The FDA's prolonged, covert monitoring of the whistleblowers continued even after the HHS Office of Inspector General denied the FDA's request to take any criminal and/or administrative action against the whistleblowers. In their letter of refusal, the OIG explicitly informed the FDA that the whistleblowers' communications to Congress were protected under law.
 
The NWC issued an Action Alert strongly encouraging the public to send email to the President, FDA officials, and members of Congress demanding that the six whistleblowers be protected and targeted surveillance be halted throughout the government.
 
 
Links:  
 
Senator Grassley's Letter to FDA Commissioner
(http://www.whistleblowers.org/storage/whistleblowers/documents/FDAComplaint/grassleyletter.fdaspying.pdf)
 
FDA Whistleblower Complaint
(http://www.whistleblowers.org/storage/whistleblowers/documents/FDAComplaint/fdacomplaint.redacted.pdf)
 
Intercepted Emails from FDA Whistleblowers
(http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1332) 
 
Letter from the HHS OIG
(http://www.whistleblowers.org/storage/whistleblowers/documents/FDAComplaint/oigletter.fdawbdisclosuresprotected.pdf)
   
NWC Action Alert
(http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1333)
 

***
 
 

— WebWireID152286 —

iomart Group's stance follows the announcement today (2nd February 2012) by the Science and Technology Select Committee, that the UK Government should consider imposing safety standards on software sold  if self-regulation isn't adopted by the IT industry.

iomart's web security software Netintelligence, which provides internet protection for 100,000s of school children and families in the UK, is the first and only such software to carry the BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety. Netintelligence was awarded the Kitemark by Children and Families Minister Tim Loughton in January 2011. So far, no other UK software company has taken up the accreditation and the Government has not supported the Kitemark publicly.

The BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety is a certification scheme for internet website filtering software produced by software manufacturers. These products can be bought as stand-alone products from computer retailers or come as part of an operating system or ISP package. The software's ease of use, reliability, and performance must meet the scheme's strict criteria.

Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart Group plc, said: 'Back in 2007, iomart along with the British Standards Institute, OFCOM, the Home Office, several major UK child safety organisations and other private sector companies spent a considerable amount of time working on the specifications required for PAS 74 (Access control systems for the protection of children online), which ultimately became the BSI Kitemark for Online Child Safety.

Rather than yet another clarion call for more action, the UK Government could make a bold stance now. It should insist that all public sector organisations with a duty of care towards protecting children online, for example schools and local authorities, should only purchase products that have been awarded the Kitemark. That way other commercial companies will have to follow the lead of Netintelligence and iomart Group to provide software and services that the public can trust.'

iomart Group plc is ranked as one of the top web hosting companies in the world by HostReview and is Scottish Digital IT Company of the Year 2011. 

CTO Bill Strain was recently named IT Leader of the Year 2011 by IT Pro.
 

— WebWireID152289 —

When posed this question, 'Would more women vote for Newt Gingrich or Barack Obama?' a majority of the respondents, 53.87%, said they thought more women would vote for Obama than Gingrich. 33.33% thought Gingrich would win, while 12.8% thought it would be equal or were unsure.

'I'm really not surprised by these poll results', said Peter J. Bryson, founder of The Wealth & Freedom Foundation.  'With recent allegations of sexual impropriety and a history of infidelity it's clear to see why he would rate poorly amongst women.  And let's just be honest about it, he's not really a likable candidate compared to Obama.'

The poll also found that a majority of people felt that Gingrich would not be able to defeat Obama if the general election were held today.  While 53% of the respondents said that Gingrich could not beat Obama in the 2012 election, 36% thought that he could, and 11% were undecided.

The Wealth & Freedom Foundation, America's #1 advocate for the wealth and freedom of the average citizen, frequently conducts surveys and political opinion polls.  It also publishes a weekly e-newsletter discussing political and financial issues.

— WebWireID152268 —

— WebWireID152177 —

Linked here are key documents related to this lawsuit and the FDA's spying program.

The complaint details how the FDA targeted its employees with a covert spying campaign that lasted for two years. The FDA began the program after learning that the employees wrote a letter to President-Elect Obama and his transition team in early 2009 detailing government misconduct in approving unsafe medical devices.  The Agency installed (or activated) spyware on their workplace computers and used other technology that to monitor their password-protected Gmail-to-Gmail communications.

