Saudi king Donate P1.2 B for stranded Pinoys worker

Saudi King Salman has donated 100 million Saudi riyals (approximately P1.2 billion) for food, medicine, housing and air fare for the thousands of stranded foreign workers, including Filipinos, in the kingdom, as Philippine officials continue to work to facilitate their compatriots’ repatriation.

An estimated 11,000 Filipino workers are stranded in Saudi Arabia after their companies were forced to close following the rapid decline in world oil prices.

“In view of humanitarian consideration and keenness of the kingdom’s government in protecting the rights of foreign workers, including stranded overseas Filipino workers… instructing, among others, the provision of all assistance to all stranded foreign workers and appropriation of the amount of 100 million Saudi riyals,” said a statement from the Saudi Embassy in Manila.

The money will cover food, medicine and housing for the stranded workers, including the Filipinos, while the authorities process their return papers, as well as their air fare.

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier met with Saudi Ambassador to Manila Abdullah al-Bussairy to facilitate the repatriation of the Filipino workers.

Saudi Arabia hosts the biggest number of Filipino workers at 1.2 million of the total nine million Filipinos working worldwide.

The recent series of oil price declines has caused massive layoffs in Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Charles Jose said the Saudi government waived the penalties for overstaying workers to allow the speedy repatriation of the Filipinos.

He said an interagency team from the Philippines headed by Bello flew to Saudi Arabia on Aug. 10 to extend humanitarian, legal and consular assistance to the Filipinos there.

He said many workers refused to leave despite losing their jobs.

“Their employers do not have the financial capacity to pay them, but despite this, the workers stay as they await payment of their back wages,” Jose said. With a report from AFP

Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/142959/saudi-king-gives-p1-2-b-for-stranded-pinoys#ixzz4HoUQDrnV
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35 year old Yoshikazu Tanaka,billioneer

Tokyo (CNN) -- He is the face of New Japan Inc. 35-year-old Yoshikazu Tanaka, founder of mobile social gaming network Gree, is the world's second youngest self-made billionaire behind Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

The similarities don't end there. Tanaka, son of a Japanese salaryman, launched Gree initially as a social network in Japan before moving into mobile social gaming.

I caught up with him at his HQ in the Mori Building in downtown Tokyo, one of the most desirable business addresses in the city.

Japan's 'Zuckerberg' leads new wave of entrepreneurs

He may be flying high, but philosophically he remains down to earth, from the tips of his shaggy hair to the soles of his bright red crocs.

What do you think when you're compared to Mark Zuckerberg?

I started my business in 2004 and Facebook also started around 2004. Facebook became such a big company and I think they are doing well in how they are changing society. I think we (Gree) can change society in that way too, so I want to continue making a challenge.
Japanese pray hard for prosperous 2012
Occupy protests spread to Tokyo

How would you like to change Japanese society?

We should change the way of thinking in the whole of Japan. To do that, rather than by saying, "we should do this," or "we should do that," we should show what we can do by a new successful example. People say there is no culture of venture business in Japan, but actually social games and our company, Gree, became successful within seven years. So we want to have an impact on Japan by showing that it can be done.

What drives you?

Gree originally started as my personal business using my money and my spare time. So of course it is good if I can make money out of it. However, my motivation is that I want to have an impact on society with my business.

Do you think your industry will become the most important part of Japan's economy?

It is true that the social gaming industry is an important industry for the Japanese economy. Originally there were many Japanese game companies like Nintendo which became successful globally. Japan is an island and an industry like ours doesn't have to worry about importing raw materials or exporting. In that sense we can do our business without having the disadvantage of being on an island, so I think it is a good industry for Japan.

What is the problem with older, traditional manufacturing businesses?

If they have a problem, I think it would be that they tried to compete only in the domestic market and didn't try the global market. That means they can only be successful in Japan and they need to think more globally.

What Japan should do now?

Of course it is easy to blame politicians but Japan is democratic and its citizens choose the politicians. So the problem does not only exist in them. I think the biggest problem is that so many people have not been able to accept the fact that we cannot survive without trying to compete globally.

Do you think mobile game industry can be a savior of Japan?

I don't know whether we can be a savior or not but I can say there are not many industries which can generate this much profit and become successful globally. Not just our company but the whole of Japan should consider developing an industry like that.

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/06/business/japan-stevens-tanaka-qanda/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

Billionaires gather in Arizona to discuss giving

What do dozens of American billionaires talk about when they get together? Their topic this week was of course money; not how to make it, but how to give it away.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Friday that a private gathering was a great chance for the billionaires who have pledged to give away at least half their wealth to meet each other, compare notes, eat and laugh.
The media was banned from Thursday's first meeting of the group that has accepted the giving challenge by Buffett and his friend Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Since last June, 69 individuals or couples have made the giving pledge.
Buffett knew only about 12 of the 61 people at the dinner at the Miraval Resort in Tucson before the famously gregarious Berkshire Hathaway CEO worked the room and made 40 new friends.
"They all more than fulfilled my expectations," Buffett told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said she was delighted by the openness of the virtual strangers. At one point, conversation at her table drifted toward the biggest mistakes people had ever made as philanthropists.
"One of the things about being a philanthropist, in many ways it's rather a lonely job," said Tashia Morgridge, a retired special education teacher.
She works with her husband, Cisco Systems chairman John Morgridge, to give money to improve U.S. education through the Denver-based Morgridge Family Foundation.
George Kaiser, a Tulsa, Okla., philanthropist who aids early childhood education and social services programs, said the giving pledge helps philanthropists who don't want to just throw money at causes and instead want to explore the best ways to invest money to tackle the world's biggest problems.
"Being able to share with other people who are agonizing about the same decisions is extraordinarily useful," said Kaiser, the chairman of BOK Financial Corp who has been an oil and gas industry executive for four decades. He led a session on applying analytical business practices to philanthropy.
The goals of the organization do not include working together to pool philanthropic dollars. Still, the meeting in Tucson that ended Friday included sessions where different philanthropists shared their passion to improve education, the environment and other causes.
Philosophies of giving and ideas for collaboration among the billionaires were also shared throughout the event, said Jean Case, CEO of the family foundation started by her and her husband, America Online founder Steve Case.
"There's a strong desire in this group to learn from each other," said Jean Case, who offered to host the event at their Tucson resort after Melinda Gates talked to her about the possibility of the meeting.
The mother of five children also led a session on children and families in philanthropy. Steve Case gave a talk on using social media to encourage giving. All the sessions at the meeting were led by members of the group.
Some common themes emerged from the event. The participants are looking to do more impactful, more effective philanthropy and to inspire average people to give money away, Jean Case said.
Sharing ideas about giving also took place informally. Melinda Gates said she talked to two people who were devoting money for work on state pension issues and criminal justice — problems Gates had previously not thought about.
Chuck Feeney, a New Jersey philanthropist Buffett called the spiritual leader of the group, spoke about his plans to give all his money to charity.
"He wants his last check to bounce," Buffett said.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110507/ap_on_re_us/us_gates_buffett_pledge

Why the Saudi Royals are Scared

NEW YORK – Why the Saudi Royals are ScaredThe House of Saud watches nervously as friends fall and the United States changes its alliances. Bruce Riedel on how money could help them—and why King Abdullah should not be underestimated. Plus, our cheat sheet of the arguments for and against U.S. intervention in Libya.

