tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31835565187040044462024-03-05T07:09:36.868-08:00Hendren Global Group: Top FactsHendren Global Group: Top Facts endows with a directory, a gateway, an index and portal to the web to turn to for the best and widest range of public service information worldwide. For the most part, we provide information on all aspects of human necessities now and then to improve lives as the world progresses itself.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-11206143534728139832015-05-26T16:37:00.002-07:002015-05-26T16:37:28.976-07:00Hendren Group Global Facts: Kaspersky Lab unveils small office security for small businessesMajority of small businesses doesn't give a lot of attention to ensuring their cybersecurity these days, that's why they are the usual target of cybercriminals according to the report from <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">Hendren Group Global Facts blog</a>.
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Kaspersky Lab recently introduced the latest edition of the company's security platform, dubbed as Kaspersky Small Office Security (KSOS), designed specifically to serve the needs of small businesses with less than twenty five employees.
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The platform is user-friendly and provides <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/tech-innovation/">excellent protection</a>. It also makes much easier for small businesses to keep track on their valuable information while keeping the customer, employee and operations data protected.
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Senior Product Marketing Manager at Kaspersky Lab North America, Andrey Pozhogin said that it requires a lot of effort and expertise to create a working solution out of available single-purpose applications.
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One might need to protect Windows and Mac-based workstations, mobile devices, have clean virtual machines set up for online banking, create a backup solution, encrypt sensitive data and use time consuming IT policies regarding the use of strong passwords. This type of policy can be changed with a password manager that will not just recommend the use of strong and unique passwords, but will also save a lot of time.
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The updated version of Kaspersky Small Office Security includes enhanced protection from all known, unknown and advanced threats, with multi-layered protection for Windows and Mac computers, servers and Android-based mobile devices. A cloud-based management console that allows users manage IT security and devices anywhere with a web browser.
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It also has a new cloud-based password management that holds important company login information and enables users to have a different, unique password for every secure site, across all devices, while only needing to remember one master-password.
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Furthermore, the platform provides security for financial data that protects online business and personal transaction from financial fraud through its improved 'Safe Money' module.
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KSOS protects Windows-based or Mac-based desktops or notebooks, Windows file servers, and Android smartphones and tablets. Each user will get protection for one Windows or Mac computer and one mobile device and Kaspersky Password Manager. File Server protection is included based on the number of protected users.
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In a nutshell, the solution provides anti-malware and online transaction security, cloud management, backup and password management. It is also straightforward to install, simple to configure, and easy to maintain.
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Pozhogin added that small businesses aim for an effective security solution, however, it has to be easy to manage considering the lack of expertise that some security administrator might have. It is also believed that sophistication is the top enemy of security and this is especially true in the case of small businesses.
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Because of today's increasing threats on cybersecurity, a lot of people believe that it is not just enough to utilize a comprehensive security solution.
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However, the company still believes that the demand for highly integrated user-friendly solutions such as KSOS will continue to grow significantly. They will continue to listen to their customers and partners, and will further develop KSOS to fulfill the needs of small businesses.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-76193224573225309502015-05-21T17:37:00.000-07:002015-05-21T17:41:32.703-07:00Google Chrome extension 'Password Alert' helps protect your Google account from phishing attacks<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Security breaches is one of the
most alarming issue happened in the recent years. Even though how many times <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/tech-innovation/">Hendren
Group Global Facts</a> warns the public not to open suspicious emails, and
click on the links and open the attachments inside it, people are still
clicking and unsuspectingly handing their personal information to hackers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">No matter how sophisticated your
security is, there is always a possibility of becoming a victim to this simple
phishing scheme. It's a difficult problem to solve, but Google has a new
solution for you and other Chrome users that might help you avoid serious data
loss.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The search giant recently released
a new Chrome extension, dubbed Password Alert, designed to serve as an early
warning system against phishing attacks wherein it can detect if you're using
your Google password on any non-Google site.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Product manager of Google Ideas,
Justin Kosslyn said that phishing should be a real concern for everyone. He
also defined the project as a useful and quiet line of defense against a real
challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If the extension detects that you
have entered your Gmail password to anywhere other than accounts.google.com, it
will redirect you to a warning page and will tell you that your password was
just exposed and you should immediately reset your password to keep your Gmail
account secure. You can ignore the alert if you are sure you've not been
hacked. Gmail users can also mute website alerts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Because Password Alert only keeps
the hashed version of your password, it can execute the scan without revealing
your actual password to any further risk. Any individual using Google for work
account can also make a Password Alert mandatory across their domain. Each time
an employee gets an alert, same goes with the administrator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here is the bad news, Password
Alert biggest weakness is that it can only scan a password that has been
successfully submitted, so the user will only be alerted after they have been
successfully phished. However, even a late warning will give users the chance
and time to change their passwords and lock down their accounts before any
damage is done. For users with two-step verification, it should be easy to
change the password before the attackers can exploit it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The extension could also heighten
security outside of Google accounts. It is built to integrate with Google's
password system, but the code is open source, so it should be easy to adapt the
code to other systems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Kosslyn states that they hope the
open-source community scales Password Alert to provide additional security to
internet users.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Google increased its security
practices in October with the release of Security Key. If you are making use of
Google's 2-step verification method, you can choose Security Key as your
primary method, rather than having verification codes sent to your phone. With
Security Key, you can simply insert your Security Key into your computer's USB
port when requested. Security Key provides better protection against phishing
attacks, because it uses cryptography instead of verification codes and automatically
works only with the website it's supposed to work with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-61443141476946996432015-05-18T02:23:00.000-07:002015-05-18T02:23:42.126-07:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts: China's Great Cannon Could Point Anywhere When Next Fuse Is Lit<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">China,
which censors the web using its Great Firewall also known as the "Golden
Shield," includes a new censorship tool that's leading to alarm. It's name
is the "Great Cannon."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
College of Toronto's Citizen Lab recognized the tool inside a report launched a
week ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Truly Amazing Cannon was initially utilized in March, to produce a
sizable-scale Web sites attack on GitHub and GreatFire.org, Citizen Lab stated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
attack apparently is built to thwart efforts to bypass Chinese censorship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">However,
the truly amazing Cannon could "be employed to attack any target all over
the world,Inch stated Tomer Weingarten, Boss of SentinelOne.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Catastrophic
Potential<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Truly Amazing Cannon can't only inject code into traffic but additionally
suppress it however, its design signifies it had been produced to inject code,
Citizen Lab stated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Within
the attack on GreatFire.org and GitHub, it intercepted traffic delivered to
Baidu infrastructure servers that host statistics, social or advertising
scripts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Truly Amazing Cannon would react to a request for several JavaScript files on a
single of individuals servers. Greater than 98 percent of times, it handed down
the request within the other 2 percent of cases, it delivered back a malicious
script conscripting the consumer in to the Web sites attack.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Ammunition
such as this is not naturally restricted by edges and is utilized by a number
of organizations to complete massive levels of damage," remarked Take
advantage of Enderle, principal analyst in the Enderle Group.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"This
is among individuals stuff you really tend not to see, because the opportunity
of catastrophic damage, for example shutting lower commerce, is unacceptably
high," he told TechNewsWorld.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Future
Fear and Loathing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Possibly
probably the most alarming factor concerning the Great Cannon is its
as-yet-apparently unused capability to exploit by Ip, Citizen Lab stated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Just
switching the configuration from operating on traffic forwarded to a particular
Ip to operating on traffic from the specific Ip would allow the Cannon's
operator deliver adware <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">strategies</a> and spyware to specific
people who talk to any Chinese server not using cryptographic protection, for
example Baidu's ad network servers. Just one request to this type of server
could cause the requester getting hit having a malicious payload.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"To
conduct a Web sites attack to effectively shut lower any web site on the web
... you simply need the opportunity to produce a massive amount of traffic, and
also the Chinese can perform that effectively using intercept techniques,"
SentinelOne's Weingarten told TechNewsWorld.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Web
sites Is Hell<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Web
sites is just about the attack method of preference recently, and "45
percent of organizations happen to be hit one or more times having a Web sites
attack," stated Igal Zeifman, product evangelist at Incapsula.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
typical size Web sites attacks against VeriSign's clients elevated within the
last quarter of 2014, the organization reported.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Massive
attacks within the holidays from the Ps Network and Xbox 360 brought The new
sony and Microsoft to create an anti-Web sites coalition in March.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This
is a refreshing development. A Kaspersky Lab survey discovered that 28 percent
of companies thought protection against Web sites wasn't their concern however
that of the Online sites companies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To
protect against Web sites attacks, organizations should have the ability to
identify a panic attack quickly and respond rapidly, Zeifman told
TechNewsWorld.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">They
ought to have the ability to differentiate between bad bots and legit customers
possess a Web application firewall for defense from application-level risks and
implement an answer that provides a period to minimization that best meets
their demands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Anti-Web
sites <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">services</a> "are just effective
up to and including certain volume," Weingarten stated, however they might
help.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-74013499790609302372015-05-14T18:11:00.001-07:002015-05-14T18:11:27.492-07:00Belgian and French websites hacked, two minors as suspects<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
Websites of the Belgian and
French publications are hacked by assumed suspects who are both teenagers’ ages
sixteen to eighteen years old.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Brussels prosecutors stated in
a statement that the regional unit had been able to identify the alleged
criminals of the cyberattacks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As stated by the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">Hendren Global Group Top Facts</a>, the attacks
are launched against the websites of Le Soir, La Libre Belgique, La Derniere
Heure and publications of the Sudpresse group.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
The attacks also targeted
French regional publications belonging to the Rossel group, including La Voix
du Nord as well as the Union de Reims and l'Ardennais whose sites were disabled
in the attack.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
Websites that are affected of
the attack are Le Soir, La Libre Belgique, La Derniere Heure and publications
of the Sudpresse group. Attackers also targeted French regional publications
that belong to the Rossel group, including La Voix du Nord together with the
Union de Reims and l'Ardennais.<o:p></o:p></div>
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An examining magistrate has
been tasked with the investigation of the case and will determine if other
individuals was involved. If any adults are accused and found guilty of
hacking, they could face a 1-5 years imprisonment, a fine that’s up to 100,000
euros along with an order to reimburse any damages.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hacking of the website Le Soir
was the most severe hacking happened on Sunday evening. The attack nearly
prevented the newspaper from publishing its Monday morning edition.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In a video of a group saying
to be the Belgian branch of the well-known hacker group “Anonymous”, said that
one of the attackers is a minor who lives in Belgium and “was a bit of games
junky”. The group also transferred the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">information</a>
to the police in the name of supporting freedom of expression.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-73208150344225850222015-04-06T16:47:00.000-07:002015-04-06T16:47:02.612-07:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts: Malware, fake bank representative scam $1m<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
sophisticated bank scam that uses a combination of the Dyre malware, phishing
tactics and fake bank representatives has been uncovered by IBM researchers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">IBM's Security Group</a> has released
information about a new variant of Dyre malware, initially uncovered last year,
dubbed as "Dyre Wolf" that targets large companies and organizations.
