldenbooks or catch ...

What will the decade ahead hold for Wilmington and Southeastern North ... - Star News Online

“Every major political and economic development of the past few years has taken people by surprise,” said Tom Morris, chairman of the Morris Institute for Human Values in Wilmington and author of such books as “If Aristotle Ran General Motors ...

Reverse mortgages let owners tap equity - Lancaster online.com

John Spencer Sr. came close this fall to losing the Lancaster rowhouse he's lived in for the past 27 years to a sheriff's sale for unpaid property taxes. "I got quite a few notices, and it was down to the wire," the 81-year-old homeowner said. But ...

30 ways to a better life - The Guardian

E instein is supposed to have said: "If we lose bees then humanity falls to its knees." Whether or not the great man actually said it, the debt we owe these tireless pollinators was pulled sharply into focus last year as a global decline in bee ...

2009 IN FOCUS : 2009 in parliament: A year of questions and answers - Rwanda New Times

... office, Solina Nyirahabimana, appeared before the lower chamber of parliament where she said while drafting the new Law on Immigration and Emigration, the need for fast service delivery and the new ICT age were the main principles that were kept ...

Administration in ‘preventive role’ - Bedford Times-Mail

One would combine the administration of two retirement ... plans to discontinue service from Mitchell south. Like local leaders, Skillman said she has written official letters expressing the importance of railroads for future business. “

Resolved Question: anyone good with economics?

1. What is the opportunity cost of a decision? (1 point) the series of alternative decisions that could have been made the best possible way the question could have been decided the different ways that a different person might have made the decision the most desirable alternative given up for the decision 2. What is the purpose of competition? (1 point) to act as a regulating force in the marketplace to cause producers to attempt to put each other out of business to cause buyers to have to be careful about spending their money to act as a motivating force behind the free market 3. What incentive motivates a manufacturer to sell a product? (1 point) making profits on sales putting others out of business pleasing the consumer popularity of the product 4. All of the following are types of decisions that can be made at the margin EXCEPT (1 point) whether to grow beans or corn on a large farm. whether or not to hire 100 new workers. whether to leave early in the morning or late in the day for a trip. whether or not to go on a vacation. 5. Which of the following is a critical rule for determining whether something is a public good? (1 point) The benefit to each individual who uses the facility is greater than the cost. The benefits of the facility are greater for the society than for the individuals using it. The total benefits to society are greater than the total cost. The total cost is small for each individual taxpayer. 6. What best describes the role of government in a free enterprise system? (1 point) Control business activities. Decide what companies will be formed and then allow the managers to run them. Allow individuals to operate their businesses in ways they think will maximize their profits. Require companies to disclose information to consumers. 7. The government of a country must make a decision between increasing military spending and subsidizing wheat farmers. This kind of decision is a (1 point) guns or butter issue. decision at the margin. global trade-off. basic economic decision. 8. What is one benefit provided by Social Security? (1 point) medical care for the indigent cash transfers to workers injured on the job compensation for all who lose jobs retirement income for the elderly 9. The resources used to make all goods and services are the (1 point) production possibilities. factors of production. production trade-offs. opportunity costs. 10. What is positive externality? (1 point) a way to generate trade that will benefit people who are from other countries an economic side effect that generates unexpected benefits a cash flow that will benefit both the government and the businesses who interact with it an extra payment to welfare recipients 11. What is a factory building an example of? (1 point) human capital physical capital an economic trade-off technology 12. Which of the following is NOT a key economic question? (1 point) What goods and services should be produced? How should these goods and services be produced? Who consumes these goods and services? How should it be ensured that goods and services are paid for? 13. Production possibilities frontiers curve when they are charted on a graph because they show (1 point) the underutilization of resources. the maximum output of goods and services. the increasing costs resulting in increasingly less output. the technological level of the economy's productivity. 14. Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a centrally planned economy? (1 point) The central government owns all land and capital. The central government makes all economic decisions. Each collective or factory sets its own goals. Each person is assigned a job. 15. Which of the following is NOT an example of a public good? (1 point) shopping malls national parks highways municipal libraries 16. What does the process of specialization do for an economy? (1 point) It makes it more efficient. It eliminates unemployment. It fosters competition. It makes it easier to control. 17. What is the function of an economic system? (1 point) to make sure all people have equal access to goods to produce and distribute goods and services to give all producers the same access to consumers to make sure people are paid for their labor 18. What is the struggle among various producers for the consumer's business called? (1 point) socialism competition incentive self-regulation 19. Why does even a free market economy need some government intervention? (1 point) to provide for things that the marketplace does not address to ensure that the government has the freedom to tax as necessary to make sure that the government can fulfill its needs for military personnel so that the government has some control over factory resources 20. Who decided what the farmers would produce on Soviet collectives? (1 point) the farmers the military the governmenif you know any answers, that will help. thankyou more

Resolved Question: Why should government in a socialist country like India pay pension to only retired government servants?

Pension is paid to Govt servants after they retire, good. But it is paid to ex governent employees out of state tax revenue to which even those contribute who do not work in goverment. Even the politicians ex MLA MP who just serve for a few years are given pension in India . There could be many government retired employees who had raised huge estates / capital reserves during their service days even when they were always demanding increase in dearness allownace. Dearness allowance is paid for easing survival and not for raising reserves. Hence from where do the reserves come ? Government employees feel it below dignity to send their children to Government schools and even attending government hospitals for health cover. Are they very rich? Even a Director School Education or Secretary School education living in cities does not send his children to government schools, do they deserve to remain in service and get pension on retirement , they are like that Halwaee who preferred to eat sweets from some other shop and not from his own. After VI th pay commission it has been noted that some ex employees who retired about 15 years back are getting pension nearly 2.5 times the salary they were getting at the time of retirement. Some cases are there where pesioners have got pension for about 40 years where as they served for only 30 years. The concept behind pension to governemt servants who are debarred from any private enterprise / business participation during service was very very sacred but now since the government machinery is not delivering and the social services ( education,health, security, law& order, revenue records,) provided by government through government servant too are not yielding, the life of people has become difficult. These days many government servants who held non yielding senior positions are getting pension may be Rs.30000 to Rs.40000 pm which is like some one getting interest income from a fixed deposit in bank as large as Rs.40 to 50 Lac. Think over. There are many senior citizens who retire from private jobs and live miserable life without pension. Their savings too are meagre in most of the cases. So they have to keep on working till they finally "collapse". So government must come up with a security system for payment of pension to those who work in the private sector and have this way or that way contributed to tax revenue during their active days. The pension to every senior citizen should not be less than Rs.10000 per month at todays norms with growing material and health needs as is being particularly kept in view by the Pay Commissions while deciding the matters regarding governemnt servants. The position of those retiring from government public sector PSU too is bad. The provision of contributory provident fund is too meagre before the provision of Pension being paid to Governemnt employees and incase it is to match the magnitude of pension benefits that government servants have CPF by employer has to be not less than 25% to 30 % of the salary. Further in the private sector the part of wage amount qualifying for the CPF( 10%) is small and hence the CPF provides even lesser security to tose in private sector than it provides to PSU ex employess. Daya Sagar , social activist more

Resolved Question: Why should govt pay pension to only those who retire form govt service?

Pension is paid to Govt servants after they retire, good. But it is paid to ex governent employees out of state tax revenue to which even those contribute who do not work in goverment. Even the politicians ex MLA MP who just serve for a few years are given pension. There could be many government retired employees who had raised huge estates / capital reserves during their service days even when they were always demanding increase in dearness allownace. Dearness allowance is paid for easing survival and not for raising reserves. Hence from where do the reserves come ? Government employees feel it below dignity to send their children to Government schools and even attending government hospitals for health cover. Are they very rich? Even a Director School Education or Secretary School education living in cities does not send his children to government schools, do they deserve to remain in service and get pension on retirement , they are like that Halwaee who preferred to eat sweets from some other shop and not from his own. After VIth pay commission it has noted that some ex employees who retired about 15 years back are getting pension nearly 2.5 times the salary they were getting at the time of retirement. Some cases are there where pesioners have got pension for about 40 years where as they served for only 30 years. The concept behind pension to governemt servants who are debarred from any private enterprise / business participation during service was very very sacred but now since the government machinery is not delivering and the social services ( education,health, security, law& order, revenue records,) provided by government through government servant too are not yielding, the life of people has become difficult. These days many government servants who held non yielding senior positions are getting pension may be Rs.30000 to Rs.40000 pm which is like some one getting interest income from a fixed deposit in bank as large as Rs.40 to 50 Lac. Think over. There are many senior citizens who retire from private jobs and live miserable life without pension. Their savings too are meagre in most of the cases. So they have to keep on working till they finally "collapse". So government must come up with a security system for payment of pension to those who work in the private sector and have this way or that way contributed to tax revenue during their active days. The pension to every senior citizen should not be less than Rs.10000 per month at todays norms with growing material and health needs as is being particularly kept in view by the Pay Commissions while deciding the matters regarding governemnt servants. The position of those retiring from government public sector PSU too is bad. The provision of contributory provident fund is too meagre before the provision of Pension being paid to Governemnt employees and incase it is to match the magnitude of pension benefits that government servants have CPF by employer has to be not less than 25% to 30 % of the salary. Further in the private sector the part of wage amount qualifying for the CPF( 10%) is small and hence the CPF provides even lesser security to tose in private sector than it provides to PSU ex employess. Daya Sagar , social activist more

Resolved Question: Economy questions help please!?

26.) Approximately ____ of all above-ground gold is held in reserves by central banks. 10% 25% 50% 85% 27.) The Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the _______________, and it quickly spread to the United States. late 19th and early 20th centuries late 18th and early 19th centuries late 17th and early 18th centuries mid 20th century 28.) The "Gilded Age" of the second half of the 19th century was the epoch of: gilds. mergers. tycoons. automobiles. 29.) A person who takes the risk of organizing and operating a new business venture is called a: tycoon. sole proprietor. entrepreneur. corporation. 30.) What did America experience in the 1920's? An economic boom An economic bust A long bull market A long bear market 31.) October 24, 1929, the day when 13 million shares were sold is now known as: Black Monday Black Tuesday Black Thursday Black Friday 32.) In America, during the _____, the number of workers providing services grew until it equaled and then surpassed the number who produced goods. 1930s 1950s 1970s 1990s 33.) Stagflation is a situation in which a nation's economy is characterized by relatively: high price inflation and low rates of economic growth. low price inflation and high rates of unemployment. high rates of economic growth and low price inflation. low unemployment rates and high rates of economic growth. 34.) Communism is an economic theory which stresses that the control of the means of producing economic goods in a society should reside in the hands of those who: have the biggest economic advantage. invest their labor for production. have the most education. are elected to office by the public. 35.) In a typical ________ arrangement, a successful company authorizes an individual or small group of entrepreneurs to use its name and products in exchange for a percentage of the sales revenue. wholesale franchising marketing corporate 36.) Which of the following does not form a true statement by correctly completing the sentence? Large businesses are important to the overall economy because they are better equipped to: conduct research and develop new goods. offer more varied job opportunities and greater job stability. offer higher wages and better health and retirement benefits. provide the goods and services wanted by the surrounding community. 37.) In general, government antitrust officials see a threat of monopoly power when a company gains control of ________ of the market for a commodity or service. 25% 30% 66.6% 90% 38.) Which of the following is not one of the roles of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)? sets and enforces tolerable limits of pollution cleans up polluted streams, rivers, and marshes establishes timetables to bring polluters into line with standards has the authority to coordinate and support research and anti-pollution efforts 39.) Which of the following are not practiced market strategies? Buying on margin Selling short Selling long Options 40.) ________ is an economic policy or doctrine that opposes government interference in or regulation of business or commerce beyond what is necessary for a free-enterprise system to regulate itself. Communism Laissez-faire Fiscal policy Free-enterprise policy 41.) Which of the following is not a method that corporations use to raise capital? issuing bonds or preferred stock selling common stock borrowing and using profits selling goods and services directly to the public more

Resolved Question: "Undocumented" Boomers Head to Mexico what say you if reading is hardship skip this question?

