Federal Government Seeks to Prevent Economic Recession

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The housing market corrections of 2007 may well continue into 2008. The government is scrambling to forestall any further market adjustments. The government wants to be proactive in avoiding any severe downturn in the economy. There is a feeling that the government needs to be doing more than the Bush mortgage rate freeze plan for certain subprime adjustable rate mortgages.

Recently, the Bush Administration announced that…
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Presidential Election: Presidential Candidates 2008 - Election Coverage

Earlier this week Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden hinted that the leading presidential candidate, rival Hillary Clinton lacks foreign policy experience.

The Senator from Delaware has held his foreign policy credentials as par excellence when he compares them to his democratic rivals in election 2008. He was bringing to the American public’s attention a serious gaffe made by Hillary Clinton with regards to the recent events in Pakistan.

In two separate news interviews, Senator Clinton stated the wrong information about the upcoming Pakistani elections:

She stated on ABC Sunday that, “[if Musharraf] could be the only person on the ballot. I dont think that’s a real election.”

She stated in a Wolf Blitzer interview, “If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election, then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow.”

These are serious errors, and show a lack of elementary understanding of current international affairs in an important country like Pakistan. Pakistan will be holding parliamentary elections not presidential ones. Musharraf was re-elected President last year.

Her gaffes follow Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s comments last week that Afghanistan is on Pakistan’s eastern border. India shares Pakistan’s eastern border while Afghanistan shares the western.

Credit Card Companies Target College Students - Part 3

The credit card companies have ensnared the college and university system in their web of exploitation of college students. The schools have contracted with credit card companies in affinity programs that undermine students interests. An affinity program is a contractual agreement between a credit card issuer and a university in which a card company can market to the students, faculty, and alumni their cards exclusively; in return the university gets money.

The money in return for exclusivity can run into multi-millions, much needed funds for many universities. However, this comes at a steep price, with colleges forgoing their responsibilities to students. An inherent conflict of interest arises with these affinity programs; as the college overlooks student interest for sake of credit card company interest.

Affinity relationships can be worth more than $15 million, depending on the university. Usually, the affinity agreement includes the school partnering with a credit company to issue a co-branded card, a school logo card. Bank of America has majority of the exclusive deals with colleges, with 900 agreements. Chase has 40 affinity partnerships with schools nationwide.

Also, the schools can earn annual royalties, in the millions. In return for payments, card companies get access to entire student, faculty, and alumni lists. They also can market at school events, such as sports events and more.

So, what is the harm, some say? The affinity programs pose a direct threat to the schools responsibility to students benefits. The colleges when tempted with easy funds will not shy away from scrutinizing the credit terms or their marketing activities.

Chase’s wonderful credit card terms included double-cycle billing, which according to the General Accounting Office is a method used by one-third of credit card issuers. A double cycle billing example: I have zero balance and I purchase something for a $100. I make my payment on-time of $75 and carry over a $25 balance into the next statement. When I get me next statement, under the double-billing method I would be charged interest on the full $100, rather than the $25 balance alone. This is one of the most audacious, loan shark like, weasely, and reprehensible things credit card companies do.

Imagine, exploiting financially innocent students this way, let alone general consumers. Unless, there is grassroots uproar against the cozy nexus between the colleges and credit card companies, such practices will continue. The only ones to suffer will be students and their families.

Part 4: Coming soon…

Credit Card Companies Target College Students - Part 2

In the world of credit card companies, anything and anyone is fair game, until the laws say otherwise. The targeting of college students is well researched and positioned. Like other predatory business, such as payday loans, credit card issuers also prey upon the weak, the financially unsavvy. Like cigarette companies, card companies want to hook consumers to their product at a young age. In their quest for business perpetuity, card companies have expanded their innovative marketing efforts to the halls of higher education.

The aim of credit card companies on campus is to get college students to fill out completed applications. With the full acquiescence of the college and university, college students are recruited by card companies to solicit their fellow college students to apply for credit cards.

