Nitin Chhoda’s Instant Dental Newsletter Service Now Helps Dental Practices … – Virtual
Instant Dental Newsletter is a 21st century dental marketing solution for today’s busy private practice. Each month, it automatically delivers two content rich newsletters to a dental practice’s patients without having to write a single word. The result: more new patients as well as increased qualified referrals from newsletter readers. Thus, growing dental businesses faster and easier, as per Nitin Chhoda’s, a marketing expert, latest blog post.
Denville, NJ (PRWEB) May 18, 2012
The Instant Dental Newsletter publication is designed to bring and connect dental clinics practices with current and new patients in a completely new way that differs from traditional advertising or online marketing. Since it was introduced just later this April, it helps to target a specific segment of the general public to produce more efficient results from the current website information that is published online.
This system was built by a private practice owner, Nitin Chhoda, who understands that most dental clinic managers don’t have much time to spend on marketing. This fully customizable, done-for-you dental newsletter technology guarantees to resolve marketing problems once and for all. All a practice manager has to do is sit back and relax because the content is generated by a team of licensed medical practitioners who go to work for the practice every two weeks, keeping their business in front of and in the minds of patients and doctors.
This content rich dental marketing solution is way to boost referrals from current patients. It allows dental clinic offices to collect email addresses from website visitors by providing instant access to downloadable eBooks once the site visitor enters their name and address into the practice’s website. The Instant Dental Newsletter is automatically delivered twice a month to subscribers in the local area and the dental clinic’s management does not have to do a thing.
The service has been well received since its launch in early March of this year. This newsletter program even allows the user to print or fax copies of their clinic’s newsletter. They can also have the option of sending out customized emails for birthday greetings as well as appointment reminders. It is an exceptionally cost efficient way to stay in touch with current patients as well as keeping the clinic’s profile highly visible in the surrounding community.
Instant Dental Newsletter is the brainchild of Nitin Chhoda, a licensed physical therapist and published author. Chhoda brings a unique perspective to Instant Dental Newsletter, understanding both the medical aspect of the field and also, being a writer, understanding how to engage readers with content. His goal with Instant Dental Newsletter was to find new ways to automate marketing and referral generation using technology and in general. Nitin Chhoda, states,” It is dental and dentist marketing for dental clinics business growth.“
Instant Dental Newsletter helps dental clinics practices market their business in a way that connects them with patients on a whole new level with a uniquely designed dental newsletter. The publication assists private practice owners by keeping patients informed with the latest in dental practices and techniques. It’s easy to use and runs on complete automation.
Chhoda’s office can be reached by phone at 201-535-4475. For more information, visit the website at http://www.nitin360.com.
ABOUT NITIN CHHODA
Nitin Chhoda is a licensed physical therapist, a doctor of physical therapy, and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. He’s the author of “Total Activation: The New 5 Step Fitness Mantra” and “Marketing for Physical Therapy Clinics.” He’s been featured in numerous industry magazines, major radio and broadcast media, and is the founder of Referral Ignition training systems, Private Practice Summit, the Private Practice Formula and the Private Practice Mastermind group. Chhoda speaks extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and Asia. He’s the creator of the Therapy Newsletter, along with Clinical Contact, a web-based service that boosts patient arrival rates.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebdental-newsletter/dentist-marketing/prweb9439479.htm
Troupe continue to grow
Members of Torquay Theatre Troupe at rehearsal.
Following the success of their 2010 and 2011 productions, the Torquay Theatre Troupe will once again be presenting a quality theatre production.
Directed by Gay Bell, David Lindsay Abaire’s award winning Rabbit Hole is a play about a family coping with grief – rich in honesty, love, laughter and compassion. Torquay Theatre Troupe has chosen this award winning script for its next production.
With rehearsals well under way, director and actors alike are enjoying the thrill of discovering the depth of humanity, candour and humour in this absorbing and entertaining piece of theatre.
Play director Gay Bell said she was delighted for the Troupe to be returning with another performance and expected this year’s event to be the best yet.
“Torquay Theatre Troupe’s performances continue to grow, getting bigger and better each year – and Rabbit Hole will be no different,” she said.
“The past few years, we have been fortunate enough to have received some wonderful feedback from our audience members. We hope to delight the audience with this year’s production again.”
Don’t miss out on what is set to be one of the best regional theatre performances in Torquay. Torquay Theatre Troupe’s Rabbit Hole will be performed at 16 Price Street, Torquay from May 17-19, and 24-26 at 8.00pm. On May 20 a matinee performance will begin at 2:00pm.