In addition to reading the whistleblowers' emails, the FDA took contemporaneous screen shots of the employees' computer screens. Managers used the collected information to learn the identities of confidential whistleblowers and to obtain the details of the public health and safety concerns the whistleblowers intended to disclose to the Office of Special Counsel, Congress and the Agency's own Inspector General.

The FDA also intercepted email communications to and from staff members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee.  These Congressional intercepts are linked here.

The FDA's prolonged covert monitoring of the whistleblowers continued even after the HHS Office of Inspector General denied the FDA's request to take any criminal and/or administrative action against the whistleblowers. In their letter of refusal, the OIG explicitly informed the FDA that the whistleblowers' communications to Congress were protected under law.

The managers who spearheaded the surveillance efforts were the same managers involved with the wrongdoing and corruption that the whistleblowers were seeking to report. Lawyers at the FDA and HHS Offices of General Counsel, who should have understood that the program breached the employees' confidentiality, helped FDA managers with their obstruction and retaliation.

In their lawsuit, six FDA whistleblowers who were fired by the agency (including two highly respected medical doctors, a Branch Chief, a former Health and Safety Officer employed by the Public Health Service and a 23-year FDA career M.D./Ph.D Scientist) are requesting a nationwide injunction prohibiting the federal government from targeting whistleblowers with selected surveillance and monitoring.

The lawsuit alleges that such targeted monitoring of whistleblowers violates their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and association.

Stephen M. Kohn, NWC Executive Director and attorney for six FDA whistleblowers, issued the following statement:

The FDA declared war on employees who were trying to warn Americans about threats to public health and safety.The federal government cannot---and should not---spy on whistleblowers. The First Amendment prohibits targeting whistleblowers and selectively monitoring them using highly intrusive electronic surveillance without a warrant.

Targeting the employees who raise health and safety concerns---or who try to report waste, fraud and abuse to the proper authorities---will have a massive chilling effect on employees.

The FDA's illegal spying program is not just a problem for the six victims in this case. The day we allow the government to spy on employees based on their lawful whistleblower activities is the day we give up privacy for every honest public servant in America.

If permitted to stand, the FDA's whistleblower surveillance program will be used by government agencies throughout the United States to silence employees who want to report misconduct.  Those who are not silenced will be subjected to years of intrusive covert spying designed to dredge up embarrassing information that the agencies can use to destroy the whistleblowers' reputations and careers.

Today, the NWC issued an Action Alert seeking public support for the FDA whistleblowers and demanding an end to the federal government's targeted and selective surveillance of whistleblowers.
The NWC obtained the intercepted emails as a result of a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act and from documents produced by the FDA as a result of administrative actions taken against three of the whistleblowers.

Links:  FDA Whistleblower Complaint
Intercepted Emails from FDA Whistleblowers
Letter from the HHS OIG
Support FDA Whistleblowers
PageNWC Action Alert

***

— WebWireID152126 —

Many of Marlene's paintings and sculptures are owned by private collectors and are in corporate collections around the world.

Marlene Couri's work can be viewed on her website at  marlenecarrollcouri.com and marlenecarroll.com.

— WebWireID152079 —

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today renewed its commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, the Gates Foundation is giving US$ 750 million through a promissory note – a new and innovative funding mechanism.

'These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world's poorest,' said Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Gates Foundation. 'The Global Fund is one of the most effective ways we invest our money in every year.'

Providing funding through a promissory note gives the Global Fund the flexibility and authority to distribute funds efficiently based on immediate needs, leading to greater impact.

'By supporting the Global Fund, we can help to change the fortunes of the poorest countries in the world,' said Gates. 'I can't think of more important work.'

Global Fund financing helps developing countries fighting against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This public-private partnership creates economic opportunity and makes those living in poverty less dependent on aid.

Since 2002, investments in the Global Fund have financed innovative prevention and treatment programmes in 150 countries with high burdens of disease. The Global Fund continues to save 100,000 lives a month. The Fund has provided antiretroviral treatment to 3.3 million people, detected and treated 8.2 million people with tuberculosis, and provided 230 million bed nets to families to prevent malaria.

The new commitment is in addition to the US$ 650 million the Gates Foundation has already contributed since the Global Fund was launched 10 years ago at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which convenes the world's top business and political leaders.