A credit card college representative provides the initial training to a group of students interested in making easy money, commission sales. A student card salesman can earn upto $15 for every completed application. In return for completing an application, you get a free shirt or some other trinket. That seems like a fair trade, your personal information for a t-shirt.
So student salesmen play the role of enthusiastic credit card pushers; while their prey, fellow college students may end up as credit card addicts. This is a clever strategy, hiring college students to seek out their circle of influence (friends) and then walk the corridors of their university to target other unsuspecting students.

Students are employed to target students because they come off as non-threatening, as being one of their own. Certainly a middle aged person would have less success marketing to young college students, than another student. The student salesmen are provided training by the card reps on how to approach students, giveaway free gifts, and most importantly, how to overcome objections.

Some of the objection handlers are, “Once you get the card, you dont have to use it, you can cut it up,” “Once you get your dream job after graduating, you can easily payoff the card,” “If you start building your credit history now, youll have great credit right out of college,” “Can come in handy when youre strapped for cash,” “Show your college pride by getting your very own college logo credit card,” and more.

In addition to college campuses, card issuers use high traffic strategic locations around campus to market to students. They put up their flee market tents in these areas, and start doling out trinkets in exchange for completed applications.
However you look at it this is exploitation of financially unsophisticated students for profit. Where is the corporate conscience, doesnt corporate citizenship extend to putting an end to such abhorrent marketing practices?

Part 3: Coming Soon

Presidential Election and Election Coverage 2008: Ron Paul a Racist and Anti-Semite?

Ron Paul and his Presidential Election 2008 bid to become the Republican Presidential Candidate may have hit a speed bump. The Ron Paul 2008 campaign and Ron Paul may have some explaining to do to the American public. It is alleged that Ron Paul made racist and anti-Semitic statements in his eight-page newsletter The Ron Paul Political Report, founded in 1985. In the DailyKos, writer phenry gives great detailed insight into the matter. The Houston Chronicle first brought to public limelight Ron Paul’s musings in his The Ron Paul Political Report. So far, neither Ron Paul nor the Ron Paul 2008 campaign has made public any issues of his newsletter.

Here are some excerpts from the Houston Chronicle article 05/23/1996:

The Racist Ron Paul

Paul, writing in his independent political newsletter in 1992, reported about unspecified surveys of blacks.”Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action,” Paul wrote.

Paul continued that politically sensible blacks are outnumbered “”as decent people.” Citing reports that 85 percent of all black men in the District of Columbia are arrested, Paul wrote:
“”Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal,” Paul said.

Paul also wrote that although “”we are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers.”

The Anti-Semite Ron Paul

In later newsletters, Paul aimed criticism at the Israeli government’s U.S. lobbying efforts…Stating that lobbying groups who seek special favors and handouts are evil, Paul wrote, “”By far the most powerful lobby in Washington of the bad sort is the Israeli government” and that the goal of the Zionist movement is to stifle criticism.

Ron Paul thus far, has defended the allegations by insinuating that he had no control over those particular issues’ content and a ghostwriter wrote the particular articles for The Ron Paul Political Report. Hence, Ron Paul is not denying the published contents but the authorship and editorial control over his own newsletter, a newsletter that carried his name.

However, wouldn’t common sense and logic impede acceptance of his defense of the published words in his The Ron Paul Political Report.

Also, even if we suspend common sense and logic regarding his defense on the issue, wouldnt we again be impeded by common sense and logic, in order to believe that a newsletter with seven thousand subscriptions didnt reserve one subscription addressed to Ron Paul’s home. Moreover, is it plausible to believe that he would pay for mass publication of the newsletter, out of his pocket, without reviewing the content beforehand? Highly unlikely.

Logically, how can Ron Paul’s vanity prohibit him from reading any issue of The Ron Paul Political Report? Similarly, Ron Paul using his own funds to finance his newsletter, not being aware of how, what, and where of his newsletter seems implausible to me.