Tickets cost $19 adults, $15 concession and can be purchased from Surf Sight Optical or by phoning Marie on 5261 9035. For information please visit www.ttt.org.au.
More Federal Officials Don’t Like Natural Gas— This Time in Gas Rich Zone
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As Americans grow increasingly skeptical about global warming, and the availability of shale oil and natural gas is greater than ever in the U.S., a federal official based in Colorado says the climate threat is so dire that electric utilities should not plan long-term for the development of natural gas power plants.
Meanwhile another official in the Centennial State – a regional regulator for the Environmental Protection Agency that oversees areas with vast fossil fuel reserves – is on the record saying the number of scientists skeptical about the dangers of global warming is nearly non-existent.
The first official, Daniel Arvizu (pictured), director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, made his remarks Monday at the World Renewable Energy Forum in Denver.
“If we don’t start phasing out even a scale-up of natural gas by 2040, 2050, we will not achieve any of the carbon-loading goals we have set for ourselves,” he said. “Natural gas, while it might be a nice bridge technology, is not the answer to what we are actually looking for in terms of a transition and transformation.”
As for the EPA official, Region 8 Administrator James Martin, he believes “You could have a convention of all the scientists who dispute climate change in a relatively small phone booth.” That comment was captured by the Denver Post in 2008 when he was executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Martin helped write former Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter’s Climate Action Plan, dubbed “a living document,” which means its liberal authors can change it to mean anything they want it to – much like the Constitution. Martin’s territory with EPA covers the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and Colorado.
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office says trillions of barrels of potentially recoverable oil – possibly as much or more than the entire world’s current proven oil reserves – lies underneath Colorado and Utah, The Colorado Observer reported Monday.
Arvizu and Martin wield influence over a region with some of the richest oil and natural gas reserves in the country, which the Climate Action Plan acknowledged. “Colorado contains eight percent of the nation’s natural gas reserves, with proven reserves of 16 trillion cubic feet,” the authors wrote. But the plan also considered natural gas part of “our bridge strategies to a cleaner energy future for Colorado.”
While climate catastrophists Arvizu and Martin see the nation’s fossil fuel resources as a “bridge” to the future, realists see the massive deposits of oil and natural gas – with as much as 200 years’ worth of capacity accessible – as the energy future with no need for a bridge. Technologies such as hydraulic fracturing have expanded the ability to extract those resources, and states like Pennsylvania and North Dakota are seeing economic booms as a result.
For the comparably few renewable energy advocates, however, the proliferation and associated low prices for natural gas (when it comes to electricity generation) is bad news. Without huge tax credits, grants and incentives, wind and solar cannot compete with cheaper coal and natural gas. Hence, the climate panic must be perpetuated and the outlook for natural gas must be degraded – otherwise what is the need for a NREL?
“The rapid growth of energy demand, the uncertainty of future supplies, the increasing reliance on oil from unstable regions, and the resulting dramatic rise in fossil fuel prices—all these are creating formidable challenges to our economy and our energy security,” Arvizu wrote on the NREL Web site. “At the same time, the growing concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is a looming threat to our environment.”
Arvizu was paid $691,570 for the fiscal year ending in September 2010 (the most recent year tax records are available) by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, which runs NREL. At least a dozen other staffers earn well into six-figures. ASE took in nearly $444 million through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. According to his NREL biography, Arvizu has “overseen an increase of more than 50 percent in the lab’s operating budget, overseen a doubling of lab technical staff, and has helped attract over $400 million for new infrastructure.”
Martin, the EPA regulator, was appointed by President Obama in April 2010 and reports to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Prior to his work for Gov. Ritter, he was a senior attorney for 10 years for Environmental Defense, and earlier he headed the Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado School of Law.
Martin fits well into the Obama/EPA/Jackson/environmental extremism approach to delay and obfuscate the access of fossil fuel resources on federal lands. For example, plans by Denver-based Gasco to drill for natural gas in Utah’s Uintah Basin – with a compliance process that began in 2006 – have been held up by Martin and EPA over concerns about climate change and air pollutants. Regulators have been especially concerned about high ozone levels in the basin, where significant drilling already exists, but scientists are unsure whether the heightened levels are attributable to the activity, a nearby coal-fired power plant, or something else. Drilling companies have reduced their emissions and still the ozone problems – which also require sunlight to form – persist.
“They studied the problem for five years here and still don’t have answers,” said Elaine Crumpley, a spokeswoman for Citizens United for Responsible Energy Development, to the Denver Post.
