Posts tagged "2"

How Law Enforcement Agents and the Community Can Curb Burglary in the Community

Community Policing: A Viable Panacea for the crime of Burglary

By

Osasumwen Osaghae

 December 2008

The Crime of Burglary

The crime of burglary has several components. Some of the elements have provoked disagreement. One of such elements is what constitutes a dwelling place. Section 111(5) of the powers of Criminal Courts (sentencing) Act, 2000 provides that a domestic burglary committed in respect of a building which is a dwelling. The Article

Meaning of Domestic Burglary: When Is an Outbuilding a Dwelling? (Kalu, 2008) examined the meaning of a dwelling. According to the writer, dwelling is not defined in the 2000 Act. The writer then preferred the common meaning of the phrase dwelling place. The article reviewed the case of R Vs Rodmell in which the accused was convicted of burglary in a shed which the victim protected with burglary alarm. The frontier of dwelling house was extended to include shed. The writer disagreed with the judgment and the rationale for the judgment. The basis for the disagreement was the judge’s omission to define a dwelling house thereby leaving the premise for the judgment to ideological guesses. The writer then suggested that “dwelling” be given its literal and natural meaning of abode (inhabited) instead of the legal forest created by the unclear judgments on the matter.

Swaray (2006) considered the nexus between expectations of burglaries and actual burglaries. There was the belief even though unfounded that the apprehension of people that their homes were likely to be burglarized was misplaced. But the study found otherwise. Titled On the relationship between the public’s worry about safety from burglary and probabilities of burglary: some evidence from simultaneous equation models, the paper flawed the policing policy of the government in dealing with burglary cases and contended that the policing methods are not customized enough to ease the burden of burglary on the citizens. The article discussed burglary in the United Kingdom and Wales. The writer employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to identify the relationship between the fear of burglary and burglary itself. The writer argued that environmental variables encompass physical and social dimensions of neighborhoods and public places that people frequent during the course of their daily activities. The effect of the fear is to create insecurity laced with apprehension which in turn reduces quality of life. The author concludes that there is indeed a relation between the cognitive and the emotional aspects of the problem. The study found that there is strong interdependence between households worry about burglary and actual and perceived probabilities of burglary.

Sorensen (2007) considered alternative policing as an option to the traditional policing method. The writer identified three basic approaches to burglary reduction, although the boundaries between them are not always clear. The three approaches are (a) reducing underlying motivations for crime; (b) pro active/problem oriented policing; and (c) situational crime prevention. This article focused on situational crime prevention, which concerns the management, design, and manipulation of the immediate physical and/or social environment with the aim of making crime appear more difficult, more risky, or less rewarding in the eyes of potential offenders. The article is based on burglary in the Scandinavian countries. The writer noted that earlier studies in Burglary did not include evaluation processes for the experiments and so he improved on the state of the literature by including an evaluation process in his study. The article titled Randomized experiment on burglary reduction, argued that multi-tactic approach to reducing burglary may not be the best approach as it obscures the actual working tactic and cloaks an ineffective method with a “working” garb. Sorensen (2006) concluded that a study such as his own may not lead to unambiguous conclusions. He would therefore recommend further enquiries in the area.

Community Policing

Burglary has been on the increase and has tended to defy traditional policing. Community policing has been recommended as a more effective way of dealing with the problem. Community policing is based on the recognition of a geographical unit (city) as consisting of many neighborhoods with particular sets of qualities and service needs. It is a customized model of service delivery tailored to meet the needs of particular communities. Community policing consists of two complementary core components; “community partnership and problem solving”, (Community policing consortium cited in Oittemeier & Wycoff).

Changing policing practices, wider social divisions have led to the transfer of policing responsibilities from the state to an assortment of public, private and voluntary agencies like the community youths, neighborhood watch and the vigilantes, (Johnston as cited in Yarwood, 2007). Policing efforts would fail if the community does not embrace the policing strategy. In the same vain, community policing is bound to fail if the citizens cannot trust the police force in their community. In extreme cases of failed loyalty, the citizens protect the criminals in their midst than they cooperate with criminals in their communities because social commonality as in race, religion and economic standing.

Community policing has taken on different names and conceptualizations such as “neighborhood watch”, “vigilantes” (Fleisher as cited in Fourchard, 2000), “anti-thief and anti-witch organizations, (Heald as cited in Fourchard, 2000). The article titled Histories of Yoruba Vigilantism is a case study of a local form of community policing that is in use in the Southern Nigeria city of Ibadan. There is a mixture of failed loyalty on the part of the people in the city and a loss of confidence. The result is that the people are more comfortable with non state policing comprising the locals in the society with an effective information network which was found to be lacking in the operations of the state police. Fourchard (2000) argued that the rise in the activities of vigilantes is an indication of the failure of the traditional policing model and a remarkable increase in the level of crime in the society among other crimes, burglary. ‘Vigilante’ in Nigeria is a term initially used by the police in the mid-1980s as a substitute for an older practice present since the colonial period and referred to as the ‘hunter guard’ or ‘night guard’ system. Colonial administration in western Nigeria either tacitly authorized it or legalized it, giving rise to an enduring continuity of these non-state forms of policing. The article traced the origins of Vigilantes to pre-colonial Nigeria when the British found it hard to curb crimes. The concept of the community has been evolving constantly with rules and safeguards being put in place to ensure that the powers were not abused. The rules and safeguards are understandable giving the non state nature of the vigilantes. One of the challenges of community policing is the potential for the abuse of the power conferred on the local policing agents. In contrast to the argument of Fourchard (2000), some of the vigilantes have themselves become the criminals because of state approval of their activities and the arms some of them are given. The article concluded that some characteristics of the community policing method in Southern Nigeria have remained to this day and have had the impact of reducing crimes such as burglary in the city concerned. Some of the practices are the curfew system, erection of gates along the streets to reduce access to and from the streets. The Curfews ensure that people stay more at home with various times set for the curfews. In most cases, people were forbidden from moving about from 8.00 pm to 6.00 am. This made a lot of sense since most of the burglaries (burglaries used in loose sense) were committed at night. Even when the curfews were stopped, the people still return home at about the time set for the curfews feeling that it was not safe to be out after the set curfew period. This had the effect of reducing break ins and burglaries as the criminals refrained from going into the homes where there were people. More than any thing else, the article shows that community policing in association with other safety precautions would reduce burglary but not in isolation.

Among several theories, there is the theory which states that  when geographical locations are reduced, crime watch is made easier. A body of theory predicts that increases in the aggregate risk of apprehension within geographic territories may lead to crime reduction. The theory has variously been referred to as structural deterrence, (Sampson & Cohen, as cited in Kane, 2006), or ecological deterrence, (Bursik, Grasmick & Chamlin, as cited in Kane 2006). The theory refers basically to community policing, (Kane, 2006). The article titled On the Limits of Social Control: Structural Deterrence and the Policing of “Suppressible” Crimes discussed the theory of deterrence and its waning influence in explaining criminal propensity. The article examined the development of threat estimates that people make about their local environments and the processes by which they may transmit those threat estimates to people within their social networks. Researchers have applied the threat estimate framework to such environmental hazards as floods, traffic accidents, fires, and oil spills, generally finding that increases in perceptions of risk along the hazardous outcomes are often associated with changes in individuals’ behaviors within discrete environmental settings. The study attempted to fill these gaps by examining whether variations in the risk of apprehension across geographic territories has predicted variations in subsequent crime rates (robbery and burglary) within police precincts over time in a major urban setting. The study integrated the primary methodological and theoretical advances highlighted in the macro-deterrence literature by specifying a longitudinal design, using the community (i.e., police precinct) as the unit of analysis, and incorporating arrest activities independent of known crimes and clearances as the apprehension threat variable.

Conclusion

Community policing remains the most viable option for curbing burglary and other property crimes. As indicated above, the system will not work in isolation but in conjunction with other measures presents a viable option for combating burglary in the society. Community policing would depend largely on environmental influences in order to be effective. Community policing is based largely on interpersonal relationships and information sharing between community inhabitants and the policing authority. If there is at anytime, a loss of confidence or a communication gap, community policing may fail. This is one feature working in favor of public policing in that it does not have to rely on cooperation from the citizens wholly

References

Fourchard, L. (2008) A new name for an old practice: Vigilantes in south-western

 Nigeria Africa 78 Vol. 1

Kalu, A (2008) Comment: Meaning of Domestic Burglary: When is an outbuilding

            a dwelling? Crime Policy Report Vol. 3

Kane, R. J. (2006) On the Limits of Social Control: Structural Deterrence and the

Policing of “Suppressible” Crimes Justice Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 2

Moore, 2003 retrieved from

http://www.policeforum.org/upload/BottomLineofPolicing_576683258_1229200520031.pdf on 07/15/08

Oittemeier & Wykoff retrieved from

            http://www.policeforum.org/upload/perfeval_570119206_12292005152535.pdf

 on  08/1/08

Ruth, R. S. & Reitz, K. R. (2003) The Challenge of crime: Rethinking our response,

            Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press

Sorensen, D. W. M. (2007) Scandinavian Prospects for a Place-Based Randomized

Experiment on Burglary Reduction, Journal of Scandinavian Studies in criminology and Crime Prevention, Vol. 8

Yarwood, R. (2007) The Geographies of policing Progress in Human Geography

            Vol. 31 No. 4

Osasumwen Osaghae
http://www.articlesbase.com/criminal-articles/how-law-enforcement-agents-and-the-community-can-curb-burglary-in-the-community-725003.html

Anti Poverty

Anti Poverty in USA

                          Even the wealthiest nation in the world like the United States does not escape the problem of poverty. This paper takes a critical look at poverty and anti-poverty policies in the United States. In this paper, I have argued that poverty is caused by several factors. This paper also discusses the liberal and conservative perspectives for reducing poverty in America. The conservatives have focused on individual factors such as wide wage gaps, breakdown of family, racial factors and other reasons while the liberals have focused on the structural transformation of the American economy to explain the persistence of poverty.  Since 1960, both the federal and state governments have been responding with policies that address the problem with mixed results. In this paper, I have analyzed the policies and have also recommended the possible ways to deal with this intractable nature of poverty.

                   According to Sen (1981), ‘the poor are those people whose consumption standards fall short of the norms, or whose income lie below that line’. The word "poverty" suggests destitution, an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. Over thirty-six million Americans live below the official U.S. poverty line (Blank, 2007). This means a family of three earns less than less than $ 16,000 or a single individual earns $10,300 per annum (Blank, 2007, p. 17). Millions more struggle each month to pay for basic necessities, or run out of savings when they lose jobs or face health emergencies. Job cuts, high rates of unemployment, foreclosures and high food and gas prices continue to stimulate policy formulation designed to improve the condition of the poor.

                     Poverty is integrally associated with misery and suffering. The lost potential of children in poor households and the lower productivity and earnings of poor adults are all intertwined with poor health, increased crime and broken neighborhoods. Childhood poverty typically leads to poor health care and high crime neighborhoods. Persistent childhood poverty is estimated to cost the United States $500 billion each year, or about 4% of the nation’s gross domestic product (Blank, 2007, p.1).

                    One in eight Americans lives in poverty and poverty in the United States is far higher than in many developed nations (Rebecca Blank, 2007, p1). Inequality has reached record high. The richest 1 percent of Americans in 2005 held the largest share of the nation’s income (19%) since 1929 (Rebecca Blank, 2007, p. 2). At the same time the poorest 20% of Americans held only 3.4% of the nation’s income (Rebecca Blank, 2007, p.2).

