Posts tagged "selling"

Why do Democrats still dodge questions about their astonishing corruption by accusing the GOP?

Blaming the GOP does not make Democrat corruption go away.

Democrat corruption is real, and it must be addressed. This is by far the most outrageously corrupt government I have ever seen in my entire life.

It’s time for rank and file Democrats to stop dodging the question, and face the reality of how corrupt their party has become.

We really are on the brink of tyranny. Democrats need to stop giggling and taunting and pointing fingers, and face the reality of where our nation is really headed right now.

Have Democrats ever heard that the buck stops here? Guess not.

Talk about your tired Democrat play book … the Democrat Party, according to Talking Points Memo plans to call the Republicans the party of GWB and continue the blame Bush game.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/2010-campaign-preview-democrats-to-say-gop-still-party-of-bush.php?ref=fpb

This strategy will go over as well as Obama’s policies have since he has become President. There is a reason why Obama’s and Democrat poll numbers have sunk. One year into the Obama Presidency and it is no longer about GWB. Certainly by 2010 no one wants to hear the blame game.

No matter how the Democrats want to spin this, the 2010 midterms are going to be a referendum on Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. We the People will take care of matters in 2010 and create some real CHANGE the likes that has not been seen in years.

The Obama administration is desperate to pass this health care legislation and I believe that all Americans are now aware of this. But what has happened to the morals and character of this great nation that the people and the media seem to be OK with “how” Obama is getting this bill passed? What has happened to any sense of decency in our Congress and from our elected officials?

Obama knows that he just needs 60 votes to get this bill passed through Congress – and most of these Congressional imbeciles will readily do whatever Obama wants – even if it means selling out the taxpayers. But there are a few “holdouts” who just weren’t sure as to whether they would vote “yes” or “no”. So what does Obama do? He openly and without shame bribes them! Blatantly and un-constitutionally doling out millions of taxpayer dollars to be used in the payoffs!

Senator Ben Nelson, Nebraska – Took a $100 Million bribe to change his vote to “yes”. He was against the federal government paying for abortions – he was adamantly against abortion – that is until Obama gave him $100 Million. How much would you require to sell out the American people? Would you sell your soul and that of the American people for $100 Million? Nelson did.

http://www.examiner.com/x-26212-Long-Island-Democrat-Examiner~y2009m12d19-Harry-Reids-Senator-Ben-Nelson-60th-Healthcare-vote-purchase-The-49-state-tax-payer-funded-bribe

Senator Mary Landrieu, Louisiana – She was adamantly against the health care bill – that is until Obama doled out $300 Million to her and her state. Voila! She changed her vote to “yes”. So, Nebraska and Louisiana are all set. Do you want to pay extra for Louisiana and Nebraska? Well, Obama wants you to – he doesn’t care – he is forcing you to pay more to these states – how do you like that?

http://www.examiner.com/x-19160-Bucks-County-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m11d21-Healthcare–Money-talks-Arrogance-walks

The reason Obama is life or death with this bill is because this bill fundamentally changes the way the American government operates. It gives the federal government massive amounts of additional power and control – just what the Marxist obama wants.

This is what Obama promised during his campaign and it is what he wants to deliver – “fundamentally changing America”. He wants to change how our government operates solely so that he may REDISTRIBUTE the wealth of this country. o_O

Prescription Drugs Online – Reforming the World of Prescription Drugs

Browse the internet, search, point your cursor, click and place order. Purchasing prescription drugs online becomes very simple and popular as well. Buying online discount prescription drug not only saves your time and money but also provide you the comfort of purchasing medicines from home. With the developing technology, the number of online pharmacies is increasing at a rapid pace and there are thousands of websites offering prescription drugs for sale. Nowadays, customers are replacing their trip to corner drugstores with a click onto the Internet where they find websites selling prescription drugs and health products at a discount price.

While purchasing medicines online, you should be cautious and aware. Investigate to ensure that you are dealing with a licensed pharmacy before buying online. Reputed online pharmacies always ask for a prescription from a licensed doctor or physician. They also have skilled pharmacist to solve your queries and provide you their contact details if you face any problem.

The most of interesting thing that most of people have noticed while purchasing drugs online is getting detailed information about drugs. Customers will easily come to know drugs they use, their side effects and their probable interactions. It is advisable to consult with doctor before purchasing online drugs. When your doctor prescribes drugs then only you should obtain the medication otherwise it may be harmful for you.

A case study has proved that one in four Americans have searched online for prescription drug information and 64% of them are regular customers. This case study suggests that online drugs purchase is convenient. Ordering prescription drugs online is an easy process that saves your precious time and money. While filling the order form, you can either attach your prescription with it or fax it to the online pharmacy.

Usually, Internet pharmacy refers to a registered licensed pharmacy that has a retail outlet and also sells or supplies medicines and provides professional medical services on the Web. There are plenty of Internet pharmacies that allow patients to consult with a licensed pharmacist from the privacy of their house. Licensed pharmacy websites on the Internet offer convenient and private way to obtain their required medicines at reasonable price.

RxBids specializes in supporting their customers to obtain prescription drugs online from licensed pharmacies which are in good standing with the State Board of Pharmacy. If you are looking for high quality prescription drugs online at discounted price then RxBids is the right place for you.

jumphigherglobal
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/prescription-drugs-online-reforming-the-world-of-prescription-drugs-687448.html

High Housing Costs in Asia Criticized by International Research Group

Exceptionally high tax, transaction and other costs discourage the provision of housing in Asia, according to a report released today by the Global Property Guide. These are seen to lead to urban slums and unaffordable housing units.

There are about 250 million slum dwellers in South and South East Asia, 178 million in China alone. Countries with serious slum problems include Indonesia (with 21 million slum dwellers), Philippines (20 million) and South Korea (14 million). These are the same countries that have serious housing affordability conditions.

“The market cannot efficiently provide housing, if it is saddled with unnecessary costs,” says Prince Cruz, senior economist at the Global Property Guide. “Total transaction costs in Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia the Philippines and South Korea are above 10%. In the Philippines, the round-trip transaction costs of buying and selling a property can easily reach 35% of the property value because of the 12% VAT. This is on top of the 6% capital gains tax and 5% agent’s fee. For these countries, the bulk of the costs are real estate agents’ fees, and sales and transfer taxes.”

On the other hand, round-trip transaction costs on property purchase-and-sales are generally below six per cent in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

In a study involving a detailed comparison of housing purchase costs in Asia, the Global Property Guide finds a clear correlation between high transaction costs, and unaffordable housing (measured by house-price-to-income ratios). House-price-to-income ratios are generally regarded as the best measure of housing affordability. (See: http://globalpropertyguide.com//articleread.php?article_id=78&cid=)

Condominium prices are high compared to average incomes in Shanghai, Jakarta, Manila and Seoul. Countries with the least affordable housing are the same countries that have high ratios of urban slums.

“These high housing prices can be traced to high transaction costs and several policies that discourage property owners from participating in the real estate market. Reducing transaction taxes can lead to more efficiency and transparency in the market,” says Cruz.

Aside from high transaction costs, corruption is also a major factor in most countries in Asia. In China, bribes to government officials and bureaucrats for property transactions are considered standard business practice. These corruption costs are transferred directly to homebuyers, leading to higher house prices.

Other highlights of the study:

• Countries with high transaction costs tend to have expensive houses – and large slum populations.

• Countries with less transparent markets and more registration procedures have higher real estate agent fees (particularly the Philippines and Indonesia).