And in a highly controversial case in Pavillion, Wyoming, EPA and Martin insinuated that groundwater contamination was attributable to hydraulic fracturing in the area, although testing did not prove conclusive. In hearings about the case, House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., accused EPA of “substituting outcome-driven science for rigorous objective science” and engaging in “another example of politics trumping policy and advocacy trumping science” in the December release of a draft report. Also Thomas E. Doll, supervisor of Wyoming’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, accused EPA’s regional office of rushing out the draft report with incomplete data and technically inadequate conclusions, the Oil Gas Journal reported.
According to the publication, “Doll said Wyoming agencies are concerned that EPA likely introduced synthetic and organic chemicals as it drilled, completed, tested, and sample its two monitoring wells.” Also, Doll challenged Martin’s claim that EPA consulted frequently with the state about the situation, an assertion that Martin did not back away from.
“EPA notified Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality that it was drilling the monitoring wells literally as the rigs were moving in,” Doll said.
This week another study, released by an independent environmental and water resource consulting firm, determined that EPA did not “adequately distinguish between potential natural impacts and those from gas drilling activities.” The report, according to the International Business Times, faulted “poor study design” and that EPA’s conclusions were based on just four samples.
Comments like Martin’s “phone booth” remark about scientific “consensus” over global warming show he can be out of touch with reality. More than 31,000 American scientists have signed a petition (which existed when Martin made his statement) that says, “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.”
Also, in 2008 Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma issued a report (an update of an earlier report) that showed more than 650 international scientists dispute the alarmist position on global warming. And new studies and reports come out almost daily that show climate change is at least equally affected by natural factors or is not a significant concern that justifies trillions of dollars of costs to attempt to avert it.
Fit all that in a phone booth.
That matters little to President Obama and his environmental advocate minions like Jackson, Martin and Arvizu (and another EPA regulator who recently lost his job, Al Armendariz). They are part of the plan to appease his eco-extreme voting base, who live in a world where electricity rates must “necessarily skyrocket” as cheap energy is made expensive so expensive energy seems cheap.
It’s a world where made-up problems like global warming, despite having been discredited, still drive politicos in key positions to make stupid statements in order to preserve their statuses and six-figure salaries.
Paul Chesser is an associate fellow for the National Legal and Policy Center.
Salmon Grow on Trees: Fishermen and Loggers Disagree Over Tongass Watershed
In Southeast Alaska, there’s a controversy brewing.
A controversy between loggers and fisherman.
Last year, the salmon catch in Southeastern Alaska was the highest in the state, exceeding even salmon-rich Bristol Bay. Something in excess of 15-billion pounds of salmon was caught there in 2011.
That wasn’t always the case. In 1967, the salmon catch in southeast commercial fisheries hit a record low, just 215 million pounds.
There are many possible reasons for the low catch, but scientists agree, among those reasons were the logging practices of the time.
In the 1960′s, areas like Prince of Wales Island were heavily logged in clear-cuts. Forest restoration was not widely practiced, and it is a known fact that sedimentation and lack of shade can harm salmon spawning streams.
But there were probably other factors as well. Asian vessels that were doing illegal drift net fishing, and possibly pollution factors in the Pacific.
One thing is clear. Logging in the Tongass National Forest was greatly curtailed in the 1990′s. The reduction cost at least 6,000 loggers their jobs and devastated the economies of many communities.
Coincidentally or not, in the 1990′s the salmon catch in Southeast Alaska went up. And it continued to go way up into the first decade of the 21st century. By 2011, it reached a new record; the biggest catch ever in the Southeast.
Fishermen see a direct correlation between the scaling back of the logging industry and the increase in their catch.
But the largest native corporation in the state, Sealaska, says that with modern forest regeneration practices, logging can coexist with a health salmon industry.
The U.S. Division of Forestry has been conducting experiments and generating healthy second-growth forests in the Tongass just 50 years after old-growth clear cuts were made. The second-generation forests are not as ecologically diverse as the original old-growth forests, but they are a vast improvement over so-called “untreated forests”.
Right now logging in the Tongass has been cut back from its maximum of over three-quarters of a billion board feet of lumber, to about 100-million board feet per year.
At 100-million board feet, you never have to touch old growth forest again. All you need to do is re-harvest the second growth forests.
Fishermen love that. Loggers do not. A Southeast Alaska logging industry that used to employ 6,000 to 7000 people now only employs 200.
Sealaska, which owns 3% of the Tongass, would like to see logging nearly triple, to about 270-million board feet.
Fishermen say logging is fine just where it is. In fact, some would like to see it reduced further and more money put into watershed restoration.