                    Colorado in spite of being surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains and experiencing a cool, mountain climate has many homeless people. Scholars have identified that, a growing number of single parent households, a shortage of jobs for lower wage workers and a low rate of high school graduation have contributed to the growth of poverty in Colorado. The Colorado poverty rate has increased from 9.2% in 2000-2001 to 10.6% in 2005-2006 while the poverty rate of United States has increased from 11.5% in 2000-2001 to 12.5 % in 2005-2006 (Center on Law and Policy, 2006, p.1).  Most of these ill-fated poor people suffer from mental and health problems. 

Causes of Poverty

                        Policy analysts are trying to explore numerous perceived direct and indirect causes of poverty in the United States to formulate effective policies to alleviate poverty. The work of scholars such as Corley (2003), Sowell ( 2004), Iceland (2006), Jencks (1992), James Tobin (1993) and others have shown that the intractable nature of poverty is a result of not any one factor but of the interaction of a variety of causes. The breakdown of family and other social causes as well as the structural changes in the economy, have all contributed to society’s failure to eradicate poverty inspite of ardent efforts by policy analysts.

                   Individual Explanation of poverty mainly stresses the attitudinal or motivational factors and human capital factors. Thus lack of motivation among indigents causes poverty. Generous welfare programs sometimes affect the mind-set of recipients and they prefer to stay at home and enjoy the benefits rather than work outside. Murray (1984) argues that individuals prefer to remain on welfare because of insufficient motivation to come out from public welfare programs.

                  Formulation and proliferation of policies to alleviate poverty has been a major concern of the United States Government since 1960. Educational attainment is necessary to get a high paying job. Elementary school education, as well as lack of adequate skills and motivation among indigents to come out of the situation is the major causes of poverty. People well equipped with technical skills get high salaried jobs while people who are school drop outs get low pay on an hourly basis. During the 1960s when the then- President of United States Lyndon Johnson began to implement the United States ‘war on poverty’, he placed great emphasis on education (Jencks, 1992). The Lyndon Johnson administration even invested in programs like Head Start and occupational training to upgrade the skills of the poor and also to prevent future generations from working in low-paying jobs. Scholars like Sowell (2004) and Corley (2003) have emphasized individual level factors as the central causes of poverty. They argue that a person’s compensation is based on his or her educational qualification and marketable skills. Sowell (2004) argues that the lack of appropriate skills has affected the ability of many indigents to climb out of poverty. He also argues that there has been an increase in the poverty rate of unskilled Americans, who have lost jobs to Asian immigrants. Corley (2003) also supports the above argument and regards ‘lack of educational attainment’ as one of the entrenched sources of poverty. Low quality education from poorly funded inner-city schools results in few marketable skills which leads to low-wage jobs and other miseries associated with it such as less ability to pay for housing, food, clothing, medical care, bad neighborhoods, funding problems for schools, and increased risk of serious illness (Corley, 2003). 

                          Many scholars have argued that structural changes are the primary reason for the persistence of poverty in the United States. Structuralists emphasize issues such as joblessness, discrimination in education, institutional racism and economic transformations in explaining the causes of poverty. Scholars argue that the inability to provide decent paying jobs for some American families and the ineffectiveness of American public policy to reduce poverty are basically the result of structural failures and processes. Poverty is rooted in the structure of American society. Rank, 2004 supports the above view and argues that lack of human capital tends to place individuals in a vulnerable state when events and crises occur. The incidence of these events like loss of a job, family break-up and ill-health often result in poverty. These ill-fated people unable to handle these situations often end up in paying more. Scholars also argue that the acquisition of human capital is strongly influenced by the impact of social class on this process (Rank, 2004). Apart from poor family, race and gender also play a role in the acquisition of human capital (Mark Robert Rank, 2004).

                          Globalization, the expansion of credit markets leading to greater indebtness and foreclosures leading to recession in 2008 all point to the growth of poverty.  Iceland (2006) primarily focused on economic factors and has argued that poverty is also the product of deindustrialization. As the U.S. shifts from a manufacturing, industrial society to a service-oriented, high-tech society, many of the blue-collar jobs that required little education but paid well are disappearing or are being outsourced. Rural areas, such as Appalachia, suffer losses of mining jobs, and cities such as Detroit lose many manufacturing jobs to automation or overseas factories. Some people are unable to follow the jobs or commute to work are left in neighborhoods without employment or tax-basis to support needed social functions, such as schools, public transportation, police departments, and so forth. Others simply cannot find jobs because of the shift towards a service-based economy; in economic terms these people are structurally unemployed due to the changing skills needed. Tobin (1993) supports the above viewpoint and emphasizes on the disappearance of jobs in the 1900s as the main reason for the country’s failure to eradicate poverty. Recent employment data shows that the US housing slump and the crisis in America’s credit markets are threatening to increase poverty levels. Isidore (2008) mentions that the job losses  are widespread, with the battered construction sector losing 51,000 jobs and manufacturing employment falling by 48,000 in the year 2008 . Retail employment dropped by 12,000 jobs, and business and professional service employers cut staff by 35,000. The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% in September from 4.9 % in January (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008).

                         Kelso (1994), argues that over the last forty years, there has been a major shift of American firms first to the west and then to the south. Part of this shift was due to the rise of the Cold War and the decision of the government to enlarge U.S. military power (kelso, 1994). He argues that as America elected to invest more in defense and in the aerospace industry, cities like Seattle and Los Angeles on the West Coast began to boom while the growth of a high technology and information based technology led to the growing affluence of California and the San Francisco Bay area. Later with the expansion of inter-state highway system and growth of jobs, markets were created in the south.

                         Iceland (2006) also argues that although the service sector of the economy has generated millions of jobs, but again polarized earning distribution based on educational attainment separates better paying jobs from poorer paying jobs. He supports a Marxian analysis of class conflict and exploitation and emphasizes on business owners favor hiring inexpensive labor to maximize profit. This also accounts for the inflow of cheap labor to the United States from Mexico and other countries. Greater access to credit has put cars, computers, credit cards, and even homes within reach for many more of the working poor. But this remaking of the marketplace for low-income consumers has a dark side. Roubini notes that, "Having access to credit should be helping low-income individuals, but instead of becoming an opportunity for upward social and economic mobility, it becomes a debt trap for many trying to move up (Grow and Epstein, 2007).

                          Inspite of public assistance and wide initiatives taken by both Federal and State governments, poverty still exists. Meticulous analysis of the situation and effective formulation of policies is needed to solve the problem of poverty in the United States. Scholars like Rank (2004), Blank (2007) and others have shown that the United States Government spends fewer funds addressed towards poverty than any other industrialized country. Thus a major structural failure is found at the political level (Rank, 2004). Most European countries provide a wide range of insurance programs, unemployment assistance, and wide universal health coverage along with considerable support for child care (Rank, 2004). Such social programs are far more generous than those in the United States (Rank, 2004). While, low-income families in the United States work more than those in other countries, they are still not able to make up for lower governmental income support relative to their European counterparts (Blank, 2007, 141-142).

                          The gross disparities among impoverished people in the United States along racial lines have led many scholars to speculate that institutional racism is responsible for much of the poverty in the United States. Racial discrimination in employment and   education contribute to the growth of poverty. Some scholars like Massey and Denton (1993) interpret the statistics in terms of institutional racism while others like Kelso (1994) interpret the statistics as evidence of deficiencies and suffering of blacks.   In spite of efforts to remove racism, slavery and Jim Crow segregation, Massey and Denton (1993) argue that racial segregation still exists and that the fundamental cause of poverty among African Americans is segregation. They argue that segregation has created and perpetuated a black underclass by limiting educational and employment opportunities. Massey and Denton (1993) have shown that Blacks were shown homes in racially mixed areas or areas adjacent to predominantly black areas.

                           Also, changing patterns of family formation are more pronounced among racial and ethnic groups. Family patterns are also one of the causes of poverty in the United States. There is a wide gender gap in wages. In 2004 the median income of FTYR male workers was $40,798, compared to $31,223 for FTYR female workers (DeNavas-Walt et al, 2005) Pearce (1978) argues that ‘poverty is rapidly becoming a female problem’. Iceland (2006) supports this statement and showed that in 2000, the female poverty rate (12.5%) was 26% higher than the male poverty rate (9.9%) (Iceland, 2006). According to Iceland, women have fewer economic resources than men, and they are more likely to be the head of single- parent families. It also leads to the greater likehood that single, divorced or widowed women will be poorer than their male counterparts because of less social security income or other retirement income in addition to higher female life expectancies. Women’s lower wages, lower retirement benefits and the increasing number of single mothers have led some scholars to talk about the “Feminization of Poverty.”

Federal policies

                       After the Second World War, by 1963, creation of jobs by President John F. Kennedy’s tax policies could not remove the problem of poverty. Poverty was still recognized as a major national problem. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty led to a host of programs that included Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and others. These entitlements eventually consumed half the federal budget and could not alleviate poverty. The U.S. economy had been devastated by the recession of 1979-83 when the United Statess manufacturing infrastructure was shattered by the Federal Reserve’s skyrocketing interest rates causing unemployment to shoot up by sixty-five percent in four years (Cook, 2007). By the end of the 1980s the economy was in another recession, leading to the election of Bill Clinton who in 1992 replaced the incumbent George H.W. Bush. The investment boom of the 1990s was fueled by foreign capital lured in by the Treasury’s strong dollar policies. Jobs were created as the dot.com bubble expanded, trade barriers fell, and utility trading giants like Enron took off. NAFTA was enacted to promote free trade, welfare-to-work brought low-income women into the job market, and the Earned Income Tax Credit was extended. The party ended when the stock market crashed in December 2000 and millions of people lost their retirement savings and other investments. Recession was returning even as George W. Bush was being declared president by the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2000. The economic crisis deepened after the September 11, 2001 attacks when $1.4 trillion in wealth vanished during the worst five days of the stock market since the Great Depression (Cook, 2007). Cook (2007) argues that today, poverty is becoming a national catastrophe. Cook (2007) argues that from 2002 through 2006 the economy was floated by the housing bubble, with many lower income people getting into homes of their own through the proliferation of sub prime mortgages. With the financial woes in late 2008, many American citizens are left with inflated home prices and no way to pay for them.

                      The 1960’s policy initiatives and declaration of ‘unconditional war on poverty’ by the then president Lyndon Johnson marked a discrete change in the federal government’s willingness to intervene for the purpose of improving the economic situation of poor Americans. Despite the billions of dollars spent on programs like CETA (Comprehensive Employment Training Act), The Manpower Development and Training Act, Head Start, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the government efforts to deal with the origins of poverty have met with minimal success. During this period, implementation of the Social Security old-age program insured virtually all retired workers against the risk of outliving their savings. The Social Security Act of 1935 sought to protect the incomes of those who did not work because of age or a poor economy by establishing a federal framework for unemployment insurance, old-age benefits, and assistance to women. In early 1964, the two most pressing priorities of President Johnson’s antipoverty agenda involved passing a massive tax cut designed to stimulate the economy and organizing a task force to shape the ‘War on Poverty’. The Economic opportunity Act (EOA) signed by Johnson created a long list of programs designed to help individuals develop marketable skills, political power, and civic aptitude. But this anti-poverty legislation oversaw other programs like Community Action Program, Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start (1965), Legal Services (1965) which were not included in its framework. While extensive programs like the Food Stamp Program, Medicare for elderly, Medicaid applied to qualified poor residents, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for poor students overshadowed the EOA. The Higher Education Act eased the financial burdens of millions of college students. The Civil Rights Act opened up new spaces in the American marketplace, while the Voting Rights Act did the same for the political marketplace. The Fair Housing Act established an important base of law to combat housing discrimination. As a result the EOA slowly lost importance. Again, Murray (1984) argues that welfare benefits had soared so high so as to make living in poverty a meaningful option for the poor. Even Burton (1992) has supported the above viewpoint and argues that the programs have done more to cause poverty than to alleviate it.