It basically social engineers employees into handing over their personal
banking data from which the scammers will arrange a large wire transfer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In a
blog post by Lance Mueller and John Kuhn of IBM, the scheme's details were made
known to the public. It all starts with the usual mass emails that contain
links or attachments that will install the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">Dyre malware</a> when clicked. Once it is
installed on the PC, it just sits there and waits for the time when a bank's
website gets accessed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dyre
is programmed to keep tabs on hundreds of bank websites so once an infected PC
tries to access one of them, it can replace the page with one that provides a
support number the victim should call. This is where the sophisticated social
engineering comes in, where the person pretending to be a representative of the
victim's bank gets the latter's banking credentials. What's more, a wire
transfer from the victim's account is done while they are talking on the phone.
The transfer travels from one foreign bank to another so as to prevent
detection by authorities. On some occasions, the company will even suffer a
DDoS attack to avoid discovering the wire transfer early on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
Hendren Global Group Top Facts' data, it appears that a total of USD 1 million
has already been stolen using this scheme. Such big success of the scheme
serves as proof that companies have to make sure their employees are
well-trained in spotting suspicious emails or activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
IBM's Caleb Barlow said, "Organizations are only as strong as their
weakest link, and in this case, it's their employees."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately,
Hendren Global Group Top Facts confirmed that, at present, this particular
strain of Dyre Wolf is still undetected by most antivirus software.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-43496457882066050732015-02-09T16:07:00.000-08:002015-02-09T16:07:01.817-08:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts: US incline to aid Ukraine<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The US
government appears to be changing their stance toward sending weapons to
Ukraine in order to help them fight Moscow-backed rebels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">During
a Congress hearing, Defense Secretary-nominee Ashton Carter was asked if the
government should supply defensive arms to Ukraine. "I very much incline
in that direction ... because I think we need to support the Ukrainians in
defending themselves."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">President
Barack Obama's bet as the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">Pentagon chief</a>
already said last week that he'd support providing lethal aid while Ukraine's
president expressed his confidence that the US would help them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Meanwhile,
Vice President Joe Biden said last week that they've been "quite clear
from the beginning that there is no military solution to this crisis" even
though that's what Russia is trying to do. He also said they are not interested
in escalating military activities but that they are giving security assistance
to help Ukraine defend itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">Hendren Global Group Top Facts</a>
expressed concerns that such remarks are foreshadowing a potential reversal of
US' previous of not arming Ukraine. A recent report published by the Chicago
Council on Global Affairs, Brookings Institution and the Atlantic Council
supports the position of arming Ukraine. It further calls for USD 1 billion in
weapons be given to Ukraine for 3 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The US
must noticed how separatists were being supplied "in a very significant
way" by Russia. Add that to the recent fighting escalation and they just
might trigger a reconsideration of lethal aid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko said their government is in dire need of lethal aid
to fend off separatist attacks in a conflict which already left 5000 dead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">During
his visit last week to Kharkiv City, east of Ukraine, he said, "I don't
have a slightest doubt that the decision to supply Ukraine with weapons will be
made by the US as well as by other partners of ours because we need to have the
capabilities to defend ourselves."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
Germany, a critical player in pressuring Russia to stop supporting the rebels,
said they will not provide weapons to Ukraine as they don't believe there is a
military solution to the situation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Poroshenko
reportedly had the chance to personally appeal to Kerry when the latter visited
Kiev last week. Moreover, Germany's Angela Merkel, Biden is expected to meet
with the Kerry and Poroshenko in Munich for a conference on international
security. Kerry reportedly plans to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
in the meeting that's already expected to be tense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Secretary
of State John Kerry, Biden and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are set to have
talks with European allies regarding Ukraine. According to Hendren Global Group
Top Facts, Biden's meeting with Poroshenko in Europe will involve talks on
increasing financial assistance to Ukraine.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-71006395408025383102014-12-28T15:40:00.001-08:002014-12-28T15:40:50.778-08:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts: What caused DPRK internet outage<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">After
the much-publicized cyberattack against Sony that had the rest of the world
blaming North Korea, and the US vowing for retaliation, another news has rocked
the IT world: North Korea's sudden absence from the Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">IT
experts noted last Monday that the already small Internet connection of North
Korea was lost and even the state news service, Korean Central News Agency, was
not able to publish any content on that day due to the 9-hour outage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">Internet blackout</a> came as North Korea's
role in a hacking attack against Sony Pictures is being widely discussed. The
said attack has affected the company adversely that it decided to cancel the
release of the controversial film regarding an assassination of DPRK's ruler
Kim Jong Un.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">According
to <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">Hendren Global Group Top Facts</a>,
the cause of outage is still unknown though many are speculating that it might
be the retaliation of US government, or perhaps a mere technical glitch. Here
are some of the speculations that made the rounds online on what's causing the
clog in Pyongyang's Internet pipe:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">US
government retaliation. The somewhat incidental timing of last week's outage
has consequently led many to assume that the US had a hand in causing it.
However, a key admin officer from the White House insisted that they are still
discussing the most appropriate way to respond to Pyongyang so it is unlikely
that they played a role in it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It may
be recalled that US President Barack Obama has previously promised to respond
to the cyberattack made against Sony "in a place and time and manner that
we choose". But before we think that was a declaration of cyberwar, another
expert from Hendren Global Group Top Facts noted that US officials favor a
non-cyber response, seeing as cyberattacks are often "not worth the
risk".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">After
all, they can always place North Korea on more economic sanctions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">China
flipped the switch. The only known Internet connection of North Korea runs via
China United Network Communications (Unicom) and though the US has reportedly
asked China to shut down routers and servers utilized by Pyongyang, it remains
to be confirmed if they actually complied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hackers.
