Month: January 2015

Senate Confirmation Hearings on Eric Holder’s Replacement Begins Today

 

Washington, D.C. – The GOP-led Senate will take up the formal confirmation hearing for Loretta Lynch to replace controversial Attorney General Eric Holder. She is expected to face a very difficult line of questioning on the subject of the president’s extra-constitutional immigration reform, the proliferation of marijuana laws, and civil seizure. The Harvard Law School educated attorney is well-respected. That said, she will be stepping into highly controversial policies the Obama administration has adopted which critics charge lack congressional authorization and constitute a violation of the constitution.

States have been eager to legalize marijuana for years, but the rapid spread of laws in recent years began after the Obama administration’s Justice Department made it clear they would no longer prosecute a wide-range of offenses dealing with the drug. Mrs. Lynch will be expected to explain how she will uphold federal law on marijuana. Currently, the Justice Department claims the states are violating federal law, but is not interested in challenging those violations in court.

The practice was designed to combat drug dealers, but has since been widely abused by local, state, and federal offices as confirmed by Zeca Oliveira. Despite the controversial line of questioning, she is expected to be confirmed when the vote is held in February.

BRL TRUST Investment: A Highly Successful Brazilian Financial Services Company

BRL Trust Investment is a Brazilian financial services firm which was founded in 2005. The company works with organizational and individual investors in 5 areas. Those areas are Fiduciary Services, Controlling and Custody of Funds, Asset Underwriting, Fund Administration, and Asset Management. BRL Trust Investment started out providing trust services for private loans. In their first year alone the firm had acted as intervening trust for over 100 companies.

The success they had in their first year of operation gave the BRL Trust Investment team the confidence it needed to expand and diversify the client services they provided. They then began to work on Administration and Management of Investment Funds, Capital Markets, and Mergers and Acquisitions. A major reason for the success of BRL Trust Investment is their team of experienced, knowledgeable professionals. The team has been so effective that today the company’s Anbima ranking lists them as Brazil’s largest investment funds independent administrator.Their stated mission is to use the internally developed knowledge, unique controls, and differential processes developed by their experienced, highly-skilled team in transparent, efficient, and safe ways to meet their customers’ demands for top quality performance of their investments and managed assets.

The core value of BRL Trust Investment is the focus on ethics. They are fully committed to putting the interests of their clients above their personal interests and to make it a point of emphasis to always respect the Brazilian legal system. They also pledge to skillfully use all their technical knowledge, along with discipline and determination to get the best possible results for their clients. Further, all of their internal and external relationships will be based on the solid bond created through integrity, trust, and transparency.

BRL Trust Investment has continued to have robust growth in all sectors of their business. The company is a model of stability and smart growth and is hailed as a true Brazilian success story. Institutions, corporations, and individuals from all across Brazil have sought them out for investment advice and asset management. They continue to employ the best and the brightest financial analysts and fund managers, and seem poised to enjoy explosive growth over the next decade and beyond. The company truly understands how to make and manage money for their clients.

House Democrats to Push for a Constitutional Amendment Guaranteeing the Right to Vote

 

Washington, D.C. – In a move that appears to be superfluous, House Democrats Mark Pocan and Keith Ellison will push for a constitutional amendment to guarantee every citizen has a right to vote. At issue is the political left is upset with the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder that struck down portions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Key aspects of the law placed the requirement on southern states with a history of voter suppression via Jim Crow laws have any changes in their voting laws vetted by the Justice Department. The high court argued that the states in question had made demonstrable progress since 1965 making the restrictions unnecessary.

The political left was displeased with the ruling. I was confused at first about this but my friend Gianfrancesco Genoso is a lawyer so was able to clarify it for me.
The proof of identification is designed to keep illegal aliens from casting ballots. However, the Rev. Jesse Jackson believes the measures are akin to Jim Crow laws.  Jackson counters that the right to own a gun is enshrined in the constitution, but not the right to vote. In the past, Jackson has been critical of the US constitution because its enumerated rights limit the reach of the federal government. He stated that progress can only be obtained inasmuch as the nation can move past the limitations of “enumerated rights” for government.