• Developing countries in Asia do not provide sufficient protection of property rights. Poor governance and weak control of corruption are also observed in China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

• Foreigners face several ownership restrictions in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. On the other hand, the real estate markets of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea are general open to foreigners.

• Tenant eviction is a serious problem in some Asian countries, generally because of cumbersome and inefficient court systems.

To access the report:

http://globalpropertyguide.com//articleread.php?article_id=78&cid=

The Global Property Guide
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/high-housing-costs-in-asia-criticized-by-international-research-group-90080.html

Chain Reaction

After researching much of the information regarding the Informant system, I believe this is at the heart of much of the corruption that we are seeing in our society. In our justice systems and in our communities. I believe this system is enslaving large portions of society. I also believe that there are many of us that were and are blissfully unaware of what is happening and will remain so until it is too late.

There is a chain reaction that is happening in society that if left unchecked has the potential to infect and destroy the very core of society that we have all known and depended on. That is of course the snitching infection. I call it that, because there is no other way to describe some of the events that I have read about while doing research into the Informant system.

While researching this phenomenon I have come across people who one minute seemed like average decent persons, and the next minute after being caught up in the Snitching/Informant system were willing to sell their very mothers down the drain to keep themselves free. This is not going to be the case for every Informant, but it’s the case with too many that are a part of this system.

Once let loose back into society many will continue with a life of crime. others will continue with what I call the game.

The Game

The game is one of set up’s and betrayal where the Informant will try to set someone up for a fall. They will choose a target and the unsuspecting target will get caught up in a scheme of some kind, eventually be arrested, they do not necessarily have to have committed a crime, and then the informant will testify against the person they entrapped, or other informants will. Once this new person is caught up in the game, should they be turned informant then the cycle continues once again.

I don’t know how many Informants are a part of this game that is ongoing in society, but I suspect that the many are, and all of them once they decide to become informants are owned by the system, and their handlers. That means anytime the government wants or needs a favor guess who they will call upon? Do you begin to see the makings of a corrupt society? Remember they can call upon these informants years later after these informants have been let loose. Many of these Informants will also go onto have careers, and even become contributing members of society, but they are still owned by the state. A lot of these Informant deals are kept off the records, meaning that the person is owned by a handler, but there might not be an official record of it, but when that handler needs a favor, that Informant will be called upon, and will risk exposure if they do not comply.

[quote]For example, unlike a classic plea bargain, informant deals lack finality because an informant’s obligations are ongoing. Written co-operation agreements often extend a defendant’s obligations into perpetuity, while informal, unwritten agreements last as long as the police or prosecutor wishes to use that informant.[/quote]

To understand how the game works, we will review three case studies. These are just a few of the many that I came across when reading the stories on the wall. It’s a continued pattern of set up on unsuspecting pigeons, and hardened Informants who will do what they need to do to stay out of jail.

http://www.november.org/thewall/wall/wall.html

Before we review the case studies I am going to again remind you of some statistics.

http://www.aclu.org/images/asset_upload_file744_30623.pdf

[quote] as many as fifty percent of African American males in some cities – are in contact with the criminal justice system and therefore potentially under pressure to snitch. By relying heavily on snitching, particularly in drug-related cases, law enforcement officials create large numbers of informants who remain at large in the community, engaging in criminal activities while under pressure to provide information about others. These snitches are a communal liability: they increase crime and threaten social organization, interpersonal relationships, and socio-legal norms in their home communities, even as they are tolerated or under-punished by law enforcement because they are useful.[/quote]

[quote]The uncoordinated, widespread use of informants in the United States by thousands of different police departments and various federal agencies does not of course, amount to the focused, purposeful political mission of the Stasi. But if anywhere near eight percent of the male population in inner city communities is snitching, that figure meets or surpasses Stasi level of between one and ten percent of the total population as informers.[/quote]

http://november.org/stayinfo/breaking08/HoffmanCase.html

[quote]If things had gone according to plan, you never would have heard of 23-year-old Rachel Hoffman. She would have just been another confidential informant, one of more than an estimated 100,000 in the United States who work with police to send someone else to jail.[/quote]

These figures do not include people who are informers via work, school, or community group programs. When we take into consideration numbers such as that, we are looking at an epidemic that is worst than what happened in East Germany. Keep in mind that in addition to all this, there will also be 800,000 Terrorism Liaison Officers added to the Informant population in the United States. These figures should wake up America and other cities to the dangers of what is happening in various societies.

The Game

To understand the game you might want to picture it in the sense of how a disease spreads, you start with on carrier and that person infects one person right after another. Some of those carriers will go on to infect others. Some will be dormant and not infect anyone. You might also want to think of the movie lifeforce, where one has the constant need to feed on one person after another, then those victims need to feed on others. You can have a very sick and infested city in a short space of time if such an infection goes unchecked.

The game is one of the Informant being placed primarily back in society, but this could also happen in jail, where an informant via lies, deceit, entrapment or some other methods set’s up another person to take a fall. That person then come in contact with the criminal justice system, they can then choose to become informants themselves, or refusing to do so, will spend lengthy spaces of time in prison. This game is primarily enacted via drugs, but that’s not the extent of it. Shoplifting is another example. I see this used with the teenaged informants, setting up their friends to steal from the stores, so that they in turn can become snitches.

Theft, drugs, stolen cars, any crime that someone can make a deal with police to become informants, they can be released back into society and are a danger to the rest of society. This is not to say that all Informants are horrible people, many just did not want to be in jail, some others are a true danger to society, nearly all are under pressure by the government to produce other Informants, and that obligation is never ending, some are allowed to lay dormant, till they can be of use.

http://november.org/stayinfo/breaking08/FL-Hoffman6.html

[quote]In Hoffman’s case, it was the work of another informer that led to her own work for the police.

On April 15, an informer told Tallahassee police that Hoffman had sold marijuana in the past but hadn’t done so recently, according to police records.

At the time, Hoffman, 23, was in a pretrial drug diversion program because of charges of possession of marijuana and resisting arrest in February 2007. To stay in the program, she had to stay out of trouble.

Two days after police got the informer’s tip, a Tallahassee police officer stopped Hoffman as she was getting into her car
[/quote]

http://www.mapinc.org/images/Hoffman.jpg

Rachael Hoffman then went on to become an Informant. She first tried to set up a close friend and when that failed, the close friend helped her find the dealers who she tried to buy drugs from on behalf of the police. The sting went wrong and she was killed. Had this gone successfully, those drug dealers if they agreed to become informants might have been released back into society as Informants and the cycle would have continued. It’s a frightening cycle that has become more widespread than can be imagined.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/

Case number 2.

Joey Settembrino was a young 18 year old, just about to go off to college.

He was set up by an Informant. The Informant was a close friend of his. He use to spend his weekends at the Informants house.

[quote]He was a very good friend. I had known the guy for many years. We had gone out every weekend, fishing on his boat, hydrosliding, skiing. I was very shocked; it was very unexpected. It’s not something you expect from friends.[/quote]

In an Informants society, it’s what you expect from just about everyone and it makes people suspicious and closed off. This is what happened in East Germany once the population became aware of what was happening. In America many Americans are not aware that these types of games are being played. In these cases the targets were encouraged and did get into illegal activities, however that is not always the case, and many times innocent people who had nothing to do with illegal activities are still caught up in these games and convicted on the testimony of Informants.