A certain hacker group named Lizard Squad claimed on their Twitter account that
they caused North Korea to go #offline. Considering that North Korea has only a
small bandwidth, it is certainly plausible for even a few attackers to shut it
down by clogging it with bad traffic (dDOS).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Self-imposed
shutdown. Another possible explanation came from Cloudflare's chief executive
Matthew Prince: "I would have though North Korea decided to turn the
Internet off for some reason." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
makes sense, for if that's true, it won't be the first time that a government
has shut down access to the Web to maintain tight control over the information
flow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hardware
issue or software bug. A researcher from Dyn Inc has put forth a benign cause:
a bug in the country's router or software. Doug Madory commented though that
North Korea's network is much too small so perhaps such an accidental blackout
for 9 hours is still just a small probability.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-31099198603387478392014-11-17T17:05:00.002-08:002014-11-17T17:05:27.975-08:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts: US-China Trade Deals in APEC Summit<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation</a> (APEC) summit in China last week was eagerly watched
by the world, and not just by those with business interests. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apparently, a summit as formal as APEC can now be a source
of amusement for the rest of us who can hardly understand economic jargon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hosted by Beijing, the 3-day event was attended by the
leaders of top countries such as Japan, US, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and
Australia. Out of this year's summit came a number of jokes poking fun at world
leaders no less. There's the Shawlgate (Vladimir Putin's chivalrous act of
draping a shawl over the shoulder of Xi Jinping's wife), the gum-chewing of
Barack Obama and of course those 'Star Trek' uniforms (we've heard they're
actually traditional Chinese tunics but the rest of the world decided they are
all cosplaying Trekkies ). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On a more serious note, China backed a free-trade deal for the Asia-Pacific region
-- something that is anticipated to put
her at the forefront of regional commerce.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The regional deal named the Free Trade Area of the Asia
Pacific (FTAAP) was originally from an APEC business panel, but despite prior
comments from various leaders that this proposal could be a distraction, China
still put it as a main agenda of the meeting -- marking the first time it has led such an initiative.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The delegates in turn issued an official statement agreeing
to launch a committee that will conduct a
2-year study of the proposal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
China's Xi Jinping said, "This is a historic step in
the direction of an Asia-Pacific free trade area." He added that APEC
nations must actively promote this pact and "turn the vision into reality
as soon as possible". <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">Hendren Global Group Top
Facts</a> sees this as counter move to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), US'
own trade agreement with 12 nations, excluding China. The US is advocating the
TPP as means to reroute commerce towards their way, while trying to put
pressure to Beijing to conform to their trade practices. Obama himself believes
that there's a momentum building in favor of TPP's completion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems like an instrument to put China aside and weaken
its economic condition, noted Hendren Global Group Top Facts. China's move to
promote its own trade deal can perhaps lead to a new and stronger status in the
region. It may say its motives does not
include hurting the US but as the biggest trading partner a country can have in
the region, it will inevitably chip away US influence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trade officials from the US are downplaying its supposed
adverse effect to their country, saying that the two deals are not really
competitors. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Obama does not seem to be worried as he iterates that the US "welcomes the rise
of a prosperous, peaceful and stable China". <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"We want China to do well," he added.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-32522216876245064932014-11-02T15:47:00.002-08:002014-11-02T15:47:36.023-08:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts on Asia’s Contribution to the Global Economy: Is playing Catch-Up Good?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">According
to the news from The Economist, entitled “Economic Convergence: Economic
Headwinds Return”, “Ten years ago, developing economies were catching up with
developed ones remarkably quickly. It was an aberration.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reviewing
the decade-and-a-half journey of China from a lagging economy to one that has
surpassed many nations in Europe in terms of average income generation, the
article describes the dire realities that beset the once
sleeping-giant-turned-global-power. Using Hong Kong as the standard by which to
measure <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2014/10/30/hendren-global-group-top-facts-on-asias-contribution-to-the-global-economy-is-playing-catch-up-good/">economic
growth</a>, average incomes dip to 50% in Shenzhen, to 25% in Guandong and to a
mere 10% in Yunnan. That is an overall average of less than 30% that of Hong
Kong, which is essentially a small dot of an island compared to the gigantic
mainland China teeming with so many millions of people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
average annual rate of growth from 2000 to 2009 for developing nations was
7.6%, 4.5% higher than that seen in <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">developed
rich nations</a>. That unprecedented rate practically narrowed down the gap
between the developed and developing countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
once deprived populations of the world, a big majority of whom are found in
Asia and living on less than the global poverty level of $1.25 daily income,
surged on from a share of 30% of the world population in 2000 to less than 10%
as of April 2014, according to the <a href="http://hendrenglobalgroup.blogspot.com/">Center for Global Development</a>
based on new date from the World Bank. At that pace, it is estimated that in
only 30 years, the average income per person would converge with that in
America. This is certainly cause for great hope for many people on a global
scale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sad to
say, those hopes are now slipping away. An evaluation of data on GDP per person
based on new computations of cost of living released in April by the World
Bank’s International Comparison Programme (ICP) seems to show that convergence
has slowed down drastically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since
2008, growth rates across the emerging nations have slowed down and matched
those in developed economies. When the new ICP figures are applied, the average
GDP per capita in the emerging world, measured on a purchasing-power-parity
(PPP) basis, grew just 2.6 percentage points faster than American GDP in 2013.
If China is removed from the estimates, the difference is only 1.1%. At that
rate, convergence with rich-economy incomes will occur in a hundred years or
more, longer than a generation. If China is included, emerging economies could
expect to reach rich-world income levels, on average, in a little over
half-a-century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Japan,
which achieved industrialization in the first part of the 20th century, grew to
be the world’s second largest economy, next to USA. South Korea, Taiwan and
several city-states like Singapore and Hong Kong also grew and developed into
prosperous nations. The rush to achieve levels of growth close to those of
developing nations became an addiction to these nations and others who needed
to catch up as well. The price paid in terms of investments on human capital
led to social and political problems as some nations had to export their
workers to the industrialized or more prosperous nations. Ironically, the
income generated by those workers help to sustain those nations during the
crises that transpired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
trying to explain the growth disparity, economists pointed to institutions
being the key while others focused on “geography and climate”. Moreover, they
said that “remoteness from economic centers and hot, disease-prone conditions
could retard development,” which is the case in many of the Southeast Asian
countries where the issues of rebellion and ethnic differences provide
obstacles to development of the depressed country-sides.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-69396056791365829782014-08-22T16:52:00.004-07:002014-08-22T16:52:50.641-07:00Hendren Global Group Top Facts: Tips for Developing Countries with Economic Woes<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As
a result of the recent devastation caused by <span style="color: #4bacc6; mso-themecolor: accent5;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2014/08/15/tips-for-developing-countries-with-economic-woes/"><span style="color: #4bacc6; mso-themecolor: accent5;">Typhoon Glenda</span></a></span>
in Southern Luzon, Philippines, consumers now face a shortage of the supply for
basic goods such as chicken, vegetables, fruits. Still reeling from
Super-Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, the strongest typhoon that has hit in a century
or so, the country enjoys one of the highest rates of growth although it
continues to experience insufficient rice harvest and plans to import rice from
neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For
a country that yearly experiences havoc caused by <span style="color: #4bacc6; mso-themecolor: accent5;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/"><span style="color: #4bacc6; mso-themecolor: accent5;">tropical cyclones</span></a></span>
and other natural calamities, economic development must constantly take into
account the effects of natural forces on the livelihood of people. Farmers may
lose all the months of hard work through planting and caring for crops in a
single day of strong cyclonic winds or flooding caused by incessant monsoon
rains which can last for more than a week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
spite of this reality, the government has not completely adapted to the
cyclical changes in climatic patterns but instead continues to depend upon old
economic policies and strategies that fail to address the fundamental problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Yet
there are a few steps any government can implement to minimize the effects of
natural calamities and to prepare the people and make them more capable of
recovering in a shorter period. Let us look at these tips or principles:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1. Doing away with
unsustainable farming techniques<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Dependence
on too much use of NPK (nitrogen-phosphate-potassium) fertilizer has led to
leeching of the soil in many countries which followed the western agricultural
paradigm after the last world war. More modern and scientific farming
approaches which replenish all of the essential minerals in an organic manner
will provide a more sustainable and healthier source of nutrition for humans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It
has been found that NPK fertilizer requires a higher investment than the more
organic approach now more popularly referred to as nutritional or trophobiotic
farming. The latter allows farmers and small gardeners to recover more readily
from stresses experienced by plants during typhoons, floods and pest
infestations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">2. Reviving the Green
Revolution<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Encouraging
more people to go into container or backyard gardening and home livestock-
raising will sustain a significant portion of their vegetable and meat supply
domestically with even more healthful options compared to commercial
alternatives. This will also do away with the high prices of such basic goods
due to middle-men and transportation cost-add-ons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Home-based
gardens and small farms are also less prone to be affected by natural
calamities as they can be housed in green houses or be planted in plastic bags
and recylcled containers which can be raised during floods or moved to safer
areas during storms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">3. Empowering the landless
and the far-flung villages<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">People
who have no land can still have the opportunity to establish cooperatives with
others and lease or buy small farms which can compete with big farm
corporations with their organically-grown produce. They can also establish
links with like-minded business-people who need their products to address the
problem of transporting goods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
more and more families involved in such activities, the big farms will no
longer monopolize the supply of basic goods. These people will also be able to
patronize their own produce or barter their surplus produce with other goods
they need with other producers and manufacturers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">4. Urban farmers can
multiply through the use of idle lands and buildings<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Detroit
City, the world’s car-manufacturing center for many years, has recently become
the ironic poster boy of bankruptcy as the economic meltdown of the US in
recent years. Yet, its empty car factories are now slowly being converted into
modern organic multi-levelled farms that will help transform the landscape and
paradigm of economic activity worldwide. This is a parallel strategy which the
Japanese undertook when a law was passed for all high-rise buildings in Tokyo
to put up gardens on rooftops to minimize local as well as global warming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">5. Other modern planting
techniques<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Hydroponics,
aquaponics and other indoor gardening and farming techniques can now be easily
done by any individual or family at minimal costs. Governments must encourage
more people to go into this not just to avoid the recurring shortage during
calamities but also to augment the needs of restaurants, hotels and other
businesses that have special or particular needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Political
will and economic sufficiency is not merely an exclusive domain of leaders or
governments but a duty of each citizen of any country. To a reasonable degree,
each person can have a stake in that common objective of achieving and
maintaining progress for all nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-67285664574938493582014-05-07T02:17:00.001-07:002014-05-07T02:18:48.102-07:00Apprenticeships Help Close the Skills Gap. So Why Are They in Decline?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 2.95pt 1.85pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">It is the
perfect and simple plan: provide qualified employees to employers. Indeed, apprenticeships
allow workers to acquire the very skills they need. But why are apprenticeships
on the wane? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Here is the story:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">When you
ask CEOs and corporate manpower staff whether they get the right kind
of workers they need, they will complain about a gap in employee abilities that
put productivity and growth at risk — not only inside their organizations but also
in the greater economy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">However,
employers and state lawmakers have been distinctly half-hearted about a tested
solution to the pressing issue: apprenticeships.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303978304579473501943642612?mod=trending_now_4">Apprenticeships</a>
can provide a perfect marriage of the skills employers look for and the
training workers derive, states Robert Lerman, an American University economics
professor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">"It
is a great model for passing on skills from one generation to the next," declares
John Ladd, director of the Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Nonetheless, as the Labor Department
announces, formal programs that unite on-the-job training with mentorships and
classroom education went down 40% in the U.S. from 2003 to 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Which leads us to ask the
question: If the solution to this crucial problem lies in apprenticeships, how
come so much resistance exists?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Blue-Collar Image<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">It seems the biggest constraint
is that two-thirds of apprenticeship programs in the U.S. apply in the
construction industry, projecting a blue-collar image that dampens enthusiasm
among young people and the companies which could provide jobs for them.