Fishing now directly supplies 7,000 jobs in Southeast Alaska, and they feel it would be unwise to risk that.
The controversy is likely to continue. The Division of Forestry plans would technically allow 270-million board feet of lumber to be harvested.
But, in a presidential election year, it seems unlikely that moves will be made to increase the lumber harvest anytime soon.
Peruvian-Japanese on the North Shore
TIFFANY HERVEY
Growing up in Peru’s rich and colorful culture, Diana Delgado DesRoches’s favorite pastime was helping her mother in the kitchen. DesRoches says Peru’s geography plays an important role in their cuisine, providing a variety of ingredients and styles–native foods such as quinoa, 3,800 different types of potatoes, mate, maize, goji berries and chili peppers such as aji amarillo and panca.
Diana’s roots, a Japanese mother and Peruvian father, gave her family kitchen a fusion that will be new to most tasters here. This Japanese-Peruvian cuisine debuted in food wagon form in January on Kamehameha Highway near the Rocky Point beach access on Oahu’s North Shore. Diana runs the wagon, called Nikkei, with her family.
Nikkei is a term that refers to any Japanese descendent that lives outside of Japan and adopts a new culture. Japanese immigrants arrived in Peru as contract plantation laborers in the late 1800s and stayed on beyond their contracts to settle. Today, Japanese-Peruvians are a flourishing and sizable community in Peru. The artwork on each side of the food wagon celebrates this hybridization with a samurai on one side and an Inca on the other.
Nikkei serves made-to-order plates that embody this fusion. Using fresh, local (when available) ingredients, the plates feature the dominant flavors of Peruvian food such as chilies, cilantro, garlic and onion, balanced with the dominant flavors of Japanese food–ginger, vinegar and shoyu.
The menu offers cold dishes of seafood and salad as well as hot dishes that can mostly be likened to stir-fries. Raw fish is where the Nikkei culinary genius shines. Ceviche is a typical Peruvian dish using white fish, and Nikkei’s features fresh, local fish with red onions, cilantro, aji amarillo (Peruvian chile) and plenty of lime juice. When you order the ceviche, called Tiradito Aji Amarillo ($9), they cut the fish, onions and limes to order, and serve the dish with sweet potato and corn. If DesRoches is at the window, she will remind you that ceviche is meant to be eaten right away–the longer you wait, the more the lime juice acid cooks the fish.
The Tiradito Nikkei ($10) features sashimi-like cuts, only thinner. The fish–usually ‘ahi–is served over lettuce with your choice of a spicy aji amarillo creamy sauce or Nikkei Sauce (a more traditional Japanese flavor) sprinkled with ume furikake and togarashi. Other cold dishes include Solterito Salad ($7) comprised of tomatoes, queso fresco, red onion, corn, cilantro, lime juice and an olive oil drizzle, and Kyuri Salad ($6.50) with lettuce, tomatoes, kyuri (Japanese cucumber) and bean sprouts, served with the special Nikkei dressing.
Highly recommended by regular Nikkei patrons is Wok Rice ($7-10 depending on your protein choice), served as a large enough portion to either share or save for a second round. Peruvian rice, egg tortilla, green onions, red onion, red bell pepper, ginger, shoyu, oyster sauce and sesame oil are the base for your choice of chicken, shrimp, New York steak or fish. The flavors are bold and heavenly without ever being too rich.
Another must for the adventurous palate is the Shrimp Seco ($10), in which shrimp and stir fried red bell peppers ignite with garlic-cilantro sauce and beer base over Peruvian rice. Served with a side salad, this dish truly makes one feel like they’ve never had shrimp so light and zesty.
Diana’s mother, Luisa Jitsuya Delgado, cooks with her in the wagon and says they put a lot of pride into the food because they enjoy cooking for others and believe in a healthy lifestyle. Diana’s brother, Daniel Eiji Delgado Jitsuya, is credited as the executive chef and creator of the wagon’s menu. He started the famous Osaka restaurant in Peru and continued to open chains in Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Later, he opened another restaurant called M, in Argentina and has other restaurant projects in the works there.
“There’s nothing more rewarding than a happy customer who truly enjoyed our cooking,” Diana says. “Our ingredients are from family-owned businesses and my husband’s farm. Eventually the goal is to have my husband grow every ingredient and create a circle. For fish we go to Pier 38, and if a friend catches fish, they will call us.”
The food wagon is more than a dream come true for her; it’s been a reunion for her and her mother. “My mom had been trying [to move here] for a very long time, and something always came up,” Diana explains. “Finally this food wagon idea made my mom’s move to beautiful Hawaii a reality.”