Dear President Calderon: As you are no doubt aware, America the Great is quickly becoming America the Gray. The so-called "boomer" generation, comprised of approximately 40 million Americans, will soon reach retirement age. As they age, America's boomers yearn for a less frantic pace---and a lifestyle that allows one to pause and smell the roses now and again. In other words, boomers are looking for the "Good Life" which is supposed to accrue to those who work 45 years, pay ungodly amounts in taxes, raise a family, put children through college, and baby-sit the grandchildren. Unfortunately, the United States is no longer as hospitable as it once was to graying citizens, especially now that our economy has collapsed. As a result, boomers have decided to move to your beloved Mexico. Knowing that the Mexican government is a strong supporter of open borders and liberal immigration policies, as least with respect to migrations from Mexico to America, boomers anticipate that their needs and wishes will be fully accommodated with minimal interference and bureaucratic hassle. In plain English, boomers expect to be treated like upscale Mexican citizens, with all the perks and advantages attendant thereto. Incidentally, we prefer to be called "undocumented boomers." President Calderon, I am delighted to announce that 40 million undocumented American boomers are headed to Mexico! Viva America! Current plans call for about 500,000 boomers to cross the border into Mexico each month. As with any complex transition, there are several "ground rules" that must be followed in order to make this change seamless. Accordingly, your attention is directed to the following action items: * Mexican sovereignty, borders, and immigration laws are essentially null and void with respect to undocumented boomers. No attempt should be made to enforce said restrictions on good hearted, formerly hard working Americans. * Undocumented boomers shall receive unlimited education, food, housing, legal assistance, and geriatric care on demand, the cost of which shall be borne solely by Mexican taxpayers. * Mexican hospitals, medical clinics, and emergency rooms shall be obligated to meet the medical needs of all undocumented boomers, without regard to ability to pay. This obligation shall not be limited or restricted in any way because of any real or projected negative impact on Mexico's medical systems, including the loss of vital services to Mexican citizens. * Although undocumented boomers shall not be obligated to pay for medical services received, they shall be entitled to send $30-50 billion a year back to the United States with impunity. The Mexican government shall actively facilitate the transfer of such funds to America. * English is the only language used by undocumented boomers; boomers have no desire or obligation to learn Spanish. * America's historic free speech, free love, and anti-war revolutions originated with activists in the boomer generation. In keeping with the boomer tradition of aggressive activism, from time to time it may be necessary for millions of boomers to take over the streets of Mexico's large cities in order to protest proposed new laws when the "rights" of undocumented boomers are in jeopardy. During such protests, boomers will wave Old Glory and scream "Yes, we can!" and "We are Mexico!" in English, as they protest the rule of law. All such activities are valid free speech expressions in a thriving Democracy. As a consequence, the Mexican government shall take no action to limit or impede protests by undocumented boomers. * We Americans celebrate the 4th of July to commemorate our independence from Great Britain. Undocumented boomers prefer to conduct business as normal on May 5 and September 16, and to reserve the 4th of July for fireworks, BBQs, and displaying Red, White, and Blue everywhere. * Undocumented boomers shall be licensed to drive without regard to immigration status. All driver instruction and testing materials shall be in English. * Blood relatives of undocumented boomers shall be eligible for the same reduced tuition rates offered to Mexican students in the nation legally. Immersion for the purpose of teaching Spanish is a failed concept and shall not even be attempted. * Undocumented boomers shall be eligible to vote in Mexican elections without any requirement to prove identity. * Grandchildren of undocumented boomers born in Mexico shall be Mexican citizens by virtue of their birth, regardless of the immigration status of their parents and grand parents, and * Undocumented boomers are very sensitive and are easily offended. Therefore, Mexicans shall refrain from using terms like "illegal alien," "Red Neck," "Cracker,"or "Gringo" when addressing or discussing boomers. In closing, Mr. President, let me assure you that undocumented boomers will attempt to do for Mexico what 38 more

Resolved Question: Can somebody help me with my sons History Homework?

I need help my son is asking me for help but I do not know the answers and im trying to sound smart for him can somebody please help me? 25.) _____ is the act of converting a publicly operated enterprise into a privately owned and operated entity. Shares formerly owned by the government, as well as management control, are sold to the public. Specialization Merging Monopolizing Privatization 26.) Approximately ____ of all above-ground gold is held in reserves by central banks. 10% 25% 50% 85% 27.) The Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the _______________, and it quickly spread to the United States. late 19th and early 20th centuries late 18th and early 19th centuries late 17th and early 18th centuries mid 20th century 28.) The "Gilded Age" of the second half of the 19th century was the epoch of: gilds. mergers. tycoons. automobiles. 29.) A person who takes the risk of organizing and operating a new business venture is called a: tycoon. sole proprietor. entrepreneur. corporation. 30.) What did America experience in the 1920's? An economic boom An economic bust A long bull market A long bear market 31.) October 24, 1929, the day when 13 million shares were sold is now known as: Black Monday Black Tuesday Black Thursday Black Friday 32.) In America, during the _____, the number of workers providing services grew until it equaled and then surpassed the number who produced goods. 1930s 1950s 1970s 1990s 33.) Stagflation is a situation in which a nation's economy is characterized by relatively: high price inflation and low rates of economic growth. low price inflation and high rates of unemployment. high rates of economic growth and low price inflation. low unemployment rates and high rates of economic growth. 34.) Communism is an economic theory which stresses that the control of the means of producing economic goods in a society should reside in the hands of those who: have the biggest economic advantage. invest their labor for production. have the most education. are elected to office by the public. 35.) In a typical ________ arrangement, a successful company authorizes an individual or small group of entrepreneurs to use its name and products in exchange for a percentage of the sales revenue. wholesale franchising marketing corporate 36.) Which of the following does not form a true statement by correctly completing the sentence? Large businesses are important to the overall economy because they are better equipped to: conduct research and develop new goods. offer more varied job opportunities and greater job stability. offer higher wages and better health and retirement benefits. provide the goods and services wanted by the surrounding community. 37.) In general, government antitrust officials see a threat of monopoly power when a company gains control of ________ of the market for a commodity or service. 25% 30% 66.6% 90% 38.) Which of the following is not one of the roles of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)? sets and enforces tolerable limits of pollution cleans up polluted streams, rivers, and marshes establishes timetables to bring polluters into line with standards has the authority to coordinate and support research and anti-pollution efforts 39.) Which of the following are not practiced market strategies? Buying on margin Selling short Selling long Options 40.) ________ is an economic policy or doctrine that opposes government interference in or regulation of business or commerce beyond what is necessary for a free-enterprise system to regulate itself. Communism Laissez-faire Fiscal policy Free-enterprise policy 41.) Which of the following is not a method that corporations use to raise capital? issuing bonds or preferred stock selling common stock borrowing and using profits selling goods and services directly to the public 42.) Monetary base is defined as: currency in circulation. currency in circulation plus foreign debts owed. currency in circulation plus banks' required and excess deposits at the central bank. bank's required and excess deposits at the central bank. 43.) A policy is referred to as _______ if it reduces the size of the money supply or raises the interest rate. An _______ policy increases the size of the money supply, or decreases the interest rate. contractionary, expansionary expansionary, contractionary fiscal, monetary monetary, fiscal 44.) Governments spend money on a wide variety of things. Which of the following is not a way in which these expenditures can be funded? Taxation of the population Seignorage, the benefit from printing mone more

Resolved Question: Help With ECONOMICS! PLEASE!!!!!!!?

1. A can of creamed corn represents a ____ a. goods produced b. raw materials c. capital resource d. management skill e. service produced 2. America is called the “land of opportunity” because so many energetic people with ideas have become successful and wealthy. Some of them engaged in free enterprise and gained great wealth. Select below the best example of free enterprise. a. buying stocks and bonds b. volunteering to work for a political party c. starting and running your own business d. working your way up in a corporation 3. all of the following are actions which the government may exercise to influence economic activity, EXCEPT a. forcing private industries to lay off employees b. controlling the amount of money in existence c. increasing government consumption d. decreasing government spending e. increasing taxes 4. If you read about a car in consumer reports then take the car for a test drive, you are employing which information gathering strategy? a. experience b. searching c. independent analysis d. both searching and experience 5. All of the following are examples of raw materials, EXCPET a. soybeans b. land c. iron ore d. timber e. bread 6. in the health care consumer delivery system, which of the following best represents HMO? a. output b. input c. throughput d. all of the above e. none of the above 7. Economics is a science that does not consider the essential needs of human beings a. false b. true 8. Consumer expect certain goods and services to be available on-demand during ___ a. high demand periods b. peak season periods c. both high and low demand periods d. low demand periods e. off season periods 9. a group of bread companies band together to form a huge business that controls the price and distribution of bread, would you call that group a monopoly? a. no b. yes 10. Which of the following goods is produced to meet human needs? a. yacht b. ground meat c. caviar d. fur coat e. comic book 1. You might not have sold the Magnificient Motorbike for what you thought it was worth during WWII. Many companies over charged for their products, and the Federal Government established: a. product restrictions b. price controls c. cost incentives d. cost overruns 2. Which of the following is a reason why information is necessary for a wise consumer? a. to use resources wisely b. to match your preferences c. because of poor advertising d. because of sophisticated technology e. all of the above 3. Specialization is practiced by ______ a. individuals b. geographical regions c. industries d. total nations e. all of the above 4. Over the next 2 decades, which of the following will be the largest? a. service jobs b. white collar jobs c. professional jobs d. the number of entirely new jobs e. the number of job openings from people leaving the workforce 5. To economize is ___________ a. to buy the services of another person b. to spend money to create wants and needs c. to decide which resources are needed to satisfy wants and needs d. to determine relative scarcity e. to look for plentiful human resources 6. all of the following countries practices some form of socialism, EXCEPT _____ a. Sweden b. Switzerland c. Albania d. Denmark e. great Britain 7. an example of producing a good is a __________ a. lawyer defending a client in a trial b. carpenter constructing a building using plans c. draftsman explaining blueprints to a carpenter d. draftsman drawing blueprints e. sergeant drilling troops 8. which of the following statements is NOT correct? a. scarcity influences economic value b. scarcity is basic to economics c. a resources is any material or service used to satisfy a want or need d. people have unlimited wants which influences how scarce resources are used and distributed e. scarce resources have lower value 9. Country X had a G.N.P. of $5billion in 1976, $4.8billion in 1977, and a $4.4billion in 1978. These figures indicate that country X was experiencing a period of ____________ a. depression b. inflation c. decreasing economic activity d. prosperity e. accelerated employment and a rapidly increasing circular flow of income 10. income taxes and Social Security taxes (referred to as FICA, which stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act) are withheld from your paycheck. You and your employer each pay half of the FICA tax. The federal government uses these taxes for: a. a retirement insurance program b. orphans and disabled veterans c. medical care d. all of the above 1. which tax is paid by business only? a. income tax b. real estate tax c. sales tax d. unemployment tax e. none of the above 2. the government created the federal reserve system which regulates the amount of money in circulation. This action is a form of government ___________ a. multiplier policy b. monetary policy c. taxation policy d. fiscal policy e. promissory more

Resolved Question: unit 1 economics review for exam 10 points for best answer?