[quote]He wanted me to go back to the house where I got the acid from and get something else. They wanted me to wear a wire and they wanted me to go back there … to buy some other type of drug, no matter what it was, whatever he had in the house, so they could set him up. Just a chain reaction, one gets to one, one gets the other and they just keep going. I told him that I couldn’t do that, that I didn’t get the drugs from that house. At that time I was really confused. I was shocked, and I told him that I couldn’t do anything for him. But he kept trying, he kept threatening, talking about a lot of time. “You’re going to do 25 years. You’re going to be in prison your whole life.” … He really tried to scare me. But I told him I couldn’t do anything for him … . [Eventually] they went back to the house in which I got it from, they arrested the other guy, my friend [who I bought the acid from]. And he’s now doing a 10-year sentence along with me.
[/quote]

Joey said it best. This is like a chain reaction that just keeps going and going. One get’s one, then another and another and another. Those in turn get others and the cycle continues. Remember it’s not just drugs, and it’s not just the guilty that are being caught up in this game. If we review cases of Gang Stalking, we hear of men who thought that a woman had entered their life for the sole purpose of setting them up to look like a rapist or something else.

There are stories of targets being framed or other set up’s, and there are targets that do turn informant and then go back into society and try to harm other targets. This is happening in ever sector of society. Rachel, Joey and even Clarence were all going off to college, or had finished college when they were caught up in these stings.

Joey refused to become a snitch and thus spent 10 years in jail. His friend that set him up, who had been caught for drugs himself, was back on the streets, selling drugs, and setting up at least 11 or 12 others in the first year that Joey was in jail.

[quote]
Do you know why they wanted you?

I’ve asked that question, I’ve asked myself that a thousand times, “Why me? Why did he set me up?” …
[/quote]

In this game that is happening, I would say that they want just about everyone. They will get some people via community programs to be Informants, some via their places of employment, or community programs. Now the people who are informants via community programs and other legit means might not play the game of setting people up directly, but they are still part of the game, and they still work hand in hand with these others that are playing by a different set of rules. Many might not be aware of who they are working hand in hand with. At the end of the day, they all work for the state, government and all the orders come from the same sources.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/cases/aaron.html

Clearance is in jail because he introduced two parties that wanted to buy or sell drugs to each other. He had never been involved with drugs before, but one day his cousin called him up and asked him if he could find someone to buy drugs from. He said he knew some people and thought that they might be involved in dealing, he would check into it.

Clearances case is interesting because all the other parties who turned Informant received less time than he did. He does not know why his cousin and the others turned against him and lied, or why the prosecutor seemed intent on punishing him because he would not snitch and become an Informant.

[quote]What was it like having your friends testify against you?

Well, we’re sitting in the courtroom. These guys that I knew all my life came up, and they said [stuff] about me that wasn’t true, and they hurt me. It really truly hurt me, Robert and James really hurt me ’cause James is my first cousin. I looked up to him all my life. Robert was supposed to be my best friend at the time. We grew up together from playing Pop ball all the way up to high school ball together, and I couldn’t believe that they would sit there, in front of me … and say the things that they said about me … . [The] only thing I could say was it wasn’t true. But nobody believed me … . You had to have a fall guy, and I was that person.
[/quote]

It should be noted that the others involved all had prior drug convictions. Which means if they were out on the street and able to set him up, they were likely already Informants. He doesn’t know why they turned on him, but it’s possible that this might have been the idea from the get go. The assumption being that he would turn snitch and then be in a prime candidate on the college campus, a pawn to be used to set up other pawns, because that is how the game works.

[quote]Why did he do it?

Well, I had a opportunity to talk to James one time … . He said, “Man, I’m sorry, man.” I say, “James, why you do me like that?” He say, “Because I had no choice.” I said, “What you mean you have no choice in the matter?” He say “Because Miss Griffin say she didn’t want Bob to try your case.” She say if [he] didn’t cooperate and do what she told him to do, that she was going to hurt him worse in his case … . He say, “Well, the prosecutor Miss Griffin said if I don’t do it she going to put me in prison for the rest of my life … . I got to do what I got to do.”
[/quote]

He stats that the prosecutor pulled his cousin aside and when his cousin went back on the stand, his cousin lied. This is not the first time scenarios like this have happened, it can only be imagined what these prosecutors or handlers have on these Informants to make them sell out their own friends, and family.

[quote]And the real drug dealers are out —

On the street now. And probably doing the same thing they were doing before they went in. I just don’t understand.
[/quote]

He also does not understand, but if you review enough of these cases, you start to see a pattern and you start to understand, this is how the game works, and yes they are probably back on on the street looking for the next pigeon to set up, and try to turn them into informants.

It reminds me of something a forum member once told me. This guy said that he was set up because he met this woman online, who he dated only to discover that she was married. Her husband got mad and that’s why he thought he was set up.

The person on my forum pointed out that he had met the woman via some co-workers who introduced him to the website where he located this woman. The person on my forum suggested that he was probably profiled and set up by the co-workers who sent him to the site, knowing he would met this woman. The idea is that these games and set up’s take place long before the victim is aware that they are part of a game.

The Global outlook.

Targets of Gang Stalking complain that even when they leave countries such as the U.K., Canada, U.S. that the stalking continues. That is understandable we have seen muli-governmental corporation in other investigations.

What is not understandable and the most frightening sector of this is that various targets have moved to a variety of countries and they all report the same thing, Informants that are able to follow them 24/7.

This suggest that these Informant networks are getting global in nature. They are popping up in areas that are unexpected, and if this trend continues we will have a global surveillance society.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/04/israelandthepalestinians.middleeast1/print

[quote]Middle East: Israel’s secret police pressuring sick Gazans to spy for them, says report· Treatment only offered to would-be informants
· Patients allowed to cross the border drops sharply[/quote]

The same situation is happening in Iraq where they previously had family structures that might have prevented Informant networks from spreading as rapidly. The country will be rebuilt and the Informant structure will be a part of it.

Why would a global surveillance society be necessary?

I will not speculate. I will however say that based on research many societies in history that had a dictator, tyrant, or despot who came to power and who wanted to pull off an unpopular agenda’s such as Hitlers Germany, or Stasi East Germany, employed an army of Informants. It’s the most effective way that a society can control, monitor and subdue the inhabitants.

Since history has shown us that these informant networks are often needed to move forward tyrannical agendas, then can it be assumed that if we could slow down or stop the chain reaction of the Informant movement, we might be able to stop some of the corruption that we are seeing in many areas of society?

Stopping the Chain Reaction.

To stop the Informant infection people need to be aware that there is a lethal chain reaction happening in many parts of society. They need the understanding of how the game is played, and awareness of how far spread and how far reaching it is.

In America prison system reform could go a long way towards fixing the system that has become corrupt. Then prosecutors would not be as dependent on the testimonies of Informants and the power could start to shift back.

The family structure. Communities with less stable family structures are more vulnerable to this system.

People need to be aware that these entrapment’s are happening at every level of society, ever profession in society, thus why it goes all the way up to the top.

If people are unaware, they will not realise the various ways that people can become entrapped, including using someone that you are in a personal association with, or who you just “accidentally” meet. Someone you have a business relationship with.

Some people they will use their own greed and stupidity against them. Other will be a deliberate trap, others will be framed and will have committed no crime. Not being aware of how this system works, many will quietly accept off the record deals, and thus become indebted to the state, able to be used at will. Remember this is happening at all levels of society. Rich, poor, black, white, male, female.

If you have a parent, grandparent that was a snitch, Informant, they might try to go after the next generation.

Your friends, family, co-workers, anyone that is an Informant not by choice but by force, can be a liability to an innocent person.

The problem is more widespread that many realise, and what’s even worst is the silence that surrounds this problem in society. Till it’s talked about, discussed, and exposed it will continue to infect society, and have far reaching and unimaginable consequences, not just for those caught up in the game, but for the many unsuspecting victims, targets, or pigeons yet to come. This is not just happening at local levels. Targets have moved to various countries around the globe and encounter the same type of surveillance network.