Additionally, outrageous and egregious is that when those particular issues of The Ron Paul Political Report were published and disseminated; he didnt admonish the articles content nor denounce the racist and anti-Semitic statements. So by staying silent on the issues at the time of the newsletters’ publication, was he simply endorsing and condoning the racist and anti-Semitic contained within?

Furthermore, even if common sense and logic permits us to accept Ron Paul’s assertion that a ghostwriter wrote the articles in question; we would have to suspend reality by accepting that he doesnt know who the ghostwriter is? In such a mom-n-pop small newsletter like The Ron Paul Political Report, how is it possible not to know who is writing for you, especially on your behalf. If he knows the person who wrote the articles that means Ron Paul at worse, associates with racists and Anti-Semites and at worst, is friends with such a person and shares such despicable views.

Now let’s look at a comparison of basic job duties of Ron Paul the publisher/editor/writer of The Ron Paul Political Report and Ron Paul the Congressman:

Publisher/Editor/Writer Ron Paul - The Ron Paul Political Report

• Responsibility includes general oversight of all aspects of newsletter publishing including writing, marketing, editorial review, layout review, financial management, etc
• Implement checks and balances for proper editorial review
• Reading in detail the entire content of the newsletter before and after publication
• Ability to comprehend what is written in the newsletter

Congressman Ron Paul

• Responsibility includes writing, sponsoring, and supporting legislation
• Read in detail the entire content of the legislation before sponsoring it
• Read in detail the entire content of another Congressman’s legislation before supporting it
• Ability to comprehend what is written in the legislation

So if we are to forgo common sense and logic as Americans and accept that Ron Paul’s duties as publisher and editor of The Ron Paul Political Report were remiss during publication of only those particular controversial newsletter editions, then it reflects poorly on his judgment and oversight abilities as publisher.

The basic duty of a Congressman as it relates to a publisher and editor is to review (meaning read) in detail legislation you sponsor and support. Herein, if he didnt read nor review that vile content, how can we expect him to be a competent public servant as Congressman?

If Ron Paul was remiss in his basic duty as publisher in not reviewing his own newsletter, what makes you think he is not doing the same as Congressman by avoiding his job of critical reading and review of the people’s legislation?

Scary, thought isnt it. Isnt that how we classify incompetence?

So let’s assume that he is not fulfilling his basic duties as Congressman, what makes you think he is fulfilling his other duties as Congressman?

Hence, on what merit is Ron Paul seeking to be President of our great country when he may not be fulfilling even the most rudimentary duties as Congressman and in the past as Publisher/Editor of The Ron Paul Political Report.

The American public would agree that if he couldnt manage with proper oversight the content of his own publication and have checks and balances in place to make sure vile articles such as attributed to the controversial issues of the mom-n-pop The Ron Paul Political Report could never be published; on what credible basis are Americans to believe that he can carry on the basic duties of a President in oversight of the US and managing checks and balances with the other two branches of government, Congress, and Supreme Court.

Thus, Ron Paul’s defense completely falls apart under common sense and logical scrutiny. Where is the fundamental journalistic scrutiny from the “legitimate media?” Why are people contributing to this man? Why are some Americans supporting him? Who is voting for this man to be re-elected to an august body such as the Congress? Is he fit to sponsor and support legislation in Congress that affects all Americans with his belief system?

Lastly, Ron Paul is unwilling to accept responsibility for the contents of his newsletter that carried his name. A publisher is always responsible for the content of his publication. Ron Paul is attempting to escape accountability and responsibility as a publisher and blames someone else, a “ghostwriter” for the content; then on what basis can he ridicule George Bush, another “public servant” who doesnt accept responsibility for his actions and blames others for his misdeeds. Can the country handle another incarnation of George Bush in Ron Paul?