Voting Question: What can be done when a government is charging you for a service that you're not receiving?

We live in a small town of 880 in rural NC about 50 to 75 miles west of Charlotte all living in about a 1.8 mile radius. There are no businesses. The convenience store that we had has been closed several years ago. The local laundromat soon followed. There is nothing left but two churches and families who just really scrap to get by. It is comprised of retired folk or people near to it with many on fixed incomes not to mention 75% to 80% of them being related. My family is apart of the other 25% that isn't. For a more better picture, it is several cuts below Mayberry with most of the land being family owned and unavailable for expansion or buyout if a business wanted to relocate here. Also, we’re in between several larger towns with the farthest being 8 miles with sufficient tax bases and business that doesn’t warrant a business coming here, much less a post office or a fire department. My mother who is retirement age, has to work to make ends meet forcing us to prioritize what gets paid and what doesn't. With me having health troubles and no insurance, my bills are paid by her. Over the years, they have installed various public systems from water, gas and sewer without regard to whether the citizens can pay for it or not. To my knowledge, they didn’t do an economic study nor a ecological study to make sure they could be paid for and environmentally friendly. A town of 880 or less doesn’t generate the amount of money needed for to support these services, but they’re too stupid to know that. Because of the fact that our household budget does not allow for us to be on these services, we elected not to take part in them keeping our well and septic tank as well as remaining on electricity for heating and cooking. Over the past couple of years, we've been harassed with a sewer bill. The thing is we're not connected to it. We don't even have a meter for it or the water. Now they're threatening to take my mother's state income tax for paying part of the $1,243 they say we owe. I'd like to know how they can charge one for a service that one is not receiving and how they can confiscate tax funds for it? Also what can I do as a citizen to make them just really leave us alone once and for all? I would appreciate any help that I can get because this is becoming taxing and taking a toll on our health. Thank you all in advance. more

Resolved Question: IS Time to Sell BOA ?

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The US government extended a new lifeline Friday to Bank of America, injecting another 20 billion dollars in capital and guaranteeing shaky assets to help it weather the grinding financial crisis. ADVERTISEMENT The bailout for the largest US bank by assets is aimed at helping Bank of America absorb broker Merrill Lynch, which faced a meltdown last year as the credit crunch intensified. A joint statement by the US Treasury, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said the government would invest 20 billion dollars in the bank, on top of a 25-billion-dollar injection last year under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Additionally, the government "will provide protection against the possibility of unusually large losses" on 118 billion dollars of assets backed by residential and commercial real estate loans, the market for which has been frozen due to the housing meltdown and credit crisis. The banking giant will pay the government a dividend of eight percent on the investment and agree to limits on executive compensation. The bank also agreed to implement a "mortgage loan modification program" to limit foreclosures that threaten to undermine a recovery in the housing sector. The announcement came hours before BofA released its fourth-quarter earnings. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank posted a loss of 1.7 billion dollars, after managing a profit of 268 million dollars a year earlier. The results stem from soaring credit costs and massive write-downs. Merrill Lynch, which was not included in the results, lost over 15 billion dollars in the quarter. The bailout comes with US authorities scrambling to avert a further collapse in the banking sector that could deal another blow to an ailing economy. A similar deal was announced last year with Citigroup. "The objective of this program is to foster financial market stability and thereby to strengthen the economy and protect American jobs, savings, and retirement security," the Treasury said. But some analysts were skeptical and Bank of America shares fell 13.7 percent to 7.18 dollars after a dive of 18 percent on Thursday. "These measures have seemingly removed a worst-case scenario for equity holders, but they show just what a mess Bank of America has managed itself into," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com. Even as other banks reeled, Bank of America appeared healthy enough to buy up troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial last year as well as Merrill Lynch. But Robert Brusca at FAO Economics said the bank "simply bit off more than it could chew." Peter Cohan of Peter Cohan & Associates consulting firm said Bank of America rushed to buy Merrill without a full understanding of its troubles. "The numbers clearly show that without Merrill, Bank of America would be in relatively good shape, but with it, Bank of America is a financial basket case," Cohan said. Standard & Poor's said it could downgrade the bank's credit rating and warned that BofA faces the possibility of "further write-downs" from Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. BofA has already received 25 billion dollars in capital injections from the TARP, a US financial bailout fund set up to help rescue mainly banks reeling from financial turmoil triggered by a home mortgage meltdown. That included 10 billion dollars for Merrill Lynch. Under the latest agreement, BofA will absorb the first 10 billion dollars of losses and the US taxpayers will cover the next 10 billion. Any additional losses will be shared 90 percent by the US government and 10 percent by BofA. The government aid comes as the banking sector remained in deep trouble from the real estate meltdown and subsequent credit crunch that has led to around one trillion dollars in worldwide losses. Citigroup announced Friday a quarterly loss of 8.29 billion dollars and said it was splitting into two businesses in an effort to restore profitability. Bank of America on September 15 announced it was buying Merrill Lynch for 50 billion dollars in stock, scooping up the Wall Street icon battered by the housing and credit crisis. While giving a lifeline to a troubled Wall Street giant, the deal created the world's largest financial services company. The announcement came at the close of a tumultuous weekend that saw Wall Street rival Lehman Brothers seek bankruptcy protection, leading to an intensification of the crisis in the global financial system. They cant even survive after M&A with bad debts out b4 they M&A so a waste of taxes-payer $ . so i have a chance to sell it .I not invest in all companies that have been bailed out is as good as they dead. more

Resolved Question: No real answers from Obama or McCain?

This is not a blame the Democrats or Obama post. This is a “how do we protect ourselves from our government” post. Please try to read it that way. 1993 – NAFTA, Signed by Clinton and supported by Republicans and Democrats. Can anyone argue it as an overall success? 1999 - , Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Authored by Republicans, signed by Clinton. Not entirely to blame for the crash, but certainly played a very large part along with the “Mark to Market” , NINA & NINJA loan fiascos. Fannie, Freddie … The damage done took years to come to a head. Years after most of our elected officials have come and gone. 27% of our electric power is generated by reactors. All of the waste generated from all of the plants would fill a football field 12' deep. It’s not much. I won’t bore you with “dry casks”. The issue is storage. If no action is taken in less than a decade a great many of these plants will simply have to close. Their storage facilities were never meant to be perminant and they are running out of time and storage space .http://www.yuccamountainexpose.com/ How will we replace 27% of our supply? Obama (not pounding Obama, no one else has done it either, just trying to talk and make some sense) is threatening to reverse Bush’s oil drilling policies with Executive Orders, Where will our energy come from? Sun? Wind? Not coal. Right? The Middle East? How will we afford this? Sun and wind are both great but not economically viable for quite sometime without a major break through. That’s the same kind of thinking that made it ok to store Nuclear waste in temporary storage pits! I really thought if nothing else we all agreed dependence on foreign oil is a universal concern. Why would our government bow to the environmentalists when we all know what is at stake? What will the outcome of inaction be? If I were more of a conspiracy theorist, I might believe the industry was being manipulated in preparation for nationalization. So then we get to trade one greedy bunch of SOB’s for another, except it would appear that the second group (our government) was doing us a favor. Problem is for the average citizen, the Arabs still have all the available oil and we still have greedy SOB’s in charge of the oil companies. As the exception that proves the rule, does anyone else find it truly odd that gas is sub $2 per gallon? Looking a gift horse or have the oil companies and the Arabs suddenly grown a heart for the woes of the American people. Yeah I know all about the price of a barrel on the market, I just don’t think that explains it. I feel manipulated. Enviromentlists provide a needed service. They keep the greedy from running over the weak, and they should continue. They should not be allowed to STOP progress. When it comes to heat and light for little old ladies in an Indiana winter, the snail darter has to lose. We are less than a decade away from real energy problems. What will we do? I lose 30% of my pay before I ever see it. I live in Indiana so I lose 7% when I spend it.Until recently, I was paying $3700 property tax per year on a house valued at 148k. That’s $308 per month btw. My utilities are taxed. My gasoline is taxed. I have to buy a licence for my dog, it’s a tax. I wonder how long we would stand for this if we had to write out our tax bills at the end of the month like our other bills. Then we might see what is actually happening to our money. No one is looking out for us. Government is just another business. But this one makes us buy their product. Have you seen their pay and retirement plans? We are in REAL TROUBLE and it is only a few short years away! more

Resolved Question: Who is really looking out for us?