“We are happy to be here in Hawaii and finding such a special clientele who have open minds and are eager to experiment with different kinds of foods,” Diana says.
Eager experimentation is definitely the demographic you will find: Nikkei is usually flanked by surfers cruising on their tailgates eating their meals, local families picking up their lunch or dinners to take home, and curious tourists grabbing a one-of-a-kind meal for their beach picnic.
Nikkei’s Peruvian-Japanese food hits the spot with surfers.
Peruvian-Japanese on the North Shore
tiffany hervey
China: Growing old before it can grow rich?
16 May 2012
Last updated at 23:31 GMT
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Will China’s rapidly ageing population threaten its economic prosperity?
China’s economic miracle has been accompanied by astonishingly rapid population ageing. Could growing old too fast end China’s irresistible march out of poverty?
Where Shanghai leads, China follows. The city is ultra-modern – but also one of the fastest-ageing places on Earth.
One in four of Shanghai’s permanent residents is retired
You can see it in the city’s vast branch of the furniture store, Ikea. A greying crowd show little interest in flat-pack furniture.
Mr Ni is 72 years old, single and smartly turned out in a tweed cap. “This is a great place to talk to people,” he says.
The in-store restaurant offers cheap food to tempt couples setting up home. But this part of the store is buzzing with the elderly, here to flirt and find love.
Mr Ni is a widower whose children have all left home.
“I find it easier to talk to women whose husbands have died,” he says. “I know how hard it is.”
Ageing metropolis
Under protest, Ikea’s managers have set up a special area for elderly singles. All over town, Shanghai is visibly growing old.
“Before he fell, he used to love going dancing,” says 77-year-old Mrs Zhang.
She looks across at her husband who is rocking back and forth. Since an accident two years ago, he has been suffering from dementia.
The couple live together in a tiny one-room apartment. “I have to take care of him all by myself,” says Zhang.
The glitz of Shanghai’s Bund, an avenue of skyscrapers, is close-by. But in the teeming lanes behind the skyscrapers, there are hundreds of fading blocks crammed with the elderly and poor.
The average age goes up as countries develop, because people live longer and have fewer children. But in China, the one-child policy has triggered a rapid decline in the birth rate.
“The speed of ageing in China is unique,” says Professor Peng Xizhe, a leading demographer at Fudan University.
China has taken just 20 years to reach an age profile that took Britain or France 60 or 70 years, he says.
New figures show that one in four permanent Shanghai residents is now retired.
The rest of China is catching up – by the year 2050, a third of Chinese people, 450 million, will be aged over 60.
Basic welfare
Mrs Zhang is proud and private, telling her husband to stop talking when he complains. The couple survive on his factory-worker’s pension of about £40 a week.
With her only child living away from home Mrs Zhang is responsible for most of her husband’s care
She worked in a back-street factory, so has no retirement money.
Local government volunteers visit the couple, but beyond that, care is minimal. Doctors do not make house visits.
Across China, fewer than 2% of the elderly will find a place in a state nursing home, because beds are full.
“I don’t have enough money for a [private] nursing home, or to pay someone to come and help,” says Zhang, the stress showing in her face.
China’s basic welfare system is now struggling with the number of elderly people needing care.
Ten million qualified carers are needed, according to a government committee. So far there are only 100,000 in all of China.
Until recently, this did not matter so much. Traditionally, the elderly lived with their children under Confucian values of “many generations under one roof”.
But because of strict birth control, many retirees now have only one child – so that is not an option.
Mr and Mrs Zhang’s only daughter lives with her in-laws, returning for a few nights each week to help out.
“Chinese society has not been prepared [with] its pension system and social-security systems,” says Professor Peng Xizhe. “People are worried.”
Labour shortages
China’s leaders worry about ageing, too – but for a very different reason. They fear China’s very economic model could be breaking down.
China’s export-led system relies on a seemingly endless supply of young, cheap workers. Research suggests that a quarter of China’s economic success depends on its cheap labour supply.
Shanghai in particular has relied on rural migrants to mask the problem of its ageing local population.
But in the smog of Yiwu, to the south of Shanghai, it is clear that the supply of young people is disappearing.
There are plenty of empty desks at the jewellery factory
“It’s really tough to find new workers, and the cost of labour is increasing,” says Jerry Mo, a former foreman who borrowed heavily to open his own small factory two years ago.
His 40 workers snip, mould and bake plastic into costume jewellery items that end up on shelves in Britain. There are lots of empty work stations.