                          When Nixon assumed power, he tried to deal with poverty in a more direct way than emphasizing social programs. . Although President Nixon expressed dislike for much of the War on Poverty, his administration responded to public pressure by maintaining most programs and by expanding the welfare state through the liberalization of the Food Stamp program, the indexing of Social Security to inflation, and the passage of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for disabled Americans (Rank, 2004). The Nixon administration also endorsed a “New Federalism” in which the federal government shifted more authority over social welfare enterprises to state and local governments. His plan to implement the ‘Family Assistance Plan’ (FAP) consisted of various income provisions, work provisions, and training provisions for those below the poverty line (Rank, 2004). It failed to pass the Senate much like the ‘Programs for Better Jobs and Income’ initiated by President Carter in later years.                                       Welfare reform continued as a focus of federal policy debates even after the legislative defeat of FAP. Even though a cash ‘Negative income Tax’ (NIT) for all poor persons never passed, the Food Stamp program provided a national benefit in food coupons that varied by family size, regardless of state of residence or living arrangements or marital status. The number of AFDC recipients increased from about 6 million to 11 million and the number of food stamp recipients, from about 1 million to 19 million during the Nixon administration (Danziger, 1999, p. 8). Danziger (1999) also argues that as higher cash and in-kind benefits became available to a larger percentage of poor people, the work disincentives and high budgetary costs of welfare programs were increasingly challenged. The public and policy makers came to view increased welfare recipients as evidence that the programs were subsidizing dependency and encouraging idleness.

                        Despite the failure to enact a guaranteed income program, both the number of recipients and the amount of money spent on welfare programs increased substantially during the 1970’s (Rank, 2004). Rank (2004) has given an overview of Reagan’s policies and noted that Reagan emphasized individual action unhampered by government interference, rejected the social engineering of the 1960’s and also supported federalism, that is, returning power to the states rather than centralizing them within the federal government. Reagan tried to address the problem and set the tone for welfare reform that occurred in 1990 during his successor’s administration. The Reagan administration thought eligibility for welfare benefits had increased so much, that many persons who were not “truly needy” were receiving benefits. The Reagan Administration opposed simultaneous receipt of wages and welfare benefits. Rather, it proposed that welfare become a safety net, providing cash assistance only for those unable to secure jobs.

                    The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), enacted in 1975, provides families of the working poor with a refundable income tax credit (i.e., the family receives a payment from the Internal Revenue Service if the credit due exceeds the income tax owed). Thus the EITC raises the effective wage of low-income families, is available to both one- and two-parent families, and does not require them to apply for welfare. The maximum EITC for a poor family was $400 in 1975 and rose to $550 by 1986 (Danziger, 1999, p. 14). The 1986 Tax Reform Act increased the EITC so that by 1990 a low-income working parent received a maximum credit of $953 (Danziger, 1999, p. 14). The number of families receiving credits increased from between 5 and 7.5 million families a year between 1975 and 1986 to more than 11 million by 1988 (Danziger, 1999, p. 14). Danziger, 1999 argues that as the expanded EITC supplements low earnings, it became easier for policy makers to emphasize welfare reform policies that could place recipients into any job, rather than training them for “good jobs.” Thus he argues that if a nonworking recipient took a low-wage job, a substantial EITC could make work pay as much as a higher-wage job would have paid in the absence of an EITC.

                         The Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988 expanded the scope of the AFDC program for two-parent families, instituted transitional child care and Medicaid for recipients leaving welfare for work, and added funds and required states to establish programs to move greater numbers of welfare recipients into employment. When the welfare rolls jumped in the late-1980s and early-1990s, from about 11 to about 14 million recipients, dissatisfaction with welfare again increased ( Danziger, 1999).    

                        President Nixon identified the two main economic problems, inflation and unemployment, that justify the need for economic recovery to the American worker. Reagan has emphasized despair caused by unemployment combined with high inflation. Reagan’s rhetorical construction of welfare recipients and the welfare system was aimed at reducing anxiety among Americans caused by increasing taxes, inflation and the continuous fear of losing jobs. To end this victimization, Reagan proposed a plan for economic recovery (Rank, 2004). Apart from cutting government spending, specifically spending on social programs, Reagan also proposed to have State governments assume control of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and the food stamps program in exchange for the Federal Government control of Medicaid. Although this proposal failed to reach the Congressional floor, his presentation of the proposal to exchange AFDC and food stamp program with Medicaid made poverty a local concern (Mark Robert Rank, 2004).  

                       Liberals and conservatives still disagreed on other goals of welfare-to-work programs. Liberals thought welfare reform should expand opportunities for welfare mothers to receive training and work experiences that would help them raise their families’ living standards by working more and at higher wages. Conservatives emphasized work requirements, obligations welfare mothers owed in return for government support whether or not their families’ incomes increased (Mead, 1992). 

                       In later years President Clinton’s approach also emphasized empowerment as a way of helping welfare recipients and to accumulate more savings without being penalized and expanding the earned income tax credit (Blank, 2007). By the mid-1990s, the focus of policy concern shifted from fighting poverty to reducing welfare dependence. President Clinton’s signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (the PRWORA) ended the entitlement to cash assistance and dramatically changed the nature of the social safety net. The Act created the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program (TANF). TANF began on July 1, 1997, provides cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services (The Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty, 2007).  Danziger, 1999 argues that each state can now decide which families to assist, subject only to a requirement that they receive “fair and equitable treatment.”  In instituting a block grant program, the PRWORA granted states the ability to design their own systems, as long as states met a set of basic federal requirements. The bill’s emphasis on ending welfare as an entitlement program, places a lifetime limit of five years on benefits paid by federal funds, and also aims to encourage two-parent families and discourages out-of-wedlock births. In granting states wider latitude for designing their own programs, some states have decided to place additional requirements on recipients. Although the law placed a time limit for benefits supported by federal funds of no more than 2 consecutive years and no more than 5 years over a lifetime, some states have enacted more stringent limits. All states, however, have allowed exceptions with the intent of not punishing children because their parents have gone over the time limit. Federal requirements have ensured some measure of uniformity across states, but the block grant approach has led individual states to distribute federal money in different ways. Certain states more actively encourage education, others use the money to help fund private enterprises helping job seekers. The PRWORA offers no opportunity to work in exchange for welfare benefits when a recipient reaches her lifetime limit of 60 months of federally-supported cash assistance. But the reform has certain limits. States may not use federal block grant funds to provide more than a cumulative lifetime total of 60 months of cash assistance to any welfare recipient, no matter how willing she might be to work for her benefits, and they have the option to set shorter time limits. States can grant exceptions to the lifetime limit and continue to use federal funds for up to 20 percent of the caseload. The extent of work expectations has also been increased. Single-parent recipients with no children under age one will be expected to work at least 30 hours per week by FY 2002 in order to maintain eligibility for cash assistance (Danziger, 1999, p 20). States can require participation in work or work-related activities regardless of the age of the youngest child. Thus PRWORA emerged from research that sought both to reduce poverty and welfare dependency (Danziger, 1999).  In the 1990s, following Clinton’s call to “end welfare as we know it,” policy makers escalated their demands for recipients to work and reduced government obligations toward and funds to serve them (Danziger, 1999).

                     When Bush took office in 2001, the U.S. was experiencing a national surplus, unemployment and poverty had been on the decline for years, and the economy was booming. Now, almost six years later, poverty is on the rise, healthcare coverage is on the decline, and the country is faced with the largest national deficit in history. Lower middle class families are slowly slipping below the poverty line and the poorest are becoming even more destitute. Most of these families are headed by women.

                      President Bush has extended the TANF. There has been a general economic stimulus policy initiative during the Bush administration but nothing targeting low income Americans has been enacted. President Bush signed the economic stimulus package (H.R. 5140) into law with the hope that it will provide a much-needed boost to the lagging economy. The package includes tax rebates for individuals, tax breaks for businesses, and a temporary increase of the Federal Housing Administration loans from $417,000 to $729,750 (White House report, 2008). More than 130 million people are expected to get tax rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 per household for individuals earning $75,000 or less and couples earning up to $150,000 (White House report, 2008). While the stimulus package will provide much needed financial help to millions of people, it fails to target those most in need as it will not include an extension of unemployment benefits, energy assistance, food stamp benefits, or fiscal relief to states for Medicaid.                       

                  From the above analysis, the question arises whether poor are responsible for their own condition. The above analysis implies that recipients become dependent and lethargic due to vast welfare measures. Scholars such as Murray (1984) and Kilty and Segal (2006) have emphasized on individual factors. They argue that welfare measures and lack of spirit and motivation among indigents contribute poverty. Danziger, 1999 argues that during the Nixon era increased welfare measures encouraged idleness. Kilty and Segal, 2006 also argues that poor people can come out into a state of self-sufficiency from dependency by learning proper work attitude and skills. Kilty and Segal, 2006 argue the importance of welfare reform and a ‘tough love’ approach would ultimately help the poor by making them conscious of their condition and forcing them to take their own responsibility. Bill Clinton’s emphasis on ‘personal responsibility’ and measures to ‘end welfare as we know it’ in 1992 all supports the above argument.

                     Due to the implementation of TANF, the numbers of people on welfare have decreased. As a result more funds are accumulated. In 1996 the number of ADFC recipients was 12,644,076 while in 2001, the number of TANF recipients was 5,91, 811 and the poverty rate also reduced from 13.7 to 11.3 ( Kilty and Segal, 2006) and while in 2008 it is 1,628,422  ( US Dept of Health and Human Services). The share of single mothers on welfare (based on administrative caseload counts divided by population numbers) rose from 38 percent in 1969 to 48 percent in 1980, but had fallen to 30 percent by 1998 ( Kilty and Segal, 2006). These caseload changes are widespread, with every state in the country experiencing substantial caseload decline. This decline has been widely hailed by politicians as an indication that policies designed to reduce dependence on public assistance and move less-skilled adults into the labor market have been extremely effective ( Blank, 2007). But however Blank argues that declines in welfare do not affect the poverty rate. The poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, increasing slightly from its level of 12.3 percent in 2006. The poverty rate increased for four straight years from 2000 to 2004. In 2007, the poverty rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than it was in 2000 (Blank, 2007).     

States welfare initiatives

                      Most states took a significant decision about reform, and this decision was sensible in light of state goals and experience. A few states did not seriously make reform policy. New York was so deeply divided that it took no serious decisions about AFDC (Mead, 2002). Alabama and Missouri were pushed into reform by federal action and appeared to have little welfare policy of their own (Mead, 2002). In several other Southern states (Florida, North Carolina), policymaking appeared to be casual and personalized, with the governor or legislators offering reform plans with, apparently, little inquiry or evidence behind them( Mead, 2002) . Texas policymaking was incoherent as the state claimed to pursue work first but based its policy on an experimental program and focused far more on education and training (Mead, 2002). States have always emphasized on reform. But sometimes lower contribution towards these plans result in total failure of the program. Mead (2002) argues that in Florida and Georgia, however, officialdom was dragged into reform but showed little commitment to it. In Arizona and California, the agency or major localities had been heavily committed to a skills-oriented approach to welfare and resisted the shift toward work first. In Texas, welfare reform was a lower priority to administrators than rebuilding non-welfare employment programs and other initiatives. In Colorado and New Jersey, local agencies had a history of defiance toward the state government, and this prevented them from fully endorsing reforms decided in the capital. Mead (2002) argues that inspite of establishment of Employment Service (ES), a federally-funded job placement agency, and training programs under the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), poverty rate did not improve. After national welfare work programs were first enacted in 1967, the ES engaged in welfare practices. But because the ES’s routine stressed serving job seekers who came to it voluntarily, it generally performed poorly with welfare clients (Mead, 2002). These jobseekers came to it on a mandatory basis, as a condition of receiving aid. To succeed with them, the agency had to enforce work but also support employment with special services. The ES often found both these roles uncongenial (Mead, 2002). The ES was denoted to the role of contractor to welfare and later in 1988 the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) merged the ES, JTPA, and other non-welfare work programs. But this merging also created confusion. The problems included lack of clear procedures to refer clients to WIA, to serve them there, or to report results back to welfare. The states that lacked coordination and inadequate management information systems (MIS) were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee.      