The view from the enormous marble palaces in Riyadh and Jidda is becoming grim. For the House of Saud, the winter of Arab discontent has been unsettling so far as friends fall in waves. It may get a lot worse from the royal family’s perspective. But the Saudi royals are proven survivors who have been around and in power for centuries. They know how to survive and have the money to help.

One of the last absolute monarchies on earth, Saudi Arabia has been rattled by the toppling of old friends like Tunisia’s Ben Ali (now in exile in the Kingdom) and Egypt’s Mubarak (who may not be far behind in moving into a Saudi retirement home). The Saudis have no love for Libya’s Gaddafi, who tried to assassinate King Abdullah only a few years ago, but they are worried by the contagion of unrest that is rolling across North Africa and into the Arabian Peninsula. The unrest in tiny Bahrain next door is particularly alarming as it threatens a fellow Sunni Muslim kingdom linked by a causeway to the Saudi Eastern Province where most of the royals’ oil is located. The Eastern Province is also the home of the Kingdom’s small (10-15%) Shia minority. Unrest among the Shia is endemic, and protests have already begun this month. Shia protests are inevitably seen through the prism of Persian-Arab rivalry with Iran across the Persian Gulf. For the Saudis Shia gains are seen as Iranian gains and thus bad news.

The bad news extends to the south as well for the Saudis. They have never been fond of Yemen’s dictator Ali Abdallah Salih. They tried to overthrow him in 1994 by encouraging a revolt in southern Yemen which only united with the north in 1990. The Saudis lost out in the subsequent civil war to Salih and the north. But Salih is the devil they know and has been the recipient of billions in Saudi aid since the 1990s. Unrest in Yemen threatens to give more room for operation to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is dedicated to the overthrow of the Kingdom and the death of the family princes. Salih is now in deep trouble, he has lost the backing of the south, many key tribes and some senior Muslim clerics. But the Saudis have few if any options for buttressing him in power.

There are also rumblings of unrest next door in Oman, another longtime Saudi ally. So far this has been confined to a few relatively tame protests but the Sultan has responded by firing some of his cabinet members to appease the opposition. To date, there have only been stirrings of protest in the Sunni heartland against the Kingdom itself. But the royals are taking nothing for granted. After surgery in New York and months of recuperation in Morocco the King returned to the Kingdom a week ago and promised $36 billion in new jobs, pension bonuses and other hand-outs to buy off potential opposition.

As alarming as the unrest in Arabia is to the House of Saud, the American reaction is even more unsettling. The Kingdom has built its security on an alliance with Washington since 1945, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with King Saud in the Suez Canal to promise American security protection to the Saudis in turn for oil and influence in the Islamic world from the guardians of the two most holy mosques (in Mecca and Medina) attracting a billion-plus Muslims. But now the United States seems to be betting that history favors change in Arabia and change threatens absolutism.

The Saudi family has been a major player in the politics of the Arabian Peninsula since the early 18th Century. They forged a unique alliance with the arch- conservative preacher Muhammad Abd al Wahhab in 1744 that created a partnership between Saudi family political ambitions; Wahhab’s Islamist credentials that continues to this day. While the Kingdom’s territorial size has waxed and waned over the ensuing two and half centuries, the Saudis have outlasted their opponents from the Ottoman Turks and the British Empire to Saddam Hussein and the Soviet Union. Don’t count them out.

In particular, don’t count out King Abdullah. He was dismissed by many for a stutter early in his career. Then he was seen as too conservative and old fashioned. But he has turned out to be a reformer by Saudi standards and has tried to reform education in the Kingdom and transform the succession process to make it more orderly. He is a canny watcher of American affairs as well. He had little enthusiasm for George Bush, whom the King felt neglected the Palestinian issue and foolishly invaded Iraq. So the king kept his distance from the Americans for most of the Bush term. He was hopeful about Obama, but he can turn a cold shoulder should he need to for domestic political purposes.

The Saudi royals are proven survivors who have been around and in power for centuries. They know how to survive and have the money to help.

The King’s health is still a question mark. His brother Crown Prince Sultan is very ill and not up to the challenge of ruling. Next in line is the arch- conservative Interior Minister Prince Nayif, who would alienate reformers and might precipitate unrest. So much depends on whether the King’s steady hand holds the levers of power for a few more years. Politics in Saudi Arabia are not transparent, so Saudi watchers will have their hands full this spring deciphering the Kingdom’s effort to manage the storm around it.

Bruce Riedel, a former long-time CIA officer, is a senior fellow in the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. At Obama’s request, he chaired the strategic review of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009. He is author of the new book Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the Future of the Global Jihad and The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology and Future.

read the sources

Senate panel to Villar on C-5: Return P6.22B fund to govt

The Senate will ask presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) to return to the government the P6.22 billion his company allegedly “gained" through illegal means from the construction of the C-5 road extension.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the committee of the whole that probed the case, said this is only one of the sanctions meted on Villar that are included in the committee report, which he would sponsor on the floor Tuesday.

The P6.22 billion, according to the 84-page report, was the amount “Villar made the Filipino people suffer" for the benefit of his corporations.

Villar is the ninth richest Filipino in 2009 with a net worth of $530 million, according to Forbes Magazine.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/181893/senate-panel-to-villar-on-c-5-return-p622b-fund-to-govt

forums and opinion

Rupert Murdoch Admits He Tried to Shape Public Opinion on the Iraq War during an otherwise smug and elitist conversation at the DAVOS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM which took place in January 2007. Murdoc...


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lapu-lapu city,cebu

Lapu-Lapu, chartered city of the central Philippines, in Cebu Province, on the western coast of Mactan Island. Lapu-Lapu lies about 5 km (about 3 mi) across Cebu Harbor from the city of Cebu and is part of the Cebu metropolitan area. The short Mactan-Mandaue Bridge connects Lapu-Lapu and the rest of Mactan Island with Mandaue on Cebu Island.