The supporters of Ron Paul must not be carried away by the veneer of Ron Paul but examine the underpinnings of the man himself.

Would you really support him after reading Gaurav Bhola Makes a Case Against Ron Paul?

If you do, God help you.

Who can Take On Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows

The Microsoft monopoly has been in full throttle for years, too many years. Many software came and went, many seemed promising like the beautiful Lotus Smart Suite. Many consumers and experts concur that this was the best office suite package ever. Alas, it wasnt meant to last as MS Office was the dominant force on desktops, a strangle hold engendered by exclusive agreements with hardware desktop makers.

Now those same companies are lamenting their complicity in making Microsoft the monopoly it is today. If they hadnt given the sole space on their desktops to Microsoft, then the current productive office suite landscape would be different.

Now IBM, amongst others are attempting to seek redemption by promoting Free of Charge Ubuntu, Symphony, and Sun Microsystems’ Open Office, etc. Please find information about each:

Ubuntu
What does the Ubuntu mean: “African word meaning ‘Humanity to others’, or ‘I am what I am because of who we all are.”

Ubuntu is an operating system like Microsoft Windows that is can be placed on laptops, desktops and servers. It has all the applications you desire such as, word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, email, note-taking, photo editor, music and video.

Watch this great Microsoft Vista versus Ubuntu video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ[/youtube]

Open Office
It is full personal productivity application suite that is a competitor of MS Office. It is a derivative of Sun Microsystems’ Star Office suite. Open Office includes a word processor, draw, spreadsheet, database, mathematical function creator, and a presentation tool.
IBM Symphony
You are not locked in the unending chain of Microsoft Office upgrades, paying ever exorbitant funds to upgrade buggy software that needs patches continually. Like Open Office, IBM Symphony is free to download and use. Also when upgrades are available, you can download them for free, no purchase is ever necessary. Symphony includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation.

Google Docs
Are internet based online productivity applications the wave of the future? Google thinks so. Google offers an internet based Microsoft Office alternative that has a word processor, spreadsheet, and a presentation suite. There are limitations with regards to file size, etc. You must first sign up for Google Mail, to access the office suite.

Projity
Want an alternative to Microsoft Project? Guess what, Projity is the open source answer called OpenProj. It does have the same learning curve as Microsoft Project but hey, it free. There is a paid robust version, Project-ON-Demand, but for most people the free version will suffice. OpenProj is perfect for small business owners managing group projects. As in case of other open source software, OpenProj is available for Linux, Mac or Windows.

Presidential Election: Presidential Candidates 2008 - Election Coverage

The presidential election is heating up as the presidential candidates reach out to voters in the 2008 election. As the election season of the national primary kicks off with the Iowa Primary, New Hampshire Primary, South Carolina Primary, Nevada Primary, and Florida Primary, for many the national presidential primary season has come too early in many states.

For example, in Florida the state legislature moved up the date for the state primary to January 28, in order to give Florida more of a role in choosing the presidential candidates for their respective parties, thus influencing election results.

The election is now left with the following candidates:

Democratic candidates: 2008 presidential election
Hillary Clinton       Barack Obama

John Edwards       Bill Richardson
Joe Biden             Christopher Dodd

Dennis Kucinich  Mike Gravel

Republican candidates: 2008 presidential election

Mitt Romney        John McCain

Rudolph Giuliani Mike Huckabee

Duncan Hunter Tom Tancredo

Fred Thompson Ron Paul

The following are national presidential election polls for democratic presidential candidates and republican presidential candidates. Please note, that some or all may not be scientific.