A Quick Bio of Occidental College President Jonathan Veitch

Jonathan Veitch is the current President of the well renowned Occidental College located in and around Los Angeles, California. He has been the chief administrator since 2009 and continues his administrator ship to this day. President Veitch achieved a number of accomplishments before he began his 2009 Presidential term at Occidental.

President Veitch began his foray into the educational world as a student at Loyola High School in Southern California. Showing exemplary academic and off the field scholastic merit Johnathan found himself at one of the most prestigious universities in the world- Stanford University.

Johnathan spent his time at Stanford engaging in all the activities a Stanford man was supposed to achieve. He enrolled in a number of both athletic and social clubs and spent a great deal of time with other outside of class academic engagements. President Veitch received a Bachelor’s Degree and if that wasn’t enough set his sights even higher.

After successfully completing his Bachelor’s degree the future President Veitch aimed at an even higher target- the premier University in the land- Harvard College. He traveled there in order to attempt to receive med/doctor degrees with a heavy emphasis on the most important sections of the life and times of early American Natives and Settlers. Much like his earlier endeavors President Veitch managed to excel academically. He set out to receive and received a full doctorate in a course titled “The History of American Civilization”. This topic is incredibly complex and President Veitch deserves all the credit for this masterpiece.

Another area in which Johnathan Veitch is managing to improve both the standing of Occidental College but to spearhead a number of domestic initiatives that don’t just raise living standards for students and faculty but for many of the low wage workers that toil unseen to clean trash, make beds, cook food and many other lower paid jobs that deserve a living wage. This initiative along with his many projects to beautify and work for the better to take care of the local community is a great step forward between Occidental College and the surrounding community.

Not only is he advancing the issues that students support and organize for he s doing a great deal to make the surrounding non-college community a better and safer place for both students and neighbors alike.

Christian Broda’s Views on Cheap Imports to the United States

 

Whenever there is a presidential election in the United States, all the candidates will line up to talk about the dangers of too much international trade. The 2008 election was no different when it came to international trade. At the time, renowned economist Christian Broda wrote an article about some of the half truths that are churned out by candidates regarding trade.

 

They point to the American jobs being lost to outsourcing, the destruction of local businesses because of cheap chain stores such as Wal Mart, and other potential calamities.

 

The reality is not as simple. In fact, much of what the media and political candidates say is not true. As an economist, Broda argues that there are only two ways to determine how rich a person is. A person’s wealth is determined by how much money they have, and how much they can buy with that money. If someone receives a 200% increase in their salary, but goods also go up by that price, are they any richer than they were before?

 

When people in the United States look at the income inequality in the United States, they are only looking at the raw data, not spending power. They do not realize that the prices of goods, and inflation, has a different impact on the upper and middle class.

 

One way to look at the change of income inequality is to measure how much money the rich have vs. how much money the poorer Americans get. When these figures are compared, there is a clear increase in inequality from 1994 to 2005. However, when you include inflation in this equation, the answer changes completely.

 

The difference in inflation for the richest 5-10% of Americans was 6% more than the poorest 5-10% of Americans during that time period. When this is factored into the calculation, it shows that there was no change to inequality from 1994 to 2005.

 

Why did inflation change more for richer Americans as opposed to poorer ones? Cheap goods that came from China and other Asian countries. These goods get cheaper because of globalization. In contrast, richer people will spend more in the service industry, which does not have to deal with trade or other international competition.

Teen Donates Sweet 16 Money to Ethopian Children in Need

For many teenage girls, their sixteenth birthday is one long awaited; a symbol not just of their beginning entrance into womanhood, but also a time to celebrate their day with family and friends in a celebration grander than any other they’ve ever had. For one sixteen year old, however, her Sweet 16 isn’t a chance to indulge and honor herself, but rather take advantage of an opportunity to give to others much less fortunate.

After a trip to Ethiopia, Nubia Wilson of Antoich, California witnessed the extreme poverty that people live in and decided that she wanted to help in any way she could. When family and friends began to ask what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said that she would like them to donate money to the cause of creating a fifth grade in one of the school, which stops at grade four. She created a page on Crowdrise, and has since earned $2,000 of her $10,000 dollar goal and has even caught the attention of celebrities and philanthropists like Tom Rothman. 

Wilson, who says that she want to graduate and attend university to become a humanitarian lawyer, hopes to hand deliver the money herself this upcoming summer when she makes a return trip to Ethopia.