We must stop this chain reaction. Awareness and exposure are key.

Happy Holidays.

gangstalking
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/chain-reaction-695386.html

The Front Page On World Of Warcraft

First came computer games. Then came DSL, and broadband online access, followed very closely by computer games where you can play with other real people sitting in front of other real computers, somewhere else in the real world. This functionality has led to the development of several phenomenally successful “Massively Multiple Online Role Playing Games,” or MMOs as they have come to be known in the industry.

One of the most successful of these games is “World of Warcraft,” or “WoW”, which currently is believed to have about seven million active online players. Like many of its genre, World of Warcraft is built on the classic medieval fantasy model, a combination of Tolkien, Camelot, and a liberal dash of unique original elements mixed into the hoary stand-bys. The world is filled with magic spells, swords and shields, gold pieces and assorted items of value, and skills both worldly and otherworldly that a character can acquire with practice and effort – and hours online.

A player in this game creates an avatar – a fictional character whose role he (or she) assumes in the online world. The game is a never-ending series of quests that leads to slaying monsters, acquiring wealth and property and higher levels of skill – and interacting with other players in order to accomplish many of these things. Typically, a player will create an identity with a certain set of skills that allows him to join a guild of similar artisans, wizards or other virtual professionals.

There is a significant social interaction component to this game and other MMOs. Indeed, game designers build “virtual third places” to encourage interactions. Quality time in World of Warcraft can be time spent with others, be it raiding a dungeon in a group, socializing with bystanders in a cantina, or chatting with remote guild mates while exploring the wilderness on your own.

One would assume that World of Warcraft is another extension of high-school and twenty-something gamers having it out online. There is a good deal of that – but it is also clear that the game’s popularity has extended well beyond the original gaming demographic – as has interest in other MMOs such as Second Life.

The clearest indicator of the intensity with which the game is played and its extension into the world of working adults is the role -so to speak – that the game has taken on in the real world. Players have taken to developing skills or acquiring rare and virtually valuable in-game properties and selling them for real money on such exchange sites as eBay. This is not something the game developers want to encourage, and is generally forbidden, not just by World of Warcraft, but most MMOs.

The market for these products exists, though, and will continue to exist as long as their popularity continues. An author of a book on the MMO phenomenon interviewed several players who were involved in significant expenditures for game pieces such as swords, real estate or magic spells. Among them he found a carpenter, a bread truck driver and other working men with families.

Another class of “player” he encountered is the people who have quit careers to trade full time in World of War paraphernalia. Some of these individuals sell their products online – just as those who are quitting the game or having financial difficulties will sell entire characters. Rare in-game items such as powerful swords, and powerfully developed characters can bring several hundreds of dollars. While these activities help drive the popularity of the game, they are still considered against the game’s “terms of service.”

WoW has continued to shatter records for MMOs, and its combination of addicting gameplay and social interaction has proven tough to beat. Players invest a lot of time and a monthly subscription fee to enjoy the experience on a regular basis. With the deeper penetration of internet connectivity and broadband internet, the popularity of these MMOs may well grow even larger.

Madison Lockwood
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/the-front-page-on-world-of-warcraft-120230.html

Analysis of Governance Issues in the Housing Market in Sierra Leone

Macro-Economic and Political Environment

The sluggish financial and economic progress of 2008, under the Koroma administration, nevertheless holds the possibility of strong and broad-based economic growth as the economy struggles to rebuild from the war years, together with moderate inflation levels. Over the medium term, any improvement in key sectors will offer hope that the economy will bottom out of aid dependency, given credible internal reform, strong policy-making and institutional investment. The country’s macroeconomic and financial policies devised and put to work within the context of the Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement show the potential to accelerate trends that are promoting broad-based economic recovery.

The current democratic dispensation has created an enabling opportunity for the administration of Koroma to make a significant step in advancing economic and social development. Even better is the concept of “public value” and the “strategic triangle” approach adopted by the British international agency, Public Administration International, to have each Ministry and Department of the new administration in Sierra Leone to address and align questions of strategic goals and priorities in terms of public value outcomes to be achieved (Public Administration International). But the pervading deficiencies in the public administration are not a positive indication of good governance.

An aggressive effort, however, to involve the Diaspora resource in national development is gaining significance with the administration—a strategy likely to be more helpful. The current Diaspora engagement has opportunities to it for the economy and businesses. In addition, the PRGF recovery tool used by the Government of Sierra Leone—monetary and fiscal stimuli—will be relatively effective under the circumstances. This strategy of engaging the Diaspora has put the Koroma administration model of a free-market economy in the public interest.

With this new development in Sierra Leone’s political environment, the financial system is seen to be promising; and the regulatory framework, as having the potential to be fixed to curb widespread corruption. Now, searching for growth, the Koroma administration is opening up to ideas from the Diaspora to a degree that differentiates it from previous administrations. The government is turning a historic corner and heading into a period in which the role of the Diaspora will be formidable. The Office of Diaspora Affairs which has literally been recognized as an official agency of the government and is working “towards linking Sierra Leoneans from the Diaspora to different business opportunities, agencies, ministries, and departments in Sierra Leone” (Office of Diaspora Affairs) can be made to work better. The Office of Diaspora Affairs’ Diaspora Trust Fund, for instance, as a development vehicle for Diasporans to make an impact can be sufficiently used with specific terms of reference to mobilize Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora to pool their remittances to buy into state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Sierra Leone that are slated for privatization.

As it is the case, President Koroma has been quite open-minded, as well as the appeal of his style of democracy, appears to be restorative. Although Sierra Leone is fortunate that her governance problems have now being assumed with the promise inherent in the election of this insurance broker as president, historical forces—and the endemic nature of corruption in society—will pose a serious threat to his presidency regardless.

Indeed, the macroeconomic outlook is promising. The country shows the promise to benefit economically from the PRGF arrangement but only with unwavering commitment by the APC administration. The real estate sector is a growth market in Sierra Leone if given the attention it deserves. The export markets have the potential to grow as well and the overall growth rate of the tourism market and the service industry can also do very well with good governance. But the country is still rather stressed by unwilling cabinet ministers and public servants.

The balance of payments with higher merchandize imports is seemingly showing an increase accounted for mainly by an increase in imports of machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and manufactured goods; and mineral fuel and lubricants constituting the largest share of total imports look encouraging. Exports growth shows potential with diamond and gold exports forming by far the largest share of total exports. This relatively promising balance of payments position gives the country the opportunity to solidify its strategic advantages as the government struggles to rebuild. At the same time, this PRGF arrangement and the growing balance of payments may lead to a stable economy. Corruption minefields may be diminished, which may quicken the growth of the economy. And it is likely that, with Koroma less distracted by a corrupt cabinet, his administration will see more clearly than its predecessor that strengthening the economy by addressing corruption head on should become his government’s most important good governance strategy. The administration should now truly show commitment to lead efforts to improve Sierra Leone’s Human Development Index rating and expand the benefits of sound economic management to be felt at the household level in the form of improved income and job prospects as well as improved basic services that support the growth and productivity of the informal sector on which 80% of the active working population survive.