                         Colorado’s public reform has been associated with decline in poverty rate. By the close of 2000, Colorado’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6 percent, personal income showed steady gains, state welfare cases declined dramatically, and State legislators wrestled with an estimated $833 million revenue surplus (Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, 2001). But inspite of all the above facts poverty still persists as expenses like child care, out-of-pocket medical expenses and geo-graphic differences in housing costs increased. The increases occurred even after adjusting for income support such as tax relief, food stamps and school lunch programs, housing subsidies and energy assistance. A report published in 2001 by the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute determined that a single parent with two small children living in Denver County would need to earn an annual salary of approximately $39,924 in order to meet their basic needs such as housing, food, health care, childcare and transportation without public or private assistance. Even child poverty rate is high in Colorado. About 180,000 children, 15.7 percent of the state total was living in poverty in Colorado in 2006, a 73 percent increase since 2000 (Frosch, 2008). The state of Colorado purchases childcare for income eligible families through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP). The state allows individual counties to set the purchase price of childcare and make payments to providers from a combination of parental fees and federal, state and county funds. However, the Colorado Office of Resource and Referral Agencies (CORRA) found in a 2001 study that the average county payment fell below 75 percent of market value (Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, 2001, pp 9). As a result counties forced providers to subsidize the cost of service to low-income families, which many were simply unwilling to do when limited slots could be filled with families that could afford to pay full rates. Other providers that chose not to simply refuse service to CCCAP families saved money by limiting the number of children on CCCAP that they would accept, cutting programs, or reducing workers’ wages. All of these actions limited availability and sacrificed quality of care to low-income children. Poverty still exists in Colorado despite initiatives to alleviate poverty as too many working families lives with incomes below the poverty line and more families earn wages simply too low to afford their basic needs. The Colorado government started the Common Good Caucus in 2007 to develop a 2009 agenda, emphasizing on K-12 education and determined to bring technologies out of the laboratory and into the marketplace by investing $4.5 million dollars in bioscience industry, supporting the Clean Energy fund to reduce high family utility costs , creating the Colorado Solar Incentive Program with $2 million to provide rebates for photovoltaic and solar thermal systems to help Coloradans join the new energy economy and cut their utility bills ( State Rep. Kerr Andy, 2008). Poor people cannot pay the full cost of heating and lighting their homes. Governments and social service agencies have long assisted low-income ratepayers in paying their bills through such programs as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), charitable fuel funds, levelized billing, discounts, home weatherization, energy efficiency, energy usage education and debt management. If all Americans live in weatherized and energy efficient homes and have the income to pay their full share of utility bills, all other ratepayers would save nearly $6 billion in poverty costs, including fuel assistance, lifeline and other rate assistance, weatherization and efficiency costs, the costs of late payments and service disconnections (Oppenheim and MacGregor, 2007).      

Recommendations  

              From the above analysis it is clear that poverty remains pervasive due to the economic system, social stratification and welfare measures. According to Iceland (2003) on one hand, economic growth and technological changes contribute to increase in wages and overall standard of living. Economic growth accompanied by rising education levels improves the condition of people. On the other hand, the market economy often exerts a contrary effect on poverty levels (Iceland, 2003). To maximize profits, businesses usually seek to pay low wage to workers which increase inequality and poverty. Again policy may increase or decrease the harmful effects of inequality. Combining the factors emphasized by both liberals and conservatives, poverty is multifaceted. I believe that a strong national effort would alleviate poverty. Employment opportunities for all so that that worker and their families can avoid poverty, meet basic needs and save for the future. Increasing hourly wages would definitely improve the condition of these people. A smaller share of unemployed low-wage workers, receive unemployment insurance benefits. I believe that states (with federal help) should reform “monetary eligibility” rules that screen out low-wage workers, broaden eligibility for part-time workers and workers who have lost employment as a result of compelling family circumstances. Workers should use this period of unemployment and the money received from the Unemployment Insurance System and upgrade their skills and qualifications. Thus adults should have opportunities throughout their lives to connect to work, get more education, and live in a good neighborhood and move up in the workforce.

                         Child care assistance to low-income families and emphasis on K 12 education would definitely reduce the rate of poverty in the United States.                          Low-income youth hardly attend college than their higher income peers. Pell Grants play a crucial role for lower-income students. Simplification of the Pell grant application process, and encouragement of institutions to do more to raise student completion rates would definitely improve the condition. Expansion of Pell Grants would make higher education accessible to residents of each state. The states at the same time should also develop strategies to make postsecondary education affordable for all residents. Expansion of the Saver’s Credit would encourage saving for education, homeownership, and retirement. As a result all Americans would have assets that would allow them to weather periods of volatility and to have the resources that may be essential for upward economic mobility. Apart from Saver’s credit, expansion of Earned Income Tax Credit would raise incomes and helps families build assets. Thus there should be opportunity for all so that children grow up in conditions that maximize their opportunities for success.

References:

Blank Rebecca (2007); Poverty to Prosperity; Center for American task force on Poverty;

www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/pdf/poverty_report.pdf – Similar pages

Colorado Statewide Homeless Count (2007), School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado, denver.www.dola.state.co.us/cdh/Publications/Winter_2007_Statewide_PIT.pdf – Similar pages

Cook Richard (2007), Poverty in America

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5905 – 61k – Cached – Similar pages

Corley Mary Ann (2003); Poverty, Racism and Literacy; ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education

Danziger Sheldon (1999), Welfare Reform Policy from Nixon to Clinton, Institute for  for Social Research, University of Michigan.

De Navas-Walt, et al., “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2005.

Diana Pearce Diana Pearce (1978) "The Feminization of Poverty: Women, Work, and Welfare," Urban and Social Change Review.

Iceland John (2006); Poverty in America; University of California Press

Isidore Chris (2008); the Trillion-Dollar Mortgage Bomb,

money.cnn.com/2008/04/21/news/economy/fannie_freddie/?postversion=2008042103 – 66k –

James Tobin (1993); Poverty in Relation to macroeconomic Trends, Cycles and Policies; Cowles foundation discussion paper.

Garima Dasgupta
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/anti-poverty-688499.html

Cma-cgm: Jacques Saadé, Désespéré, Menace…

Traduction libre de l’article du quotidien égyptien

« Al Moujaz » du 13 novembre 2006

Des échauffourées au procès

de l’affaire des conteneurs de Damiette

Les avocats de Jacques Saadé menacent…

• Des provocations et des insultes de la part de la partie de Jacques Saadé.

• Maintien des détentions de Massad et les autres prévenus avec insitance sur la poursuite des fugitifs…

• Les avocats de certains prévenus clament la recherche des vrais intéressés après que leurs clients ont reconnu la corruption.

Les infractions commises par le Président de la ligne maritime française (CMA CGM), Jacques Saadé, n’en finissent pas. Après la série de scandales auxquels, Jacques Saadé fait face, allant des deux ports de Damiette et de Lattaquié, en dévoilant d’autres implications de grandes envergures dans d’autres ports arabes et internationaux, l’audience publique consacrée au jugement de l’ex-directeur Général de la société des Conteneurs de Damiette, Ali Massaad avec 6 autres prévenus, ne fait que démasquer la façon dont les responsables de la ligne française se comportent vis-à-vis de la partie adverse et notamment les avocats libanais représentés par Maître Antoine Kozah.

Maître Kozah déclare avoir été insulté à sa sortie de la 5ème chambre au 3ème étage du tribunal du Nord du Caire. Il rajoute qu’ un des avocats de Jacques Saadé, Khaled Aino, appartenant au Cabinet d’avocats Al Dib, qui défend la CMA CGM et Jacques Saadé, lui a proféré des menaces et a tenté de le frapper en présence d’un grand nombre de témoins. L’avocat libanais s’est alors précipité à l’intérieur de la Salle d’audience, mais, hélas, le procureur général et le conseiller Ahmad Refaatl’ avaient déjà quitté. . Par la suite l’équipe d’avocats libanais est sortie du Tribunal sous protection des forces de l’ordre qui témoignent de cette attaque dont ils ont fait l’objet dans l’enceinte même de la cour de justice égyptienne. Des milieux avertis et informés sur l’affaire de Damiette, s’étonnent du comportement indélicat de l’avocat de Jacques Saadé au tribunal, un fait que plusieurs considèrent comme étant un signe de débâcle totale de l’équipe de défense de Jacques Saadé, qui essai d’écarter son implication et lui épargner ses retombées. Jacques Saadé pour sa part, d’après certaines informations, a ordonné parait-il, à un de ses collaborateurs, Fadi Issa, de s’installer au Caire ayant pour mission de restructurer la société en Égypte, dans une ultime tentative de redorer son blason après la mauvaise réputation conséquente aux affaires de corruption, de pots de vin et d’atteinte aux fonds publics du port de Damiette.

Les avocats déclarent qu’il faut démasquer celui à qui profite le crime.

En retour à l’audience du tribunal, la situation est restée inchangée. La détention de Ali Massaad et les autres prévenus continue, et l’intensification des opérations de recherches des fugitifs. L’affaire a été transférée à un autre district du Tribunal. En marge du procès, l’avocat égyptien, Rafic Mohamad Rachad, le conseiller des 3ème et 7ème inculpés, déclare que ses clients ont reconnus les faits mais que d’après la loi égyptienne il bénéficient de circonstances atténuantes car après tout ceux ne sont que des employés qui n’ont pas l’autorité pour distribuer des sommes aussi importantes en pots de vins, et il insiste sur le fait de tout mettre en œuvre pour démasquer les vrais bénéficiaires de cette affaire.

Le Jeudi 9 Novembre à 11 heures, Ali Massaad fait son entrée au tribunal, habillé en Blanc, évoquant son innocence devant la Cour, mais malgré sa persistance à nier les faits qui lui sont reprochés, la reconduction du procès et son maintient en détention ont été ordonnés. Les épisodes dans cette affaire ne sont pas encore au point de s’arrêter, compte tenu de la position de Ali Massad qui ne reconnaît pas les faits alors que les autres inculpés sont passés aux aveux dévoilant ainsi leurs rôles dans la corruption dont Ali Maassad avait touchée.

A la cour pénale du Caire, une deuxième audience a eu lieu dans le procès du scandale des conteneurs du port de Damiette ». Les enquêtes avaient révélé d’importantes opérations de falsifications, corruptions et de vols s’élevant à quelques millions de dollars dans une complicité avérée entre la société française (CMA CGM) et les anciens responsables de la société égyptienne du port de Damiette, dont certains parmi eux sont toujours en arrestations provisoires, sur ordonnance du Président Ahmad Rifaat. Ali Massaad, allias « Al Bey », le principal inculpé devrait répondre de trois chefs d’accusations dont les plus importants seraient l’obtention de pots de vin de la part de la société étrangère, avoir faillit aux obligations et devoirs de sa mission et avoir dilapidé des fonds publics.