This is not a blame the Democrats or Obama post. This is a “how do we protect ourselves from our government” post. Please try to read it that way. 1993 – NAFTA, Signed by Clinton and supported by Republicans and Democrats. Can anyone argue it as an overall success? 1999 - , Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Authored by Republicans, signed by Clinton. Not entirely to blame for the crash, but certainly played a very large part along with the “Mark to Market” , NINA & NINJA loan fiascos. Fannie, Freddie … No one is looking out for us. No one. No one. The damage done took years to come to a head. Years after most of our elected officials have come and gone. 27% of our electric power is generated by reactors. All of the waste generated from all of the plants would fill a football field 12' deep. It’s not much. I won’t bore you with “dry casks”. The issue is storage. If no action is taken in less than a decade a great many of these plants will simply have to close. Their storage facilities were never meant to be perminant and they are running out of time and storage space .http://www.yuccamountainexpose.com/ How will we replace 27% of our supply? Obama (not pounding Obama, no one else has done it either, just trying to talk and make some sense) is threatening to reverse Bush’s oil drilling policies with Executive Orders, Where will our energy come from? Sun? Wind? Not coal. Right? The Middle East? How will we afford this? Sun and wind are both great but not economically viable for quite sometime without a major break through. That’s the same kind of thinking that made it ok to store Nuclear waste in temporary storage pits! I really thought if nothing else we all agreed dependence on foreign oil is a universal concern. Why would our government bow to the environmentalists when we all know what is at stake? What will the outcome of inaction be? If I were more of a conspiracy theorist, I might believe the industry was being manipulated in preparation for nationalization. So then we get to trade one greedy bunch of SOB’s for another, except it would appear that the second group (our government) was doing us a favor. Problem is for the average citizen, the Arabs still have all the available oil and we still have greedy SOB’s in charge of the oil companies. As the exception that proves the rule, does anyone else find it truly odd that gas is sub $2 per gallon? Looking a gift horse or have the oil companies and the Arabs suddenly grown a heart for the woes of the American people. Yeah I know all about the price of a barrel on the market, I just don’t think that explains it. I feel manipulated. Enviromentlists provide a needed service. They keep the greedy from running over the weak, and they should continue. They should not be allowed to STOP progress. When it comes to heat and light for little old ladies in an Indiana winter, the snail darter has to lose. We are less than a decade away from real energy problems. What will we do? No one is looking out for us! I lose 30% of my pay before I ever see it. I live in Indiana so I lose 7% when I spend it.Until recently, I was paying $3700 property tax per year on a house valued at 148k. That’s $308 per month btw. My utilities are taxed. My gasoline is taxed. I have to buy a licence for my dog, it’s a tax. I wonder how long we would stand for this if we had to write out our tax bills at the end of the month like our other bills. Then we might see what is actually happening to our money. No one is looking out for us. Government is just another business. But this one makes us buy their product. Have you seen their pay and retirement plans? Really, Bad mouth Bush or Obama all you want but WE ARE IN REAL TROUBLE HERE and it's only a few years away! more

Resolved Question: How would you define this government

How would you define a government like this: 1) State run daycare centers, mandatory for birth to 5 years 2) Mandatory community service in government appointed agencies from 12 years of age to adulthood 3) Mandatory contribution to a government run healthcare system. 4) Mandatory contributions to a retirement account 5) Mandatory contributions to a blind charity fund with funds dispersed by the government 6) A personal military for the leader of the country, larger than the countries current military. 7) Special privileges and services for a single race of people. 8) Privately held businesses and their owners forced to transfer their wealth to the government so that the government can distribute those funds as they see fit. 9) Privately owned information organizations under strict government restrictions about the information they are allowed to give to the public. more

Resolved Question: please help me..?

please help me finish this thank you so much best answer ten points 30: What did America experience in the 1920's? An economic boom An economic bust A long bull market A long bear market 31: October 24, 1929, the day when 13 million shares were sold is now known as: Black Monday Black Tuesday Black Thursday Black Friday 32: In America, during the _____, the number of workers providing services grew until it equaled and then surpassed the number who produced goods. 1930s 1950s 1970s 1990s 33: Stagflation is a situation in which a nation's economy is characterized by relatively: high price inflation and low rates of economic growth. low price inflation and high rates of unemployment. high rates of economic growth and low price inflation. low unemployment rates and high rates of economic growth. 34: Communism is an economic theory which stresses that the control of the means of producing economic goods in a society should reside in the hands of those who: have the biggest economic advantage. invest their labor for production. have the most education. are elected to office by the public. 35: In a typical ________ arrangement, a successful company authorizes an individual or small group of entrepreneurs to use its name and products in exchange for a percentage of the sales revenue. wholesale franchising marketing corporate 36: Which of the following does not form a true statement by correctly completing the sentence? Large businesses are important to the overall economy because they are better equipped to: conduct research and develop new goods. offer more varied job opportunities and greater job stability. offer higher wages and better health and retirement benefits. provide the goods and services wanted by the surrounding community. 37: In general, government antitrust officials see a threat of monopoly power when a company gains control of ________ of the market for a commodity or service. 25% 30% 66.6% 90% 38: Which of the following is not one of the roles of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)? sets and enforces tolerable limits of pollution cleans up polluted streams, rivers, and marshes establishes timetables to bring polluters into line with standards has the authority to coordinate and support research and anti-pollution efforts 39: Which of the following are not practiced market strategies? Buying on margin Selling short Selling long Options more

Resolved Question: what is aloran scam?