Underutilized Housing Market Sector

Sierra Leoneans are squeezed by a confluence of pressures, especially those with low incomes and uncertain formal access to secure land. There are images of famished existence seen in many places. Kroo Bay, for instance, is one of Sierra Leone’s largest informal settlements, with an estimated population of about 10,000 inhabitants. It is also the most impoverished and neglected area, with no supply of drinkable water, no electricity and lacking all public services. Kroo Bay is part of the urban core, located on the coastline in central Freetown. Informal settlements are also present in the Bormeh, Government Wharf and Susan’s Bay easements and on both private and public lands. The characteristics of these settlements share common features that are more evident in some areas than others. They are located on marginal land (including under bridges and flyovers) with poor drainage and extremely poor housing conditions with few foundations, makeshift roofs and impermanent building materials.

The government has a lot of work to do to make the housing sector in Sierra Leone viable. The country’s housing market crisis portends a combination of a much disorganized land tenure system and poorly developed mortgage market. The disorganized land tenure system reflects the Ministry of Land’s overly corrupt handling of land estates. The poorly developed mortgage market reflects, among other factors, a weakness in housing and nonresidential construction in Sierra Leone. Policy makers apparently lack appreciation for a stable mortgage market and has not created the enabling environment to encourage banks to reform bank business models and practices to accommodate the intricacies of commercial and mortgage banking. But it is obvious that access to land and housing for most Sierra Leoneans is still tantamount to the ultimate form of social security. It is for this reason that most urban and rural Sierra Leoneans would sell their houses only under the direst of circumstances, and they are generally comfortable with customary ownership of land. In reality, widely shared social values affect attitudes towards the marketability of land and housing.

Escalating prices on land with legitimate titles on the one hand, and multiple disputed sales of land with phony titles on the other, are especially inconvenient risks, especially in urban areas. A general lack of security, whether social, legal, or economic, is inimical to financing housing, and land problems in Sierra Leone represent the highest risk to the development of a vibrant housing system. Land banking by developing an integrated management information system with detailed property information for property development is essentially one critical response to the current inefficient land management system. Fundamentally, this requires also a sophisticated construction management and loan product development program in place.

Sierra Leone does not have a source of home loan money. Even though the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation (SALHOC) as a parastatal (semi official) body that “follows government housing policies is designed to create partnerships with the private sector, NGOs and the public sector to make housing services accessible to all sectors of society, particularly the poor” (Report on Country of Return Information), it does not have a matured mortgage operation that provides borrowers with major mortgage loans.

Facing the underutilized housing market in Sierra Leone, the government can act responsibly by promoting the growth of home ownership and facilitating the provision of a secondary mortgage market. This is how Fannie Mae succeeded to help millions of Americans achieve the dream of home ownership. A secondary mortgage market exists in the buying and selling of a mortgage from one lender to another. A bank or mortgage company that provides a loan turns around and sells that mortgage to the government parastatal that has to be properly set up to handle such purchases. This frees up their cash to make another mortgage loan. And the cycle of growth is expanded and sustained in this manner. The idea and concept worked for Fannie Mae, SALHOC can therefore adapt some features of the Fannie Mae concept to set up its mortgage operation in Sierra Leone as a privately held, stock ownership company that will promote the growth of the housing industry by making it possible for many low-to-middle income Sierra Leoneans to own homes. Investors, especially Sierra Leoneans at home and in the Diaspora can purchase stock in the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation, and this will not only increase their own wealth, but will also help to fund the home ownership possibilities for a new generation of Sierra Leoneans. Through the issuance of mortgage backed securities, for instance, the reformed Sierra Leone Housing Corporation can guarantee investors a return on their investment, and at the same time, providing a source of funding for issuing further mortgages. This provides the nation’s lenders with a steady stream of cash to continue to make mortgages available to the consumer thus supporting a steady and continual cycle of growth.

With a sustained flood of mortgage money, there will be a growth in residential and commercial real estate. Most Sierra Leoneans are squeezed by a variety of pressures, especially low income individuals and those with uncertain access to secure land. Urbanization has been a contributing factor to poor housing with more than 60% of communities in metropolitan Freetown, for instance, living in informal housing. There is sufficient evidence, however, to suggest that communities are able to become sufficiently organized to drive settlement upgrading in partnership with government and the private sector.

Rough-and-Tumble of Sierra Leone’s Economic Politics

It is increasingly evident that the government has to work to stave off a sustained slump in Sierra Leone’s economy. The healing wounds of war are still being used by politicians to justify Sierra Leone’s rating in the Index of Economic Freedom which remains significantly below the world average in seven areas. The judicial system is riddled with corruption (as is virtually all of the civil service). The labor market is highly inflexible and Sierra Leone is one of the world’s least free. Liberalization of the trade regime is progressing, but import taxes and fees, non-transparent regulations, inefficient customs implementation, inadequate infrastructure, and corruption add to the cost of trade. Sierra Leone has relatively high tax rates. The budget deficit has been somewhat reduced, but better spending management is needed as reiterated by the president himself that “it is no secret that due to … poor management of national resources, Sierra Leone has lagged behind in the areas of social and economic development” (Sierra Leone Web).

Inflation is high, averaging 10.6 percent between 2004 and 2006. Unstable prices explain most of the monetary freedom score. Corruption is perceived as pervasive. Sierra Leone ranks 142nd out of 163 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2006. International companies cite corruption in all branches of government as an obstacle to investment. Official corruption is exacerbated by low civil service salaries and a lack of accountability. Inflexible employment regulations hinder overall productivity growth and employment opportunities. Sierra Leone’s labor freedom is among the world’s 20 lowest. (Source: 2008 Index of Economic Freedom).

The Koroma administration has a responsibility to clear up the clouds of economic gloom and despair which have gathered over Sierra Leone’s economy for decades. The administration has to propel the engines that could pull the nation out of her chronic gloom. Even though some fear the worst: that “the real GDP growth for Sierra Leone is forecast to slow from an estimated 6% in 2008 to 4.8% in 2009, as post-war recovery tails off and the global financial crisis reduces demand for Sierra Leone’s exports” (Economist Intelligence Unit) as reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of London’s Economist Group; all is not lost.

The pessimism may be overdone. Sierra Leone is still one of the most resourceful parts of the world in terms of natural abundance. Even though the country faces such daunting economic difficulties that do not seem to go away, Koroma only has to prove the pessimists who see the regime change as all mouth and no trousers—that much of it made up by old budget commitments, double-counting and empty promises—wrong. He has to prove that it was not mainly propaganda; and to convince Sierra Leone’s own people and the outside world that his government is serious about stimulating development and is ready to take radical steps to spend infrastructure money and providing a decent social safety net for Sierra Leoneans, especially in housing, education and health care.

Financial Sector and the Housing Market

Sierra Leone’s financial sector holds promise for reaching broader and deeper into the housing market. The vast majority of Sierra Leoneans evidently do not have access to asset-backed finance or mortgage finance, but low and moderate income households are beginning to participate broadly in the maturation of the microfinance industry. The (PRSF), initiated in 2002, is one indication of the commitment of the government, the Bank of Sierra Leone, and the donor community to support financial sector development. The PRGF project was undertaken primarily to support concessional lending practices and debt relief under the joint Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The targets and policy conditions in a PRGF-supported program are drawn from the country’s PRSP.  “Key policy measures and structural reforms aimed at poverty reduction and growth are identified and prioritized during the PRSP process” (IMF).