The Foundation commends the recent political and financial commitments to the Global Fund by donor governments. All donors – rich, middle-income and poor countries, as well as the private sector – must continue to invest in the lifesaving work of the Global Fund.

On the heels of releasing his fourth annual letter yesterday in London, Gates continued to challenge global leaders to invest in innovations that are accelerating progress against poverty or risk a future where millions needlessly die. While there has been tremendous progress against AIDS, TB and malaria, more must be done. Through unique partnerships and new financing mechanisms, the global community has the opportunity to have an even greater impact and save more lives.

With record participation of over 2,600 leaders from government, academia, business and civil society, the theme of this year's Annual Meeting is The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models.

The Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012 are: Yasuchika Hasegawa, President and Chief Executive Officer, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan; Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer, Citi, USA; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever, United Kingdom; Alejandro Ramirez, Chief Executive Officer, Cinepolis, Mexico; Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, USA; and Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands.

Notes to Editors

Find more information about the Annual Meeting 2012 at http://wef.ch/Davos
View the best photographs from the Annual Meeting on Flickr at http://wef.ch/pix
Watch live webcasts of the sessions on Livestream at http://wef.ch/live
Watch the sessions on YouTube at http://wef.ch/youtube or Youku at http://wef.ch/youku
Ask a World Leader on YouTube: http://wef.ch/askaleader
Become a fan of the Forum on Facebook at http://wef.ch/facebook
Follow the Forum on Twitter at http://wef.ch/twitter and http://wef.ch/livetweet
Listen to the Forum Podcast at http://wef.ch/podcast
Read the Forum Blog at http://wef.ch/blog
Read Forum reports on Scribd at http://wef.ch/scribd
Follow the Meeting on the iPhone at http://wef.ch/app
Upcoming Forum events at http://wef.ch/events
Subscribe to Forum News Releases at http://wef.ch/news
Connect with the Forum at http://wef.ch/connect

— WebWireID152027 —

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland – Despite the uncertainty sweeping across the European Union, British Prime Minister David Cameron was bullish about the prospects for resolving the current Eurozone crisis. 'Europe could recover its dynamism. I still believe we can. But only if we are bold. Only if we fight for our prosperity ... [and if we] get to grips with the debt,' he said.

The Prime Minister called for bold decisions on deregulation, on opening up the Single Market, on innovation and trade, and to address the 'fundamental issues' at the heart of the Eurozone crisis. 'All of these decisions lie in our own hands. They are the test of Europe's leaders in the months ahead. ... The problems we face are man-made and with bold action and real political will we can fix them,' the Prime Minister urged.

Short-term issues must be dealt with. 'Greece, banks and the firewall. If you do all those three things together quickly, you would ease the sense of the crisis. For 2012, that would make a clear difference,' he advised. Cameron's remarks came on the heels of pressure from the International Monetary Fund on Monday 23 January to 'bolster the firewall' around Italy and Spain as talks between Greece and its creditors have been mired in deadlock for a third week.

Cameron outlined the features common to all successful currency unions:

- A central bank that can comprehensively stand behind the currency and the financial system
- The deepest possible economic integration with the flexibility to deal with economic shocks
- A system of fiscal transfers and collective debt issuance that can deal with the tensions and imbalances between different countries and regions within the union.

'Currently it's not that the Eurozone doesn't have all of these…it's that it doesn't really have any of these,' he declared.

The Eurozone crisis calls for 'tough fiscal discipline', but the Prime Minister pointed out that this is a problem of trade deficits, not just budget deficits. 'It means countries with those deficits making painful decisions to raise productivity and drive down costs year after year to regain their competitiveness,' he said. 'That does not happen overnight and it can have painful economic and even political consequences. Nor is it sufficient. You need the support of single currency partners and ... a system of fiscal integration and risk sharing, perhaps through the creation of Euro area bonds to make that support work.'

Despite Britain's refusal last December to sign an EU treaty that would change the way the single market is regulated, Cameron said Britain is not walking away from Europe. 'Britain is part of the European Union. Not by default, but by choice. It fundamentally reflects our national interest to be part of the single market on our doorstep and we have no intention of walking away from it. We want Europe to be a success. … When that political will is there, we can make a decisive difference.'

The Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012 are: Yasuchika Hasegawa, President and Chief Executive Officer, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan; Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer, Citi, USA; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever, United Kingdom; Alejandro Ramirez, Chief Executive Officer, Cinepolis, Mexico; Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, USA; and Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands.