Construction unions, which have wide influence among many of the state agencies
concerning apprenticeships, have not done enough to reach out to other
industries, Mr. Lerman says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Likewise, entrepreneurs and
managers oftentimes avoid apprenticeships because of their connection with
unions. "There's an underlying fear among employers" that unions want
to interfere by organizing workers, or that any apprenticeship plan might
be controlled by a union, says J. Ronald De Juliis, labor and industry head
at Maryland's Department of Labor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiUgJQnpGpGcxf65UR_GwK-qquOXWKvQ12Wcb4QfGfsIW_xLcs9s84r8n0rSt-fndfncTOSB7GM1bRznuOXMV7XqUWzjOYrE-rfg8AfiaaU831XIK1Hgx4Oblt5uAQdz9XjgePA4RmLk/s1600/iuoli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiUgJQnpGpGcxf65UR_GwK-qquOXWKvQ12Wcb4QfGfsIW_xLcs9s84r8n0rSt-fndfncTOSB7GM1bRznuOXMV7XqUWzjOYrE-rfg8AfiaaU831XIK1Hgx4Oblt5uAQdz9XjgePA4RmLk/s1600/iuoli.jpg" height="172" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">However, De
Juliis and others admit, things can be entirely different. At present, apprenticeships
involve many more industries than the few trades that welcomed the
earn-and-learn paradigm starting in 1937 when the National Apprenticeship Act
was implemented. Nursing aides, wastewater technicians and computer-system managers
are a few of the jobs for which apprentices can find training in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">At the beginning of this month,
President Obama allocated $100 million for apprenticeship programs in
high-growth industries, and acknowledged new programs in information technology,
health care and supply-chain management.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Still, another constraint is a commonly
held idea that young people should remain in school and then find a job. Supporters
of apprenticeship programs believe this view is ill-advised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">College degrees and internships
do not generate the same quality of worker as thorough, hands-on apprenticeships,
states director Brad Neese of Apprenticeship Carolina, a program of the South
Carolina Technical College System. Companies are seeing "a genuine lack of
applicability when it concerns skill level" from college graduates, Mr.
Neese says. "Interns do grunt work, generally." However, he says,
"an apprenticeship is a real job."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Moreover, some companies are
anxious that employees will leave for better-paying jobs right after they have acquired
their necessary skills. For them, an apprenticeship is like training workers
for other companies to ultimately benefit from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">In many cases, however, employers
discover that apprenticeships actually encourage retention, as workers who go
through apprenticeship programs realize the investment their employers put into
their professional growth and repay the good turn with a greater sense of
loyalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">"The apprenticeship paradigm
allows us to convince people there is a career path within this company,"
says Robby Hill, owner of HillSouth, a Florence, S.C., technology consulting company
making good use of South Carolina's on-the-job training program. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">New employees envision doors
opening for them in the future, along with a distinctly programmed ladder of
skills training and salary improvements, says Mr. Hill, whose 22-person company
provides apprenticeships for IT and administrative-support workers. The company
also requests employees to enter into a non-compete agreement as they get certified
for new skills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.95pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Innovative Thinking<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Advocates of apprenticeships claim
that joining on-the-job training with related education and benchmarks can be undertaken
in any job. They cite programs in states such as South Carolina and Wisconsin
as getting positive output.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">There are
now apprenticeships for computer professionals and registered nursing aides in
South Carolina, where the number of businesses providing apprenticeships has increased
to 647 from only 90 in 2007. About 4,700 workers who underwent South Carolina's
apprentice program are now employed full-time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">To get employers engaged in
apprenticeships, the state provides a $1,000 yearly tax credit for every
apprentice included in the payroll. "That opens the door somehow," states
Mr. Neese. "For a small business, the credit can erase the education expenses
for an apprentice program.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">"We have endeavored to make
the tax credit as user-friendly as we can," he adds. "We have a very short
one-page form that simply asks, 'How many apprentices are in your firm?' and
then you multiple the number by $1,000."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">Wisconsin, which has presently
almost 8,000 apprentices, is working to augment training positions for such
tasks as truck driving as well as high-tech manufacturing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">"We are anticipating employee
deficits in health care and advanced manufacturing," claims director Karen
Morgan of Wisconsin's Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards. The Governor's
Council on Workforce Investment is considering some steps to solve the problem,
she says. The state is launching some programs to apply robotics and high-level
welding to its normal apprenticeship training.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-PH" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-PH;">"We are making our programs
more adaptable," Ms. Morgan says, to highlight to manufacturers the importance
that apprenticeships can provide for a sector experiencing fast modernization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-411850478842399972014-01-08T02:44:00.005-08:002014-01-08T02:47:16.653-08:00China’s largest internet-search services provider, Baidu enters smartphone security software market<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2014/01/08/chinas-largest-internet-search-services-provider-baidu-enters-smartphone-security-software-market/">Baidu</a>
is the China’s largest internet-search services provider. The good news is that
it has launched its own security software for Android-based smartphones, making
a rival againts Qihoo 360 Technology squarely in its crosshairs.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The start of <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog">Baidu Mobile Guardian</a> in Beijing last
December 18, 2013 resulted to the company’s acquisition of TrustGo for a
reported US$30 million in February this year. TrustGo is a California-based
mobile-security company.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Baidu’s competition with
Qihoo has intensified; this competition started in 2005 as a supplier of
anti-virus software online and expanded to become a strong No2 internet search
provider in China last year. Analysys International said Baidu had a combined
72.1 per cent share of the country’s desktop and mobile search market at the
end of September, followed by Qihoo with a 14.2 per cent share.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Mobile Guardian was
designed to fight “a deteriorating security environment for Android smartphone
users in China”, where 70 per cent of about 100,000 virus-carrying mobile apps
were found to be charging users a fee without their knowledge, Zhang Lei, the
general manager at Baidu’s mobile-security product team said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“This year, 14 million
users were affected and the direct losses amounted to 70 million yuan [HK$89
million],” he said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Mobile Guardian scans for
malicious fee-charging apps and deletes them, it includes as well an “anti-scam
function” to identify mobile base stations and block messages sent by fake
telecommunications service providers and banks.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">However Baidu’s software faces
rigid competition. According to a Barclays report, Qihoo’s mobile-security
software had 338 million smartphone users at the end of June, up from 120
million a year earlier.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-87117589260965971792013-12-20T03:57:00.002-08:002013-12-20T03:57:39.024-08:00Grexit or Bankruptcy for Greece within the Next 4 Years, FT says<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
shocking prediction was made by The Financial Times concerning Greece while
evaluating the sustainability plan of the German <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/politics-government/">government</a>
resulting from the coalition between Angela Merkel with the Social Democrats.
The <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/periodicals/">newspaper</a>
wrote that within the next four years, Greece will either return to the drachma
or declare bankruptcy, or maybe both scenarios will take place.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Germany’s
coalition will have to break promises” this is the title of the article The
Financial Times published. It naturally talks about that the leaders of the
ruling coalition would not push through with their promises to the German
voters for the reason that there is “a lack of preparation by the political
class for what will hit it in the next four years. The big threat to Germany
over the next four years is not demography but the unfolding eurozone <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/12/19/grexit-or-bankruptcy-for-greece-within-the-next-4-years-ft-says/">debt
crisis</a>. No matter which crisis resolution scenario prevails, some promises
made to the electorate are going to be broken.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Financial Times article provided a key paradigm of what will happen in the next
four years of the Greek debt crisis and with the emphasis that: The
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is forecasting that the
Greek sovereign debt ratio will stabilize at 160 per cent of gross domestic
product in 2020. The EU and the International Monetary Fund have been basing
their whole bailout arithmetic on a goal of 124 per cent. Greece will either
default or exit the euro – or both in the next four years. The EU’s
“pretend-and-extend” strategy of revolving loans at longer maturities and lower
interest rates is approaching a natural limit.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-41485094076107934152013-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:002013-12-08T00:09:16.591-08:00Gas under $3 – coming to a station near you<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/12/07/gas-under-3-coming-to-a-station-near-you/" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/12/07/gas-under-3-coming-to-a-station-near-you/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Nowadays it seems that oil
price hike is never-ending but surprisingly it is becoming easier and easier to
find gas for less than $3 a gallon.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The average price of a
gallon of regular gas now stands at $3.19, according to AAA, after falling by
about a penny a day for the last week. In the six states naming Missouri,
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas and Louisiana, the steady decline has taken
the average price below $3 already. An additional six states are taking
pleasure in an average price within a nickel of that standard and could drop
below three dollars before long.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">But $3 gas isn’t just
limited to these 6 states.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">According to the Oil Price <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">Information Service</a>, nearly 20% of gas
stations nationwide are already charging less than $3 a gallon for regular gas.