There is apparent need for improved housing conditions in Sierra Leone, especially for lower income Sierra Leoneans. There are potentials for the sector if the government could commission the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation and interested investors with substantial microfinance experience to assess trends in public and private sector delivery of affordable housing in the country and to make strategic recommendations for tangible, replicable and sustainable interventions that would enhance the amelioration of housing conditions for the majority of Sierra Leoneans. A technical assessment to broadly examine the trends, risks and opportunities to meet the critical challenge of affordable housing in Sierra Leone is critical at this point in time. The specific objectives for such an assessment is to:

·        analyze the strategies, experience and roles (public and private) for the delivery of affordable housing in Sierra Leone;

·        determine the main reasons for any constraints in the delivery of affordable housing solutions (including costs, appropriate construction approaches and materials, finance and land);

·        understand the extent and the characteristics of the potential market for affordable housing in Sierra Leone; and

·        recommend tangible strategies to the Government of Sierra Leone and other potential key players to meet current demand for affordable housing, focusing on the appropriate housing typologies, financing, and the legal and regulatory framework.

The government should be open-minded in terms of understanding of the optimal factors that comprise an “enabling environment” in which a vibrant and equitable housing sector may develop. A stable macro-economic and political environment in which low and moderate income people are able to create effective demand for housing finance and other inputs into the housing improvement process is a necessary condition for such an enabling environment. The right policies to ensure efficient and equitable land markets will promote a sense of security for all sectors of society and therefore spur household investment. Such supportive legal and regulatory frameworks will also promote broad community and private sector participation in housing development and upgrading processes.

The way out of the current economic woes of Sierra Leone is to have a macroeconomic policy designed to accelerate the process of growth and transformation of the economy under competitive conditions. A stable political environment has already been created with the successful democratic dispensation of 2007. In spite of some economic risks due to increases in oil prices, Sierra Leone possesses the potential for a stable macro-economic and socio-political environment under which an affordable housing sector could take off. The government only has to embark on a comprehensive macroeconomic stability strategy. The main thrust is to create wealth and reduce poverty as defined in the government’s PRSP, which was introduced to ensure the country benefited from debt cancellation. The PRSP supposed to be a demonstration of the government’s long-term commitment to reduce poverty and enhance economic and social growth in both rural and urban communities. Therefore, a developer-driven and household-led incremental housing or community-led settlement upgrading should be aligned with this strategy which seeks to protect the vulnerable segments of society. Improving public expenditure management and fiscal resources mobilization; and pursuing price and exchange rate stability are measures needing to be put in place by the government. The administration has to keep trends in the key economic parameters stable in order to grow the economy and to keep fiscal position in line with budget projections and revenue generation by the responsible agencies.

The bottom line is that the economy has to create jobs in order for people to afford a range of housing opportunities. Positively, Sierra Leone’s major exports of bauxite, diamond and gold enjoyed favorable prices in 2007 and 2008 which, together with inflows from both foreign donors and private remittances, have helped to improve the country’s import cover and reduced exchange rate volatility. The impact of remittances is equally phenomenal. Official private remittances are growing according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on remittances (IMF).  Even though, therefore, Sierra Leone’s financial system has been a shadow of itself for many decades and the depreciation of the Leone has been dramatic, the potentials for growth exist. There are possibilities of investment opportunities with predictable inflation, exchange and interest rates to impact the housing market in Sierra Leone.

Reducing inflation to single digits thus has to be one of the corner stones of the present government. For this to happen, Koroma and his government must seriously commit to creating a dynamic private sector to fuel economic growth and improve people’s living standards. This commitment should be expressed in terms of closer collaboration and partnership with the private sector and the privatization of many state-owned enterprises (including the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation (SALHOC), the Sierra Leone Airport Authority, the Sierra Leone Telecommunications Company (SLTC), the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company, the Guma Valley Water Company Limited, the National Power Authority, the Sierra Leone Ports Authority, Sierra Leone Postal Services, the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (SLCB), the National Insurance Company (NIC), the Rokel Commercial Bank (RCB), and the Sierra Leone Road Transport Corporation (SLRTC). In line with this vision, the mandate of the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA), which now replaces SLEDIC, in addition to providing a range of services that aim at assisting exporters to source market and penetrate overseas markets, should be expanded to facilitate the development and growth of a competitive and vibrant private sector and also to help reduce the cost of doing business in Sierra Leone.

The land ownership system in Sierra Leone which is governed by a complex operation of customary, statutory, and common law also needs to be given considerable attention. Corruption and land disputes, especially involving public lands in urbanizing areas, have been experienced by significant majorities. The lack of uniformity, complex codes, administrative requirements, and the dualism in land tenure is a risk to an effective housing finance market due to the uncertainties and litigation potential. What could be an interesting response to the current inefficient land management system is to manage a comprehensive land banking system for an efficiently coordinated property development program. It is not clear at this time what the relationship is or will be between the government’s inventory-taking exercise and the current land banking efforts. A significant development within such a program is the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) and its underlying interests in the country’s housing sector.

The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) is a quasi-public entity involved in the government’s inventory-taking exercise and the current land banking efforts.  “It is a Statutory Public Trust set up by the National Social Security and Insurance Trust Act No. 5 of 2001 to administer Sierra Leone’s National Pension Scheme. The trust was established to provide retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers and their dependants” (NASSIT). It is the sole legally authorized institution that manages a pension scheme for workers in Sierra Leone, in accordance with Act No. 5 of 2001, which requires Sierra Leonean employees of companies operating in Sierra Leone to be members of the scheme. In addition, to collection of contributions (30% of the insured’s average earnings for the first 15 years of coverage, plus 2% of the insured’s average earnings for each additional 12-month period) and administration of benefits. It also manages the assets of the scheme.  These assets include real property of various forms, including the development of a housing stock of formal rental units in the country in a joint venture with the American firm ‘Regimanuel Gray Constructors’ which has a plan of investing over 50 Million US Dollars in the country’s housing market in five years.

Policy Recommendations

One is tempted to deliver a whole host of recommendations for improving affordable housing policy and processes in Sierra Leone. A policy that stimulates more innovative and more intensive use of land in or nearby urban centers or in built-up environments can help the housing market in Sierra Leone. The national housing market should be understood and analyzed according to various market segments to enable more people to benefit from housing investment, whether personal or institutional.  A developer-driven housing conventional strategy for the supply of separate and semi-detached housing can be geared toward the formally employed professionals—a segment that could be served rather efficiently by the real estate development industry and the commercial banks, with mortgage finance. The majority of Sierra Leoneans are building, extending and improving their houses as circumstances and household resources warrant. Financing incremental housing may therefore be facilitated through forging a link with commercial banks.

The government should also facilitate informal settlement upgrading for areas like Kroo Bay, Bormeh, Susan’s Bay, and Government Wharf by the different groups that reside there with technical support from specialists in this field. Such a decision will release an enormous amount of good will. The ensuing results will be striking.  The country needs a well managed settlement upgrading and “de-densification” or resettlement of families program.

Wholesale financing arrangement between mainstream commercial banks and other qualifying private institutions that will ensure sustained funding for the market segment of incremental housing is also strategic. Such an arrangement takes advantage of the proportional benefits of each level in the finance system as well as the strengths of government. Market-related interest rates that will be charged at both the wholesale and retail levels, and accompanied by sound financial and risk management, will permit the possibility of an enabling financial sector integration. The use of market-related interest rates will enable the wholesale operation to gear additional private savings from other private institutions and develop a sound secondary market. Likewise, more low-income households will have the opportunity to establish sound, transferable credit histories and become repeat borrowers.

Also, a privatized Sierra Leone Housing Corporation can be very instrumental in institutionalizing the modern mortgage system in Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Housing Corporation can be transformed to a leading home loan supplier in lending to underserved populations in Sierra Leone. If done well, the reengineered Corporation can be a darling of socially responsible investing with lending policies that should not be a barrier to home ownership in Sierra Leone.