“You can see the way an ageing society is affecting the labour force,” he says.
There is an acute labour shortage here.
In addition, migrants – who have their own elderly parents to support – are increasingly quitting to find work in their home towns.
Jerry Mo says his workers demand higher wages but he cannot afford them. “We are becoming unprofitable,” he says.
The lack of young workers has hit China’s economy just when it needs to pay for the elderly.
There is a Chinese saying about why the country is so worried. China, they say, will become “too old to get rich.”
Despite its economic success, China is still a developing country.
“We are really worried about this,” says Professor Peng. “In China we have become older but we’re still in a very poor situation.”
You can find out more about China’s ageing population on BBC Radio 4′s Crossing Continents on Thursday, 17 May, 2012 at 11:00 BST, repeated Monday 21 May 20:30 BST. Watch a TV report on this page or at the Newsnight website.
Chasing the Dots – Guilty Until Proven Rich!
I apologise for plagiarising the title which I heard many years ago and has remained in my mind ever since. Now time to scratch! Namibian democracy is 22 years old and we are at a crossroad; do we drift into despotic elitism and become like many other resource rich African states or; do we grow our democracy to meet the needs of the people of Namibia?
It is already apparent that the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive is a myth due to ministerial overload! It quite apparent that the stated and constitutional requirements put forward by our elected are being constantly over-ridden by actions driven by personal gain. Despite a few notable exceptions, our elected seem intent on ducking issues that improve the general well being of all Namibians and focus upon matters benefitting themselves.
While professing to “help the poor”, more poverty, while seeking the creation of more productive jobs, more unemployment, while hunting for ways to improve health services, get treated privately and while on a quest with N$ billions to improve education their kids go to private schools and politically funded tertiary institutions. This poor performance is all well documented but defended by our elected as OK.
The citizens last hope (!) is the judicial system which despite hiccups has shown considerable and well measured resistance to political interference at senior level. However there are major factors preventing justice being available to all. Barriers that prevent matters getting before the process of judgement and when matters do get on the roll, the path to finality the road is strewn with legal and administrative mines. If judgement is finally reached, apart from a succession of lengthy appeal processes such judgements or recommendations are often blatantly ignored by the guilty!
Equally the law is frequently used as a weapon by making complaints that often have little or no substance but require the accused or “victim” to spend large amounts of money preparing a defence. A favourite trick of rogue governments, global companies and the super rich; throw down the “gauntlet” with mega expensive lawyers such that a contest will reduce the weaker to instant poverty and thus force submission.
Out of court settlements, with confidentiality agreements, let the mighty off cheaply, with no admission of guilt and thus continue bad practices! This situation often carries on until the prosecution has presented its case and the case is withdrawn before the defence case is put forward. The innocent accused, by then is broke as no judgement is made on costs.
Other problems with getting cases to court relate to lawyers and administrators who have multiple techniques to delay trials. Missing witnesses, sick lawyers and defendants, mislaid court documents, withdrawal of lawyers from the cases, possible political influence, the sheer load of evidence and anything fertile imaginations can dream up, cause delay. And yes, the more expensive the lawyer the more likely is victory.
The counter of this is the huge number of “accused” who remain in custody as they cannot afford bail (some should not get it) but clog up court proceedings with numerous hearings. Yes, our legal system needs speeding up, especially with cases where guilt is self evident despite the protestations of obviously lying defendants and fee seeking lawyers!
I look at the Caprivi trial and the furore around our voters roll as matters where our government should be taking action on behalf of the people. Unfortunately it seems that matters of principle or democratic deviance are unimportant. Is “Guilty until proven Rich” a democratic disease needing urgent cure?
Farming In China To Help Grow Deere’s Q2 Earnings
Many industrial, tech and consumer goods companies rely heavily on Chinese sales to drive the overall bottom line. But Deere Co. (DE), maker of tractors and other farm equipment, also likely is getting a boost thanks to higher crop production in China.
Wall Street is expecting Deere early Wednesday to report a 19% rise in second-quarter earnings to $2.53 per share. Sales are seen up 16.5% to $9.7 billion. Deere is expecting only a 15% increase in second-quarter and full-year sales.
Greece’s financial problems shouldn’t be an issue with Deere, as southern Europe is not a key market. Grain, beef, and milk prices are all at high levels in the EU according to the company.
The company is expecting commodity prices in India to weaken slightly from 2011 levels, but still remain elevated. China is expected to ramp up crop production during the year.
During Q1, the company warned of rising material costs and harsher emissions standards could put a damper on Q2 earnings.