Suites aux enquêtes conduites par Le Procureur Général Wadih Hanna An Nached , et à la découverte de pièces et de preuves rajoutées à celles dévoilées par la commission de contrôle administratif, Ali Massaad Saad avec 6 autres inculpés ont été déférés par devant la cour pénale.

Un des faits les plus étonnants que la commission d’enquête administrative a pu mettre en évidence, c’est que le Président de la société de Damiette recevait des pots de vin de la société CMA-CGM, des documents le prouvant ont été saisie au siège de la société en Egypte. Le plus surprenant encore c’est que malgré les efforts déployés par le Président de la société de Damiette pour que la ligne maritime française atteigne les 70 000 Conteneurs par an pour justifier l’application du barème de facturation de la 3ème colonne, toutes ces tentatives sont restées vaines, ce qui a précipité le démasquage de la corruption.

Les investigations de la commission de contrôle administratif ont révélé une modification des barèmes tarifaires (Système de colonnes de prix) des prestations de transport et de manutention appliquées pour la facturation de la ligne maritime française, engendrant une baisse dès que le flux dépasserait les 70 000 conteneurs transités par an. L’enquête arrive à la conclusion que le Président du Conseil d’administration de la société des conteneurs de Damiette était directement derrière cette manipulation. Suite à un accord conclus avec les responsables de la ligne maritime française, à l’occasion d’une visite qu’il a effectué à Marseille, siège de la société française, là il a modifié illicitement la date de prise d’effet de cet accord ce qui a permis à Ali Massaad (en détention) d’octroyer à la ligne maritime française un délai supplémentaire lui permettant ainsi d’atteindre les 70 000 conteneurs et de bénéficier de la 3ème colonne tarifaire dont les prix sont préférentiels, entraînant ainsi une perte de plus de 20 millions de dollars au préjudice du trésor égyptien et en faveur de la société maritime française. Cette Commission a dévoilé aussi que Ali Massad le Président du Conseil d’administration de la société des conteneurs de Damiette percevait depuis 1997 une indemnité mensuelle de 3000 dollars à titre de pots de vin de la CMA CGM à l’époque ou il était directeur du secteur maritime dans la société. Cette somme a été ramenée à 3500 dollars par mois après son accession à la fonction de Président du Conseil d’administration de cette même société. En dehors de cette corruption Ali Massaad avait encaissé la somme de 8425 dollars en couverture de ses frais de voyage au siège de la société française à Marseille des fonds de la société en Egypte, malgré que la CMA CGM avait pris en charge tous les frais de ce voyage.

Par ailleurs, L’autre surprise fut que Ali Massaad Saad avait réclamé 50 000 dollars pour la modification de la date du contrat et que cette somme après négociation, a été ramenée à 30 000 dollars. Cette négociation a eu lieu avec le troisième accusé, le directeur général de la ligne maritime française en Egypte et le directeur financier de la société française, et que cette somme a été entièrement réglé a Ali Massaad par le directeur de la succursale de Damiette de la CMA CGM.

Le rapport du comité tri partite constitué par des experts du ministère la Justice, des finances publiques et des ressources illégales, lors de son évaluation du nombre exacte de conteneurs appartenant à la ligne française ayant circulé a constaté que le chiffre n’atteignait pas les 70.000 permettant l’application du tarif préférentiel de la 3ème tranche, mais malgré ce fait la société française a pu profiter des tarifs bas, grâce à la complicité de Ali Massaad Le Président de la société des conteneurs de Damiette.

D’après ce rapport la CMA CGM aurait pu faire des économies de l’ordre de 5.53190 dollars qu’elle aurait du payé à la société de Damiette et que jusqu’à la date de la découverte de ce préjudice la perte de la société nationale de Damiette dépassait les 3 millions de dollars.

La commission a également dévoilé d’autres infractions graves commises par le directeur de la société Damiette, notamment des sommes de 15.500 Dollars et 21.639 Livres égyptiennes, avaient été décaissé de la trésorerie de la société par ailleurs le directeur financier, le deuxième inculpé, avait détourné 10.600 dollars et 3.500 livres égyptiennes sans aucun justificatif. Le rapport en question a certifié que des dépenses des caisses de la société française sous la rubrique « récompenses de Damiette » arrivent à un total de 38.150 dollars, et une somme dépensée pour le compte du « Bey » (alias Ali Massaad) de 38500 dollars. Les dates de ses dépenses coïncident avec le début des infractions commises par les 7 inculpés.

L’affaire a été appelé localement « La Grande Affaire de corruption des conteneurs de Damiette », et « Damiette Gate », dans le reste du Monde. Dès la première audience trois des six accusés, le troisième, le cinquième et le sixième ont reconnu avoir eu un rôle dans les pots de vins reçus par Ali Massaad, alors que ce dernier persiste à nier tout ce qu’on lui reproche.

Les six accusés , Ali Massaad, Président du Conseil d’Administration de la Société des conteneurs de Damiette, Jihad Anis Dagher employé à la Société Leader Group, Nabil Elie Bassil directeur financier et administratif régional de la société leader Group (Filiale de la CMA CGM), Mostapha Mohamad Khalil Abdel Menhem, directeur de la succursale de Damiette, Jamal Abdel Razek Adbdel Sadek et Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmad Yacoub ont été déféré par le Procureur Général des affaires Financières par devant la cour pénale, dont la deuxième audience était fixée à jeudi dernier 9 Novembre.

D’après des informations frappantes, le successeur d’Ali Masaad, à la tête de la Société des conteneurs de Damiette, suivrait le même chemin de corruption que son prédécesseur ce qui a amené le Procureur Général à ouvrir une deuxième enquête portant sur la période d’après Ali Massaad. Mais cette enquête a été remise à une date ultérieure suite au congé judiciaire et à la promotion du Procureur Wadih Hanna Nached. Cette affaire tombe sous la compétence de 2 autorités le procureur Général des affaires financière et la Cour pénale.

En attendant le dénouement de cette affaire, l’accusé principal restera en détention provisoire, et le dossier dans tous ses aspects, égyptiens, libanais et français suscite beaucoup d’intérêts.

La presse égyptienne révèle qu’il ne s’agit pas là d’un premier cas de corruption dans le secteur du Transport Maritime en Egypte. Or l’ancien Procureur Général Maher Abdel Wahed avait déjà ordonné au Président du Conseil d’administration de la société Damiette, Ali Massaad, son assignation à résidence et son interdiction de disposer de ses biens propres jusqu’à l’achèvement des investigations et cette interdiction a été notifié à la banque centrale d’Egypte, la direction des finances et le cadastre.

L’enquête a été ouverte par le Procureur Général suite à une déclaration du président de l’organe Central de Comptabilité concernant les relevés de comptes de la société appartenant à la société Holding de transport terrestre et maritime présidée par le Général Mohamad Youssof, déjà inculpé dans l’affaire de détournement du Bateau « Salem 2 » dans le port d’Alexandrie. Le Président de la cour d’Appel district du Caire du Sud, Ahmad Khalifé avait fixé au 29 mai dernier l’audience sous la présidence Adel Joumaa de pour se prononcer sur l’ordonnance du Procureur Général. Les investigations avaient révélé un complot entre l’ingénieur Ali Massaad et des responsables de la ligne Maritime étrangère, qui a entraîné la signature d’un accord aux termes duquel la compagnie étrangère pouvait obtenir des remises exceptionnelles au préjudice de la Société publique Damiette atteignant 5,5 millions de dollars.

Ce scandale préoccupe, et l’opinion publique égyptienne et le milieu politique à la fois, car il arrive après les affaires de la direction des transports, la Banque du Caire et le vol de fer et métaux. L’instruction a fait la preuve sur l’existence d’un complot entre le premier inculpé, Ali Massaad Saad et le Président de la ligne Maritime française, qui a entraîné dans un premier temps la disparition de quelques 6 millions de dollars des caisses du trésor Egyptien. Lors d’une perquisition au domicile de l’inculpé, il s’est avéré qu’il percevait depuis des années, régulièrement, des pots de vins pour son compte personnel en provenance de France.

Dans un rebondissement surprenant, l’instruction a révélé que les responsables de la Ligne maritime internationale dont le siège social est situé en France, à Marseille, ont remboursé un montant de 3,1 million de dollars par chèque bancaire à l’ordre de la Société Damiette dans le cadre d’un compromis visant a étouffé l’affaire, après que le Procureur Général avait déclenché les poursuites judiciaires à l’encontre de cette société et procédé à la saisie des biens de Ali Massaad. Ce chèque n’a pas mis fin aux poursuites engagées, mais il a fait découvrir un autre aspect de l’affaire mettant en évidence l’implication directe de la Société française dans la corruption de fonctionnaires égyptiens.

Malgré le démenti de la CMA-CGM de tout rapport avec cette corruption et sa déclaration qu’une enquête interne est en cour en collaboration avec les autorités égyptiennes, le journal le Sunday Express a révélé que La CMA-CGM présidée par Jacques Saadé , versait déjà plus de 10 000 Dollars par mois à Ali Massaad, et avait tenté de rembourser 3,1 millions de dollars comme indemnité pour le port Egyptien de Damiette.

Jacques Saadé déclare au même journal, que les prévenus ont été payées par le bureau en Egypte et qu’il n’y a pas eu de transfert par le siège français et que sa société ouvre une enquête interne à ce sujet avec l’aide des autorités égyptiennes et que plusieurs cadres ont été entendus y compris le responsable comptable.

Le Sunday Express, explique que la situation est extrêmement sérieuse et l’inquiétude envahie plusieurs autres pays et notamment les Etat Unis. Or des pressions politiques ont fait de sorte que la CMA CGM fut interdite de prendre les parts de la Compagnie anglaise P&O dans le port américain de DUBAI DP WORLD, pour des raisons de sécurités, et que les autorités américaines mènent une enquête à propos de cette affaire.

D’autres informations survenues en marge des investigations secrètes, indiquent que plusieurs points dans cette affaire demeurent obscurs. Le point le plus important qui a été révélé jusqu’à présent c’est le faux contrat, qui fait l’objet principal de l’enquête, et qui portait la signature de Farid Salem, Directeur Général de la CMA-CGM et en l’occurrence le beau frère du Président Jacques Saadé.

Le Journal Al Ahram du 26 mai 2006, indique que les investigations des services de contrôle financiers, font apparaître que le principal accusé recevait régulièrement des sommes importantes en contre partie de ces infractions.. L’ex Procureur Général Wadih Hanna Nached avait lancé des mandats de perquisition dans les locaux de la ligne Maritime en question (CMA-CGM) à Alexandrie qui ont aboutis à la saisie de nombreuses preuves attestant de transferts de sommes importantes des comptes de cette société en faveur de l’accusé.

Le Magazine Rose El Youssof » publie une longue enquête sur ce dossier. Dans ce dossier on déclare que le Président de la société Damiette est propriétaire de 2 grands palace dans la ville de Damiette sur les bords du Nil, sans oublier les dizaines de propriétés et 3 villas dans le village touristique de Yasmina à Port Said en plus des 5 hectares de terrain agricole dans la même ville, tout cela ajouté aux 20 millions de livres égyptiennes sur des comptes bancaires en son nom propre et ceux de son épouse et ses enfants, et un certain nombre de comptes à l’étranger dont l’inventaire n’était pas encore connu. Par ailleurs, ajoute l’article, Ali Massaad avait un prête-nom, « Le Bey », à l’ordre duquel les chèques reçus étaient libellés.