And those stations are selling far more than their share of gas.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“In almost half the states,
you don’t need to make a great effort to find gas at $3 or less,” said Tom
Kloza, chief oil analyst for OPIS, which compiles the price data for AAA, as
well as for GasBuddy.com.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“To a great extent, the
averages are really misleading,” said Kloza. “A large station with cheap prices
might sell 750,000 gallons a month, while a small independent station with high
prices might be struggling to sell 100,000 gallons.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The increased supply of
low-price crude from Canada and North Dakota is a major factor sending gas
prices lower, Kloza said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“We’re seeing the cheapest
crude on planet here,” he said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">What kept the gasoline
inventories high were the quiet hurricane season and the lack of other
disruptions at refineries.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">For much of this year, the
national average is by that time is below 2012′s low of $3.21, and has been
averaging about 25 cents a gallon less than last year’s prices. Kloza estimates
that gas prices will carry on to fall through the last part of 2013, and that
more than half of states will have an average price below $3 a gallon ahead of
Christmas, which is in general when prices bottom out for the year.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">While high-price states
like California and New York might keep the national average just above $3,
Kloza said there is about a fifty-fifty chance that the national average could
drop below $3 for the first time since late 2010.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-11995823142637477772013-11-26T23:26:00.002-08:002013-11-26T23:26:07.984-08:00Help victims of Typhoon Haiyan the best way we can<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/22/help-victims-of-typhoon-haiyan-the-best-way-we-can/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/22/help-victims-of-typhoon-haiyan-the-best-way-we-can/</a></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thousands
of people are suffering in the Philippines due to the one of the world’s worst
disaster in the modern history. There are some alleged estimates that the
number of deaths reached as high as 10,000 but as of the last count 2,000 are
feared dead.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
devastating <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/periodicals/">news</a>
lead every casual news consumer to contribute to any sort of financial aid. New
technology and social media have made sending $1 or $10 to “charitable”
organizations easier than ever.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“One
of the problems is that we’ve entered into the digital age with a high level of
trust,” Angie Barnett, president of the Better Business Bureau of Greater
Maryland, said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scam
artists that meant to get <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/money/">money</a> out of
donations often get convincing photographs, or videos from the websites of
reputable organizations to appear legitimate.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Some
have similar sounding names to big organizations… that’s a red flag,” Raymund
Flandez, a staff writer covering the intersection of technology and charity for
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">THURSDAY
@ 11 | Undeniable facts about an unregistered charity organization (click)</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
“Red Cross of the United States” is not the same as the American Red Cross, for
example.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
number of website addresses containing the words “Haiyan,” “typhoon,” “disaster
aid,” “Philippines,” and “relief” has soared, Barnett said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
aid delays for up to 2 million people in remote locations of the Philippines
are melting the hearts and wallets across the country.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Better
<a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/entrepreneurship/">Business</a>
Bureau of Greater Maryland released a list of the top five mistakes people make
when donating to charity after a natural disaster.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">• Do
not make a donation decision only basing on the charity’s name and send
donations to inexperienced relief efforts.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stand
by with one standard rule; don’t go with a charity in which the domain name
contains the name of the disaster itself. So don’t give to “HaiyanRelief.com”
or “HelpTheVictimsofHaiyan.com.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“It
could be a start-up group with little experience or a questionable effort
seeking to gain confidence through its title,” Barnett said. “If in doubt, ask
for the organization’s Form 990, a tax return charities file annually with the
IRS. This form provides transparency in the dollars raised – and where they are
directed.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">• Gather
clothing and goods without verifying that items can be used.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Relief
organizations often prefer to purchase goods near the location of the disaster
to help speed the rate of delivery, according to the Better Business Bureau.
Consider the cost of shipping extensive cargo long distances. Cash is king.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">MISTAKE #4: RESPONDING TO ONLINE & SOCIAL
MEDIA APPEALS WITHOUT CHECKING.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Facebook
inserted a direct link to send $10 to the American Red Cross to provide aid for
Haiyan relief as of November 13.The American Red Cross is among the most
trusted organizations globally so it better to donate to them directly.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">While
this may not apply to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hendrenglobalgroup?ref=hl">Facebook</a>, “Common
tactics used by scam artists include phishing email with alleged links to
disaster video which if clicked, releases malware into your personal computer,”
according to the BBB. “Social media mentions of bogus donation websites which
collect money and shut down without a trace.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Barnett
said scammers are in the business of “throwing up websites” and “collecting
credit card numbers.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">• Do
not donate without doing your homework</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
make the vetting process easier, Flandez suggested the following three charity
rating websites, which perform regular due diligence:</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“More
than that, do a Google search to see if they’ve made any strides in what they
do. … That’s basic due diligence,” Flandez said</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Readers
can report possible charity scams here .</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Guidestar
spokeswoman Lindsay Nichols said, “We all give with our heart, but unless we
give with our head too, we’re essentially wasting our hard-earned money.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Guidestar’s
tips for giving with your heart and your head can be found here .</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-49825127950822530422013-11-12T23:36:00.002-08:002013-11-12T23:38:24.565-08:00The end of McDonald’s Dollar Menu as we know it<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/13/the-end-of-mcdonalds-dollar-menu-as-we-know-it/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/13/the-end-of-mcdonalds-dollar-menu-as-we-know-it/</a></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">McDonald’s
is changing its legendary Dollar Menu to try and rise out of its sales slump.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">McDonald’s
(MCD, Fortune 500) gave a new name to the menu Dollar Menu & More. Some of
the items will still cost a dollar, but other items will cost more.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">October
24, Wednesday, it sent this <a href="https://twitter.com/HendrenGlobal">tweet</a>
from its official account: “Dollar Menu fans, don’t worry…our new Dollar Menu
& More will offer many options that are still $1 and some new choices too!”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">According
to a McDonald’s spokeswoman, who said it will include some new items, which she
declined to identify, the new menu will officially roll out on Nov. 4</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">McDonald’s
could use a revenue enhance. Sometime this October, the fast food giant reported
disappointing same-store sales, up less than 1% worldwide for the quarter as
compared to the previous year.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
company fared for the most part badly outside of the U.S., with same-store
sales falling 1.4% in the Middle East, Africa and the Asia/Pacific region.
Operating income fell 12% in China, Japan and Australia because of an “ongoing
challenging <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/environment/">environment</a>.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
test markets like New York City, a similar menu called the Extra Value Menu
& More is already available. A worker at a Manhattan restaurant featuring
an Extra Value Menu & More said it’s been on offer since at least February,
when he started working there.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
that restaurant, the following items are still available for $1: two slices of
apple pie, two bags of apple slices, and a “cone” (presumably with ice cream in
it, but the menu didn’t specify.)</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most
of the other items cost a dollar and change, with the list as follows, the
McDouble and McChicken, which each go for $1.69, and the four-piece McNugget,
which costs $1.59.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
prices climb higher from there; the double cheeseburger costs $2.19 and the
McFlurry is priced at $2.89. The most expensive item on the Extra Value Menu
& More was the 20-piece McNugget for $4.99.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-69437350185772894382013-11-09T00:01:00.001-08:002013-11-09T00:03:35.126-08:00City must shrink if era of ‘too big to fail’ doesn’t end says Mark Carney<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/09/city-must-shrink-if-era-of-too-big-to-fail-doesnt-end-says-mark-carney/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/09/city-must-shrink-if-era-of-too-big-to-fail-doesnt-end-says-mark-carney/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Governor of the Bank of England has said Britain will have to give up its
leading position in financial services unless the UK’s “too big to fail” banks
can go bust without putting the taxpayer at risk.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
City would have to shrink if the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/politics-government/">Government</a>
were to come to the rescue of banks in a future crisis, Mark Carney has warned.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“If
we don’t end ‘too big to fail’, we can’t support a financial sector of this
size,” he said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite
the fact that the financial services industry accounts for 10pc of national
output, UK banks have assets equivalent to about four times the size of the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/economics/">economy</a>,
employing around 1m people.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">By
2050, banks assets could be nine times the size of UK GDP if “UK-owned banks’
share of global banking activity remains the same”, Mr Carney said.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Some
would react to this prospect with horror… but, if organised properly, a vibrant
financial sector brings substantial benefits. The UK’s financial sector can be
both a global good and a national asset – if it is resilient.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
get there, he called for greater co-operation between national supervisors to
prevent “regulatory Balkanisation” caused as countries put their own interests
first. Failure to strike an international accord on financial regulation would
threaten London’s competitiveness as a <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/money/">global financial</a>
centre, he warned.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Bank had overhauled its liquidity rules to ensure the real economy was never
again starved of lending in a financial crisis, the Governor also revealed. He
assured that banks and building societies would have low-priced and abundant
access to liquidity even if markets seized up, as they did during the 2008
credit crunch.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Five
simple words describe our approach – we are open for business,” he said. The
Bank has reformed Britain’s “sterling monetary framework” to prevent banks from
hoarding unproductive cash and gilts that could otherwise be released for
lending to households and <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/entrepreneurship/">businesses</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“We
are changing how we backstop private firms’ liquidity management,” Mr Carney
said, after giving a speech in London. “These efforts will help set the stage
to improve further the supply of credit within the UK.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
2008, a scarcity of liquidity forced banks into emergency asset sales that
degenerate the crisis by setting off a downward spiral in prices. Since then,
regulators have brought in tough liquidity rules but banks have built up even
larger buffers – tying up funds.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Bank relaxed its regulations in June to release as much as £70bn of liquidity
to help boost lending and drive economic growth. The most recent change will
guarantee lenders can be confident that they will always be able to access cash
and gilts.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
build the fresh arrangements striking to lenders, the Bank has removed the
“stigma” of liquidity assistance by cutting the fees and approving to accept
lower quality loans as collateral.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-13931958053991751692013-11-02T04:51:00.001-07:002013-11-02T04:51:24.536-07:00Durable-goods orders rise 3.7% in September<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/02/durable-goods-orders-rise-3-7-in-september/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/11/02/durable-goods-orders-rise-3-7-in-september/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Surge in aircraft contracts
leads way, but <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/entrepreneurship/">business
investment</a> softens</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">A snapback in contracts for
Boeing jets increased U.S. orders for durable goods in September, however
business investment softened again and underscored the failure of the U.S.