Notes to Editors

Find more information about the Annual Meeting 2012 at http://wef.ch/Davos
View the best photographs from the Annual Meeting on Flickr at http://wef.ch/pix
Watch live webcasts of the sessions on Livestream at http://wef.ch/live
Watch the sessions on YouTube at http://wef.ch/youtube or Youku at http://wef.ch/youku
Ask a World Leader on YouTube: http://wef.ch/askaleader
Become a fan of the Forum on Facebook at http://wef.ch/facebook
Follow the Forum on Twitter at http://wef.ch/twitter and http://wef.ch/livetweet
Listen to the Forum Podcast at http://wef.ch/podcast
Read the Forum Blog at http://wef.ch/blog
Read Forum reports on Scribd at http://wef.ch/scribd
Follow the Meeting on the iPhone at http://wef.ch/app
Upcoming Forum events at http://wef.ch/events
Subscribe to Forum News Releases at http://wef.ch/news
Connect with the Forum at http://wef.ch/connect

— WebWireID152021 —

'The rescue of the euro is currently the decisive topic, not just for us Europeans, but for many regions with close economic ties to us,' emphasizes Stadler. The Audi chairman does not consider solving the crisis to be the responsibility of politics alone. What is needed now more than ever is responsible, future-oriented and sustainable business activity to bolster mutual trust within Europe and to consolidate the European national economies. 'We need a strong European economic region if we are to be competitive from a global perspective. There is no alternative to the euro,' says Stadler.

Audi established the Audi Urban Future Initiative in 2011 to identify and promote pathways to a sustainable and responsible future. At the World Economic Forum, the company is therefore presenting new ideas that architects, urban planners, politicians and energy suppliers have developed for the urban mobility of the future at this interdisciplinary exchange in the Audi Lounge – CO2-neutral, networked with the surroundings and driverless, if necessary.

The Audi A2 concept technology study on display in the Audi Pavilion at Lake Davos also offers a tangible peek at the electric mobility in the megacities of the future. Participants in the Forum can also experience the new driving feeling for themselves. The Audi A6 Avant hybrid and the Audi A3 e-tron, for example, are available for test drives at the Audi Pavilion. Under the watchful eye of instructors from the Audi driving experience, they will also have the opportunity to test and improve their driving skills on snow and ice in, among other vehicles, one of six Audi Q5 hybrid quattro models provided by Audi.

Audi has been the exclusive shuttle partner of the World Economic Forum since 1987. This year's fleet once again fulfills the strict guidelines of the 'Towards a Greener Davos' initiative. With emissions of 171 g CO2/km, the Audi sedans are well below the limit of 200 g CO2/km set for Davos. The company is providing a total of 86 Audi A8 L and 13 armored high-security vehicles for the shuttle service in Davos.

— WebWireID152020 —

Mac is walking to bring awareness to the plight of our veterans and to raise money to help homeless veterans and military families through Project Foot. He is also gathering signatures for the Veterans Bill of Rights. http://www.Veterans-Bill-of-Rights.org

This week his walk will take him through the following towns:

• Dinwiddie, Virginia
• McKenney, Virginia
• Alberta, Virginia
• South Hill, Virginia
• Bracey,Virginia
• Norlina, North Carolina

• Henderson, North Carolina
• Kittrell, North Carolina
• Franklinton, North Carolina
• Wake Forest, North Carolina
• Raleigh , North Carolina

Project Foot is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity approved by the Internal Revenue Service. Donations or gifts received by Project Foot are tax deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.

— WebWireID152006 —

In a study published on Monday, the GAO estimated that the number of female homeless veterans has doubled from 1,380 in 2006 to 3,328 in 2010. 'Absent more complete data, VA does not have the information needed to plan services effectively, allocate grants to providers and track progress toward its overall goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015,' the report said.

According to the VA budget summary, In 2012 the VA plans to spend $940 million on homelessness prevention programs. With a total budget of over $132 billion, that equates to 7/10th of one percent of the total VA Budget.

Project Foot is recommending a different approach. Rather than working on better ways to count homeless veterans, Project Foot would like to eliminate veteran homelessness altogether through its Veterans Bill of Rights. The Veterans Bill of Rights states, 'No Veteran should ever be left homeless. Any homeless veteran who has served 180 days or more of active duty should be entitled to transitional housing accommodations that are equivalent to the base housing that would be afforded to an E-1 on active duty with the same family status.'