Les enquêtes ont révélé aussi que le nombre de conteneurs que la CMA-CGM avait fait transiter par le port de Damiette, ne dépassait pas les 70 000 sur les 12 derniers mois permettant à la société française de bénéficier de remises de près de 5,5 millions de dollars. Ce qui les a poussé à faire modifier illicitement le contrat avec la Société Damiette en versant des pots de vins en plus des rétributions mensuelles octroyées à Ali Massaad en récompense.

Rose al Youssof ajoute que Ali Massaad prétend avoir amasser sa fortune en Arabie Séoudite là ou il a travaillé pendant 12 ans et à Bahrein pendant 5 ans. Mais il n’était pas en mesure de présenter des preuves le disculpant. L’étrange aussi, c’est qu’il a comparu devant la cour qui a ordonné la saisie de ses biens et ceux de son épouse, portant des vêtements de très mauvaise qualité, dans une tentative de dissimuler sa fortune. Etonnant encore, le cabinet d’avocats qui assure sa défense est l’un des plus grands cabinets spécialisés dans les affaires maritimes, Cabinet Ad Dib, et qui s’occupe des affaires de Mamdouh Ismaeel le propriétaire des « Navires de la Mort ».

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L’enquête avance dans l’espoir de faire la lumière sur d’autres points dans ce dossier complexe. Une forte probabilité existe pour que le Procureur Général lance des poursuites contre les réels bénéficiaires de ce complot, ce point rajoutera un élément de surprise au conflit autour de la propriété de cette société, et serre encore plus l’étau autour du président de la ligne maritime française au tribunal.

Une nouvelle affaire en Syrie

Malgré le caractère spectaculaire et surprenant de l’affaire des conteneurs de Damiette d’autre affaires n’en demeurent pas moins surprenantes, que se soit dans le port syrien de Lattaquié, en France ou au Etats-Unis, ce qui a rendu les infraction de la ligne maritime française, un fin appât pour les média égyptiens, arabes ou internationaux.

Les dernières informations font actuellement la une de la presse arabe. Il s’agit d’un nouveau scandale impliquant Jacques Saadé dans le port de Lattaquié ressemblant au détail prés à celui de Damiette en Egypte, et qui dégage des odeurs nauséabondes de corruption, de pots de vin et de faux.

Boursat wa Asswak, un magazine syrien, fait état dans son dernier numéro d’un scandale dans le port de Lattaquié similaire à celui d’Egypte et qu’une plainte judiciaire a été déposée par un citoyen en Syrie à l’encontre de Jacques Saadé l’accusant de falsification de documents et de fraudes dans le but d’une mainmise sur les fonds publics. Les faits se passaient par le biais d’émission de faux manifestes indiquant que les « Nolis » sont acquittés à l’étranger et non en Syrie et ce contrairement à la réalité. Ce montage est fait dans le but de frauder la fiscalité en Syrie en se soustrayant à la réglementation en vigueur en terme d’impositions dues à l’Etat syrien.

D’après ce magazine cette plainte déposée à Lattaquié par devant le 1er Juge d’Instruction avait subitement été classée avant la date d’audience prévue.

Quelque temps après, la Société CGM CMA avait réclamé à la Société des Agences Maritime à Lattaquié la restitution de la somme de 500.000 (cinq cents mille dollars américains) sous prétexte que les « Nolis » avaient été perçus à Lattaquié et étaient donc dus à la ligne maritime et devaient faire l’objet d’un remboursement. Par ce fait la Société des Agences Maritimes a enquêté sur ce dossier et a pu se rendre compte de l’ampleur des fraudes dans cette affaire. Une plainte pénale fut présentée à l’encontre de Abed Mounayer, Directeur de la Société CGM CMA à Lattaquié. Mais le dossier a été classé une deuxième fois par le juge d’instruction après avoir entendu Abed Mounayar qui d’après le magazine, est devenu l’associé de Jacques Saadé. Abed Mounayer a été remis en liberté avant même la date de l’audience du 31 octobre 2006, Malgré le fait que la Société des Agences Maritime à Lattaquié au cours de sa plainte, des documents rejetant les allégations de la ligne maritime CGM CMA. Les échanges de correspondances émises par le siège social à Marseille ont révélé que les nolis avaient été réglés à l’extérieur et ce contrairement aux connaissements et qu’il n’y avait plus lieu de les percevoir à Lattaquié. Alors qu’en réalité ces montants avaient été perçus en Syrie avec la complicité de certains employés de la Société des Agences Maritimes et de la Société CGM CMA dirigée par Abed Mounayer à Lattaquié.

Entre Damiette et Lattaquié, de nombreuses questions se posent sur l’ampleur et les ramifications des manœuvres opérées par la CMA CGM et sur l’éventualité que d’autres ports arabes et internationaux dans le monde soient atteints.

A Damas, le procès contre Jacques Saadé entamé par son frère Johnny par devant la cour supérieur de cassation, pour falsification d’une procuration pour le partage d’un bien familial à Lattaquié, avec la complicité de l’avocat libanais Choucry El Khoury, qui aurait agit pour le compte de Jacques Saadé. Ce faux et usage de faux étaient au préjudice de son frère Johnny Saadé. La justice syrienne à l’époque, s’était opposée à se partage, et l’affaire s’était transformée en affaire pénale par devant le juge d’instruction à Lattaquié et le procureur général poursuit Jacques Saadé et Choucri El Khoury pour le délit de falsification de documents officiels. L’affaire prend son court.

En résumé, cette affaire de Damiette devient un ensemble d’autres affaires qui se déplaçant comme des « Conteneurs à problèmes » de capitale en capitale de pays arabe ou étrangers à un autre. De fortes présomption pour que des éléments nouveaux ressurgissent dans les prochains jours, mettant encore plus Jacques Saadé en difficultés, car il demeure presque impossible pour lui de se sortir indemne de ces combat judiciaires.

D’autres Scandales

Le site Internet ‘www.mistralholding.com, appartenant à la société de Johnny Saadé, Mistral Holding sal, contient une quantité énormes de documents, rapports et de pièces judiciaires maîtresses qui expliquent le conflit entre les deux frères. Ce conflit qui a été suivit par la presse libanaise, arabe et internationale avec beaucoup d’intérêts. Parmi ces documents un rapport de 9 pages établi par les experts financiers Antoine Gaudino avec la collaboration de Philippe Carrié , passe en revue les circonstances internes à la société CMA qui ont déclenché ce conflit.

On peut lire à travers les passages de ce rapport que le conflit entre les 2 frères Saadé en tant que principaux actionnaires du groupe CMA-CGM est repris par les média grâce aux déclarations de Jacques Saadé comme étant essentiellement un conflit familial, mais Johnny qui possédait 48,41 % des actions de la CMA accuse son frère de dissimulation d’informations en règle générale concernant la gestion de la société et plus précisément sur toutes les opérations montées par Jacques tant en France qu’à l’étranger.

En réalité, l’origine du conflit remonte à l’absence de transparence quant à l’acquisition de la CGM par la CMA et la tentative de Jacques Saadé de s’accaparer du contrôle total du groupe à son profit personnel. L’enquête préliminaire entamée par Gaudino le 29 Août 1997 à la demande de la Société Mistral holding, révèle que le système de gestion adopté par Jacques Saadé pour la CMA suscite les craintes de son frère, en tant que principal actionnaire, sur l’avenir de la Société.

En approfondissant l’enquête, plusieurs infractions fiscales et autres ont été découvertes lesquelles représentent en partie la nature de la discorde entre les frères. Nous pouvons faire un arrêt sur les principales phases historiques du conflit qui se résument ainsi :

1. La société anonyme CMA (Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement) a été constituée par les frères Johnny et Jacques Saadé, le 8 septembre 1986 et immatriculée au RCS de Marseille, le 8 avril 1987, sous le numéro 340 353 911. Le capital initial ressortait à 250.000 F. Il devait, à la suite d’augmentations successives en 1986, 1987 et 1993 et sur autorisation d’une AGE en date de 26 mai 1994, s’élever, en fin de compte, à hauteur de 60.000.000 F représentés par 600.000 actions d’une valeur nominale de 100 F.

A cette dernière date, d’après le registre des mouvements de titres de la CMA, les actions étaient principalement réparties entre les trois sociétés libanaises qui étaient : Merit SAL 48,41 %, propriété de Jacques Saadé, Mistral holding 48,.41 % propriété de Johnny Saadé,

Les actions intitulées « Famille Jacques Saadé», au nombre de six, étaient détenues par M. Jacques Saadé, son épouse Mme Nayla Salem,sa fille Tania, son fils Rodolphe, son beau-frère M. Farid Salem et M. Tristan Vieljeux.

Les trois sociétés actionnaires relevant du droit libanais, sont toutes immatriculées au RCS de Beyrouth et domiciliées dans ladite ville, à la même adresse

La Société Rodolphe Saadé & Co ressort être une sociétés détenue par Jacques et Johnny Saadé, chacun pour 50% des titres, respectivement au travers de MERIT SAL et MISTRAL HOLDING SAL.

2. CGM (Compagnie Générale Maritime), SA au Capital de 1.275.948.600 F ; et immatriculée au RCS de Nanterre sous le numéro 562 024 422 ; était transférée du secteur public au secteur privé, Par arrêté ministériel du 21 octobre 1996.

Le capital de la CGM était réparti de la façon suivante :

90 % des actions revenaient à la CMA SA, 6% au nom de Jacques Saadé personnellement et 4% réparties sur 3 autres actionnaires.

3. Pour finir Le groupe CMA CGM avait obtenu suite à la privatisation 96 % des actions de la CGM alors que les 4% des actions restantes étaient détenues par 3 autres actionnaires, et la part de Jacques Saadé a atteint 51 % alors que celle de Johnny à travers Mistral holding ne dépassait pas les 49,9%.

4. Les premières constatations soulèvent d’ores et déjà un certain nombre d’anomalies notamment les plus importantes seraient sur les tenues d’Assemblées.

Une assemblée générale extraordinaire s’était tenue au siège de la CMA, le 12 décembre 1996, sans que MISTRAL HOLDING SAL n’ait eu la possibilité d’y participer.

Or cette assemblée avait pour ordre du jour l’autorisation à donner au conseil d’administration d’augmenter le capital social, en une ou plusieurs fois. Cette autorisation portait sur une durée de 5 ans et prévoyait ainsi d’élever le capital de la CMA, de 60 000 000 F au montant maximum de 135 000 000 F.

Le rapport ajoute que, Jusqu’à la date du 12 décembre 1996, la direction de la CMA avait constamment convoqué MISTRAL HOLDING SAL par courrier express remis par la Société DHL en le doublant d’une télécopie. Face aux important délais d’acheminement du courrier au Liban. D’une manière inhabituelle, la convocation pour l’Assemblée Générale Extraordinaire du 12 décembre 1996 était envoyée, le 26 Novembre 1996, à MISTRAL HOLDING SAL par voie de lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception.

Tout était donc organisé pour empêcher Johnny Saadé, d’être informé à temps et par voie de conséquence de participer aux prises de décisions importantes dont le vote pour l’augmentation du capital.

C’est dans ce contexte que Johnny Saadé a saisi le Tribunal de Commerce de Marseille, qui désigna le 23 décembre 1996 un huissier de justice avec mission de se faire communiquer tous les documents relatifs aux conseils d’administration et assemblées générales tenues par la CMA.

A la suite de cette décision, M. Johnny Saadé a pu relever des diverses irrégularités. Quatre conseils d’administrations s’étaient tenus les 7 Juin, 20 septembres, 14 et 15 novembre 1996, sans que MISTRAL HOLDING SAL, à ait été convoquée tandis que sur les procès-verbaux était portée la mention « absent et excusé ».