The problem, however, of urban households lacking sustainable access to finance and appropriate financial arrangements to improve their housing and shelter-related environments cannot be ignored. Because many households are generally financially challenged, lending institutions must understand that this incipient market is high risk. Taking on greater risk may therefore require wholesale financial institutions to undertake sophisticated risk management practices and investment strategies to protect stock holders and end-user clients.

Kenday S. Kamara
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/analysis-of-governance-issues-in-the-housing-market-in-sierra-leone-741529.html

Do laws restricting immigration have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the states?

That’s what the Declaration of Independence of the United States says.

I quote it:

"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
(…)
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands."

What do you think?

I think you are mixing two very different situations in very different times in order to bend to your own theory on immigration.

I can speak from experience working with immigration and having in-laws who immigrated legally to the USA.

The facts are that the USA has the largest number of legal immigrants in the World. Over 1 million every year.

The laws that were in place before 1922 were discriminatory in many ways and absurd rules like women losing their US citizenship if they married a non-citizen. But since then the laws have been refined, modernized and otherwise improved to provide as open of a door to legal immigration as possible. In certain countries where there are immigration visas left over they are moved to places where needed and some cases a lottery is held to give away the visas.

Each country is allotted a certain number of immigrant visas which has been sufficient to cover the immigration demand in all except 3 countries – Philippians, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. In the case of the Philippians the wait for a brother or sister of a US citizen is 20 years. The other two are not nearly as bad. That said the folks at immigration do their best to find available visas and to keep families together in legal ways. In one case some Chinese caught entering illegally. The situation was not good for them and they found legal ways for all to stay. A few remaining ones made some art sculptures out of bamboo while detained and the immigration folks got the bright idea to give them artist visas.

Yes there are a lot of people in the USA illegally and they have heart breaking stories, there are incredible hardship cases across the globe and the USA does in the end do more then any other country to help the immigrants of the world.

To paint them as tyranny for having immigration laws is wrong and to compare it to the British immigration policy of 240 to 400 years ago is just not honest or just. The British put in place a system that sent lots of the local rift raft to the New World away from the King and the Home country the only problem was that they were building a land filled with disaffected citizens.

My own family history is that despite having been a son to an indentured servant shipped over at age 12 and sentenced to 10 years for God knows what my 7th great grandfather took what God had given him and became a successful businessman buying, developing, and selling land, was a Merchant, lawyer, Justice of the Peace, City Council Member and owner of ships. He too butted heads with the British in 1771 taking his ship for violation of some importation law most likely the stamp tax and had a friend contact a Virginian named George Washington for help to get back his ship. He also ticked off the British for daring to sign a petition to keep the election of the town council in their town instead of holding it in a town 20 miles away where most voters would not be able to vote.

As many immigrants do today he took what was dealt to him and made his future happen.

Have you ever read anything by Alex Jones Prison Planet?

and if so would you give me your opinions

Yes I did. Alex Jones is a liar and fear monger. His radio show is constantly interrupted by commercials selling products to "protect" yourself against government conspiracies, this is not a joke. He’s also making money on the backs of victims with really ridiculous schemes,like filters for the water tap so the government can’t poison you . He’s a quack and a dangerous one. Most people who believe him are not aware of this but he was actually also one of the people over hyping the Y2K crisis. On his broadcast that new year he claimed Nukes had been fired like he predicted. Freedom of speech is a great thing and I can see how locking him up would only add to his credibility and who needs that but he’s a bad person and everyone who believes anything he says is a victim of the most vile propaganda and not even for a misdirected political ideology how tragic as that is but for the pockets of Mister Jones

Top 12 World News Stories in 2006 – Recap of What Happened Around the World

From town criers to pigeon messengers; from tablets and scrolls to newspapers; from radio and TV coverage to news online the way news spreads throughout the world has changed with times. News updates people on whats happening and where it’s happening, news shapes opinions and influences the lives of people. It is news that mobilizes help in times of natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

The year 2006 had varied hues some bright others grey. There was death, war, scandals, sports, and a few delights. What the top 10 stories of 2006 were would vary and depend on individual perspectives. It is after all a matter of choice.

1. The month of Jan saw Russia cutting off gas to the Ukraine; Iran stated that it would continue nuclear research; Iraq saw strife and death; Sharon suffered a stroke; US received threats from Osama and stepped up its fight against terrorism and targeted an al-Qaeda leader; results of Iraqi elections were declared. New treatment for cancer increased life expectancy; the Dow hit a milestone; and a spacecraft headed to Pluto.

2. February saw the Atomic energy Board report Iran to the UN; world wide protests occurred over cartoons of Muhammad that appeared in European newspapers; Harvard President resigned; mudslide buried a town in the Philippines; the Olympic Games began in Italy.

3. The month of March was when India and the US agreed on a nuclear pact; Iraq witnessed escalating violence; Milosevic died in prison; Saddam Hussein testified for the first time; the UN approved a New Human Rights Council; the US launched an offensive on Iraq; France was crippled by a nation wide labor strike; the security council issued a statement on Iran; and the Palestinian cabinet was sworn in. Scientists discovered water on Saturn’s moon; General Motors and its union agreed on a buy-out and early retirement package to 113,000 unionized employees, and major league baseball decided to investigate seriously use of steroids.

4. April saw Chirac the French President sign a controversial labor legislation; Saddam Hussein is charged with Genocide; a general strike in Nepal against King Gyanendra; Prodi wins Italian Elections; Iran announces progress in nuclear program; a suicide bomber attacks a Tel Aviv Restaurant; Germany allows access to holocaust archives; the Chinese President visits the US; Serial bombing kills people in Egypt; European Investigation reveals Secret CIA Flights over Europe; and Peace agreement ends violence in Dafur. Scientists discovered a375 million year old fish fossil with early limb development signs establishing a link between aquatic and land forms; the FDA rejected medical use of Marijuana.

5. May was when Bolivia Nationalized the Natural gas Industry; Moussaoui a September 11 terrorist was sentenced to life; Israeli Parliament approved Governing Coalition; leaders in Sudan signed peace pact; Iranian President gives Bush a grievance letter ;US endorsed Palestinian AID; Un recommended closer of Guantanamo Prison; Bush and Blair admitted Mistakes on Iraq; US agreed to join Europe in talks with Iran. New England was flooded by record rain fall; Soda Companies agreed to remove sweetened sodas from schools; Enron executives were convicted; and Indonesian earth quake killed thousands and rendered thousands homeless.

6. June saw the UN urge greater action on AIDS; Canada arrested seventeen citizens on Terrorism charges; Iran was offered incentives to give up Nuclear program; an al-Qaeda leader was killed in Iraq; Hamas ended cease fire with Israel; Bush visited Iraq; Hussein defense lawyer was killed; Pentagon released a study on Interrogations. The FDA approved a vaccine for cervical cancer; Bill Gates decided to step aside; Art sales skyrocketed with a painting selling for USD 135 million; Warren Buffett donated 85% of his fortune to philanthropic organizations; and the mid-Atlantic regions endured the worst flooding in decades.

7. July saw death with many killed in Iraqi markets; North Korea test fired six missiles; violence intensified in Gaza; Nobel Peace Laureate became the Prime Minister of East Timor; India tested a long-range missile; Russia and China agree with the West on a Security Council Resolution against Iran; Hussein Trial ended; Congo held historic elections; NATO took command of Afghanistan. The former Enron chief died; Italy won its fourth world cup; hundreds died in a tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake in Indinesia.