Lapu-Lapu is a port and industrial center noted for its thermal installations, which burn petroleum for energy; corn and flour milling; fishing; and handmade guitars. The Mactan International Airport is located adjacent to Lapu-Lapu, as is the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ), an industrial tax-free zone that opened in 1979. The MEPZ includes approximately 35 business ventures, about 50 percent of which are Japanese-owned. Tourism is also important in Lapu-Lapu; visitors are drawn to the excellent beaches and coral reefs of eastern Mactan.

Lapu-Lapu, formerly Opon, is named after the famous Chief Lapulapu, who is believed to have killed the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan when he arrived on the east coast of Mactan Island in 1521. In 1886 a monument to Magellan was erected at the site of the conflict, and a monument to Chief Lapulapu stands in the citys plaza. During the 1980s Lapu-Lapus population increased by an annual average growth rate of 4 percent. Population (1999 estimate) 200,871.

Tourism - Hotels - Waterfront Hotel

Waterfront Mactan, located in the captivating Mactan Island, offers you the luxury of 167 guest rooms and suites, and the convenience of a two-minute walk to the Mactan International Airport. Also, the hotel is only 5 minutes away from Mactan Export Processing Zone.

Health spa-jacuzzis, private massage rooms, saunas, lounge, live performances at the Karaoke Bar, and the international standard Casino Filipino. All these choices to give you complete rest or fun, thrill, and excitement. Make that convention, function, or vacation more productive yet pleasurable with our well-planned facilities, business center, 6 multi-purpose function rooms, and excellent service. Plus this exclusive amenity for hotel guests and members only, the CLUB 747 Lounge located at the 7th floor overlooking the airport runway and terminal.

Satisfy your whims and desires to the luxury of Club Waterfront - an exclusive international private entertainment club. Pamper yourself in one of the 62 lavish suites designed to give you comfort and privacy.

Thrilling games of Baccarat, Blackjack, or Roulette. You call the shots. The fun is endless and the excitement is of the highest quality. Only here in Club Waterfront Cebu City and Mactan.

Let the warmth and hospitality of our friendly dealers and lively performances of topnotch entertainers complement your night.

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SHANGRILAS MACTAN ISLAND RESORT

The resort has 546 guestrooms and suites that are tastefully furnished with a colourful tropical decor which is a combination of meticulous local craftmanship and beautiful interior design. From the comfort of your own private balcony you can take in all the breathtaking views of the Visayan Sea and Outlying islands.

All rooms are equipped with the most modern amenities including IDD telephones, tea and coffee making facilities, electronic safe and satellite TV. Distinguished guests can enjoy the premium facilities of the Horizon Resort Club at the two top floors of the New Wing offering a new dimension of excellent service. No other resort in the Philippines offers such an exciting range of health, recreational and sports activities the world.

For water sport lovers there is windsurfing, parasailing, sailboating, water-skiing, scuba diving, snorkling and fishing. If you prefer your activity on land, there is tennis, a golf park and a fully equipped health club and gymnasium with sauna, steam bath and massage room. To pamper yourself from head to toe, visit the Beauty Salon.

LOCATION

Just a short flight from Manila but a world away is one of the Philippines most historical provinces, Cebu. Within easy reach of Cebus entertainment and business district and only 15 minutes from the international airport on a beautifully landscaped 13 hectare site in Punta Engano, you will find the Philippines first 5-star resort. Shangri-Las Mactan Island Resort.

Here you can experience a tropical paradise lifestyle with all the comforts and facilities imaginable to give you the sort of holiday that you always dreamed of. It is truly the most idyllic retreat and with direct flights to and from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, getting there is as easy as life on the resort.

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PLANTATION BAY BEACH RESORT

Discover a resort in a class of its own. Set in 7 hectares of secluded grounds, Plantation Bay offers one of the largest privately owned waterways in the world, with the clean elegance of colonial - plantation architecture. De-compress from lifes pressures in the healing tranquility of another world. If you ever spent time at a plantation as a child, you know what we mean. If not, come and discover a refreshingly different Flavor of Life. Truly international.

Opened in late 1996, Plantation Bay has already had over a hundred thousand visitors from every corner of the globe. Virtually all of them agree that this is one of the best resorts they have ever been to. International visitors feel rightat home at Plantation Bay. English is spoken throughout the resort; we also have Japanese, German, Italian, French, and Spanish-speaking staff members.Feel like you are at your own private estate.

Our rooms are a full 46 square meters; charminglydecorated with individually-selected furniture, oilpaintings, and prints; equipped with remote-control TV, mini-bar, electronic safe, and split- packageairconditioning.And you will love the bathrooms - spacious, stone and marble finishes, separate shower and deep tub, hair-dryer and extension phone.At some hotels, there are a token few rooms with nice views (for the brochures!), while most guests get stuck with parking-lot or garden views.

At Plantation Bay you are assured of a splendid, take- your-breath-away vista from every room.Choose from a dazzling range of activities - jetskis, para-sailing, motorboating, sailing, water-skiing, fishing, tennis, mini-golf, billiards, and tabletop sports. Cruises on our private twin-deckyacht. Snorkeling and scuba-diving just offshore or in dozens of sites nearby. Pistol-shooting and golf available.Our swimming pool is the largest in the country. It has 8 built-in jacuzzis, and is complemented with 3.5 has. of private saltwater swimming lagoons with waterfalls, water-slides, dive-rocks, and hydro- massage pools, plus a tropical fishpond andgrouper fishing hole where you can catch your own lunch.Some resorts feel cramped and crowded.

In Plantation Bays extensive grounds and waterways, you always feel open, free, and relaxed.

FREE! Airport transportation, welcome drink, 24-hour butler service, mineral water, bicycles and selected sports equipment, childrens activities, dinner entertainment.Indulge your appetites at three signature restaurants providing a choice of international, Pacific Rim, and Italian cuisines.

For groups and conferences, our award-winning chefs can prepare just about any kind of meal you desire. Hautecuisine? Nouvelle? Theme-party buffets? Marshmallows and beach bonfire? We have got a menu and a venue for you.

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MARIBAGO BLUEWATER BEACH RESO

Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort offers the best of Cebu for those who seek the ideal balance of creature comforts and natures wonders.

Located st 15 minutes away from the Mactan Cebu International Airport, Maribago has pride of place on the islands prized beach. All the diverse pleasures of island living are at your doorstep .. scuba diving, snorkeling, beach combing, swimming or just simply lazing under the tropical sun.