Source: CNN

Source: Fox News

Source: Gallup

Source: Newsweek

The Origin of the Modern Day Suicide Bomber

The modern day suicide bomber owes his origin to the kamikaze pilots of World War II. A suicide bomber performs a terrorist attack by blowing himself up, by self or in a transport vehicle. The first occurrence of recorded Islamic terrorism by suicide bombing occurred in 1981, when Kurdish rebels targeted the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. However, it was the three bombings in 1983 that brought to international attention the lethality of the suicide bomber. The infamous 1983 suicide bombings were: Hezbollah’s bombing of the U.S. embassy in April 1983, attack on United States Marine and French barracks in October 1983. Nevertheless, it was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Indian Subcontinent that brought a new dimension to suicide bombing. A dimensional tactic later adopted successfully by Islamic Jihad terrorists with deadly consequences.

LTTE - Ethnic Terrorists

The LTTE is a terrorist group based in Sri Lanka which has waged a brutal secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s with a view to create an independent “Tamil Eelam” state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Unlike, Islamic terrorism, an instrument of religion; LTTE fights the island’s Sinhalese majority, an instrument of ethnicity. I label the LTTE as “Ethnic Terrorists.”

Ethnic terrorism doesnt prescribe to religious ideology as the foundation of its terrorist agenda but ethnicity. However, ethnicity should not be confused with race. An ethnic group is a group of people sharing a common heritage, religion, or cultural tradition; while race is exclusive of belief or choice to belong to a group, but rather it’ a group composed of similar genetically transmitted physical characteristics.

In the case of the LTTE, it took up arms to secede from the ethnic Sinhalese dominated Sri Lanka for the cause of a separate, independent state of Eelam composed of the ethnic Tamil population. Founded in 1975 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, LTTE membership included disenchanted Tamil youth, who were discontent with policies of successive Sinhalese governments in Colombo (Sri Lanka’ capital) towards addressing a variety of concerns of the nation’s Tamil community.

Herein, their violent actions have earned them proscription as a terrorist organization by 32 countries, including the United States.

Global Terrorism, Dawn of the New Suicide Bomber

The LTTE has regularly used suicide bombers as instruments of terror. Unlike, previous suicide bombers who used bomb laden vehicles to carry out terrorist attacks, the LTTE pioneered the use of concealed suicide bomb vests for suicide bombings. Hence, it is this innovative terror tactic which is now used by Islamic terrorists as an instrument of Islamic terrorism worldwide.

The LTTE employed its lethal suicide bomber division, the Black Tigers using bomb vests and female suicide bombers to assassinate Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, in 1993. The Black Tigers unit is ruthless, the best trained, and most efficient suicide squad in the world.

Jane’s Information Group reports that during 1980 and 2000, LTTE had carried out a sum of 168 suicide attacks on civilians and military targets. These suicide attacks exceeded the combined sum of Hamas and Hezbollah suicide attacks carried out during the same period.

Top Ten Consumer Fraud and Consumer Scams

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released a statistical survey of fraud in America, and the figures are astonishing. The FTC report survey shows that 30.2 million adults, approximately 13.5 percent of the adult population have been victims of fraud so far this year.

The main avenue for consumer fraud entailed deceptive weight-loss products, ensnaring about 4.8 million consumers. The consumers report two other methods involving fraudulent buyers club memberships and foreign lottery offers.

The lottery scamsters enticed victims into giving out their personal bank account information by telling them that they had won a foreign lottery. Of course, the bank account information was needed to “transfer the winnings.” In the case of consumer scam involving buyers clubs, victims were sold “memberships” they had not purchased.

The FTC consumer report shows consumer scams of several hues. The top ten consumer fraud on the FTC consumer reports*:

1. “Fraudulent Weight-Loss Products (4.8 million victims)
2. Foreign Lottery Scams (3.2 million victims)
3. Unauthorized Billing - Buyers Clubs (3.2 million victims)
4. Prize Promotions (2.7 million victims)
5. Work-at-Home Programs (2.4 million victims)
6. Credit Card Insurance (2.1 million victims)
7. Unauthorized Billing - Internet Services (1.8 million victims)
8. Advance-Fee Loans (1.7 million victims)
9. Credit Repair Scams (1.2 million victims)
10. Business Opportunities (.8 million victims)”

The consumer affairs in regards to fraud are mainly handled by the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection. The bureau’ mission is to protect consumers against unfair, misleading, fraudulent or deceptive practices. The Bureau addresses consumer complaints, protects consumer rights, develops rules for consumer protections, conducts investigations, enforces consumer protection laws, sues people and businesses who violate the law, and educates businesses and consumers about their fundamental duties and rights.