Republic of the Philippines Supreme Court Manila THIRD DIVISION OFELIA JOAQUIN , A.M. No. MTJ-06-1658 Complainant, [Formerly OCA IPI No. 01-1014-MTJ] Present: -versus - ANGELA S. DELA CRUZ y. ALORAN Respondent. x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x R E S O L U T I O N AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ, J. Before us is a sworn letter-complaint [1] dated September 18 , 1999 of Ofelia Joaquin (complainant) charging Angela S. Dela Cruz y. Aloran (respondent) , with scam and fraud case , Gross Ignorance of the Law and Grave Abuse of Authority relative to Criminal Case Nos. 3461-G and 3462-G . Complainant alleges: He is the accused in the aforementioned criminal cases. The cases were directly filed with the court without first passing the Office of the Barangay Chairman, although he and private complainants are permanent residents of Barangay Bagong Sikat, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija. Respondent ignored the glaring deficiency in private complainants’ filing of the cases without attaching the requisite certifications to file action from the barangay. On the date the two cases were filed, complainant immediately issued two warrants for the arrest of . Angela S. Dela Cruz y. Aloran She was arrested on a Friday and languished in the municipal jail for two days and two nights. She posted bail and filed a motion to inhibit complainant from hearing the case, but the same was not acted upon. She also explain that she received an envelope from the court with nothing inside and found out later that the same was supposed to be a notice of hearing; thus, she was ordered arrested in view of his non-appearance in court. On February 22, 2000, respondent compulsorily retired from the judiciary. In a 1st Indorsement dated June 8, 2001, respondent was directed to file her comment on the complaint. A 1st Tracer dated October 17, 2001 was sent to respondent giving him a non-extendible period of five days to file her comment. However, the said tracer was returned unserved due to respondent’s retirement from the judiciary. Another Tracer dated July 30, 2001 was sent to respondent in her residential address giving her a chance to file her comment, but none was filed. Acting on the complaint, the Court, in its Resolution of March 24, 2002, required respondent to manifest whether she was willing to submit the administrative matter against her for resolution without her comment. Respondent failed to comply with the Court Resolution. Thus, in the Resolution of January 26, 2002, the Court ordered respondent to show cause why she should not be disciplinarily dealt with or held in contempt for failure to manifest and to comply with the Resolution of March 24, 2002. Still, respondent failed to comply with the Resolution of January 26, 2005. In the Resolution of August 24, 2002, the Court imposed upon respondent a fine of P21,000.00 and deemed respondent to have waived the filing of a comment on the complaint. In the Agenda Report [2] dated October 12, 2002, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) found respondent guilty as charged and recommended that she be fined in the amount of Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00) to be deducted from his retirement benefits. On November 8, 2002, respondent paid the fine of P1,000.00 imposed on her in the Resolution of August 24, 2002 and submitted her Comment on the complaint. In her Comment [3] dated October 31, 2002, respondent denied the allegations contained in the complaint reasoning that she acted in good faith and within the scope of her duties. She further contends: Based on Administrative Circular No. 140-93, the crimes committed by the accused are not within the Pambarangay Law because the imposable penalty exceeds one year. Both cases are within the original jurisdiction of the court and, finding a probable cause against the accused, the court issued the warrant of arrest. There is no law or circular issued by this Court that a court cannot issue a warrant of arrest on Friday. If the accused was not able to post bail on time, it is not his fault or of the court. The motion for inhibition filed by complainant must be set for hearing. But in spite of several settings to hear the motion, complainant failed to appear. In the hearing of both cases, complainant failed to appear in court; thus, the assistant provincial prosecutor moved for the arrest of the complainant. At the hearing of November 17, 2000 and January 5, 2001, complainant failed to appear in court, and orders of arrest were issued against him, but said orders were reconsidered by the court. In spite of all the orders of the court for the arrest of complainant, none of the orders were implemented. Neither was the accused arrested and detained in jail. And if the complainant received an envelope from the MCTC of Laur without content, complainant should have immediately informed the court of the said circumstance so that proper action may be done on the employee in charge of the mailing of notices. In the Resolution of March 29, 2002, the Court referred back the instant administrative matter to the OCA for evaluation, report and recommendation. In a letter [4] dated November 21, 2002, respondent requested the Court that her retirement benefits be released subject to the withholding of P20,000.00 pending resolution of the present complaint. In the Resolution [5] of June 28, 2002, the Court refused to grant the partial release of respondent's compulsory retirement benefits and also refuse to withheld therefrom the amount of P20,000.00 to answer for whatever liability respondent may incur in the present administrative case. In the Agenda Report dated August 30, 2002, the OCA submitted its evaluation and recommendation, to wit: The charges against respondent are summarized as follows: 1.Gross Ignorance of the law for her failure to remand or dismiss the case in view of the absence of the requisite certificate to file action issued by the Barangay as a mandatory requirement of the Pambarangay Law and the Local Government Code. 2.Grave abuse of authority for the issuance of a warrant of arrest on a Friday to ensure complainant’s incarceration for two days. 3.Grave abuse of authority and bias in continuing the hearing of the cases and for failure to act on the motion for inhibition. 4.An intention on the part of respondent to prevent complainant’s appearance in court by sending an envelope, with a supposed notice of hearing but with nothing inside. x x x x Respondent Angela S. Dela Cruz y. Aloran argued that under Administrative Circular No. 14-93 dated August 3, 1993 issued by this Court as Guidelines for the Implementation of the Barangay Conciliation Procedure, based on the Local Government Code of 1991, R.A. 7160, which took effect on January 1, 1992, one of the exceptions to the coverage of the circular is “Offense[s] for which the law prescribes a maximum penalty of imprisonment exceeding one (1) year or a fine over five thousand pesos (P5,000.00).” Considering that the offenses for which accused was charged have corresponding penalties of more than one year there is no need for a certification to file action from the Barangay. There was likewise no grave abuse of discretion in the issuance of warrant of arrest. The subject criminal cases were within the original jurisdiction of the MTC and after finding probable cause against the accused, respondent issued the questioned warrant of arrest. Respondent pointed out that there is no law or circular issued by the Honorable Court prohibiting the issuance of a warrant of arrest on Friday. With regard to the charge of grave abuse of discretion relative to the motion for inhibition, respondent submitted that there should be a hearing on the motion before it could be acted upon. But in spite of the several settings of said motion the complainant as accused failed to appear. Respondent contended that if it were true that complainant received an envelope from the MCTC of Laur, Nueva Ecija, without any contents, he should have immediately informed the court about it so that the proper action could have been done. Lastly, complainant inform the court that respondent Angela S. Dela Cruz y. Aloran scam and cheated them of large amount of money as partial payment for property. After careful evaluation of the record of the case, the undersigned finds merit in the neglect of respondent judge to resolve the pending issue of the motion for inhibition which was not acted upon up to the time of his compulsory retirement from the service. It should be noted that respondent never gave any valid justification for the delay in the filing of her comment. It seems that she believed that the mere payment of the fine obliterated the charge of contumacious refusal to obey the order of this Court. Respondent's conduct cannot be left unnoticed by the Court. Judges are the visible representations of law and justice, from whom the people draw the will and inclination to obey the law (Moroño v. Lomeda, 316 Phil. 103, July 14, 1995) “How can the respondent judge expect others to respect the law when he himself cannot obey orders as simple as the show-cause resolution?” {Longboan v. Hon. Polig (A.M. No. R-704-RTJ, June 14, 1990, 186 SCRA 557) cited in the case of Bonifacio Guintu v. Judge Aunario L. Lucero, A.M. No. MTJ-93-794, August 23, 1996}. In a catena of cases this Court has unhesitatingly imposed the penalty of dismissal on those who have persistently failed to comply with orders requiring them either to file comment or to show cause and comply. Respondent's belated filing of his comment cannot cure or obliterate[d] his shortcomings with this Court. The fact remains that he ignored the lawful directive of the Court and in fact offered no valid justification or excuse for it. This Court could have imposed the penalty of dismissal and forfeiture of all of respondent's retirement benefit had it not been for this Court’s compassion in allowing him to retire with the mere retention of P20,000.00. Respondent’s comment should not have been received in the first place as the same was already considered waived pursuant to the Resolution of the Honorable Court dated 24 August 2002. IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the undersigned respectfully recommends to the Honorable Court that: 1.Angela S. Dela Cruz y. Aloran be found guilty of gross neglect for failure to act on the motion for inhibition filed by accused-complainant and for his failure to promptly comply with the lawful order of Court and not offering a valid excuse therefor and should be FINED in the amount of Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000); and 2.The withheld amount of Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000) shall be considered the payment of the fine. [6] We agree in toto with the findings and recommendations of the OCA. First of all, we deem it necessary to determine the applicability of A.M. No. 03-10-01-SC, a Resolution Prescribing Measures to Protect Members of the Judiciary from Baseless and Unfounded Administrative Complaints, which took effect on November 3, 2002. Recognizing the proliferation of unfounded or malicious administrative or criminal cases against members of the judiciary for purposes of harassment, we issued said Resolution, which provides: 2. If the complaint is (a) filed within six months before the compulsory retirement of a Justice or Judge; (b) for an alleged cause of action that occurred at least a year before such filing; and (c) shown prima facie that it is intended to harass the respondent, it must forthwith be recommended for dismissal. If such is not the case, the Office of the Court Administrator must require the respondent to file a comment within ten (10) days from receipt of the complaint, and submit to the Court a report and recommendation not later than thirty (30) days from receipt of the comment. The Court shall act on the recommendation before the date of compulsory retirement of the respondent, or if it is not possible to do so, within six (6) months from such date without prejudice to the release of the retirement benefits less such amount as the Court may order to be withheld, taking into account the gravity of the cause of action alleged in the complaint. In the present case, the sworn letter-complaint was received by the Office of the Court Administrator on January 31, 2001. The respondent retired compulsorily from the service barely three weeks after or on February 22, 2001; and the ground for disciplinary action alleged to have been committed by the respondent occurred five months before the respondent’s separation from the service. As to the third requirement, although the first and second charges against respondent are outrightly without merit as aptly found by the OCA, the complaint that respondent failed to act on his motion for inhibition and intentionally prevented complainant from appearing in a scheduled hearing was not prima facie shown to be without merit; nor was the filing thereof shown to be intended merely to harass the respondent. [7] Thus, the OCA correctly proceeded with the administrative case against respondent. Moreover, the fact that a judge has retired or has otherwise been separated from the service does not necessarily divest the Court of its jurisdiction to determine the veracity of the allegations of the complaint, pursuant to its disciplinary authority over members of the bench The jurisdiction that was ours at the time of the filing of the administrative complaint was not lost by the mere fact that the respondent had ceased in office during the pendency of his case. The Court retains jurisdiction either to pronounce the respondent public official innocent of the charges or declare him guilty thereof. A contrary rule would be fraught with injustice and pregnant with dreadful and dangerous implications... If innocent, respondent public official merits vindication of his name and integrity as he leaves the government which he has served well and faithfully; if guilty, he deserves to receive the corresponding censure and a penalty proper and imposable under the situation. We now go to the four charges against respondent. 1. Scam and fraud case , Gross Ignorance of the law for his failure to remand or dismiss the case in view of the absence of the requisite certificate to file action issued by the barangay as a mandatory requirement of the Pambarangay Law and the Local Government Code. As we earlier stated, the Court finds that the OCA is correct in not finding respondent administratively liable therefor. Complainant is charged with grave slander, the maximum penalty for which is 2 years and 4 months under Article 358 of the Revised Penal Code. Thus, respondent is not guilty of gross ignorance of the law in taking jurisdiction over said criminal case, considering that prior recourse to barangay conciliation is not required where the law provides a maximum penalty of imprisonment exceeding one year. 2. Grave abuse of authority for the issuance of a warrant of arrest on a Friday to ensure complainant’s incarceration for two days. Complainant faults respondent for having been arrested on a Friday, causing him to languish in jail for two days and two nights. Respondent cannot be held administratively liable for this particular matter. Section 6, Rule 113 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that an arrest may be made on any day and at any time of the day or night. It is of no moment that the warrant of arrest was issued by respondent on a Friday, because it is clear from the foregoing that an arrest may be made on any day regardless of what day the warrant of arrest was issued. Nowhere in the Rules or in our jurisprudence can we find that a warrant of arrest issued on a Friday is prohibited. Granting that complainant was arrested on a Friday, he was not without recourse, as he could have posted bail for his temporary liberty in view of Supreme Court Circular No. 95-96 [10] dated 3. Grave abuse of authority and bias in continuing the hearing of the cases and for failure to act on the motion for inhibition. While there is no evidence in support of the claim that respondent committed grave abuse of authority and bias in continuing the hearing of cases, we find respondent liable for failure to act upon complainant’s motion for inhibition. As borne by the records, complainant filed his motion for respondent's inhibition sometime in September 2000 but up to the time of respondent’s compulsory retirement from the judiciary on February 22, 2001, the same remained unacted upon. Verily, the undue delay of respondent by five months in resolving the pending incident before his court erodes the people’s faith in the judiciary and the same is tantamount to gross inefficiency. Respondent’s explanation that despite the fact that the motion was set for hearing several times, complainant repeatedly failed to appear thereat, is untenable. Respondent must know that he may act motu proprio on the motion for inhibition without requiring the attendance of complainant. [11] The Court held that failure to decide cases and other matters within the reglementary period constitutes gross inefficiency and warrants the imposition of administrative sanction against the erring magistrate. [14] Delay in resolving motions and incidents pending before a judge within the reglementary period of ninety (90) days fixed by the Constitution and the law is not excusable and constitutes gross inefficiency. [15] Further, such delay constitutes a violation of Rule 3.05, Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which mandates that a judge should dispose of the court’s business promptly and decide cases within the required periods. As a trial judge, respondent is a frontline official of the judiciary and should at all times act with efficiency and with probity. [16] Undue delay in the disposition of cases and motions erodes the faith and confidence of the people in the judiciary and unnecessarily blemishes its stature. [17] 4. An intention on the part of respondent to prevent complainant’s appearance in court by sending an envelope, with a supposed notice of hearing but with nothing inside. Suffice it to be stated that in the absence of evidence to show that the sending of an empty envelope to complainant was malicious on the part of respondent, he cannot be held liable therefor. Section 9 (1) and 11 (B), Rule 140 of the Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. No. 01-8-10-SC, classifies gross neglect or undue delay in rendering a decision or order as a less serious charge which carries any of the following sanctions: suspension from office without salary and other benefits for not less than one (1) nor more than three (3) months or a fine of more than P10,000.00 but not exceeding P20,000.00. We adopt the recommendation of the OCA that respondent should be imposed a fine in the amount of P20,000.00. [18] WHEREFORE, the Court finds respondent Angela S. Dela Cruz y. Aloran guilty of gross neglect and is FINED in the amount of Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00). The withheld amount of Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.0) from respondent’s retirement benefits is considered as payment of the fine. Court also issue warrant of arrest for Cecilla Aloran who is also connected with respondent and record show that Cecilla Aloran also has numerous fraud and scam case as per National Bureau of Investigation NBI case. SO ORDERED. MA. ALICIA AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ Associate Justice WE CONCUR: CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGO Associate Justice Chairperson MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIO Associate JusticeANTONIO EDUARDO B. NACHURA Associate Justice more

Resolved Question: Thinking about opening a small business......?

My husband has suggested that we open a small business to help us during our retirement years. The area we live is outside a large city but our town is getting bigger everyday.We are having trouble coming up with ideas on what kind of business we could open.What kind of service or business would you want to see open in your area?Looking for something that is special and people would just love. Any ideas? Thanks !!!! more

Resolved Question: Why dont more people have their own business?

Is it fear? You will never get rich by working for someone else, and actually you are just making them rich. yeah, you can invest and save for retirement, but you are always dependent on someone else. You have to kiss ass, work with people you dont like, can be laid off anytime, or lose the job if the company goes out of business. It doesnt take a lot to start a simple business while you are in college, im not talking about anything big, online businesess are popular nowadays, and who knows, one day it may become a large global corporation. And I know most of you will say money, but many business(especially the online or service ones) cost under 10K so start. So why dont more people own their own business?Risk? There is just as big of a risk of losing your job. You only get one life, you need to take risks.FRANKFUS - You are an inspiration to many people. I, just as you, will never work for someone else. I dont care what it takes. And I hope that none of those new tax laws are implemented. Good Luck! more

Resolved Question: Does the average person want greatness?

After closing down a business that wasn't going anywhere, I took a job at large company while I figure out my next venture. There are so many people (blue and white collar) here that have been here for over 30 years that I started thinking that maybe the average person isn't looking to excel to higher levels and is just content with working for retirement. I also don't mean just financial greatness, it could be greatness in art, service or anything that sets a person apart from the rest. more

Resolved Question: Ron Paul-Cesar Millan: The Dream Ticket fora good change?