Whatever you want to do, Maribago Bluewater is the perfect seaside haven for refreshing body and soul.

Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort is located on Mactan Island, a palm fringed Paradise only minutes away from Cebu.

Bluewater is just a 15 minute drive from the Mactan Cebu International Airport. Daily flights from most Asian capitals, Manila and many provincial cities and towns make getting to Bluewater a relaxing start to your dream vacation. Upon arrival, let one of our courteous drivers meet you and whisk you to Bluewater. Or, you can avail of one of the many airconditioned taxis always available.

Retreat from the outside world in any of our 66 luxurious DeLuxe Rooms or 12 Royal Bungalows, all tastefully furnished and immaculately maintained .. all for your pleasure.

All are fully equipped with airconditioning, a fully stocked mini-bar, refrigerator, cable TV, luxurious full bath, intercom and telephone.

Our Royal Bungalows have a spacious separate living room, bedroom, furnished sun porch and complimentary tea and coffee service.

Long before the sun rises on another perfect tropical morning, our chefs are busy selecting and preparing the ingredients needed to satisfy the dining expectations of our most discerning guests.

From short orders to fine dining, we bring you the best of local and international foods and beverages.

Our chefs strive to make each meal unforgettable. Our friendly, knowledgeable and attentive serving staff see to it that your every wish is satisfied.

At Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort you are surrounded by the opportunity to engage in a host of different activities, these range from the excitement of Jet skiing to the peace of total relaxation under one of our Umbrella Huts. Just pick out the way you want to spend the day, and Bluewater will have it for you.

Chrysler Continues Electric Push with 200C

Chrysler unveiled another electric car from its ENVI program at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Stylistically, it could be best compared to a Mercedes CLS. And really, for Chrysler, this is a great looking car. The 200c is a range extended electric vehicle, so the car will be a able to travel 40 miles with zero emissions before a 2-cylinder turbocharged... [Read more]

Fact Check: Obama's claim of benefit cuts suspect

WASHINGTON – Medicare has become a new focal point in the presidential campaign, with Democratic nominee Barack Obama accusing Republican John McCain of seeking "cuts in benefits, eligibility, or both."

Elderly voters are sure to take notice of such statements being made in a 30-second television ad that the Obama campaign will air in some crucial swing states. Obama hit the same theme in a campaign appearance Friday in Virginia.

But Obama's charge is built on a shaky foundation. The campaign's evidence that McCain would make such cuts relies on a Wall Street Journal article where no specific cuts were mentioned.

In what little detail McCain discusses Medicaid and Medicare on his campaign Web site, he makes no mention of cutting benefits. He says this about the two health programs, the first for the poor, the second for the elderly and disabled: "We must reform the payment systems in Medicaid and Medicare to compensate providers for diagnosis, prevention and care coordination. Medicaid and Medicare should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement."

McCain wants to provide tax credits to encourage Americans to purchase private health insurance. To pay for it, he has proposed requiring workers to pay income taxes on the health benefits they now receive tax-free from their employers. The Tax Policy Center has projected that the change would actually be a tax cut for most people and would reduce federal revenues by an estimated $1.3 trillion over 10 years.

McCain's campaign has said the goal is for the program to be revenue-neutral, so he would find savings through Medicare and Medicaid.

And that's where the allegation about benefit and eligibility cuts comes into play. Obama's ad cites a Wall Street Journal article from Oct. 6 that began: "John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said." That very day, Democratic lawmakers and the advocacy group "Americans United for Change" held an "emergency press conference call" to react to McCain's health care proposal "that would gut Medicare and Medicaid by $1.3 trillion."

But McCain's focus on Medicare has been on overhauling the way it pays providers. McCain has taken up the mantra that the government's payments should be based more on the quality of care that patients get rather than on quantity, which is how the current fee-for-service-system operates. An advisory commission to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, has long recommended that paying providers based on quality "is an important first step towards purchasing the best care for beneficiaries and assuring the future of the program."

In comparing the two candidates' health care plans, the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducts health research, also makes no mention of McCain calling for benefit cuts to reduce Medicare costs. It does say that he would support the establishment of a commission to make recommendations on how to sustain the program for the future.

McCain's economic policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said in an interview this week that allegations McCain would cut Medicare benefits are "just false."

"There are many opportunities to deliver the same benefits in Medicare for lower costs and thus take pressure off premiums for the beneficiaries," Holtz-Eakin said. "That's a very different thing than the idea you would be cutting Medicare."

In the end, the Medicare program faces a difficult future with promised benefits far exceeding the program's projected revenue. Both candidates have been very careful to leave hard decisions about Medicare's future solvency for another day. Ap

Basic forms of ownership

A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. A business needs a market. A consumer is an essential part of a business. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit to increase the wealth of owners. The owners and operators of a business have as one of their main objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for work and acceptance of risk. Notable exceptions include cooperative businesses and state-owned enterprises. Socialistic systems involve either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses.

The etymology of "business" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the singular usage (above) to mean a particular company or corporation, the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as "the music business" and compound forms such as agribusiness, or the broadest meaning to include all activity by the community of suppliers of goods and services. However, the exact definition of business, like much else in the philosophy of business, is a matter of debate.

Business Studies, the study of the management of individuals to maintain collective productivity in order to accomplish particular creative and productive goals (usually to generate profit), is taught as an academic subject in many schools.
Contents


* 1 Basic forms of ownership
* 2 Classifications
* 3 Organization
* 4 Management
* 5 Government regulation
o 5.1 Organizing a business
o 5.2 Commercial law
o 5.3 Capital
o 5.4 Intellectual property
o 5.5 Exit plans
* 6 See also
* 7 External links
* 8 Notes and references

Basic forms of ownership

Although forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction, there are several common forms:

* Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person. The owner may operate on his or her own or may employ others. The owner of the business has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the business.

* Partnership: A partnership is a form of business in which two or more people operate for the common goal of making profit. Each partner has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the partnership. There are three typical classifications of partnerships: general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

* Corporation: A business corporation is a for-profit, limited liability entity that has a separate legal personality from its members. A corporation is owned by multiple shareholders and is overseen by a board of directors, which hires the business's managerial staff.

* Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op business" or "co-op", a cooperative is a for-profit, limited liability entity that differs from a corporation in that it has members, as opposed to shareholders, who share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives. Cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy.

For a country-by-country listing of legally recognized business forms, see Types of business entity.