Une assemblée générale était tenue le 27 mars 1997 pour annuler l’augmentation de capital décidée à l’assemblée générale du 12 décembre 1996,.

Cette annulation n’effaçait pas pour autant les anomalies découlant des transferts d’actions, par conséquent, à la majorité acquise au profit de Jacques Saadé en la faisant passer de 48,41 % à 50,001 %.

5. Des anomalies sont également constatées au niveau de la présentation des bilans. Or, dans l’offre de la reprise de la CGM du 3 octobre 1996, il, ressortait de ces bilans que la CMA jouissait d’une situation financière solide et avait conforté ses capitaux propres atteignant 700 MF, et le projet de reprise de la CGM permettait un retour de l’équilibre financier de cette dernière dès 1999.

Mais les constatations faites sur la nature de certaines écritures comptables, remettaient sérieusement en cause le niveau des fonds propres qui étaient largement inférieurs à la réalité. Ces fonds propres étaient nettement inférieurs aux 200.000.000 millions, et enfin l’opération de reprise de la CGM était une affaire juteuse dont Jacques Saadé s’est réservé la totalité du pactole au détriment de son frère Johnny.

Le rapport Gaudino évoque aussi le fait, chiffre et documents à l’appui, que les bilans présentés étaient faux et ne reflétaient pas les vérités comptables de la CMA, ce qui mettait en danger l’avenir de cette société et portait préjudice aux intérêts de Johnny Saadé, le principal actionnaire.

Le rapport résume en substance que Jacques Saadé avait mis en minorité son frère Johnny par étapes successives et avec préméditation en préparation de l’opération de reprise de la CGM à son profit personnel et plus tard toutes les tentatives de Jacques Saadé pour « la fuite en avant » était dans l’espoir de s’épargner les poursuites judiciaires qui s’aggravaient de jour en jour.

Un arrêt sur l’évolution de ce conflit : la réouverture d’une enquête financière au tribunal de Paris portant sur les infractions comptables et les fraudes fiscales commises par la gestion de Jacques Saadé du groupe CMA-CGM. D’autres sources informations indiquent que les tribunaux égyptiens, enquêtent actuellement sur un dossier de corruption d’envergure touchant le Port de Damiette depuis les années 90 et tentent de déterminer l’importance de ces corruptions opérées par des représentants de la ligne française pour le compte de la direction à Marseille en collaboration avec la complicité d’agents locaux, En attendant les suites des évènements, le directeur du Port de Damiette demeure en détention provisoire.

Suite aux plaintes déposées par Mistral holding, les tribunaux Parisiens lancent une information judiciaire concernant des faux bilans de la CMA-CGM L’enquête a été confiée à deux magistrats célèbres dans le milieu français. Le but de cette enquête serait de faire la lumière sur des éventuelles fraudes fiscales et des dissimulations aggravées de ces bénéfices réels remontant à la date de la signature d’une convention mettant fin au conflit entre les frères Jacques et Johnny Saadé.

Préparé par la section des enquêtes

Businessurgent
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/cmacgm-jacques-saad-dsespr-menace-85367.html

There’s Always Enough Time!

I thought I’d begin this article by stimulating your mind with a
little time trivia contest! Are you ready? Alright then, here
goes…..

Question 1 – How many hours a day did Bill Gates have available
to him to conceptualise Microsoft and build it into a multi
Billionaire dollar empire?

a) 23 hours b) 25 hours c) 24 hours

Question 2 – How many days a week did Hilary Swank have to
become an academy award winning actress?

a) 6 days b) 8 days c) 7 days

Question 3 – How many weeks a year did Nelson Mandela have
available to him to free his country from the tyranny of
apartheid?

a) 51 weeks b) 53 weeks c) 52 weeks

* please note the answers are at the bottom of the article.

So how did you go?

Now if you answered all the questions correctly -
congratulations! You have just demonstrated to yourself that you
have the necessary intellect and awareness required to master
your own time!

If you answered any of the questions incorrectly – it’s ok.
Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just re-sit the test before
continuing the article!

We are all given the same 24 hours a day.

One of the most important things to recognise about time is that
each of us has been given the same 24 hours a day to work with.
It doesn’t matter if your one of the world’s great leaders or a
street cleaner, your time allocation remains the same.

Great people do great things in life not because they have more
hours than the rest of us but because they put their time to
good use. Your success in life therefore depends not on how many
hours you have available each day but on how you personally
choose to use your time. You always have enough time to create
an extraordinary life should you choose to.

But I don’t have enough time!

Whenever you hear yourself say that you don’t have enough time,
what you are really saying is that you have ‘chosen’ to do
something else with your time. How you spend your time is your
time is entirely your choice. The big question is, ‘are you
making the choices that will provide you with the maximum amount
of health, peace and happiness?’

Where are you wasting time? If you want to become a master of
your time one of the first things you need to do is work out
where you are currently wasting time. Are you spending too much
time down at the pub or watching TV or doing a job that you
hate? If you are then you have to do something about it. Nothing
will change unless you do.

Try giving up alcohol for month, selling your TV or volunteering
your time to a cause you feel passionate about. You’ll soon be
amazed at what else is possible for your life!

You can’t make time!

It’s important to understand that you can’t make time, you can’t
find time and you certainly can’t buy time. Time just is as it
is.

The issue is never about having enough time, but what you choose
to do with your time. There is always enough time to do the
things that you want to do. You just have to be to committed to
doing them.

* Answers

Question 1 – c) 24 hours Question 2 – c) 7 days Question 3 – c)
52 weeks

Copyright Damien Senn 2005. All rights reserved.

Damien Senn
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/theres-always-enough-time-2529.html

Arrested for DUI – What Should I Do?

If you find yourself arrested for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (DUI) in the State of Arizona, and you have submitted to a breath, blood, or urine test, and the results of the test reveal a blood/breath alcohol result of .08% or higher, or you have refused these tests, you can expect to be involved in two separate legal proceedings.

1. A criminal proceeding in court
2. A civil proceeding with the Department of Motor Vehicles (MVD) and the likely suspension of your driver license.

These two proceedings are mutually exclusive; the outcome of one will not affect the other. You could win both matters or lose both matters. How the MVD driver license hearing is handled is extremely important.

Your DUI arrest begins your criminal proceeding. The consequences of this — plea of guilty, or a verdict of guilty following a jury or bench trial — could result in mandatory jail time, fines, fees and assessments, supervised or unsupervised probation, as well as a criminal record. The civil proceeding is conducted before an administrative hearing officer at the MVD. This proceeding deals with a possible suspension of your driver’s license, or if from out of state, your privilege to drive in Arizona.  The arresting police officer will serve you with a “Notice of Suspension.” If you have been arrested in Arizona for DUI and you take a breath, blood or urine test, and the results measured a alcohol concentration of .08% or more within 2 hours of driving, or you refuse to take the blood, breath or other chemical test, the arresting police will serve you with a 90 day driver license suspension notice, or in the case of refusal, a 12 month driver license or driving privilege suspension. The police should give you two copies of this form.

If your test results indicate a result of .08% or higher, the police will seize your Arizona driver license, and issue you a temporary license which is valid for 15 days, or, if you request a hearing within the 15 day window, until the hearing is conducted and the outcome determined. Since the police confiscated your driver license, the yellow copy of the suspension notice is your temporary driver license.

If you are from out of state, the police cannot seize your driver license. They will serve you with a notice of suspension of your privilege to drive in Arizona. The suspension will take effect 15 days after service unless you request a hearing within the 15 days. If a hearing is requested, your privilege to drive in Arizona will not be suspended until the hearing is conducted and the outcome determined.

If you refused to take the breath, blood or urine test, the police will serve you a notice of a 12-month suspension of your driver license, or privilege to drive if you are from out of state. This suspension becomes effective 15 days from the date of service unless you request a hearing. If a hearing is requested your driver license or privilege to drive in Arizona will not be suspended until the hearing is conducted and the outcome determined. If your refused to take a breath, blood or urine test, it is likely that the police obtained a search warrant and obtained your blood anyway. If this is the case, your driver license or privilege to drive will still be suspended for 12 months even though the police obtained your blood through the use of a search warrant.

A request for hearing must be submitted in writing to the MVD. Generally, the pink copy of suspension form, furnished by the police, is used to request this hearing. It is important to fill out the information completely and accurately on the back of the pink form. You must check the box indicating you are requesting an Administrative Hearing and mail it, within 15 days of service to you by the police, to: Arizona Department of Transportation, Executive Hearing Office, Mail Drop 507M, P.O. Box 2100, Phoenix, AZ 85001-2100. Do not select Summary Review; this will not get you a hearing, but merely a review of the paperwork submitted by the police.

In the criminal case, if you plead guilty to the charge of DUI, or if you are found guilty, you will be sentenced in accordance within the present Arizona DUI sentencing guidelines. When the State receives notification of the verdict, your driver license will be suspended for 90 days. However, if you are a first offender, or you have had no DUI convictions within the past five years, and if you took the breath, blood or other required test, and if you have been found guilty in the criminal proceeding, or you feel that such a result is likely, then you may wish to agree to a suspension of your driver license prior to or at the MVD hearing.

Agreeing to the suspension will entitle you to a 60 day restricted driving permit following a 30 day suspension. The suspension is still classified as a 90 day suspension. To obtain the restricted driving permit, you must apply at a local MVD office following the first 30 days of the suspension.  Agreeing to the suspension will generally resolve the civil proceeding sooner and oftentimes well before the resolution of your Criminal matter in court. This is advantageous as you get the suspension over with sooner and under less onerous circumstances. Agreeing to the suspension will generally result in no further suspension of your driver license if you later plead or are found guilty of your DUI in court. In the case of a stipulated suspension from MVD, there will be no requirement that you post proof of Financial Responsibility before your Arizona driver license or privilege is reinstated. Agreeing to the suspension will allow you to select the day you want your suspension to begin, so long as the suspension start date is within 45 days of your MVD hearing date. This allows flexibility in arranging transportation to work or school during the initial 30 days of the suspension. NOTE: If you request a hearing and actually go through with it and lose, the only difference is that your will not be able to choose the day the suspension begins. You should still be eligible for the 30 day driver license suspension followed by the 60 day restricted driving permit.

If you agree to the suspension, you do not get a hearing with the administrative law judge. You do not get to challenge the police officers or contest the evidence in the civil hearing. Sometimes this hearing may be important to gather critical evidence in your DUI case. However, this decision should not be made without first discussing your DUI case and individual circumstances with an experienced DUI defense attorney.

If you have the Administrative Hearing and win, and later lose your DUI case, either through a plea or finding of guilty at trial, MVD will suspend your driver license for 90 consecutive days. There is no eligibility for a restricted driving permit following the first 30 days of the suspension.  Further, if you are convicted either through a plea or finding of guilty in court you will be required to provide proof of financial responsibility (insurance) for three years by filing with the State of Arizona either a $40,000 cash deposit, or Certificates of Deposit (CD’s) totaling $40,000 or a Certificate of Insurance (SR22). This Financial Responsibility requirement could have significant cost implications for you, depending upon your selection of acceptable Financial Responsibility filings and/or your insurance carrier’s underwriting requirements.

Cooper Hill
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/arrested-for-dui-what-should-i-do-985297.html

Complementary & Alternative Medicine treatments for Diabetes

Now-a-days Alternative Medicines or Complementary Medicines and gaining popularity, because of its curing power with out any side effects.

Diabetes details: Diabetes means your blood glucose is too high. Diabetes is the inability of the body to ‘produce insulin – type 1 diabetes’ or ‘proper use of insulin – type 2 diabetes.