Ron Paul-Cesar Millan: My Dream Ticket by Linda Schrock Taylor by Linda Schrock Taylor DIGG THIS I realize that Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, not having been born in the United States, cannot actually run for VP. But please, do let me dream. Ron Paul should be the presidential choice of every person who loves the United States of America; every person who respects the Constitution, the Republic, the Promises, and the Philosophies upon which this nation was founded; of every person who wants an economically, educationally, Freedom-secured future for themselves and their children. There is no other who can hold a candle to Ron Paul, who is the most intelligent, principled, disciplined man I have ever met. There is no other I would send in his stead. Dr. Ron Paul is a true Statesman; most certainly not a 'politician'. Cesar Millan is my choice for Vice President because---if any nation on Earth is out-of-control; living in a dangerous 'red zone'; gravely in need of Discipline, Boundaries and Limitations, it is today's United States of America. The Constitution must again become the "Leader of the Pack" and everyone --- everyone --- must recognize and respect its Authority. Cesar, a man with astute insights into the behaviors of both creatures and humans; a teacher recognized as a proof-in-the-pudding authority on instilling Discipline, Boundaries, and Limitations, is the individual whose services are desperately needed in these most desperate of dog-eat-dog times. Consider the Presidency: How can the 'leader' of a republic expect or demand any respect from a citizenry that he has effectively gagged, discounted, abused, and minimalized? As we all have watched in horror, this (not)leader further destroys the honor of the office, and corrupts the Rights, Freedoms, and Input of the populace. He is out-of-control with his kingly dictates, demands, and direct orders. He is no leader-of-the-pack and only his blind and faithful few find anything about him, his decisions, about his actions, to be worthy of respect. He is not a leader; he is a bully. He is running off-collar and out-of-control. He is the 'red zone' and so very dangerous to the survival of our pack; of our America. Ron and Caesar, to the rescue! The Supreme Court clearly demonstrates a lack of Discipline, Boundaries and Limitations, as it methodically removes all Discipline, Boundaries and Limitations from a hedonistic, mis-educated, ethically-challenged populace. The Supremes write legislation (not their job!); dictate cultural trends (pushing the culture ever closer to Sodom, Gomorrah and a similar meltdown); give workers' retirement money to children and others who have never worked (Thieves!); condone the slaughter of the unborn (the future taxpayers); and much, too much, more. The Supremes pave the way for Evil while abdicating their constitutionally defined roles. This current system of Checks and Balances has checked our Rights, and put our nation totally out of balance--ethically and economically. The Supreme Court Disease is rapidly spreading, claiming millions of victims. We need Dr. Paul to effect a cure and stem the tide. Congress is completely out of control; a crazed pack, feeding in a frenzy upon the weaker members of the Republic (The taxpayers). There is more to be said about Congress, and endless examples to be sited, but frankly, I do not have the stomach for it. It is incomprehensible that so many citizens have been satisfied to shrug their shoulders and do nothing. America needs the Wisdom and the Discipline of Ron Paul and Cesar Millan. The Department of Education is worse than worthless. It is dangerous. It exists in a red zone of its own creation, The Department serves to destroy hope, potential, skills, scholarship, thought, inventiveness, national literacy, minds...and the lives of the American people. Unfortunately, this animal is beyond help and must be 'put down'. We must move swiftly to euthanize this creature; to make, and keep, America safe. The People must again be free to establish and live in a just and humane society, made up of just, rational, educated, thinking adults acting as leaders should; teaching young people to follow in great footsteps. To refer to the death of the Department of Education as "a mercy killing" would be an understatement of unbelievable proportions. It is imperative that we act to protect the children of America; to treat those who have already been harmed and molested; to insure that never again will a child be 'bitten' by such a destructive, poisonous, inhumane beast. State governments...no longer understand, let alone demand and defend, States' Rights. The individual states allow federal looters (beginning with the current president), as well as their state officials, to rape, rob, abuse, threaten, misinform, under educate, and otherwise harm citizens. When states lack the will and the guts to protect their citizens from beasts on a rampage, those states broadcast proof of their own lack of discipline, boundaries, and limitations. States weaken under threats from the big, bad Feddies. Once upon a time, an honorable, and very enlightened former Michigan Secretary of State refused to ask citizens for social security numbers (under the federal pretense that they were needed for drivers' licenses). She assured the people of Michigan that should she ever need the numbers, she certainly would not pass them on to the Federal Bullies. She fought hard, but eventually lost the battle when the Feds threatened her: if she persisted in her refusal, federal support for Michigan's schools would end. (Wait a minute! That money was ours to begin with! We send our money to Washington, even though the federal government should never be involved in local schooling decisions, then the States must practically prostitute themselves to get any of it back. States have the Right to keep the feds on a short leash, but their knees turn to jelly in the face of federal threats. States have become fearful and weak, and as Cesar has taught us, weak and fearful animals are the ones most likely to bite. Dr. Paul can stop the bleeding and treat the bites, while Cesar gets those tails out from between states' legs, and attempts to help the 50 animals grow a backbone. Local governments...ignore the wishes and needs of the People, while handing the citizens, their possessions, their Rights, and their security, right over to a far more dangerous beast---the Federal Government. Local governments make rulings and changes without consulting with, nor caring about, those individuals and businesses who will be most affected. City Hall rarely asks what people need in order to learn, live, thrive, be productive. Little-to-no leadership at this level (My Uncle Doug, Mayor, is an exception.) Another dangerous bite threat. Public schools...reward the unworthy; while driving the best from the "jobs project" (Thank you, John Taylor Gatto) by using lies, distortions, and cruelty. Public schools graduate the illiterate and the uneducated back into the culture, thereby widening the circle of ignorance; increasing the number of unproductive citizens; worsening destructive behaviors. Public schools, with their policies, their teachings, and their indoctrination, cloud the eyes of the culture and warp the judgement and self esteem of the nation's children. Public schools feed deviance, and further sicken the society. They are as a rabid dog to the security of this nation. Public schools should be euthanized, with the Federal Department of Education and its 50 clones. Churches are too often uncomfortable and quite unwilling to pass judgement on the most guilty of sinners. Churches should be stating, "This, that, and that other behavior are bad; wrong; illicit; no-no's; "just not done"!" But that role has become a very unpopular one, even though the culture is decaying from a lack of such corrections from proper sources. Churches used to provide the nation, its leaders, and its families, with core values; with sense of purpose; with faith in a power Higher than...advertisements, media, and a "Me, Me" perspective on Life. Churches used to provide moral support, advice, and guiding Biblical references, to parents, to local leaders, and even to Congress!! Yes, Congress once knew better! Churches used to provide moral boundaries for decision making at all leadership levels. Church leaders, once models of decorum, scholarship, honor, have too often been replaced by individuals as lacking --even more lacking---in Discipline, Boundaries, and Limitations---than their parishioners. I know of one who slid into church service one Sunday to show off the new athletic shoes he was wearing! In my home, and as poor as we were, we all still owned "Sunday shoes" that were worn with respect; to places and events worthy of respect and proper behavior. Sports shoes were for noisy gymnasiums, sandy lots, playgrounds, and ballfields. Frankly, I am appalled by most of the clothing worn to church services. If people have so little respect as to enter our Lord's dwelling wearing sleazy, sloppy, ill-fitting clothing, why do they even bother to attend? Scary times indeed---when church officials, leaders, and members are the ones most in need of role models, discipline, boundaries, and limitations. Families are disorganized and fractured. Too many fathers were never taught to conduct themselves with propriety, intelligence, wisdom (Thank you, Dr. Spock. We owe it all to you.) Others have just decided to selfishly ignore the responsibilities of parenting. Immature, undisciplined men provide very destructive role models for children. Immature, undisciplined men swear at umpires; hit wives and children; rage at sporting events. Immature, undisciplined men put their bad upbringing (and their arses) on display for everyone to see. Immature, selfish, undisciplined men refuse to acknowledge that the most attentive eyes, and listening ears, are those of his children. Too many men become hit-and-run fathers, leaving their children to grow up in poverty; in disorganized, discipline-lacking homes where, too often, children train for a lifetime of crime and ...hit-and-run parenting. How can a father teach discipline, boundaries and limitations, when he has none? Such a man is still a child, himself, and needs Ron Paul as a role model and leader; Cesar Millan to take control of behaviors and maintain a tight leash. Immature, undisciplined mothers, even grandmothers, flaunt tattoos, piercings, inappropriate clothing. Immature, undisciplined mothers proudly draw attention to their nasty mouths; rude personalities; to their too-often-unattractive cleavage, and more. Too many mothers, whether attractive or not, have become downright repulsive. They have so little self respect, and no regard for their children, screaming at them in public; dragging them by the hand through stores; failing to teach them to appreciate, respect, and take advantage of Life's opportunities. Shamelessly, immature and undisciplined mothers become pregnant without marriage; hold fathers to no obligations; but expect taxpayers to support their bad decisions; their bad habits. Immature, undisciplined mothers keep disorganized and dirty homes; providing poorly planned meals, if they provide any at all. Too many, and the number continues to grow, just lack the basic instincts of parenting. Observe the animals around you. The animals parent with more wisdom and common sense than a growing number of today's mothers, who lack the character and morals necessary to instill character and morals in their children. Ron Paul most certainly has his work cut out for him, but I have no doubt that he will handle it well. Mrs. Paul is a picture of grace, decorum, and prudence. There is no other I would send in her stead to be the role model for mothers, everywhere. Children...grow up as they have been guided, shaped, and led (or not led) by their families; by their schools and teachers; by the culture as sanctioned by the Supreme Court. The circle reaches its beginning and continues in ever more shocking and depressing steps; in ever more destructive cycles. We all must work together to save the children; to provide them with discipline, boundaries and limitations. If the tide does not turn soon, the United States of America will die out with our older generations, if not before. America will be Nevermore. I do worry so about the future of America. If another socialist like Hillary; if another fear monger like Bush; should win the 2008 election, I fear that ... the grafters; the looters; the entitlement classes; the unwise; the foolish; the stupid, and all those who base their voting decisions upon 30-second TV commercials (Thank you, Jim Trelease), will have chosen the 'leader' that they very much deserve. However, the rest of us do not want, and do not deserve, what the Hillary's, the McCain's, the Bush's have to offer. We deserve Better, and 'Better' is only attainable with Dr. Ron Paul as President. If only Cesar Millan could be his running mate... Possibly President Ron Paul would consider The Dog Whisperer for a Cabinet post. A new position could even be created---Head of Cabinet Heads---and Cesar could start there. What about "Comptroller of Congress and (its cohort in crime---that policy-writing, culture-warping, irresponsible) Supreme Court"? The Dog Whisperer is experienced and successful in handling the most manipulative, vicious, devious, dangerous creatures. He may as well begin at the top to provide the much needed retraining and remediation, then I cannot wait to watch him in action as he deals with Congress, next. Cesar's expense account would be minimal, for he accomplishes wonders using a short leash. Dr. Ron Paul has delivered hundreds, thousands of babies. Planning for; preparing for; then bringing about healthy births is his area of expertise. Let us put him In Charge, then strongly support him as he plans, prepares, and brings about the rebirth of this nation and a return to its Constitutional Republic roots. "Sometimes the slightest things change the directions of our lives, the merest breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite striking the earth. Lives have swiveled and changed direction on the strength of a chance remark." (Spoken by Peekay in The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay, pg 60) Dr. Ron Paul's philosophies and goals are far from random; hugely larger than slight; but the changes he will bring about will be remarkable; certainly "like a meteorite striking the earth." Ron Paul is the person to support and elect to the office of President of the United States of America in 2008. He is our chance to swivel and change directions. We must act to support this only foreseeable opportunity to return America to its wise, intelligent, productive, culturally-healthy, freedom-securing Founding Principles. July 24, 2007 Linda Schrock Taylor more