About Project Foot

Project Foot is a charity to benefit military families and homeless veterans. The mission of Project Foot is to strengthen military families and assist homeless and unemployed veterans. Project Foot believes that the only time the words 'Veteran' and 'Homeless' should ever be used in the same sentence is: 'Veterans Helping the Homeless.' Project Foot achieves this mission through providing a wide variety of programs that include:

•     Housing and Food for Homeless Veterans
•     Communication Assistance for Military Families
•     Travel Assistance for Military Families
•     Resume Writing and Job Search Services for Unemployed Veterans
•     Providing Business Attire for Unemployed Veterans

The Veterans Bill of Rights can be found at http://www.projectfoot.org/veteransbillofrights.htm

— WebWireID151995 —

The NWC has called upon its grassroots network to oppose the bill, calling it an act of war on whistleblowers. The NWC objects to the following measures of the bill, which systematically dismantle the current, effective whistleblower process from beginning to end:

• Gag orders legalized -- The bill permits companies to enforce, "any established employment agreements, workplace policies, or codes of conduct," regardless of the impact on the right of an employee to report corporate crimes. This means that companies can force employees to sign agreements forfeiting their whistleblower rights.
• Retaliation legalized -- "Any adverse action taken against a whistleblower for any violation of such agreements, policies, or codes shall not constitute retaliation" (emphasis added).
• Law enforcement crippled -- The Grimm Act requires the SEC to, "promptly notify any entity that is to be subject to [an investigation]" before beginning an investigation. Tipping off companies suspected of violating the law allows the corporations to intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence before the investigation begins.
• Anonymity destroyed -- The Grimm Act allows, and in most cases requires, the SEC to, "disclose to the employer's audit committee such information provided by the whistleblower." This means that the SEC would not only be unable to guarantee confidentiality, but it would be required to turn whistleblowers over to the very corporations accused of wrongdoing.
• Accountability minimized -- The Dodd-Frank Act provides incentives for companies to self-report violations, including reduced fines and penalties. The Grimm Act creates a gaping loophole, allowing companies to claim they self-reported even when a whistleblower makes a report to the SEC. This applies even if the company initially covered up problems and retaliated against the whistleblower.
• Whistleblowers disqualified -- The Dodd-Frank Act reasonably excludes persons found guilty of fraud from obtaining the benefits of the new SEC whistleblower program. However, the Grimm Act disqualifies employees who in any way "participated in" the violation. This means that low- and mid-level employees¬, such as a secretary who took a phone call or a clerk who made a photocopy, are excluded from the whistleblower program. This subtle-but-deliberate language would cut out the vast majority of whistleblowers from protection, as almost every whistleblower "participates" in the violations they uncover.
• Awards program broken -- The Grimm Act makes whistleblower awards discretionary, returning the SEC whistleblower program to its pre-Dodd Frank Act status. The old program was completely discredited by a 2010 report by the SEC Inspector General. This document reported that the SEC helped only five people and awarded only $159,537 during 20 years of operating a discretionary program. The report lamented that the discretionary program was, "not fundamentally well-designed to be successful," and made recommendations that were implemented by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Grimm Act turns back the clock.

Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, issued the following statement about the Grimm Act:
The Grimm Act is a license to steal. It undermines every major whistleblower protection achieved for corporate employees in the past 20 years. Employees witness fraud every single day, and they are going to stay silent if this bill is passed. It stacks the deck in favor of those who are accused of waste, fraud, and abuse, and it removes the only incentive David has to fight Goliath. This is a green light for corporate fraud. It must be stopped.
Today on Honesty Without Fear, Stephen Kohn will discuss the Grimm Act with Eugene Ross, a financial analyst who exposed millions of dollars in corporate fraud committed by Bear Stearns under the SEC's pre-Dodd Frank whistleblower program. Tune in today at 1pm ET or download the episode at whistleblowersradio.org.

Links:

Grimm Act (H.R. 2483)
2010 SEC Inspector General Report
Honesty Without Fear
Dodd-Frank Rulemaking webpage

— WebWireID151941 —

Dear Leaders of this Nation,

We the People of these United States do humbly ask that you codify once and for all a Bill of Rights for our Veterans and their families.