Deere’s Q1 profit rose 8% to $1.20 and revenue was up 11% to $6.12 billion, beating expectations.
In late April Caterpillar (CAT) reported first-quarter profit above expectations, but sales came in below analysts views on a weakened construction market in China.
Earlier this month, CF Industries (CF) reported a 59% rise in EPS to $6.06, smashing views by $1.23 as the fertilizer maker’s sales grew 30% to $1.53 billion. But shares have tumbled ever since on concerns that earnings may have peaked.
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05/15/2012 05:04 PM ET
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Ulta Beauty Wows Customers With Trendy New Brands
All glammed up with trendy new brands, Ulta Beauty is sitting pretty. The one-stop salon and beauty products retailer upped its first-quarter outlook last week as it lured customers into stores with new offerings and attractive promotions. Ulta (ULTA) expects first-quarter earnings of 52 to 53 …05/15/2012 02:33 PM ET
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Home Builder Morale Boost Goes Beyond Winter Rally
Home builder morale rose to a five-year high in May and is better than it was during the mild winter months, suggesting the recent rally isn’t just a weather-related anomaly. The National Association of Home Builders sentiment index climbed to 29 from 24 in April. Readings for current conditions, …
05/15/2012 01:26 PM ET
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Valspar Shares A Deep Red After Sales Come Up Short
Valspar (VAL) beat profit forecasts early Tuesday, but weaker-than-expected sales had investors seeing red. Earnings per share in the fiscal second quarter jumped 31% to 84 cents, nudging above analyst views by 2 cents. The company has posted double-digit profit growth for 13 quarter in a row. …05/15/2012 01:12 PM ET
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Arctic Cat Hits A Bump In The Road With 2013 Outlook
Arctic Cat’s (ACAT) fourth quarter beat analyst expectations Tuesday morning, but it forecast weak North American sales and guided fiscal 2013 earnings below Street estimates. The ATV maker reported a Q4 loss of 49 cents per share vs. a loss of 52 cents last year. Analysts were expecting a loss of …05/15/2012 01:07 PM ET
Raising kids to think & grow rich
If teaching someone to fish is better than giving them a fish, then teaching your kids about wealth is much better than just leaving it to them.
5 tips on raising your kids to think and grow rich:
Teach them where wealth comes from
Popular culture tends to portray the wealthy as old-money dynasties with wealth being inherited and transferred over and over again. In actuality, most wealthy people are self made. According to Thomas J. Stanley, author of the Millionaire Next Door, only 19 percent of millionaires receive any income or wealth of any kind from a trust fund or an estate.
Most self made millionaires figured out that crucial link between money and value. As one creates and adds value, one commands more and more money. It’s true that many people have accumulated money without adding real value to society, but most were not able to keep that money for very long. Long lasting wealth comes from adding long lasting value to society.
Teach your kids that money comes from providing something of value to others. For example, rather than give them an allowance, pay them fees or commissions for doing chores and odd jobs. When they ask for money, ask them what they would be willing to do for you in return.
Teach them what do with their wealth
Earning money is only half the game. The more important part is using it wisely. In our debt ridden society, people have rejected long held values of living below your means, in favor of big SUVs and flat screen TVs. Learning bad spending behavior early on can have long lasting negative consequences that only become harder to change as one gets older. By teaching kids to delay gratification, something many of us adults have a hard time doing, we can instill the discipline needed to stick to a financial plan.
I recommend teaching kids to do three things with all the money they earn: Save, Spend, Give. By teaching them to save for their future, spend wisely, and give to others, they will learn balance that will guide them for the rest of their lives. By forming the habit early on, the effects of compounding interest will have dramatic effects on the child’s portfolio. Take your kids with you next time you visit your financial advisor and ask them for any education material they might have available. Teach your kids to take pride in their savings, and in the investments they own.
Teach them what not to do:
Sometimes knowing what NOT to do is more important than knowing what to do. Fortunes have been lost because people acted without thinking about the consequences of their actions. As they say, the best offense is a good defense.
My favorite quote from Warren Buffett, (one that’s actually printed on my monitor) is Rule No.1: Don’t lose money…Teach your kids to be smart with there money discuss examples of good vs bad behavior. The difference between needs and wants can be a great conversation starter. Use real life stories about people who made mistakes with money and talk about what it cost them, both financially as well as personally. The stories of lottery winners are great examples because they show that money that comes without providing value is quickly lost. Gambling and debt are great ways to lose wealth so teach your kids to stay away from both.