Allopathic medicine Diabetes: In allopathic treatment, they consider and treat everyone in a similar manner and drugs are used for treatments. These drugs are used to stop or block one particular function of an organ. It is not trying to correct the root cause and only gives temporary relief. Also they use only one force (compared to war utilizes land force only) that is the medication for diabetes.

Alternative medicines Diabetes: treatments they consider human as a whole and each human is treated differently for the same disease. They are not only considering the disease alone, but also its causes – physical and mental (psychological) reasons.

Homeopathic remedies diabetes:

For example homeopathic remedy is concern they find the correct remedy by looking for symptoms of:

• Main complication
• Physical symptoms
• Mental/emotional/psychological symptoms
• Modalities (when the disease is better and when it is worst)
• Causation (reason behind the disease – root cause)

Homeopathic remedies for diabetes, different peoples are treated with a different medicine with respect to their individual physical, mental, modalities and causation.

Ayurvedic herbal remedies for diabetes:

It is also called as herbal medicines, herbal therapy, herbal treatment, herbalism and botanical medicines.

The herbal medication is prepared from plants, use medicinal herbs to prevent and treat diseases and ailments or to promote health and healing. Either the dried plant as a whole or a specific part of it (root, leaves, fruit, flowers or seeds) is formulated into suitable preparation. Ayurvedic natural remedies are not only control blood sugar, but at the same time it will take care of kidney, liver, eye and hearts. These are the organs that may be affected by long term of diabetes. Also the carbohydrate metabolism is by liver, kidney, pancreas and small intestine. Thus the herbal medicines correct these organs for proper utilization and elimination of the glucose. That is, it corrects the root cause.

Yoga poses diabetes:

Yoga refers to be the traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. It has the ability to balance body, mind & spirit. This discipline has curative power for many chronic diseases that include diabetes, by activating glandular systems responsible for the illness. In the case of diabetes, yoga poses give mild and gentle massages to the internal organs such as pancreas, liver, intestine, etc. These organs are responsible for the diabetes cause.

Acupressure for diabetes:

Accupressure is also called as acupressure or healing touch. TCM relies on a number of basic principles which have been refined over thousands of years of medical practice. One of the major principles of this medical tradition is the idea that health is governed by the flow of life force, or qi, through the body. Interruptions in this flow can lead to medical complaints, as the body’s balance of energy is disrupted. TCM practitioners also believe that disruptions in the flow of qi affect specific organs, and that all symptoms can be linked with a particular organ.

In the case of diabetes many patients have found that has either cured or decreased the severity of their diabetes.

Reflexology for diabetes:

Reflexology massage or zone therapy is particularly a healing art by applying pressure (using the hand, fingers and especially the thumbs). This massage is specifically done to feet, hands and some times even to the ears. It activates the acupoints which are interrelated to the organs in the body.

That is why reflexology massage is showing positive impact on promoting self-healing capabilities on diabetes.

Complementary Medicine:

All the above alternative medicine treatments are also called as complementary medicine. The name “complementary medicine” developed as the two or more systems began to be used alongside (to “complement”) each other.

So if we use all the above said alternative medicines together (used all the medicines at the same time) there is a amazing result because one complements the other;

• Homeopathy treats disease by physical, mental, modalities and causation symptoms – human as a whole.
• Herbal remedies correct the disease by correcting the organ responsible for the disease – this system corrects the function of the organ responsible.
• Yoga is a physical and mental discipline that gives massage to the internal organ and calms the mind for proper function of the organ.
• Acupressure is a healing touch which clears the blockage of qi (vital energy) and thus function of the particular organ is normalized.
• Reflexology is an art of massaging the nerve points connecting with the organ responsible for the disease. If the nerves are stimulated the organ start function normally.

If you use all the above said complementary medicines each works differently, then the chance of cure for the disease is very high.

For example purpose we used to define alternative medicine diabetes, it is not only for diabetes but also for cholesterol, high and low blood pressure, eye problems, etc. I named a few the list is endless.

thiruvelan
http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/complementary-alternative-medicine-treatments-for-diabetes-692345.html

Obscure 2 [Corruption with rage and melancholy]

Soundtrack of Obscure 2
Corruption with rage and melancholy
made by Olivier Deriviere

Duration : 0:2:53

Read more…

Police Written Test 101

You’ve taken the first step. Your application is in the hands of a police recruiter. Now you’re ready to take the plunge with the written test. Like everything else in your quest for the badge, the key to success in the written test is: preparation.

First on your prep list is the test study guide. Before you leave the recruiter’s office, ask for one, or where you can get one. Many agencies have an online guide available on their website. These test guides tell you what types of questions to expect and how many there are per section, how much time you have on each section,and what skills and abilities are tested. If your agency does not have a test guide, ask the recruiter or your department contact, for information about the test.Find out where the test is taken, the time required to complete the test, what types of questions will be on the test (multiple choice, essay, etc.) and what areas of knowledge will be tested.

Ask also if the test is Civil Service. Civil service tests are usually only offered once or twice a year, and re-testing may also be limited. Check your guide for specifics, but in general, police written tests are timed,contain 100 to 200 questions in several sections, require 2-3 hours time for completion and are scored as pass/fail or require 70% correct to pass. Most tests are completed by hand (pencil-marked answer sheets), but many are taken on computers.

Study preparation for the written test is simple and straightforward. Read your test guide front to back and then read it again. Check out the library, internet and bookstore for more resources on police written tests, especially for sources with sample questions. Most libraries will have books in the reference section that contain explanations of the test sections most commonly used and sample questions for each. If

you find a test section that you feel is a weak area for you, spend extra time on it to tone down test day anxiety.

Nearly every police written test will include 5 areas of evaluation. These areas may be covered in separate sections of questions, or may be bundled within 2 or 3 sections. They include:

1. Accuracy of Observation/Memory

Your ability to retain and recall specific information. You will be given printed information, allowed to read and study it (no note-taking) for a certain amount of time (5 to 25 minutes), then the materials are returned and you are tested on the contents. Tests may be strictly memory recall, or may ask for conclusions to be drawn from the information given.

This test section evaluates your ability to perform police-related duties such as: remembering suspect descriptions, wanted posters/pictures, department policies and procedures, and safety and tactical procedures.

2. Written Skills

Your ability to communicate in writing. You will be given either a spelling or vocabulary test usually consisting of 25-50 words to be defined and spelled correctly. You will also be given, in some form, a scenario to read and take notes on. You will then write a report that relates to specific test-defined points of the scenario.

This test section evaluates your ability to perform police-related duties such as: report writing, witness statements and completing department forms.

3. Reading Comprehension

Your ability to understand what you read. You will be given materials to read and will then answer multiple choice questions on that information to show that you understand and can apply information you read.

This test section evaluates your ability to perform police-related duties such as: accurately reading and comprehending technical and legal information – court orders, department policy, state law, haz-mat warnings and training materials, for example.

Prepare for test sections 1 – 3 by cornering family and friends to give you verbal or written answer pop-quizzes on information you’ve read in newspapers and magazines. This is so close to a game that you shouldn’t have any trouble finding people to ‘play’.

4. Decision Making/Judgment Skills

Your ability to identify and comprehend critical elements of a situation and to choose an appropriate course of action. You will be given written, audio or video materials and then asked to pick the best response out of several responses, within an extremely limited time frame (10 seconds, for example).

This test section evaluates your ability to perform police-related duties such as: responding calmly to provocation, handling authority appropriately, using unbiased enforcement, professional ethics and social maturity.

Prepare for test section 4 by studying sample questions,reading newspaper accounts of crimes and proposing what your response would be, and observing officer response during a police ride along.

5. Navigational Skills/Directional Orientation

Your ability to read maps and recognize the direction you are traveling. You will be given materials that ask you to find locations on maps, show point to point routes for specific location responses and suspect vehicle and foot chases.

This test section evaluates your ability to perform police-related duties such as: routing to calls to decrease response time, knowledge of street closures and need for re-routing, radio transmissions of a suspect chase, and emergency response to officer down/needs assistance.

Prepare for test section 5 by observing the officer during a ride along, sticking a compass in your vehicle and learning to use landmarks as orientation guides and lastly, involve friends or family in imaginary suspect ‘chases’. Your ‘chase’ exercise would be something like this: Both drivers are in cell phone contact. Your vehicle is 2 blocks away from your partner’s vehicle. You will begin your imaginary ‘chase’ of a suspect (at legal speeds)while giving directions to your ‘backup’ over your cell phone. Set a time limit (5 minutes). When the suspect is

‘apprehended’, see if your backup finds you. Then switch roles and have your partner be the lead vehicle. Your job will be to follow, and also to anticipate routes that would allow you to block the suspects anticipated direction of travel. Again, this is a great game and you’ll have little trouble finding partners.

The police written test is designed to evaluate multiple abilities and skills. In addition to the five evaluation sections noted above, you will also find simple math and problem-solving math questions, and behavioral questions that indicate character, compliance with laws and personal accountability.

George Godoy
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/police-written-test-101-76178.html

Nokia 6288 – Connecting The World With Pictures

This mobile phone is the best on the market when it comes to connecting to the internet and video sharing in real time. The Nokia 6288 allows for video ringtones and is designed to use its 3G technology to its fullest potential. This slider mobile phone comes with a 512 MB SD memory card in the box, and it is fully upgradeable to up to 2gigs, which makes this the perfect video phone with all of its built in video features. It sports a 320 x 240 megapixel resolution color display of 262,000 colors and is fitted with a 2 mega pixel camera on the back to take easy photos and videos. It also has a built-in or on-board camera on the front or face of the unit, which makes for easy video conferencing. The 100x46x21mm size makes the phone easy to handle one-handed while the 115g weight still allows it to be carried easily without too much heft.

Taking videos and photos of family and friends is a breeze with the Nokia 6288 picture phone. It is capable of editing all videos and pictures on board with its built-in or pre-installed editing suite, which makes this phone a state of the art must-have. This way, time is saved from downloading and editing pictures and videos on a PC. In order to save more time, the Nokia 6288 manufacturer has also included MMS capabilities and pictures and videos can be sent via email with a pop3 client straight from the Nokia 6288 mobile phone. Even printing is a breeze with the Nokia 6280 picture mobile phone, as the on-board Bluetooth technology and the on-board infrared technology enables direct printing from the Nokia 6288 mobile phone to any Bluetooth enabled and infrared enabled printer on the market today.

Other features that are included in this cool Nokia 6288 picture mobile phone are the full message capabilities of the full easy to use QWERTY keyboard, a handy night mode feature built into the camera, and the built-in video recorder software that makes it easy to record. It also has a built-in loud speaker for easy, hands-free calling and call conferencing, easy voice dialing, voice recorder, voice commands and speeding dialing.

Offsetting the stylish design and the large display, the slider seems less than sturdy.However, with the capabilities that this Nokia model has, the 6288 is one of the best options available for people who want a mobile phone with internet connectivity, game play, photo/video recording and editing, as well as email capability.

Fallon Seabrook
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/nokia-6288-connecting-the-world-with-pictures-129096.html

Why do state police sometimes come to crime scenes and not local police?

I was walking out to my car from a private bar in my town when 2 state police came walking up the sidewalk with a police K9. They were looking for some guy, and i pointed the guy out and they demanded him to get on the ground and put his hands behind his back. This happened in a small town and the local police were not involved and never came to the scene… why did the state police come and not the local town police?? I’m just trying to figure out if it was a serious crime that the man committed.

itm does not matter what the crime was, it was at a state leval, and the person was wanted in an other county, in the state