American military personnel and their families have offered their lives to defend our nation and its way of life. As such, there are certain rights that our society must afford to them to ensure that their service does not hinder a fair chance at the American dream.

1. All who are eligible, or may be eligible, for any military or veterans benefits should be treated with the utmost in respect and dignity at all times regardless of age, gender, branch of service, disability, military rank, sexual orientation, gender identity, location, mental illness, substance abuse status, incarceration status or type of discharge.
2. All service members, veterans and military family members who are, or who might be eligible for federal or state benefits have the right to be accurately and fully informed of those benefits on a regular basis. There should never be a "hidden government program" that is not prominently publicized.
3. All service members and military family members have the right to the best available reintegration training and lifetime support that should begin during their service when possible. The right to reintegration training should not be limited due to type of discharge.
4. Although it is impossible to provide all services at all facilities, the overall quality of services available should be equivalent regardless of geographical location within the United States and its territories.
5. All reasonable government efforts and policy changes should be made to ensure that employment rates for veterans in the United States are maintained at a rate that is equivalent to or higher than the average of the population at all times.
6. No Veteran should ever be left homeless. Any homeless veteran who has served 180 days or more of active duty should be entitled to transitional housing accommodations that are equivalent to the base housing that would be afforded to an E-1 on active duty with the same family status. In the event that conduct in one of these facilities becomes an issue, incarceration or treatment for the behavioral issues should be used as alternatives.
7. Chemical, radioactive, or environmental exposure: All service members, veterans, and military family members have the right to know the existence of any exposure or potential exposure and to receive notice and reasonable treatment for any exposure in a timely manner.
8. Combat stress reaction (CSR), Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Shell Shock, Battle Fatigue and any future names for any diagnosis that results in similar symptoms that are, or may have been caused by combat exposure during warfare or training exercises are to be treated at all times in a professional and medical manner. No service member or veteran who suffers from such a condition should ever be treated with less respect than if their injuries were purely physical.
9. Incarcerated Veterans should remain eligible for and should be afforded any medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatments to which they would otherwise be entitled. Additionally, upon release from incarceration, reintegration support should be afforded to them.
10. Children of service members or veterans have the right to quality education while accompanying a service member on orders.

Project Foot is a charity to benefit military families and homeless veterans.

The mission of Project Foot is to strengthen military families and assist homeless and unemployed veterans.

Project Foot believes that the ONLY time the words 'Veteran' and 'Homeless' should ever be used in the same sentence is: 'Veterans Helping the Homeless.'

Project Foot achieves this mission through providing a wide variety of programs that include

•     Housing and Food for Homeless Veterans
•     Communication Assistance for Military Families
•     Travel Assistance for Military Families
•     Resume Writing and Job Search Services for Unemployed Veterans
•     Providing Business Attire for Unemployed Veterans

Through these programs, Project Foot aims to keep the bonds of our military families strong throughout their service to our Armed Forces and to be there to pick up the pieces when one of our brave men or women falls through the cracks.

Project Foot is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity approved by the Internal Revenue Service. Donations or gifts received by Project Foot are tax deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.

— WebWireID151901 —

Leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and George Washington, as well as Sitting Bull and the Dalai Lama are the first of Marlene Couri's current selections.

She plans to increase the 'Bigger Than Life' series due to the strong, positive reaction to these paintings and their underlying message of 'compassion'.

— WebWireID151727 —

-- The diversity of product returns laws – cited by almost half (47 percent).
-- Difficulties in efficiently handling product returns cross-border – 44 percent.
-- Two out of five (42 percent) highlighted the cost of compliance with different national laws regulating consumer transactions, such as distance selling, or data transfer requirements.
-- The same proportion (42 percent) identified the differences in labor laws as being a key challenge, and 42 percent pointed to the cost of compliance with different national fiscal regulations.
-- One third (34 percent) noted a challenge with differing VAT levels between markets, and interviews with retailers raised a related concern: compliance with requirement that VAT be reported via locally registered companies.

Thirty eight percent of the retailers also cited differences in packaging and labeling laws as posing a challenge to their cross-border e-commerce sales success. Retailers that have one common inventory for both their store and Internet operations are required to put the same label on all inventory and in multiple languages, regardless of the goods' specific destination. One retailer interviewed by Accenture estimated that the additional cost of fabric required to print the labels cost 'millions,' and said his company needed to either 'increase our prices…or take a hit on profitability.' Additionally, while many European markets simply require retailers to report how much packaging they use annually, some may require detailed packaging information at the individual product level.