Classifications
Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business.[citation needed]

There are many types of businesses, and, as a result, businesses are classified in many ways. One of the most common focuses on the primary profit-generating activities of a business:

* Manufacturers produce products, from raw materials or component parts, which they then sell at a profit. Companies that make physical goods, such as cars or pipes, are considered manufacturers.
* Service businesses offer intangible goods or services and typically generate a profit by charging for labor or other services provided to government, other businesses or consumers. Organizations ranging from house decorators to consulting firms to restaurants and even to entertainers are types of service businesses.
* Retailers and Distributors act as middle-men in getting goods produced by manufacturers to the intended consumer, generating a profit as a result of providing sales or distribution services. Most consumer-oriented stores and catalogue companies are distributors or retailers. See also: Franchising
* Agriculture and mining businesses are concerned with the production of raw material, such as plants or minerals.
* Financial businesses include banks and other companies that generate profit through investment and management of capital.
* Information businesses generate profits primarily from the resale of intellectual property and include movie studios, publishers and packaged software companies.
* Utilities produce public services, such as heat, electricity, or sewage treatment, and are usually government chartered.
* Real estate businesses generate profit from the selling, renting, and development of properties, homes, and buildings.
* Transportation businesses deliver goods and individuals from location to location, generating a profit on the transportation costs

There are many other divisions and subdivisions of businesses. The authoritative list of business types for North America is generally considered to be the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS. The equivalent European Union list is the NACE.

Organization
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)
Advertisement of Victoria's Secret. Advertisement is an important aspect of business.


Most businesses must accomplish similar functions regardless of size, legal structure or industry. These functions are often organized into departments. Common departments include (but are not limited to):

Human Resources
Typically responsible for hiring, firing, payroll, benefits, etc.
Finance
responsible for managing the enterprises financial resources[1]

Budgeting and forecasting
planning how the enterprise wants things to happen
Cash and treasury management
ensuring the enterprise has money when it's needed
Accounts payable and receivable
ensuring the enterprise receives what it's owed and pay what it owes
Tax planning/filing and reporting
meeting obligations to the government
Risk management
ensuring the enterprise doesn't get surprised by something unfavorable
External and internal (management) reporting
providing visibility into the enterprise for those who need it through financial reporting and other types of reporting

Marketing and sales
responsible for selling the business' goods or services to the customer and for managing the relationships with the customer

Marketing
Typically responsible for promoting interest in, and generating demand for, the business' products or services, and positioning them within the market
Sales
finding likely purchasers and obtaining their agreement (known as a contract) to buy the business' products or services

Operations makes the product or delivers the service

Production produces the raw materials into the delivered goods, if they require processing
Customer service
supports customers who need help with the goods or services

Procurement responsible for acquiring the goods and services necessary for the business. Sometimes organized as:

Strategic sourcing determines the business' needs and plans for acquiring the necessary raw materials and services for the business
Purchasing processes the purchase orders and related transactions

Research and Development tests to create new products and to determine their viability (e.g. pilot plants) Information Technology manages the business' computer and data assets
Communications/Public Relations responsible for communicating to the outside world

Administration provides administrative support to the other departments (such as typing, filing, etc.)Internal Audit
an independent control function typically accountable to the Board of Directors for reporting on the proper functioning of the other departments

Management is sometimes listed as a "department" but typically refers to the top level of leadership within the business regardless of their functional role.

Dow industrials fall 679 for 6th triple-digit loss in a row

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NEW YORK - A runaway train of a sell-off turned the anniversary of the stock market peak into one of the worst days in Wall Street history Thursday, driving the Dow Jones industrials down a breathtaking 679 points and deepening a financial crisis that has defied all efforts to stop it.

Stocks lost more than 7 percent, $872 billion of investments evaporated, and the Dow fell to 8,579. When the average crashed through the 9,000 level for the first time in five years in the final hour of trading, sellers had only begun to hit the gas pedal.

As bad as the day was, even worse was the cumulative effect of a historic run of declines: The Dow suffered a triple-digit loss for the sixth day in a row, a first, and the average dropped for the seventh day in a row, a losing streak not seen since 2002.

"Right now the market is just panicked," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "Nobody wants to take on any risk. Everybody just wants to get their money and put it under the mattress."

It all took place one year to the day after the Dow closed at its record high of 14,164. Since that day, frozen credit, record foreclosures, cascading job losses and outright fear have seized the market and sapped 39 percent of its value.

Paper losses for the year add up to an staggering $8.3 trillion, according to preliminary figures measured by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which tracks 5,000 U.S.-based companies representing almost all stocks traded in America.

It was the second straight day that Wall Street was rocked by a final-hour sell-off, but this one was particularly shocking.

Most of the day was relatively calm, and the trading floor was quieter than usual because of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Wall Street awoke to news the federal government was brandishing a new weapon against the financial crisis — considering seeking an equity stake in major U.S. banks in order to stabilize them.

But that step appeared to be as ineffectual as the others Washington has rolled out in recent weeks, including a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, a coordinated interest rate cut by central banks around the world and direct lending by the Federal Reserve to private companies to provide them with short-term cash.

Acquiring a stake in the banks would be yet another startling intervention by the government in the free market, but economists said President Bush was left with little choice because of the credit markets, where tight lending has choked off the everyday cash that is the lifeblood of the economy.

"In normal times, this would be out of the question, but in the present dire situation, I think the government should be employing all the powers that it can," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands.

Wall Street has been teetering on the brink of panic for a month now, vulnerable to any bad news. Thursday's sell-off was triggered when a major credit rating agency put General Motors Corp. and its finance affiliate under review to determine whether it should be downgraded.

Stock in GM, one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones industrials, lost 31 percent of its value and closed at $4.76 — its lowest in more than half a century, since the Korean War began.

For the Dow, it has been nothing short of a free fall:

_The average is down 2,338 points, or 21 percent, in the last four weeks, since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy escalated a long-running credit crunch into a full-fledged crisis.

_The point decline Thursday was the third-worst in Dow history. The worst, 778 points, came less than two weeks ago.

_Of the last 19 trading days, there have been 11 triple-digit losses — including the unprecedented six straight. The six gains have all been triple-digits, and only one of them was enough to make up the losses of the day before.

_The Dow now stands only about 1,300 points above its lowest close of the bear market that followed 9/11. In a market as volatile as this, that gap can be closed in a couple of trading days, or less.

In fact, triple-digit declines can happen almost in an instant.

On Thursday, the Dow was above 9,200 after 1:30 p.m. and still above 9,000 after 3 p.m. The pressure to sell was so intense that the Dow kept dropping precipitously for 10 minutes after the 4 p.m. closing bell as the day's losses were tabulated.