4. Read, read, read
Readers are leaders and leaders become wealthy. I remember I did not like to read much as a child, but that all changed when I actually read something that was interesting to me. Biographies and stories make for great reads that end up providing education as well as entertainment. Articles about interesting people are great too. For example, with the upcoming IPO of Facebook, talk to your kids about how a kid in a dorm room started a multibillion dollar business that has more than 900 million users worldwide. Along with the risks, the rewards of creating wealth should also be emphasized.
5. Lead by example!
Actions speak louder than words, so if you’re not leading by example, not only will you be ineffective, you could be reinforcing bad behavior. If you’ve made mistakes with money in the past, don’t be shy about discussing them with your kids. Talk about how you corrected bad behavior and keep the dialogue about money open and frequent.
One of most memorable and influential habits my father had, was to discuss stories at the dinner table about people who created wealth, as well as those who lost it. He was never shy about including his own successes and failures and encouraged us to ask questions.
As your children approach adulthood, introduce them to your financial advisor, CPA, and attorney. Take them along with you when possible and include them on the issues and strategies at play. As they see you taking an active role in learning and working with your team, your children will look forward to creating their own wealth and forming their own team of advisors to help them protect it.
Rich getting richer ‘shameful’: ACTU chief
Jeff Lawrence. Photo: Justin McManus
THE outgoing head of Australia’s union movement has decried the nation’s growing inequality and warned of the “real danger” of an Abbott Government, in his final speech as secretary of the ACTU.
Jeff Lawrence said that in the last 30 years the richest one per cent of Australians’ share of national income had almost doubled.
“Now nine per cent of national income belongs to just one per cent of Australians,” Mr Lawrence said.
“It is shameful that Australia, a country that prides itself on the fair go, as being egalitarian, is more unequal than most OECD countries.”
Amid the unfolding saga of Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union, Mr Lawrence said that corruption within unions was not acceptable and allegations that HSU members’ money has been misused were alarming.
He warned around 1000 union leaders, gathered at the Sydney Convention Centre this morning for the union movement’s triennial Congress, that the Coalition’s industrial relations policies are being put together to favour employers interests alone, not employees.
“I have no doubt that employer groups are currently writing the Coalition’s industrial relations policy,” Mr Lawrence told delegates this morning, in his final speech as secretary of the ACTU.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is to address the conference at 2pm this afternoon.
Mr Lawrence also said this morning that every union delegate at the Congress should be “alarmed at the allegations that [HSU] members’ money has been misused. It is not acceptable. And will not be tolerated,” he said.
The ACTU suspended the HSU indefinitely last month, because of the allegations swirling around it and its senior officers.
Earlier, ACTU president Ged Kearney received a rousing round of applause from delegates when she said that the HSU’s “arrogance and contempt” for accountability and its members were unacceptable.
Mr Lawrence warned that many employer groups around the country were using the Howard government’s WorkChoices policy as “their new benchmark” for industrial relations.
He said employer groups wanted to end penalty rates, cut unfair dismissal protections, and reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Mr Lawrence, who has been ACTU secretary since 2007, said that the Australian Industry Group was this week arguing before Fair Work Australia that the nation’s lowest paid workers should get a pay rise of $14 a year in the national wage case.
And the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had said the pay increase should be limited to $9.40 — while the Australian Retailers Association was arguing employees not get any wage increase at all.
“It is an outrage,” Mr Lawrence said, and showed why unions were so important.
The ACTU is arguing for a $26 pay rise in the national wage case.
Mr Lawrence said that, in the three years since the last ACTU Congress, the union movement had “got rid of individual contracts” introduced in WorkChoices, and achieved a national paid maternity leave scheme after a 30-year campaign.
“We won the increase to superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent that begins next month,” Mr Lawrence said.
Mr Lawrence attacked the actions of Qantas management in locking out its workers last year, and said the move should not have been rewarded.
“Australian law must not ever again allow employers to hold Australian workers and the national economy to ransom in order to get their way and to undermine workers’ rights,” he said.
During a video presentation ahead of Mr Lawrence’s speech, most delegates loudly booed footage of Qantas chief Alan Joyce (also booed was footage of John Howard and Tony Abbott).
Mr Lawrence also said that union membership had stabilised in recent years.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out in the last fortnight showed 18 per cent of Australians were union members, which has held steady from the same time last year.
Mr Lawrence said stopping the decline in union membership from the 1990s was an achievement for Australian unions.
“But it is not enough. … We must grow,” he said, “so we can turn back the rising inequality in Australia”.
The incoming secretary of the ACTU, Dave Oliver, will be elected at noon today.