'The opportunity for growing cross-border online sales across Europe is irresistible but successfully seizing it will require retailers to focus on the creation of innovative, low-cost, operating models that combine the agility and flexibility of the online pure plays with the brand power and convenience of store based businesses,' said Janet Hoffman, managing director of Accenture's Retail practice. 'We are starting to see retailers shifting from a defensive position, focused on protecting their market share and capitalizing on their domestic market multi-channel opportunity, to a more offensive position aimed at tackling the cross-border challenge in Europe.'

'Europe's consumers are becoming increasingly digital; they are empowered by smartphones and social networks, and access to unprecedented levels of information,' said Juan Manuel Rebollo, senior executive and lead for Accenture's Retail practice in Europe, Africa and Latin America. 'We are seeing high-performing retailers investing in technology to streamline and manage the cross-border differences in Europe. This investment will be critical in successfully negotiating the operational, regulatory and legal hurdles ahead of them.'

Further details on the opportunities and challenges associated with European cross-border e-commerce are outlined in a new report by Accenture; 'European Cross-border E-commerce: The Challenge of Achieving Profitable Growth.'

1 European Commission Digital Agenda Scoreboard 31 May 2011

About the research
Accenture's study into European cross-border E-commerce comprised a survey of 146 retailers with more than 100 million Euros in annual revenues across six retail sectors – grocery, home goods, consumer electronics, clothing, toiletries and leisure goods – and seven European Union countries; Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the U.K. Interviews with relevant executives from among the 14-member European Retail Round table (ERRT), which also included participants from the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium, supplemented and enhanced the survey results.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About ERRT
The European Retail Round Table (ERRT) is an EU association representing CEOs from the 14 largest retailers in Europe including Asda-Walmart, C&A, Carrefour, Delhaize, El Corte Ingles, H&M, IKEA, Inditex, Marks & Spencer, Mercadona, Metro Group, Royal Ahold, Tesco. The ERRT businesses operate worldwide and represent a cross-section of the retail sector. Collectively, ERRT members have a turnover of more than €420 billion and employ 2.4 million people in over 44,000 stores. More information on the ERRT's activities is available at www.errt.org.

— WebWireID151648 —

'First of all, being green is not just a trend, it is fast becoming part of our everyday life,' Klein said. 'As many Americans continue to feel the pinch of the recession, rising health insurance rates, medical bills and taxes, more and more people continue to discover that living green is a simpler way of life that will save you money, improve your health, inspire you to consume less, rally you to do  more with less and improve your overall lifestyle.'

Green living is a core value at The Spencer Institute, and Klein predicts the following top three green living trends for 2012:

As people become more educated on what real health and preventative living is, more of them will start or continue to prioritize a truly green and clean lifestyle, which includes food, air, products, commerce and industry.
More organic and healthy food choices will become available in 2012 as consumers demand more chemical and GMO-free foods as well as fewer processed, premade and packaged foods.
The global green economy will continue to grow as more individuals and corporations choose to invest their dollars and energy with socially responsible and environmentally conscious companies.

The Spencer Institute's Green Living Coaching Program, which provides green trends as well as education on the fundamentals of green living, is a 100 percent online and self-paced certification program that can serve as a complement to wellness or life coaching, public health education, nursing and more. The program is available online at http://spencerinstitute.com/green-living-coach-certification/

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About the Spencer Institute
Founded by Dr. John Spencer Ellis, an international leader in wellness coaching, personal development and fitness, The Spencer Institute offers life coaching, holistic education, nutrition coaching, sports psychology and wellness training certification programs delivered in online and distance learning formats that are designed to provide a step-by-step blueprint to success. The programs were developed to help people find the career of their dreams while helping others live better lives. For more information about the Spencer Institute or the Green Living Coaching Program, please visit http://spencerinstitute.com/green-living-coach-certification/

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On The Issues Magazine is a progressive, feminist, quarterly online magazine. Read more at the site -- free and with archives from 1983. Merle Hoffman is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief.