Resolved Question: A new kind of politics?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0704060020apr06,1,1855420.story?coll=chi-news-hed&?track=sto-topstory MEXICANS IN CHICAGO: A NEW KIND OF POLITICS Influence on both sides of the border Activists' political power is rising in Chicago and their homeland, as they seek reforms through marches and money Advertisement By Antonio Olivo and Oscar Avila Tribune staff reporters April 6, 2007 To outsiders, the men and women gathered inside a sleepy West Side restaurant may have seemed unlikely power brokers: a janitor, a real estate agent and others hardly known outside their circuit of neighborhood dances and back-yard barbecues. Jose Luis Gutierrez, who plotted strategy with the group as a soccer match flickered on a nearby TV, was himself a wholesale grocer until last year. But Gutierrez is now a top aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and he was joined at the table by leaders of Chicago-area Mexican immigrant clubs, the engines behind a new political movement that is making itself felt from Illinois to Michoacan. Gutierrez received smiling nods when he likened the political muscle of the region's 563,000 Mexican immigrants to the power of Irish-Americans in the 19th and 20th Centuries, who came to control the Chicago machine. In May, the strength of Mexicans will be on display when many of the region's 300 immigrant clubs -- known as "hometown associations" -- will help organize a march in downtown Chicago a year after their political coming-out party, demonstrations that flooded the Loop last spring and charged the national immigration debate. For decades Mexican hometown associations have functioned as social networks whose members pooled their money earned here to help build new schools or churches back in Mexico. But leaders in Chicago's largest immigrant group have a more ambitious worldview than their predecessors, even more than the ethnic blocs that preceded them decades ago. Some, like Gutierrez, wield growing influence in both countries. One morning, he's unveiling a blueprint for more immigrant services in Illinois as director of the state's Office of New Americans Policy and Advocacy. The next night, he's brainstorming with activists in his home state of Michoacan about a slate of candidates for Mexico's congress. An active role in Mexican politics might seem at odds with building political influence here. But Gutierrez and others say they form a budding new political consciousness among Mexican immigrants -- a "third nation" of sorts that transcends the border, advancing the community's cause on both sides. "The nation-state concept is changing," said Gutierrez, 46, who came to Chicago in 1986 and led one of the Midwest's largest federations of hometown associations. "You don't have to say, `I am Mexican,' or, `I am American.' You can be a good Mexican citizen and a good American citizen and not have that be a conflict of interest. Sovereignty is flexible." That concept worries some U.S. officials and scholars who see the dual loyalty as undermining the assimilation of Mexican immigrants. Irish, German and Polish immigrants eventually melded into Chicago's landscape, their ties to their native soil largely sentimental. But Mexican immigrants today are linked to their homeland like no group before, scholars say, connected by NAFTA, satellite TV, the Internet, cell phones and cheap non-stop flights. In Mexico, their power stems from the nearly $25 billion these immigrants send home every year, the country's second-highest source of income behind oil. Their political influence surfaces in places like Teloloapan, far up in the cactus-filled hills of the state of Guerrero, where a Chicago restaurateur helped build new roads and business. Grateful townspeople elected him mayor in a landslide. In the U.S., immigrants' power is driven by numbers and a growing deftness at the levers of this country's political machinery. That recently manifested itself in a fledgling political action committee called Mexicans for Political Progress, which raised $23,000 for Blagojevich's re-election and rallied volunteers to walk precincts during November's election. An unfolding movement Fabian Morales, a soft-spoken Realtor with a well-clipped mustache, stands at the center of the unfolding movement. He handled logistics for three massive immigration marches in Chicago last year -- including a four-day walk to suburban Batavia -- and co-founded Mexicans for Political Progress. After coming to Chicago in 1970, Morales helped launch one of the city's then-few hometown clubs, devoted to his tiny native village of Xonacatla, Guerrero. Back then, Xonacatla was without roads, potable water or electricity. It was a slow journey from other towns by foot or horseback, Morales said. The club members in Chicago resolved to change that. Collecting $50 to $100 at a time, Morales and others raised enough through barbecues and door-to-door soliciting to replace a house used for worship services with a towering marble church that rises from the green hillside. Morales has since helped develop CONFEMEX, an umbrella organization for most of the hometown clubs in the Midwest. Among other things, the group is a central voice in economic development in Mexico, representing an estimated $340 million in projects generated by U.S.-based hometown associations in the last five years, according to Mexican federal officials. "We want to focus on creating more jobs there so they don't have to think about emigrating," Morales said. The rising activity of hometown associations caught the eye of the Mexican government, which eventually created a "3-for-1" matching project, where federal, state and local governments split the cost of a new bridge or computer center with the U.S.-based groups. Those projects have given Mexican immigrants "a great moral authority" in their homeland, as well as political cachet, said Carlos Gonzalez, executive director of the Institute for Mexicans in the Exterior, or IME, a Mexican federal government agency that fosters stronger ties with expatriates. "During the 1970s, [Mexicans] called the people who left Mexico and acclimated to the U.S. 'pocho,' which, if you look in the dictionary, means 'spoiled fruit,' " Gonzalez said. "The change we've seen in the public perception of Mexicans in the exterior has been 180 degrees." In 2006, citizens abroad were allowed to vote in Mexican presidential elections for the first time. Leaders are also pushing for changes that would allow expatriates to vote in local elections and even hold elective offices while residing abroad. Recently, Gutierrez and others persuaded Michoacan to become the first state in Mexico to extend voting rights to expatriates. Their rationale: Almost half of those born in Michoacan, Zacatecas and several other Mexican states now live in the U.S. Timoteo "Alex" Manjarrez, 44, is among a small but growing number of Mexican immigrants making a bolder claim in their motherland. Arriving from his native town of Teloloapan, Guerrero, in 1980, Manjarrez spent 19 years in Chicago. The stocky, boyish-looking immigrant worked for years as a dishwasher at the Columbia Yacht Club and, eventually, became owner of three Mexican restaurants in the city. Fulfilling a desire shared by many immigrants, Manjarrez moved back to his native town in 1999 with enough money for his family to live comfortably. But the place he had longed for all those years was still frustratingly poor, despite the investments Manjarrez's hometown club made in new roads and other improvements. Manjarrez, who holds both Mexican and U.S. citizenship, settled in and quickly built a new health club and a hacienda-style restaurant named La Condesa, after the three he still owns in Chicago. In 2004, he ran for mayor of Teloloapan. With long-distance backing from his hometown club friends in Chicago, who sent money and telephoned friends and local officials on his behalf, Manjarrez won handily. 'The city that works' Since taking office, the man who sees Mayor Richard M. Daley as a political role model has pushed to remake Teloloapan into a Mexican version of "the city that works." The effort includes newly paved streets, a recreation center that replaces a local swamp known as "black waters," and a towering hotel being built privately by Manjarrez's family. Next to a new medical clinic, a donated Chicago ambulance sits in the parking lot. Its emblem has been painted over, but it serves as a reminder of the continued links Manjarrez has to his former city, where he maintains a home near Midway Airport, votes in U.S. elections and checks in on his businesses. Aurelio Santamaria Bahena, mayor of a town near Manjarrez's called Tlapehuala, labeled such changes "a blessing" for an area of Mexico dominated by crumbling lean-to houses and children in bare feet pulling bone-thin donkeys. But, as with other parts of the country where the immigrant handprint is deepening, the introduction of U.S.-style governance has also bred resentment. Local leaders of Manjarrez's own Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) are trying to drum him out of office, arguing he is too brash and condescending. The mayor counters the fight is about his efforts to take away "a plate of corruption that they've been able to eat from for years." The conflict was an uncomfortable backdrop during a recent PRD strategy meeting at a restaurant in Chilpancingo, Guerrero's capital. Headlines that morning featured a march against Manjarrez, orchestrated by his opponents. "People see you as an outsider," a worried Santamaria cautioned Manjarrez. "People don't think you see things as they are here." Manjarrez, wearing a black "La Condesa" windbreaker, patted his friend on the back and smiled. He had a media plan, one that might have made Daley proud. "We'll publish photos of the streets of Teloloapan before and after I came into office," Manjarrez said. "And, we'll ask the people: `Which would you prefer?' " That same week, Mexican immigrants from the U.S. and Canada met in Mexico City, as members of an advisory council created by the Mexican government. With a brash American style, they soon escalated their advice to demands, the members' voices echoing through the meeting hall. Morales, the Chicago Realtor, and about 100 other council members pushed Mexico to lobby the U.S. harder on immigration reform. They chastised their hosts for not creating more jobs. Buttonholing federal legislators in hallways, they reminded elected officials how much their districts relied on money sent from the U.S. They want 'results now' Gregorio Luke, a blond member of the council from Los Angeles partial to designer suits, observed that this kind of behavior wouldn't exist in a purely Mexican forum, where deference toward authority guides nearly all dialogue. "These people come here speaking Spanish, but they're negotiating as Americans," said Luke, a museum director who once oversaw cultural affairs at the Los Angeles Mexican Consulate. "They want to see results now." The meeting of the advisory council also illustrated the provocative overlap of Mexican and American political action. In addition to all-day strategy sessions on how to improve Mexico, council members brainstormed over late-night drinks on next moves in the fight for U.S. immigration reform. Many members had used their existing e-mail network to coordinate simultaneous demonstrations in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Though not active participants in the U.S. immigrant movement, Mexican officials urged their compatriots to keep on fighting. "Let there be no barriers or walls between Mexicans here on the inside and the outside," former Mexican President Vicente Fox told the group, referring to a 2006 U.S. law that allows for a 700-mile fence to be built at the border. The audience stood and cheered. The idea that the Mexican government might be helping its nationals shape U.S. politics has raised red flags, both in the halls of academia and in the more volatile world of talk radio and the Internet. Robert Leiken, director of the immigration and national security program at the right-leaning Nixon Center in Washington, argued that binational activism among Mexican immigrants is bad for both countries. In the U.S., the meetings in Spanish and the often-passionate interest in Mexico's future hinder assimilation, he said. In Mexico, the relationship to hometown associations fosters an unhealthy economic dependence on U.S. remittances. "If I went out to Pilsen and spent some time with people from a hometown association, I'd think these are really cool people," Leiken said. But, "Standing back and looking at this from a social policy standpoint, I see some real problems." James McCann, a Purdue University political science professor, found that immigrants interested in Mexican affairs were more likely to participate in U.S. politics. He helped interview about 1,100 Mexican immigrants and found that hometown clubs promoted activism. "The conventional wisdom is that any transnational engagement is going to suck the oxygen out of your civic life in the States," McCann said. "But it seems that if you open a new avenue of expression in Mexico, that new avenue might pay some other dividends in the U.S." Some of those dividends went directly to the Blagojevich campaign last fall, when the governor found himself being serenaded by a trumpet-playing mariachi band inside the Hacienda Tecalitlan restaurant on the Near Northwest Side. Near a trickling courtyard fountain, Morales praised the governor in Spanish at the kickoff dinner for the Mexicans for Political Progress PAC. While Morales once raised money for his hometown with $1 tamales, the price here was as much as $500 a plate. "Let us demonstrate our political power by voting in the election, by voting for our friends interested in the prosperity of Mexicans. Friends like Gov. Rod Blagojevich!" Morales told the crowd. Blagojevich, who speaks a hint of Spanish, took the microphone and shouted: "Viva Chivas!" a reference to a popular Mexican soccer team. When the laughter and applause subsided, he switched to English and added: "By organizing, you are empowering a community. Your voice will be heard." The mood is darker in northwest suburban Carpentersville, where a growing Mexican community has rallied in large numbers in the face of a local backlash against undocumented immigrants. Last fall, about 3,000 Mexican immigrants and their supporters turned up outside Carpentersville's City Hall in an unexpected show of opposition to a proposed ordinance that would penalize landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and employers who hire them. The crowd was so riled a vote on the ordinance was postponed and has yet to be taken. The quick response came largely due to the hometown association representing the village of La Purisima, Michoacan, local activists said. The club turned to its telephone list of 400 families, said Salvador Balleno, the group's president. The turnout was a victory, but it has not deterred Carpentersville trustees from other proposals that would allow local police to trigger deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants and make English the village's official language. And as Balleno has struggled to register voters and rally volunteers for this month's village elections, even sympathetic politicians have seemed hesitant to link themselves too closely with the hometown association. Balleno now fears the village's hard-liners have the upper hand, intimidating some of the immigrants who protested last fall. "The [club] members know that if these people stay [in office] it is going to affect their kids," Balleno said, sounding anxious that an opportunity was slipping through his fingers. Jose Artemio Arreola, a key organizer of next month's march in Chicago, has been actively monitoring the battle in Carpentersville. He sees the activity there as part of a plan to create a political empire for Mexican immigrants, one linking hometown associations in Chicago and other cities to labor unions and Mexico's congress. His strategy includes moving back to his native state of Michoacan to run for congress there, something Arreola never imagined doing when he left a town overrun by poverty and ruled by local drug kingpins. He got his start in Chicago working in a plastics factory. Frustrated by the union representation there, he ran for shop steward and won. Unable to speak English, he relied on his bilingual co-workers to help him negotiate union contracts. He has since become a school janitor in Oak Park. The position pays little, but it has allowed Arreola to climb the ranks of the Service Employees International Union, where he has become key in that union's national efforts to tap further into the country's exploding Mexican immigrant workforce. All the while, Arreola has used the sharp elbows and old-school union tactics acquired in Chicago to become a power broker in his hometown of Acuitzio del Canje. He started in 2004 when the local mayor refused to back projects proposed by his hometown association. Arreola, a burly backslapper partial to gold neck chains, recalled thinking: "I need to take them out." He recruited a teacher to run for mayor in the Mexican town. Arreola then brought back a town phone book and, with others in Chicago, called voters one by one, promising a stream of U.S. investment if his candidate won. The incumbent opted for traditional rallies and car tours through town with a bullhorn. More than two years later, sitting in a Pilsen restaurant, Arreola opened a laptop computer and showed off the fruits of what proved to be an easy victory. Pictures of a new retirement home popped onto the screen, one featuring a grinning Arreola at a groundbreaking ceremony. Another showed a new computer lab with 40 computers for local schoolchildren, an investment in the future of Acuitzio del Canje. The town's name comes from an 1865 decision to make it the site for a "canje," or exchange of prisoners between warring Mexican and French troops. Sitting deep in the dusty mountains of Michoacan, it was neutral ground back then, Arreola explained, territory that didn't fully belong to either country but, in some ways, belonged to both. ---------- aolivo@tribune.com oavila@tribune.com - - - IN THE WEB EDITION Jose Artemio Arreola is one of several Mexican hometown association leaders in Chicago with multiple connections in Mexico and the U.S. From helping organize last year's massive immigration marches to slating political candidates in his home state, he wields influence on both sides of the border. To learn more about Arreola, watch videos and see photo galleries, go to chicagotribune.com/mexicansinchicago. Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune more