economy to leap onto a faster-growth plane.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Orders for durable goods advanced
3.7% in September, led by a 57.5% increase in aircraft bookings, the Commerce
Department said Friday. Compared with just 16 in August, Boeing BA -0.43%signed
contracts last month for 127 jetliners, rmirroring a usually irregular pattern
of orders in the airline industry.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Economists polled by
MarketWatch had forecast a seasonally adjusted 3.0% increase in new orders.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In U.S. markets, stocks
went up a little as investors paid attention mainly on strong corporate
earnings reports.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The other major component
of transportation are Autos, these things did not fare as well. In August,
bookings for autos and auto parts fell 0.3% after a strong increase.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Revealing the unstable
transportation sector, new orders dipped 0.1% in September to mark the third
straight turn down, possibly a sign that manufacturers grew watchful in
expectation of the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/politics-government/">government</a>
shutdown. Demand went down for heavy machinery declined 1.8%.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“Everything else remained
lackluster as it has for months,” said Michael Montgomery, U.S. economist at
IHS Global Insight.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In addition, in September,
orders for capital goods exclusive of military wares and commercial aircraft
slipped 1.1%. That’s the second go down in three months for a category viewed
by economists as a proxy for business investment.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The mild pace of business
investment is a troubling sign, some economists and industry experts say. Many
companies must improve investment just to trade equipment that’s tiring out and
the ultralow level of interest rates would propose that they should act now.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“Business equipment
spending should be driving U.S. economic growth,” said Daniel Meckstroth, chief
economist of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/tech-innovation/">Innovation</a>.
“Interest rates are the lowest in more than a half-century and banks are
showing a willingness to expand lending to business. What is missing is the
confidence that economic growth will accelerate and that there will be
profitable business opportunities in this country.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The government shutdown in
October may have compounded the problem and the trouble-plagued rollout of the
new health care law commonly known as Obamacare could also be undermining
confidence, economists say.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Shipments of core capital
goods, edged down 0.2% in September a number used to help determine how fast
the economy grows. Shipments cut down in two of the three months of the third
quarter.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Durable-goods orders in
August, in the meantime, were revised a little to show a 0.2% boost.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Orders for durable goods
have risen 3% compared the same period a year earlier In the first nine months
of 2013. Core orders are up mild 4.3% in the same span.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-56743728266002775622013-10-13T04:37:00.003-07:002013-10-13T04:38:52.151-07:00World’s Fastest Standalone Enterprise SSHD: Seagate Intros<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Source: <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/10/12/worlds-fastest-standalone-enterprise-sshd-seagate-intros/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/10/12/worlds-fastest-standalone-enterprise-sshd-seagate-intros/</a></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Seagate Technology said
that it is now shipping the industry’s first enterprise solid state hybrid
drive (SSHD), the Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD. It incorporates the NAND flash
of an SSD with the spinning magnetic platters of a mechanical HDD, building a
single storage solution with high-speed data transfers and huge storage
capacities. As comparing with the existing 15K RPM drives on the market, the
end-users will supposedly see up to triple the random performance compared to.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">June this year, the news arrives
after Seagate and IBM introduced the IBM G2HS Hybrid and the IBM G2SS Hybrid as
storage options for the IBM Series X Servers. The two were 2.5 inch drives that
provided 600 GB of storage, 16 GB of eMLC NAND Flash and a 128 MB DRAM data
buffer. There are also other features such as 10K RPM platter speeds, a SAS
interface, a drive-to-host interface that supports up to 6 Gbps, and a drive
media to buffer interface. The average sustained transfer rate was 151 MB/s and
the average rotational latency was 2.9 ms.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“Over the past year,
Seagate and IBM have been putting an enterprise SSHD prototype through its
paces,” the company said. “After months of testing in Seagate and IBM labs, the
first enterprise SSHD has been introduced.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">According to Seagate, the
new Enterprise Turbo SSHD drive caches at the I/O level, thus addressing
performance gaps and bottlenecks often found in tiered system environments. A
self-encrypting drive option to maximize security for data-at-rest, and up to
600 GB of storage, the highest enterprise performance drive available today is
also being offered.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The Enterprise Turbo SSHD
enables lower cost server and storage configurations, making it appealing for
OEMs and system builders who demand the highest, scalable performance at an affordable
cost, Seagate added. Since it’s extremely efficient and economical, the drive
provides a significantly improved dollar to IOPS ratio.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">“Typically the most
demanding mission critical applications for 15K drives have improved
performance by compromising on capacity and cost per GB,” said Rocky Pimentel,
Seagate executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer. “With
the Enterprise Turbo SSHD, we deliver a no compromise drive that provides
high-speed performance while enabling customers to leverage all of Turbo’s
capacity.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Seagate said that a 10K RPM
version of an enterprise SSHD boasts IOPS over two times better than a standard
600 GB 10K RPM hard disk drive basing on results presented by the Storage
Performance Council. The company added “the end result is much improved and
more cost effective performance for servers running mission critical
applications such as big data analytics, virtual desktop infrastructure, and
database and transaction processing.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-11026999256652254862013-10-02T01:21:00.004-07:002013-10-02T01:21:37.299-07:00Labor Day 2013: Things Have Never Looked Worse for Workers—Or Brighter<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/09/21/labor-day-2013-things-have-never-looked-worse-for-workers-or-brighter/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/09/21/labor-day-2013-things-have-never-looked-worse-for-workers-or-brighter/</a></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Last week in downtown
Chicago, four lads break-danced on the Federal Plaza to exhibit why this year’s
Labor Day provides opportunity for both merriment and dissent.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The dancers — black,
Latino, white, all giving a fabulous performance — were fast-food and retail
employees on strike on August 29 for $15-an-hour pay demand and the privilege
to put up a union without reprisal. They were joined by about 400 other
low-salary workers from over 60 <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/entrepreneurship/">businesses</a>
assembling for a festivity after a day of expressing their chief demands — with
particular added corresponding demands for each workplace — to their companies,
which, from McDonald’s to Sears, form a Who’s Who of trademark fast-food and
retail firms.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It was the third wave for
several workers involved in the protracted strike which started last November
in New York, with Chicago conducting protest marches late in 2012 as well, and
stretched into July to five other traditional union capitals. On Thursday —
immediately after the 50th commemoration of the March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom — thousands of workers from a total of about 60 cities participated
in a national day of demonstration, the biggest so far. Strikes flashed in the
South, in such cities as Raleigh, N.C. and Memphis, Tenn., and in minor
Northern cities, such as Bloomington and Peoria, Ill. In tiny Ellsworth, Maine,
a town-labor crowd showed support for higher pay for fast-food workers although
no one went on strike. In a few instances, workers seemed to have assembled
after getting wind of the prior actions, calling everyone they knew to ask how
they could join in the succeeding strike.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The motive behind this
euphoric rush of activity consists of several reasons why it is badly needed —
slow job-growth, underemployment, fixed or decreasing wages, weak labor
standards, a hindered union progress, growing inequality, a work-related
arrangement shifting toward more low-salary service jobs, and prevalent abuse
of power by the very wealthy few.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The decrease in the
official rate of unemployment hides the level at which American employees face
a very bleak future in labor. A big part of the improvement in the unemployment
rate merely shows an increase in the number of disheartened or “marginally
attached” workers (people seeking jobs who have ceased doing so). The portion
of the workforce holding part-time jobs involuntarily has also grown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Such drop in the demand for
labor, besides the waning power of unions and the slashes in salary demanded by
both public and private employers (frequently associated with outsourcing or,
at public employers, privatizing), keeps down — or further depresses — incomes
that had not improved much even from 2000 to 2007, when the recession set in.