All media inquiries for Intimate Wars, contact publicity@feministpress.org

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Despite this enormous oversupply, real estate development continues to steam forward with the first six months of 2011 seeing year on year growth of 35.2%.  This continued push in new construction despite oversupply has continued to drive up prices as speculators look to cash in on the real estate boom says Mr. Purlantov.  In the Pudong area of Shanghai, which now claims the most expensive real estate in China, prices have reached $2,209 per square foot.  The average new home price in Shanghai is $620,000 making it more expensive than markets such as Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Honolulu.  Prices in Shanghai stand at 8.3 times the average Chinese household income and roughly 29 times that of an average farmer's income.  On the other side of the spectrum, the average home price in Guiyang (located in Guizhou, the poorest province in China) is already on par with Phoenix.  Although both cities are roughly the same size, the per capita GDP of Phoenix is more than ten times that of Guiyang.  This extraordinary growth in prices has already made home ownership impossible for 60% of the urban population which could grow to as high as 85% says Mr. Purlantov.  

This growth in real estate prices despite an oversupply should sound familiar.  The United States went through a very similar, if not identical, real estate boom that was driven in large part by easy money and enormous amounts of debt.  In 2006, despite analyst claims that the housing market was just getting warmed up, the U.S. housing bubble was already on course to implode as it did in 2008.  According to Mr. Purlantov the housing market in China has already started showing symptoms of the type of bubble that is inevitable when you combine easy credit and speculative lending encouraged by government policy.  The Chinese government is already looking to tame surging homes prices and inflation through property tax legislation and interest rate hikes.  There is also a push for increased down payment requirements and suspension of mortgage loans for third home purchases in an effort to slow the real estate euphoria.  These attempts to stop a runaway train may unfortunately be too little, too late says Mr. Purlantov.  The first six months of 2011 already saw year on year total housing sales drop by 26.7% and 18.9% in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing and more recently month on month declines have reached 21%.

Across the Chinese economy, the impact of declining sales and prices could see GDP growth decline by 30% given how much real estate has contributed to the current high nominal GDP.  In 2010 alone, 14% of nominal GDP growth came from property sales, boosted in large part by rising land prices.  Overall land prices have increased tenfold since 2002 with a thirtyfold increase in coastal cities and hundredfold increase in the most speculative areas.  According to Mr. Purlantov the dramatic decline in real estate sales and prices will be profound for the Chinese economy given how dependent local governments are on revenues generated from development fees and taxes.  Initial victims of such a bubble will be investors who overpaid on luxury condos and suffer large losses followed by the developers who relied on cheap credit.  Many of these developers could go bankrupt and renege on their loans, leaving the Chinese tax payer with the burden as many of these loans are held by government owned banks. 

When you add widespread irregularities to this already lethal mix of a real estate bubble, local governments heavily dependent on new development for their revenues and a government-run banking sector, you have the potential for a perfect storm according to Mr. Purlantov.  This perfect storm could very well lead to a real estate bubble that will make the U.S. great recession seem like a walk in the park.  Let's hope that the Chinese housing market in 2013 behaves more like a tiger then a snake when investors and speculators get bit as a result of a real estate growth bubble that has peaked.

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With the arrest and extradition to The Hague of wanted war criminal Ratko Mladic along with its open cooperation in tracking down other suspected war criminals, Serbia has shown that it is indeed a viable candidate that can abide by the many EU requirements for membership.  With the additional arrest and extradition of suspected war criminal Goran Hadzic, Serbia has further reinforced its position as a viable candidate for membership according to Mr. Purlantov. 

Further strengthening Serbia's case for membership into the economic and political organization is the fact that the Balkan Tiger, which has averaged 6.6% GDP growth during the past three years, is one of the strongest economies in the region. Buoyed by its young and educated work force, the Serbian economy has managed to steam ahead in spite of recent unemployment hovering around 14%.  According to Mr. Purlantov this bodes particularly well for Serbia in its quest to the join the European Union particularly when looking at fellow Balkan nation and EU member Greece. 

The ability of Serbia to cooperate with the European Union has already provided some recent benefits.  Since late 2010 Serbians have enjoyed visa free travel to the Schengen area which includes most of the European Union.  This has brought about several positive impacts for the country which will be further bolstered with its admittance into the EU, including increased foreign direct investment and tourism.  It is now just a matter of time before Serbia will join the European Union and achieve its full economic and political potential according to Mr. Purlantov.  For those willing to place a wager, on or before 2015 would be a good place to start.

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