The FTC is a consumer protection agency that not only offers consumer fraud protection but also shares and collects consumer fraud and identity theft information making them available to law enforcement agencies across the country.

The consumer report found fraud cut across age, race, and education demographics. Young consumers between 35 and 44 were thirty-two percent more likely to be ensnared than consumers between 65 and 74 years of age. African American were 22 percent of the victims, Hispanics 18 percent, and Whites 12 percent. Furthermore, college educated consumers were less likely to be defrauded than consumers without a college degree*.

The main avenues of fraudulent advertising as reported by consumers were:

• Print advertising, direct mail, includes catalogs, magazine and newspaper and advertising, and flyer’s and posters - 27%
• Internet, includes Web sites, e-mail, and auction sites - 22%
• Radio or television - 21%
• Telemarketing - 9%
• Others - 21%

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You must be constantly vigilant against offers or promotions that provide quick fixes, easy money, instant remedies to various ills, and income without effort. Remember, anything in life worth doing is going to be difficult, requiring you to challenge yourself. I live by this creed, if you imbibe it as well, you are less likely to deceive yourself and be deceived by others in life.

*Source: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Fraud Survey 2007

Democracy Now: Fundamental Duties of a Citizen - Part 2

Nationhood is what its citizens are. The citizen is the component of nationhood. In global society there is corrosion of civil human behavior, growing sharper every day. This gradual corrosion has to be arrested and remedial measures taken as to improve the situation. In our homeland, the US Constitution is revered, its Bill of Rights sacred, and American democracy esteemed, but the fundamental duties of a citizen are neither taught nor revered. Fundamental Duties of citizens serve an important purpose. Specifically, no democratic republic can ever thrive unless citizens are active participants in the process of governance by embracing responsibilities and discharging citizenship duties.

As Americans we value individuality, but the most critical task facing us is to reconcile the claims of individuality and those of the civic society. To accomplish this, the individual citizen has to become cognizant of his social and citizenship duties, thus shaping societal members that are compassionate and solicitous of the inalienable rights of their fellow citizens.

Henceforth, comprehension of our citizenship duties is as important as comprehension of our rights. Man doesnt live in a vacuum, isolated from fellow man. He exists for the good of others as well as the good of himself. The ability of man to differentiate between right and wrong separates him from other beings. This knowledge is inculcated in man by imbibing duties of a citizen, making man responsible to himself and to society in which he resides.

If every citizen executes his duties regardless of considerations of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, language, and creed, most of the melancholy in today’ society could be suppressed, if not eliminated, and entire society uplifted. The lifeblood of civilized life is the adherence and obedience to citizen duties and values.

We value the well-rounded individual, the development of personality of the citizen in all spheres, intellectual, physical, mental, and social, and slowly emerging, the spiritual. The development process of the American citizen must include teachings of fundamental duties, not by legal strictures, but as inherent and innate sense of citizenship duties which in composite with the well-rounded individual, our societal culture can become a panacea for all of our political, administrative, and social ills

It is US duty, to awaken citizen duty through education which should not be merely an exercise of learning for learning sake; but to imbibe, subscribe to, prescribe citizen duties. In democratic governance, citizenship education is essential for every age group, for every profession, and for every station of life. The need of the hour for American citizens is to recognize the importance of fundamental duties of a citizen not only by precept but more so by practice. After all, fundamental duties are the foundations of national character and human dignity.

Democracy Now Part 3:Coming soon…