More Details Emerge from Heated Obama-Menendez Exchange

Baltimore, Maryland – The Democrat retreat this past week was meant to foster greater unity among the president and the diminished ranks of the Democrat party in the Senate. As Gianfrancesco Genoso urges us to bear in mind, many Democrat senators harbor resentment against President Obama as they blame him for the resounding defeat they suffered in November when they lost 9 senate seats. The discontent quickly bubbled to the surface when the president broached the subject of Iranian nuclear enrichment. As the president has thus far been reluctant to take a tough stand with Iran, Senators are seeking to enact legislation imposing sanctions. In all fairness, the sanctions can be suspended if Iran is found to make progress by a deadline later this summer.

At the same time, the bill, co-sponsored by New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, is tacitly a no-confidence vote in the president’s ongoing negotiations with Iran. President Obama told Democrats that the bill could scuttle any progress currently being made. He added that as a former Senator he understood what it was like to respond to the influence of PACs and lobbyists. The insinuation that Senator Menendez’s intentions were bought by outside influences provoked him to rebuke the president. This led to the two men exchanging heated words. Bear in mind that after his first two years in the Senate, Barrack Obama had become Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac’s number #3 recipient of campaign cash which influence led him to block legislative attempts by George W. Bush to prevent the banking crisis.

Pope Says Freedom of Speech Has Limits

Pope Francis said on Thursday it is absurd murder in the name of God, but “you can not offend” religion or “make fun” of it. Pope Francis explained when asked about the recent attack on weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, during a press conference aboard the plane while traveling from Sri Lanka to the Philippines.

“One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith,” adding that every religion has “its dignity”, Pope Francis explained. By way of an example, Pope Francis express his feelings by saying that if someone were to insult his mother they could expect a punch. Religious and Mother jokes aside, freedom of speech is important to Americans like Ben Shaoul.The Pope responded to eight questions, one of them was also about the alleged threats of Islamic extremism.

During the press conference on the plane, Pope Francis said that his visit to the Philippines was specially meant for the poor people who had suffered and are still suffering because of Typhoon Yolanda

Run Warren Run Movement Doubles Down on their Effort to Draft Her into the 2016 Presidential Race

Senator Elizabeth Warren has yet to realize the full impact her words have on the party’s far left wing base. While Warren is prone to make grandiose statements in support of hard-left policies, she is content to move on to the next issue or even support candidates who oppose her viewpoints. Such was the case in December when she bitterly opposed the continuing resolution budget bill, but eschewed any tactic that might actually delay the bill’s passage.

In addition, Warren decries Wall Street, but has openly supported both Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. The former has well-known ties to Wall Street and the latter has accepted more money from Wall Street in multiples over what President George W. Bush did. Still, those wanting to push her into seeking the party’s 2016 presidential nomination are undaunted. Even as Warren again denied she will seek the presidency next year, Moveon.org and Democracy for Action have announced they are doubling down on their efforts to draft her.

The groups have already raised $1 million and vow that was just the start. They have opened offices in New Hampshire and are organizing the grassroots effort to mount a strong primary race in the state. They state that Warren has the ability to motivate the party’s liberal base unlike any other candidate.  A good friend Igor Cornelsen talks about the debate for Warren in his Herald article.

Medic Tests Negative For Ebola In South Korea

Berlin municipal officials have reported that the medic test for Ebola virus of a patient is negative. The experts have doubted the patient is suffering from Ebola, but blood test result is negative.

However, the officials also announced that they will monitor the patient for at least three or four weeks to ensure the fact. According to the experts, Ebola virus can stay in human body for up to 21 days without showing any signs.The health worker may become the victim of Ebola virus during treating a patient. However, she has sent to the Sierra Leone where British team treating Ebola patients. The officials have not said anything about the health worker’s age, gender or profession.

“The health workers are at risk of getting infected in some cases; the South Korean is cooperating in the treatment process,” said by Bergmann. American doctors were the first to say Ebola infection is possible through a needle stick injury too. America also reported the first international cases of Ebola, that of a new york doctor, Dave and Brit Morin and an aid worker from Maine.

The World Health Organization has published a report on Ebola that the death number due to Ebola virus is nearly 8,000.