Between 2007 and 2012, while productivity improved by 7.7 percent, salaries
dipped for the lowest 70 percent of the workforce, according to a report
released recently by the <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/economics/">Economic
Policy Institute</a> through its researchers Lawrence Mishel and Heidi
Shierholz.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The weakness of the labor
movement, particularly in rising, low-income sectors like retail and fast-food,
is responsible for much of the decline; but the waning value of the minimum
wage holds a big role. According to another recent EPI study, by Sylvia
Allegretto and Steven C. Pitts, if the federal <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/politics-government/">government</a>
reinstituted the minimum salary to its maximum rate in 1968, the minimum salary
would be $9.44 at present in inflation-adjusted dollars, not $7.25. And if it
corresponded in real terms the $2.00 minimum salary demanded 50 years ago by
the March on Washington, the minimum wage would be $13.39 — close to the
striking fast-food workers’ demand and to the minimum in many advanced
countries (about $12 per hour in France and $15 per hour in Australia, for cite
a few). If the minimum salary had increased as much as labor productivity since
1968, it would be $22 per hour.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Any increase in the federal
minimum would principally aid people of color and women, Allegretto and Pitts
say. Contrary to stereotypes of low-income employees such as teenagers, a hike
would benefit many adult, family-earning workers. In a report for EPI published
in March, David Cooper and Dan Essrow estimated that with even the slight
$10.10 minimum proposed by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller
(D-Calif.), the mean age of low-wage employees whose wage would likely increase
is 35. Eighty-eight percent are above 20 years old, and 35.5 percent are 40
years old or more. Moreover, 44 percent of the beneficiaries would be employees
with some college schooling, and 28 percent with offspring.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The predicament of
low-salary workers is turning into an even more severe problem as the country’s
occupational structure, that is, the types of jobs being created or maintained,
has altered. According to Daniel Alpert of the Century Foundation, 70 percent
of the jobs created in the second quarter of 2013 were low-salary, such as
retail and hospitality jobs, about twice the percentage of such jobs in the
general workforce. And over 50 percent of all fresh jobs in the first semester
of 2013 were part-time.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Incomes have grown for the
highest 5 percent, however, chiefly, the wealthiest. The <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">top</a> 1 percent — principally, executives and
financial managers — garnered 121 percent of the country’s new income within
the first two years of the recovery, according to University of California,
Berkeley economist Emanuel Saez. How do they do that? Essentially, they siphon
all national income proceeds to themselves while concurrently capturing more
from the 99 percent.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Observing more closely
shows an even uglier picture. The success of the very rich frequently involves
large components of chicanery, deception and misuse of public resources,
according to a fresh study, “Bailed Out, Booted, Busted,” the 20th yearly Labor
Day publication of the Executive Excess reports from the Institute for Policy
Studies. The researchers gathered information from 20 years of their studies,
which depended on yearly Wall Street Journal surveys of CEO compensation.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Their ultimate survey
involved 500 CEOS — the 25 highest-paid CEOs annually for twenty years. IPS
reports that 38 percent of these CEOs had performed very badly as executives of
their companies. Of those poor performers, 22 percent of the top salary leaders
brought their companies into bankruptcy or bailout; 8 percent were fired (but
received golden parachutes worth an average of $38 million); and 8 percent were
convicted of fraud.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Then there are plainly the
outrageously over-paid, raking in above $1 billion during their term, and other
executives who served themselves from the “taxpayer trough,” collecting top
salary while their firms gained from <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/politics-government/">major
government</a> contracts.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Any shift toward equal
opportunity will have to stop the excess at the peak as well as uplift the
bottom. But more than achieving essential justice, society would gain more benefits
— quicker and more solid growth (and therefore a faster, more healthful
recovery); lower crime rates; lesser social tension; a more stable democracy;
and better health, longer life and lower medical expenses, to mention only a
few. (See Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level.)</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky,
co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was not mouthing hollow words,
but rather practical wisdom, when she spoke to strikers in Chicago, “These
workers are among thousands and thousands of low-income workers around the
nation, who have a truly reasonable and simple demand, which is to be given a
living wage. …These are the producers; they are the takers. I want to thank
these courageous workers who walked out. They are doing it for themselves and
they are doing it also for America.”</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">And it appears the strikers
are doing it their way, with people volunteering and reaching out to other
employees to pass on the word. Most activities involve raps composed by
strikers about their work, and protest methods color their choices. For
example, in Chicago, the protesters this time aimed to take action at every
store where somebody walked out, not merely a couple of chosen special targets,
as in the July strike. And they wanted to hold a celebration at the final
moment. If the fast-food struggle succeeds, it will be a product of that
radical attitude.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The spirit was present in
the break-dance — introduced in Spanish and English, as all the events were
presented before the crowd of balance-mixed ethnicities, performed under a
streamer declaring, “Fight for 15, Valemos Mas.” Dancing to Michael Jackson’s
“Beat It,” a couple of mock-suited “CEO” dancers faced off with two other
workers from Potbelly’s.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The workers triumphed, of
course! No, it was not Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers performing “Roll the
Union On” this time. But Pete would have certainly approved.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-36705861975529807702013-09-11T04:09:00.000-07:002013-09-11T04:17:06.838-07:00China joins world anti-tax fraud endeavour<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/09/10/china-joins-world-anti-tax-fraud-endeavour/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/09/10/china-joins-world-anti-tax-fraud-endeavour/</a></span><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Zhang
Yuwei in New York (China Daily)-China is set to sign the tax-assistance
convention with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) on Tuesday and will become the last in the Group of 20 <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/economics/">economies</a>
to enter the major global convention on tax.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On
Tuesday, China’s tax head Wang Jun will sign the convention in Paris, which
will be in force after three full calendar-months from its ratification. The
convention — entitled Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative
Assistance in Tax Matters – stipulates a structure for administrative
collaboration between over 50 developing and developed nations in determining
and collecting taxes, with emphasis on controlling tax evasion and avoidance.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">China’s
inclusion in the group ratifying the convention signifies the world’s
second-largest economy participating “in international efforts to fight tax
avoidance and evasion by coordinating with other countries in the assessment
and collection of taxes”, according to OECD.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Upon
the convention’s full enforcement with respect to China, the country’s tax
officials will be allowed to request their counterparts from the participating
nations for use of their tax records and vice versa.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Steven
Zhang, managing director at Fund Tax Services LLC in New York, said China’s
entrance to the group is “in keeping with a worldwide pattern”.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“China’s
concurrence with the objectives of the convention would enhance the efficiency
of Chinese tax officials in quelling potential tax avoidance and evasion by
foreigners and foreign enterprises,” said Zhang.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tax
evasion was also a main concern set by world leaders, together with the leaders
from the G20 economies, to tackle the causes of the 2008 financial catastrophe
and to help eradicate corruption – one of the primary issues China’s new
government has resolved to tackle with determination.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tax
evasion and avoidance will be one of the chief matters under consideration at
the G20 summit in St. Petersburg on Sept 5-6.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“<a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/politics-government/">Governments
all over the world</a> are implementing laws and policies to enforce taxpayers
to show greater transparency in their tax reporting and are increasing
coordination in fighting tax avoidance over various jurisdictions,” said Zhang.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“Escalating
pressure from nations and enforcers has put administration of international tax
risk at the frontline of company and financial decisions,” he added.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Global
<a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/entrepreneurship/">Financial
Integrity</a>, a non-profit advocacy and research group based in Washington,
said the Chinese economy bled $3.79 trillion in illegal investment outflows
from 2000 through 2011. Out of about $2.83 trillion that drained unlawfully out
of China from 2005 to 2011, they said, $595.8 billion ended up as bank deposits
or financial assets – such as bonds, stocks, derivatives, and mutual funds -in
tax shelters.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Statistics
provided by China’s State Administration of Taxation last month revealed that
anti-tax evasion moves by the Chinese government produced an additional income
of about $5.7 billion last year, almost 30 times the figure of 2008.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
convention was developed jointly by the OECD and the Council of Europe in 1988.
In 2009, the accord was rationalized to make it conform with international
requirements on the transfer of information for tax purposes, and to allow
nations that were not part of the OECD or the Council of Europe to join in.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Over
50 nations have either entered as signatories or have expressed their desire to
do so since the revision of the convention.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-19978358721540456912013-07-28T22:53:00.001-07:002013-07-28T22:53:02.575-07:00Stop Collection Agencies from Calling<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/07/25/stop-collection-agencies-from-calling/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/07/25/stop-collection-agencies-from-calling/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">We are all
annoyed by calls from debt collector although that is their job but they could
break the law if they cross their line into harassment. You can stop them
before they could break the law and besides they wouldn’t do that either
because in <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/">fact</a> they are so scared
of lawsuits. They are so frightened to be shut down that they run in another
direction when they hear or see certain phrases from consumers. There are ways
to stop them from calling and it can be handled in few easy steps. The Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act will be violated if they will call again despite
all the steps were completed. This law outlines debtors’ rights when it comes
to the collection of a debt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Send a
Letter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Explain your
preference of communicating with them through writing, sent them a “cease and
desist” letter, this is the easiest way to stop collections agencies from
calling. Make sure that your letter is a certified mail so that you have proof
that they have received your latter or else they could deny about receiving
your letter and still call you. They will send you back a letter once they
receive a cease and desist letter. This letter to the debtor outlines further
actions that may be taken. This gives the debtor a choice of which one to take.