In percentage terms, the drop in the Dow exceeded the day the markets reopened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It was not close to the 22.6-percent decline on Black Monday in 1987, the last stock market crash.

Still, it is becoming increasingly clear that Washington has ever fewer places to reach in its toolbox to stop, or perhaps even slow, the crisis. Among the options still left are buying up foreclosed properties and making direct loans to homeowners, both of them hard for free-market supporters to swallow.

Speaking in the afternoon before the market closed, President Bush told an audience on the South Lawn of the White House that the economy was going through a "very touch stretch." But, he said: "I'm confident in our economy's long-term prospects."

After the market closed, the White House said Americans should remain confident despite the market plunge, and President Bush planned to speak from the Rose Garden on Friday morning — though he was not expected to unveil any new policy proposals.

"The Treasury Department is moving quickly to use new tools to improve liquidity, which is the root cause of this problem," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "Americans should be confident that every effort is being taken to stabilize our markets."

The broader stock indicators registered similar declines to the Dow's. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 7.6 percent to the 909 level, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.5 percent to 1,645.

Meanwhile, the credit markets remained stubbornly locked-up. The benchmark rate that banks charge each other for loans, known as Libor, rose to 4.75 percent from 4.52 percent a day earlier, signaling banks are still afraid to make loans because they worry they won't be paid back.

"The story is getting to be like that movie Groundhog Day," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "Everything we're seeing is historic. The problem is historic, the solutions are historic, and unfortunately, the sell-off is historic. It's not the kind of history you want to be making."

Adding to Wall Street's nervousness, a ban on short selling — a process in which investors borrow shares of stock and essentially bet the value will fall — expired.

With three and a half weeks before voters elect Bush's successor, there was also no immediate comment on the Wall Street action from the presidential candidates, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.

Earlier in the day in Dayton, Ohio, Obama took aim at McCain's plan to have the government absorb the full cost of renegotiating mortgages for borrowers under strain from the dramatic decline of the values of their homes.

McCain rolled out the idea at the second presidential debate earlier this week, a forum in which he also told voters it was important to have a steady hand in the White House during a time of economic crisis. - source

10,000 Chinese children still sick from milk

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago

BEIJING - More than 10,000 children remained hospitalized after being sickened in China's tainted milk scandal, eight of whom were in serious condition, officials said.
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The Health Ministry said in a statement on its Web site Wednesday that 10,666 children were in hospitals after drinking milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, which can lead to kidney stones and possibly life-threatening kidney failure.

No new deaths have been recorded, it said. The scandal has so far been blamed for the deaths of four babies and the sickening of about 54,000 others in China.

But the effects of the scandal continue to be felt, forcing the government to deal with festering health and public relations issues. China's food exports have increasingly suffered, with more nations issuing import bans.

Singapore's food safety agency said Thursday it found traces of melamine in three more Chinese-made products. The authority said the chemical was detected in samples of blueberry and chocolate flavored Cadbury Choclairs and Panda Dairy-brand Whole Milk Powder imported from China.

Also on Thursday, Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety said in a statement it found melamine in EDO Pack Almond Cacao Biscuit Sticks produced by Hong Kong company EDO Trading Co.

Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at a meeting of health ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila that member nations should strengthen regulations to shield people from potentially harmful imports.

Dairy suppliers have been accused of adding melamine — used in products including plastics, paint and adhesives — to watered-down milk to make the product appear rich in protein and fool quality control tests.

There had been no standards for the amount of the chemical allowed in food products.

Under Health Ministry guidelines released Wednesday, melamine is now limited to one part per million for infant formula and 2.5 parts per million for liquid milk, milk powder and food products that contain more than 15 percent milk.

Wang Xuening, a ministry official, acknowledged that small amounts of melamine can leech from the environment and packaging into milk and other foods, but said deliberate tainting was forbidden.

Levels of melamine discovered in batches of milk powder recently registered as much as 6,196 parts per million.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration says its experts have concluded that eating 2.5 parts per million of melamine — a minuscule amount — would not raise health risks, even if a person ate food every day that contained it.

Guidelines in Hong Kong and New Zealand say melamine in food products is considered safe at 2.5 parts per million or less, though Hong Kong has lowered the level for children under 3 and pregnant or lactating women to one part per million.

China's food exports have suffered significantly from the scandal, with more than 30 countries restricting Chinese dairy products, and in some cases all Chinese food exports.

The Finance Ministry said Thursday the government has allocated $44 million to help dairy farmers who have been hurt by declining demand for milk. Many farmers have been tossing out raw milk as they are squeezed by feed costs they cannot recoup.

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Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report. source

For bailout to work, housing market needs to mend

NEW YORK - Washington's financial bailout plan is now law. So the credit spigot will start flowing again, banks will resume lending, and an economic recovery can begin, right?
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Wrong. Experts say the most important thing that needs to happen before the $700 billion bailout even has a chance of working: Home prices must stop falling. That would send a signal to banks that the worst has passed and it's safe to start doling out money again.

The problem is the lending freeze has made getting a mortgage loan tough for everyone except those with sterling credit. That means it will take several months or longer to pare down the glut of houses built when times were good — and those that have come on the market because of soaring foreclosures — before home prices start appreciating.

Housing is a critical component to the U.S. economy and by extension the availability of credit. Roughly one in eight U.S. jobs depends on housing directly or indirectly — from construction workers to bank loan officers to big brokers on Wall Street. A turnaround in housing prices would boost confidence in the wider economy and, experts hope, goad banks into lending again.

"Housing traditionally does lead the economy through a recovery. I think it's going to be critical for a sustained recovery in this cycle, too," said Gary Thayer, senior economist at Wachovia Securities.

In the meantime, people like Alicia Elliott are adjusting to a new American reality: Life without credit.

The 21-year old Morgantown, W. Va., resident just bought a used mobile home, borrowing $4,000 from friends and family because she couldn't get a bank loan.

"I tried to. Couldn't do it. It's just hard to get a loan," said Elliott, who works as a cashier at a Lowe's Cos. store.

She used to get bombarded with offers for credit cards. Now she can't even get one. "I get denied one after another after another. It doesn't matter if you have a co-signer or not," she said.

Trey Simmons, a 31-year-old barber at a Dallas hair salon, said he worries tighter lending standard will squash his goal of buying a home next year.

"Credit is a privilege everybody can't get," Simmons said. "I had credit at a young age and messed up."

He now operates on a strictly cash basis. "If I don't have it," he said, referring to cash, "I don't spend it."

The dilemma boils down to a matter of trust.