8. August was a month of contrasts, Israel intensified ground offensive in Lebanon; the Ukrainian Parliament Approved a new Prime Minister; US general submitted a grim report on Iraq; Britain thwarted a huge terrorist plot; Iran ignored deadline to cease nuclear activities; record number of Iraqi civilians died. FDA approved the morning after pill; many died in Kentucky plane crash; Judge limits cigarette marketing ploys; Pluto is demoted and classified as a dwarf planet, and California adopted stringent emission laws.

9. September saw a steep rise in Iraqi casualties; Senior al-Qaeda leader Hamid al- Saeedi was captured in Iraq; Blair announced plans of stepping down ; Israel lifted air blockade of Lebanon; US Embassy in Syria was attacked; riots rocked Hungary; Assessment revealed that the Iraq war resulted in escalated Islamic radicalism; and Japan got a new Prime Minister. Shuttle makes lift off and 12 day mission; Pope’s speech in Germany incited Muslim anger; and the CDC recommends broad HIV testing.

10. The month of October saw run off elections in Brazil; intensification of Palestinian violence; North Korea tested a nuclear device; the UN appointed a new Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon; Security council imposes sanctions on North Korea; Militas battle to gain control of Amarra; Iran believed to be enriching uranium; Pakistan military targets Islamic school near Afghan border; and Bush in a news conference discussed Iraq war openly. Google purchased YouTube a popular video website; Hawaii experiences severe earthquake; Dow closed higher than 12,000; NASA approved repair of Hubble.

11. November saw the Taiwanese President Accused of corruption; Saddam convicted as guilty and sentenced to death; Israel ended Gaza incursion; South Africa legalizes same sex marriage; Lebanese minister was assassinated; Nepal plans elections; and civilian deaths escalate in Iraq, reach record high. Storms ravage the Southeast states of the US and hundreds died in Philippines Typhoon.

12. December saw Hugo Chavez win in a landslide in Venezuela; crises in Iraq expected to escalate, violence peaks ; suicide bomb kills many in Baghdad; UN leader sworn in; Palestinian leader calls for early elections; fighting breaks out in Somalia; Israelis decided to build new west bank settlement; Saddam Hussein is executed ; and Gerald Ford died at age 93. NASA announced setting up of a base on the moon and the National Institute of Health revealed that circumcision could reduce risk of getting AIDS through heterosexual sex.

Barry Allen
http://www.articlesbase.com/article-marketing-articles/top-12-world-news-stories-in-2006-recap-of-what-happened-around-the-world-90842.html

A Decade of Corruption Ends With Hartz

In the news: Corporate Germany was in distress last week when news of a former Volkswagen boss was convicted of bribery. Peter Hartz reported from Frankfurt wearing a tailor-made dark blue suit, light blue shirt and a matching tie, and was driven in a black Volkswagen Phaeton limousine which was polished to perfection. Everything about the man exemplifies his status as the man who set Germany on the road to recovery.

Peter Hartz, former personnel director at Volkswagen was once again in the limelight but this time not to the applause of the German government and business leaders but rather to the shouts of an angry crowd present as he made his way across the cobbled yard to the courthouse in Brunswick. He was there to confess to bribery and corruptions which he is being accused of on a grand scale.

It should be noted that the former personnel director of Volkswagen was once a confidant of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder so you can just imagine the influence that he has on the German government. The question now is: will such connection help Peter Hartz surpass the bribery charges he is facing right now?

At the courthouse Harts stood in front of the 9,000 angry shareholders and apologized for another corruption scandal which is to date, the worst in German corporate history.

The Germans who were watching the live television coverage of the trial was enthralled by Hartz’s court appearance together with those from Munich of the humbled Siemens board members, it’s like watching an awesome and tragic Wagnerian touch of the Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). The corruption scandal was not only devastating on the part of Hartz whose reputation has been trumped to the ground but similarly demoralizing to the German people at large.

The corruption scandal became a moment wherein Germans began to question themselves who are the other guilty parties? How deeply embedded is institutionalized corruption in their country? Who protects these corrupt personalities since they could get away with it for so long? After decades of pride of their postwar “economic miracle”, it was only last week that the Germans lost faith in their business leaders and to some extent has become doubtful of the economic miracle that their country has achieved. And all this happen in just a week.

According to Perter von Blomberg of Transparency International – a group that fights corruption around the world, “In the past, cases of corruption in a company were more frequently covered up or played down. Nowadays there is more public awareness and people are more sensitive to the issue.”

Some of the angry protesters at the Hartz’s trial demanded that he be jailed. They were carrying placards with angry messages on them and most of them insisted that Hartz be imprisoned. The cause of the grave public rage on Hartz is brought by the fact that he was the architect of employment-law reforms which produced severe cuts in state benefits.

The public hostile response over Hartz corruption affair has led the members of the German government to consider removing his name from the statute books. A new title was given to the Hartz Labor Reforms. The Hartz case was like a nightmare to the German people. Never did they ever think that the mighty German industrial machine, famous for hitting record-breaking targets for exports year after year would commit the biggest plunder of all time.

Shocking revelations were also exposed during the trial like for instance, who would have thought that the late and unmourned Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha – an unlikely figure to intrude into German domestic politics, was also alleged to have received millions of dollars in backhanders from Siemens? More than seven Siemens executives were arrested on the allegations that the company set up a slush fund to pay bribes just to win billions of euros worth of international contracts. Likewise, a network of front companies and secret bank accounts were discovered by the Munich prosecutors.

In the case of Volkswagen and Hartz the investigation has uncovered the extraordinarily questionable life of German bosses. Furthermore, there are also evidences showing Hartz together with his union chums, along with some prominent politicians and fellow executives from the Volkswagen Empire has amassed millions of euros signed off for the interest of the company and not all of the deals are legitimate. And the amazing thing about all this is that it has been going on for decades already.

The said “for the interest of the company” deals include group visits to brothels in Germany, Spain, and South America. Add to that the money wasted on expensive gifts for girlfriends, VIP treatment at Czech nightclubs and discos plus, don’t forget the luxurious trips around the world. While this fortunate few are having the best times of their lives, the hard-pressed Germans were enduring a long period of economic stagnation and cuts in household spending. So it is not surprising that the German public is angry at both Volkswagen and Siemens executives who with their millions of euros salaries were greasing palms as if it was part of standard business procedures.

The Company that is Volkswagen

Volkswagen is an icon of the 20th century. As a fact only few car manufacturers have been able to produce as many legendary cars as Volkswagen. The Beetle which is considered a trademark of Volkswagen is considered the best-selling car of all time even its Volkswagen Beetle parts is selling quite well due to its remarkable quality.

Other Volkswagen vehicles that have earned great recognitions are the Volkswagen bus which is a symbol of a generation and the golf which is viewed by many as a modern masterpiece. These are just some of the automobiles that have made impact on the cultural and personal lives of millions.

But from among the vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen, the Beetle is considered to be the most prominent. This vehicle is basically Volkswagen’s Type 1and also known in other names such as Fusca, Coccinelle or Cox, Vocho (Spanish), Bug, Volky or Käfer (German), Escarabajo (beetle in Spanish). The Beetle is an economy car built by the German automaker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. The names Bug and Beetle were easily adopted by the public but it was not until August of 1967 that VW has officially used the name Beetle in marketing their products.

The Beetle car was the benchmark for both generations of American compact cars such as the Chevrolet Corvair and subcompact cars such as the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega. The Beetle was also awarded fourth place in the international poll for the world’s most influential car of the twentieth century. Other winners include Ford Model T, the Mini and the Citroën DS.

Natalie Anderson
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/a-decade-of-corruption-ends-with-hartz-98405.html