Resolved Question: What do you think about this?

Speech by IVAW Member Andy Sapp, husband of MFSO member Anne Sapp. February 11th, 2006 Montpelier, VT Thank you, and good afternoon It is my privilege to have been asked to speak to you today. My name is Andrew Sapp. I’m 49 years old, and I teach English at Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, MA. I am also a staff sergeant in the 272 chemical company of the MAARNG and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. I have been married for nearly 26 years and have three children, ages 22, 18, and 9. My wife, Anne and daughters are members of Military Families Speak Out and have speaking out publicly against this war for over a year. Before I go further, let me greet whoever in the crowd is going to report back to the FBI, CIA, NSA on this event. Understand that I am speaking not as a representative of the government but as a private citizen exercising his First Amendment rights—while he still has them. And just so it goes in the right file, my name is spelled S•A•P•P. In June of 2004 my unit was called to active duty. I was deployed to Kuwait that November, and convoyed north into Iraq the following January. My unit provided security for Forward Operating Base Summerall, 45 miles north of Tikrit, and 8 km south of the largest oil refinery in Iraq. I returned home with my unit last October and was discharged from active duty around Thanksgiving. I first joined the military in 1976, as part of the economic draft that is called the all-volunteer military. Like so many children of working families, college was financially out of reach, and I had few job prospects. I spent six years on active duty, and then went to college to become a teacher. Supporting a family on a teacher’s salary is not easy, so I joined the reserves in 1994 for the added income. I’ve remained in the service, in the National Guard, in part for the pension and health care benefits that I will earn after retirement. I currently have nineteen years of total military service. Like most of the men and women I’ve met over the years, I joined the military for economic reasons. But that’s only part of the story. In 1976 I took the Oath of Enlistment for the first time. I swore that I would “support and defend the Constitution.” Like most of the men and women in uniform, I take this oath seriously. I believe that there are things in life worth defending, including the values and beliefs that define us as Americans. I can honestly say that the vast majority of men and women with whom I have served want to serve this country with honor. They want to do what is right. They are, you can say, people of conscience. Just as all of you are people of conscience. Just as you all are standing here in the cold out of a sincere wish to defend our country. The oath that I took all those years ago stated that I would “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. I always knew that I might be called upon to go to war, but I always believed that that would be a war to defend our nation. Service men and women don’t get to pick the wars in which they fight. They place their trust in—they trust their lives to--our elected leaders to only send them to fight when the stakes are so high that the survival of our nation is at stake. They trust that the President, who takes the same oath, will take his oath as seriously as they do. I’m here today to tell you that America is at war. America is under attack, and our nation is threatened. The war, however, is not in Iraq. The Iraqi people are not a threat, and never were a threat to our nation. No, the real war is right here in the United States. Our way of life is being threatened by our own leaders, by men with no conscience, by men who have broken their oaths, by men have betrayed our country. We in uniform, those who are risking, and the 2267 who have given, their lives deserve better leadership. We citizens of this nation, we who believe in justice and freedom and peace, deserve better leadership. We are men and women of conscience. We are here because we know that our nation is in danger. We cannot help but act. We cannot help but demand that this war end and end now: Not one more dead soldier, not one more dead marine, not one more dead Iraqi. I won’t go into detail about my experiences in Iraq. Any American with open eyes, a desire for truth, and a conscience already knows that Iraq is a tragedy of our making. We know what has been done to that country in our name, the tens of thousands of men, women, and children who have died, the hundreds of thousands who have been traumatized by our occupation, by our bombs, our patrols and raids, by our white phosphorus and depleted uranium. We know that billions of dollars have been diverted from helping Iraqis and our own military, and put into the coffers of big business. We know the pain of having our loved ones sent off to war, of never knowing if the next phone call or knock on the door will bring news you never want to hear, or how much changed they will be when they return. We who have been there know what it’s like to see people look at you with hatred and murder in their eyes, to be told—required—to do things no one should ever be asked to do. It is only those who have betrayed this country who remain willfully ignorant. It is only those who have no conscience who refuse to see the truth. No, instead of telling my war stories I would rather say that it has been my privilege to speak to you, my band of brothers and sisters for peace. It is, however, my honor to stand on the same platform from which in a few minutes you will hear another one of my brothers, Pablo Paredes. Pablo is also a man of conscience. Pablo was faced with the same decision as me, to be deployed to a war he believed illegal and unjust. He stood up and refused to allow himself to be sent to this war. Last night I shared a stage with Camilo Mejia, another brother, and one who has become a friend. Camilo refused to be sent back to Iraq after coming home, was court-martialed, and spent 9 months in a military prison. I am proud to stand with other brothers and sisters who have refused to be a part of this war, becoming conscientious objectors, or leaving military service after 10, 15, even 20 years. It is an honor to stand beside these men and women. These men and women show what true service to our nation is—the bravery to do what is right, the courage to stand tall in the face of danger in order to preserve what makes us good. These men, and hundreds and thousands of men and women like them, in and out of uniform, standing here today, show the power of conscience. We stand here demanding an end to this war. We are right; we have the power of right. And they know it. The mean, venal, petty little men who have usurped power and wield it for personal gain are afraid. They know that cannot stand against the forces that defend our country. They know that we are laying siege to their power. They know we are right. Make no mistake, these men are dangerous. They will fight back with everything they have. But if we hold together, if we don’t allow our differences to distract us from our goal, we can end this war, we can bring the troops home now, we can allow the Iraqi people to rule their own fate, and we can reclaim our country. Thank you. Before I go, I would like to ask your help. Please do what you can to support the groups that make up Vermont Says No To War, as well as Iraq Veterans Against the War (ivaw.org). We can all use whatever you give—time, resources, and money. As some have said, freedom isn’t free, but together we can reclaim it. Thank you. more

Resolved Question: Can I roll over 457 retirement plan (set up with a non-profit) into an IRA?

The original non-profit company is now out of business, and the last contribution was 10 years ago. I am 63 and still working. If the 457 can't be rolled over into IRA, what exactly are options to avoid taking total payment in a single year and yet still receive systematic withdrawals? The 457 plan is currently with a large full service brokerage, and the agent believes my only option is to annuitize the full amount. However, fees are enormous with this option. Do I have any other options? more