"Credit, by definition, means trust and faith, and for many reasons trust and faith have been damaged," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands.

Sohn said the near certainty of a recession makes it too risky for the thousands of small and medium-sized banks across the country to lend to people like Elliot.

"Banks know the economy is getting worse, so ... they will keep being cautious," said Sohn, a former banking executive.

Still, the government hopes that by scooping up billions of dollars in bad mortgage debt and other toxic assets, banks eventually can clean up their shaky balance sheets, crack open the vaults and send money washing through the system again.

The rescue plan also raises the federally insured deposit limit from $100,000 to $250,000, a move that could boost banks' reserves and further grease the lending wheels.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the Financial Services Committee chairman and a key negotiator over the past weeks, said the measure was just the beginning of a much larger task Congress will tackle next year: overhauling housing policy and financial regulation in a legislative effort comparable to the New Deal.

In the meantime, the Treasury Department is moving swiftly to get the plan started. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday he did not wait for final approval of the measure to begin preparation. He has been lining up outside advisers as his staff works out details on a multitude of complex issues.

But several hurdles could trip up the plan. For starters, even when the Treasury starts buying bad assets, some banks may hoard the cash they receive in return until they see how the plan pans out. That has the potential to make the lending logjam worse, said Vincent R. Reinhart, former director of the Federal Reserve's monetary affairs division.

"They may sit on the sidelines and wait to see (the bailout) get some traction. The problem is if everybody sits on the sidelines, nobody gets in the game. It's a risk," he said.

It also creates a vicious cycle: No trust means no lending; tight credit means it's harder to buy a home; the more difficult it is to buy or sell a home, the further home prices will fall; and the further prices drop, the more foreclosures there will be.

U.S. home prices — down 20 percent from their peak in July 2006 — still have further to fall, and must hit bottom before demand picks up. The long-awaited bottom in prices could be a year or more away.

But Jim Gillespie, chief executive of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, said he hopes that lower prices, combined with the government's actions will jump-start stagnant demand. The federal bailout plan, he said, "will give people reassurance that mortgage money is available."

Jobs are another big concern. The stranglehold on credit has choked companies big and small that depend on regular inflows of borrowed money to pay employees and stay afloat.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers cut 159,000 jobs in September, the fastest pace of losses in more than five years. Experts say that number will grow as the effects of the credit gridlock course through the economy in coming days and weeks.

The nation's unemployment rate is now 6.1 percent, up from 4.7 percent a year ago. Over the last year, the number of unemployed people has risen by 2.2 million to 9.5 million.

The unemployment rate could rise to as high as 7.5 percent by late 2009, economists predict. If that happens, it would mark the highest since after the 1990-91 recession.

Boosting employment is critical to kick-starting lending because "if jobs are growing, then incomes are a growing, and if incomes are growing then people are consuming," Reinhart said.

Consumers and businesses have retrenched so much that some analysts fear the economy stalled or shrank in the third quarter that ended last week. The Labor Department report Friday showed wage growth for workers is slowing, meaning they'll be more hard-pressed to spend, especially for something as expensive as a home.

Many economists predict the economy will contract in the final quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of next year. That would meet the classic definition of a recession — two consecutive quarters of a shrinking economy.

One bright spot: optimism hasn't been totally squashed yet.

Morgan Cavanaugh, proprietor of Moriarty's Pub in downtown Cleveland, has been trying to sell another bar he owns to ease his workload, but the prospective buyer hasn't been able to raise the money.

Now that the bailout legislation has the green light, he's hopeful he'll get a deal done.

"It passed. Let's work something out," Cavanaugh told the man over a cell phone Friday just after the House approved the plan.

He flipped the phone shut and smiled from behind the weathered mahogany bar of his 75-year-old Irish pub.

"He's going to put the loan request in again. It's looking up," Cavanaugh said. source

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Colossal Hurricane Ike

HOUSTON - A monster-sized Hurricane Ike bore down on the Texas coast late Friday, threatening to rattle the sparkling skyscrapers of America's fourth-largest city, shut down the heart of the U.S oil industry for days and obliterate waterfront towns already flooded with waist-high water.
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Though nearly 1 million people evacuated coastal communities in the days leading up to the storm, tens of thousands ignored calls to leave and decided to tough it out. But as wind-whipped floodwaters began crashing into coastal homes, many changed their minds. Galveston fire crews rescued more than 300 people who were walking through flooded streets, clutching clothes and other belongings as they tried to wade to safety.

"We were going street by street seeing people who were trying to escape the flood waters," Fire Chief Michael Varela said. "I'm assuming these were people who made the mistake of staying."

At 600 miles across, the storm was nearly as big as Texas itself, and threatened to give the state its worst pounding in a generation. It was on track to crash ashore early Saturday near Galveston, the same site that suffered the nation's worst natural disaster when a legendary storm struck without warning and killed 6,000 more than a century ago.

Officials were growing increasingly worried about the stalwarts, and many communities imposed curfews to discourage looters. Authorities in three counties alone said roughly 90,000 stayed behind, despite a warning from forecasters that many of those in one- or two-story homes on the coast faced "certain death."

"We don't know how bad it will be, but as soon as we do, we will be asking for help," Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

At dark Friday, the Coast Guard suspended a search for a 19-year-old man who was lost in 6- to 8-foot waves off North Padre Island, about 10 miles east of Corpus Christi. Michael Moxly was with three other people on the southside of the Packery Channel Jetty when he was swept away.

In communities all along the coast, rescue crews were forced in the face of heavy wind and rain to retreat and leave the stubborn to fend for themselves. Three buildings were destroyed by fire in Galveston because water was too high for fire trucks to navigate.

"I believe in the man up there, God," said William Steally, a 75-year-old retiree who planned to ride out the storm in Galveston without his wife or sister-in-law. "I believe he will take care of me."

A disabled 584-foot freighter with 22 men aboard was left tossing about in the waves because winds were too dangerous for aircraft. Late Friday, the Coast Guard reported the crew was still safe after weathering the brunt of the storm, and a tugboat was set to arrive noon Saturday.

Power was knocked out to hundreds of thousands of customers in Louisiana and along the Texas coast. That number that was expected to climb quickly throughout the night, according to Centerpoint Energy, the primary electricity provider for the region.

As of 11 p.m. EDT, Ike was centered about 55 miles southeast of Galveston, moving at 12 mph. It was close to a Category 3 storm with winds of 110 mph, and was expected to strengthen by the time the eye hit land. Forecasters predicted it would come ashore somewhere near Galveston early Saturday and pass almost directly over Houston.