In the instance that they didn’t stop calling you, you may start to log the
times they call with dates and times, <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/">Hendren
Global Group</a> suggests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">File a
Report<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">File a
report to FTC if the collection agencies did not stop even though they have
received your cease and desist letter, complete this with supporting details
like the call logs and other documents essential to prove that they are still
calling. Your next action must be letting the collection agency know that a
report has been filed to FTC and if they won’t stop calling further actions
will be taken. If in case this didn’t stop them from calling, you can sue them
for up to $1,000. You can do this only if it can be proven that their calls
resulted in lost wages or medical expenses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Bankruptcy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">If there is
no other option and no other means to get out then your last resort to stop
collections agencies from calling is to file bankruptcy except that this isn’t
recommended. Agencies should stop calling since they are obliged to because
once bankruptcy is filed they have no legal claim on the debt anymore. But
careful, the consequence is it will be on your credit report for at least 7
years, and it will have any blow on your credit. Although that will definitely
stop them from annoying you and your life will get back to normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Bottom Line<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Collection
agencies do everything when it comes to collecting debts. What you can and
should be is be aware of your legal rights, the more knowledge a debtor has,
the less agencies can harass them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">hendren
global group news blog, Hendren Global
Group: Top Facts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-10026650307109696932013-07-02T10:25:00.002-07:002013-07-02T10:25:54.640-07:00Can you prevent credit card scam when you go out on a dinner date?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/07/02/can-you-prevent-credit-card-scam-when-you-go-out-on-a-dinner-date/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/07/02/can-you-prevent-credit-card-scam-when-you-go-out-on-a-dinner-date/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">According to the recent research, young people prefer
using cards over cash, especially in posh restaurants or shopping malls. Are
you planning to go out on a dinner date but afraid that your credit card might
get scammed? The question now is, <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://financialscams.org/articles/can-you-prevent-credit-card-scam-when-you-go-out-on-a-dinner-date"><span style="color: #ffc000;">how can we prevent it from happening</span></a></span>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Many people have suffered from job loss and wage
deduction following the recent economic meltdown. As a result, to make money in
this tough <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/economics/"><span style="color: #ffc000;">economic situation</span></a></span> some people are
enter fraudulent activities. Lately, these fraudsters are taking advantage of
the situation to misuse the consumers’ credit card. A great number of people in
America are filing complaints on fraudulent credit card transactions. Hence, to
shun enrolling in a <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/debt-settlement.html"><span style="color: #ffc000;">credit card settlement</span></a></span> program, you can
notify the credit card company concerning the fraudulent activities. You may be
paying for the bills even though you are not responsible for the transaction if
your card is misused without you knowing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here are a few effective tips to prevent credit card
scam:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beware of restaurant fraud:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More consumers use their credit cards when shopping or
paying restaurant bills. The scam may go like this, the restaurant employee may
swipe the card and your card information can be recorded in the electronic
device. If that is so, the fraudsters can use the information stored in the
electronic device, and then the card information can be use in an off way. Any
bad guy in the restaurant can take note your card’s number, expiration date
plus the security code. The critical information can be used for online
purchases and transactions made over the phone. What you must do is to be wary
while handing over your credit card to the restaurant staff or to any stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tips to prevent credit card scam in a restaurant:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Demand to the wait staff to swipe the card in the
electronic device prior to yours when you use your card to pay bill at a
restaurant. You can prevent credit card fraud if you keep an eye on the
transaction procedure. Right after you get the receipt, certify that you verify
the total on the credit card receipt. Don’t just hand over the card to the
restaurant staff and instead go to the counter and pay the bill yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Avoid throwing the carbon copy receipt in the trash:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The fraudsters has many ways just so they could persist
on the scam, they can even go behind the trash so don’t throw carbon copies of
the receipts you leave. Receipts contain your credit card information like your
name, credit card number and signature on them. Make certain you cut up the
carbon copy of the receipt properly before you throw in the bin or better yet
keep it as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Use cash instead of card:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the far better idea in any chance as possible,
in any way or any aspect. Avoid fraudulent activity and use cash instead of
credit card. If you are not going to use your card there will be no chance that
someone else may get your info, it is as simple as that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In conclusion, the cardholders need to remember the
above tips to avoid credit card fraud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-27966661629240334322013-07-01T10:57:00.001-07:002013-07-01T10:57:22.201-07:00Top US Electric Car City Could Soon Be… (You’re Never Gonna Guess It)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/06/21/top-us-electric-car-city-could-soon-be-youre-never-gonna-guess-it/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/06/21/top-us-electric-car-city-could-soon-be-youre-never-gonna-guess-it/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Which do you
think is the top <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/"><span style="color: #ffc000;">electric-car
city</span></a> </span>in the US… LA? New York? San Francisco? Or Portland?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Not one of
those cities but the city of about 800,000 people — Indianapolis, the capital
city of Indiana, USA. The city is interested in having all of its fleet of cars
replaced with electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). Once that
happens, it could become the #1 electric-car city in the US.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">After the
announcement was made, Paul Mitchell, CEO of Energy Systems Network, got <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/unlikely-city-claims-nations-largest-electric-car-share"><span style="color: #ffc000;">the idea</span></a></span> of putting into motion a plan
to procure 500 US-built electric vehicles — possibly the <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://gas2.org/2013/04/23/nissan-leaf-taxi-pilot-program-being-launched-in-nyc/"><span style="color: #ffc000;">Nissan Leaf</span></a> </span>or <span style="color: #ffc000;"><a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/30/ford-focus-electric-to-go-build-to-order-route-like-dell-computers/"><span style="color: #ffc000;">Ford Focus</span></a></span> — and also to build charging
stations as support facilities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Energy
Systems Network collaborated with Bollore, an electric car manufacturer for
Europe, and with the mayor for the plan. Bollore plans to launch the program
next year and has invested $35 million in the program. It will buy the 500
electric vehicles and kiosks required for check-in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">The city
plans to set up 1,200 level-2 charging stations (more stations than cars) in
200 sites. Level-2 charging stations can recharge vehicles at 240 volts for a
range of 10 to 20 miles range for each hour of charging time. These stations
are the second-fastest chargers at present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">“This
program is a great boon for downtown workers, residents and visitors to drive
around town without owning a car,” Mayor Ballard announced. “This service lets
anyone — public or private individual — to pay only for a car when he or she
needs and wants it. You do not pay for fuel, insurance, maintenance and parking
costs when you do not use the vehicle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Pretty
awesome – don’t you think so? Indeed it is a great step toward claiming the
title as the USA’s Top Electric-Car City.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183556518704004446.post-10346887477237727312013-06-26T10:02:00.002-07:002013-06-26T10:02:48.545-07:00Gas Boilers for Convenience and Energy Efficiency<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/06/26/gas-boilers-for-convenience-and-energy-efficiency-2/">http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/06/26/gas-boilers-for-convenience-and-energy-efficiency-2/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Homeowners,
homebuilders and lovers of clean and affordable home- or <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/category/top-facts/entrepreneurship/">business</a>-use
heaters have long preferred gas boilers. Gas boilers supplied by gas hook-ups
allow inclusion of additional gas appliances in addition to heat, such as
water-heaters, clothes-washers and dryers and cooking appliances. Majority of
older homes have gas lines, unlike most newer homes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Gas has
always been connected with clean, affordable energy. The risk of gas leak and
fire arising from it can be minimized through regular inspection and
maintenance on a yearly basis by a certified technician. Gas boilers and other
appliances can be run safely and efficiently with these regular check-ups.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Gas service
to homes and businesses usually come along with electrical connections to
provide buildings with multiple <a href="http://hendrengroup.biz/blog/2013/06/11/boiler-efficiency-regs-could-save-10-percent-of-eu-energy-consumption/">energy
sources</a>. Hook-ups are often supplied by towns to local residents and
sometimes by outside private companies. The best way to operate gas boilers is
to run the gas into the home and the unit placed near the entry point of the
gas supply for optimum efficiency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Why use gas boilers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Gas is a
common, readily-available and efficient source of fuel to power ordinary
appliances. Many types of gas appliances and gas boilers of various price
levels are produced by popular manufacturers. Gas is also an economical source
of energy and power compared to electricity and fuel oil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Types of Gas Boilers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Gas boilers
come in various sizes, shapes and price ranges. Choose the best one suited to
your needs. With so many brands and types in the market, one can check the
rating information on new gas boilers being introduced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Check out
units that give sufficient information on energy ratings and any emission they
produce. Consider the size of your home when buying a unit that will suit your
available space. A specialist would be the right person to guide you properly
in your choice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">A new
replacement unit for your old one may help you save on energy costs as they are
better insulated and more efficient. Heating provided by these new gas-powered
appliances is more efficient, less expensive and safer to operate and maintain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Benefits of Gas Boilers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">People who
use gas as fuel have the advantage of an affordable and clean energy source for
heating. Gas boilers have low operating costs, low pollution effect and
economical to run. New models are also safer, more compact and produce less
noise and wasteful external heat. They allow owners to accommodate them into
small spaces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">The Future of Gas Boilers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Gas boilers
are remarkably efficient heating devices which safe to use for residential and
commercial purposes. They are also clean and easy to operate. Although
non-renewable, gas is an efficient and economical energy source. Supply of gas
is steady and with basic conservation methods not difficult to maintain for
many years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10333404541169080615noreply@blogger.com2