Because of the hurricane's size, the state's shallow coastal waters and its largely unprotected coastline, forecasters said the biggest threat would be flooding and storm surge, with Ike expected to hurl a wall of water two stories high — 20 to 25 feet — at the coast.

Bachir Annane, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Division, said Ike's surge could be catastrophic, and like nothing the Texas coast has ever seen.

"Wind doesn't tell the whole story," Annane said. "It's the size that tells the story, and this is a giant."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said more than 5.5 million prepackaged meals were being sent to the region, along with more than 230 generators and 5.6 million liters of water. At least 3,500 FEMA officials were stationed in Texas and Louisiana.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry asked President Bush for a "wide-reaching emergency declaration" in all 88 counties being affected, a move designed to secure emergency funding to help defray storm costs.

Ike would be the first major hurricane to hit a U.S. metropolitan area since Katrina devastated New Orleans three years ago. For Houston, it would be the first major hurricane since Alicia in August 1983 came ashore on Galveston Island, killing 21 people and causing $2 billion in damage. Houston has since then seen a population explosion, so many of the residents now in the storm's path have never experienced the full wrath of a hurricane.

Authorities instructed most of the city's 2 million residents to just hunker down to avoid highway gridlock. Residents prepared for a sleepless night.

Before midnight, the storm surge had started to flood some low-lying areas of the city, and some of the seven bayous that snake through the city were overflowing.

"With the water at these levels, you can assume that there is water in homes and homes are damaged," said Frank Michel, spokesman for Houston Mayor Bill White. "But right now, it's dark, the storm is building and we don't have anyone going up and down the streets yet determining the extent of the damage."

On the far east side of Houston, Claudia Macias was trying unsuccessfully not to think about the trees swaying outside her doors, or the wind vibrating through her windows. She had been through other storms, and other hurricanes, but this time is different because Macias is a new mother.

"I don't know who's going to sleep here tonight, maybe the baby," said Macias, 34. "I'm not sleeping."

If Ike is as bad as feared, the storm could travel up Galveston Bay and send a surge up the Houston Ship Channel and into the port of Houston. The port is the nation's second-busiest, and is an economically vital complex of docks, pipelines, depots and warehouses that receives automobiles, consumer products, industrial equipment and other cargo from around the world and ships out vast amounts of petrochemicals and agricultural products.

The oil and gas industry was also closely watching Ike because it was headed straight for the nation's biggest complex of refineries and petrochemical plants. Wholesale gasoline prices jumped to around $4.85 a gallon for fear of shortages.

The storm could also force water up the seven bayous that thread through Houston, swamping neighborhoods so flood-prone that they get inundated during ordinary rainstorms.

Though Ike's center was heading for Texas, it spawned thunderstorms, shut down schools and knocked out power throughout southern Louisiana on Friday. An estimated 1,200 people were in state shelters in Monroe and Shreveport, and another 220 in medical needs shelters.

In southeastern Louisiana near Houma, Ike breached levees, threatening thousands of homes of fishermen, oil-field workers, farmers and others.

In Galveston, a working-class town of about 57,000, waves crashed over the 11-mile seawall built a century ago, after the Great Storm of 1900 killed 6,000 residents.

While the Galveston beachfront is dotted with new condominiums and some elegant beach homes on stilts, most people live in older, one-story bungalows. The National Weather Service warned "widespread and devastating" damage was expected.

The Quickest Way To Make Money On Earth

I am going to assume you don't want to break the law or rob a bank, while as quickly as it might make you wealthy to rob your local casino, it is just not the right thing to do. I will also take for granted you do not want to marry cash or hope for a successful lottery ticket, how I am probable to propose is a sound and hopefully logical explanation of the quickest way to make money on Earth.

First, I want to introduce you to the three kinds of money. Time money, Credit money and Solutions money. All three of these are ways to get money. Time bucks is connected to long period of time and is typically offered in a job. You work 8 hours, you get 8 hours pay. The very next day you craft according to scratch, the try you did yesterday has been paid for and you will never earn for those 8 hours of work ever again. The coming is credit money and this type of income trades tomorrows hours of work today. Typically, you can clearly get charge money, if you can substantiate you Hello How Are you? in a job and undergo entrance to tiny bit money. So such two methods of taking out money are both closely connected to the time component.

The third brand of way to get money is solution money. Its where the fun begins. Most of the corporate world makes its money this way and pays their staff slow down time money. While they make $100,000 in a single afternoon, they pay their staff an hourly wage. There is nothing unfair about this, but it is crucial to note that solution bucks has no time component. Solution cash is made by writing solutions to peoples problems.

The quickest way on Earth to make money is to earn it offering solutions to peoples problems. The a greater amount of professional and effective your solution, the more in demand that key is the more ridiculously high your income is able to be.

Free Online Poker

Online poker games using play-money don't fall under the category of gambling when fake currency or chips, that have no intrinsic value, are used by players to take part in a game. As a result, nothing of actual value is won or lost. While some play-money poker games may be intended for the sole purpose of entertainment, some may be used by beginners to understand the basic rules, strategies, and structure of a poker game and to become accustomed to online poker software. Advanced players may also use play-money games to sharpen key skills and to experiment with new strategies.

The play style in play-money poker is often very loose and aggressive, and its main change from real-money poker is in the preflop strategies. Loose preflop-play is rife in play-money games, while real-money players will play tighter preflop and only see the flop surrounded by certain hands as of they don't like to risk costing money. There are also chosen similarities between play-money and real-money poker. For example, the merely difference between multi-table play-money tournaments and large Freerolls is the present Freerolls include real prize money.

Experts do not recommend playing online poker with play-money if you're thinking of playing serious poker later on. That's because winning a play-money poker game becomes very easy since no one remarkably cares about thriving or losing. Becoming accustomed to that style of play environment is planning to reflect in real dollars games at which us on the table will play to win the pot, maneuvering the game in the most unexpected directions. More

Wealth - Test Your Attitude

Wealth, money, mansions, jewelry, personal airplane, parties, celebrations, holidays and all that funds can buy. Money brings so much comfort and beauty to life, that it has become one of the multiple substantial factor in today's world. Money is a great motivator. Without money not anything works. No food, no shelter and no clothes. Without money it is difficult to own friends. Family disowns you quickly if you have no money. If you have money , a lot of it, you are able to get as multiple friends as you wish. One high advantage of money is philanthropy.

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Money is one of the most important factors of life. With money, one can feel independent. Fulfill multi wishes and make a home comfortably. One can also submit comfort to many others with money. More money