Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

Regards,
Tarek Hoteit
http://tarek.hoteit.org

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

“ A year after Israel's war on Gaza, the territory is still struggling to rebuild.
In the weeks after the offensive, politicians from around the world visited the Strip and made promises to help.
But it appears many of those pledges have not been delivered.
Al Jazeera's Todd Baer caught up with two US Democratic congressmen whose efforts to lift the Israeli blockade on Gaza are being met with stiff resistance.” - Aljazeera

Labels: arab, middle east, politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 4:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

"On the eve of the 2010 Census, as the Census Bureau prepares to conduct an actual count of the nation’s population, the bureau projects that on Jan. 1, 2010 — three months out from Census Day — the total U.S. population will be 308,400,408. This would represent an increase of 2,606,181, or 0.9 percent, from New Year’s Day 2009."

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 4:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

Attached is a paper I recently completed for a human development course at
the university. I thought it might be interesting to share.

Even though my college concentration is in finance, I was required to choose
any topic in human development for one course. I chose the topic of
bilingualism (speaking dual languages) because as parents, we kept wondering
why our Arab-American children sometimes lag in the ability to speak Arabic
but can perfectly speak English, while other bilingual children, such as
American-Chinese, can perfectly speak both languages, and while some other
Arab-American children are only monolingual and can only speak either Arabic
or English proficiently.

The paper is relatively long but easy to read, and it is not required to be
read in full. Paper is divided into three segments - Breadth, Depth and
Application components. Pages 6 to 28 (Breadth component) discusses general
language acquisition theories by twentieth century classical theorists such
as Chomsky, Piaget, and Skinner. Note: language can be associated with long
running debates between the theories of intellectualism (human intelligence)
and empiricism (behavioral sciences), which has been ongoing throughout the
past centuries (Hume, Locke, Socrates, etc. ), but this falls beyond the
scope of this paper. Pages 30 to 39 can be skipped because it includes short
summaries of recent journal articles synthesized for this paper. You can
begin reading from page 39 (Depth component) since it focuses on the topic
of bilingualism in general. From page 63 (Application component), the paper
focuses on Arab-Americans in the United States, followed by recommending an
academic guide that can be used in school and at home in order to improve
the ability of our children to speak and appreciate the Arabic language.

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bxuacfe6Z-cyYzUwZjBkNTAtOTI5Ni00M2EzLWJjYzktYTExOTdhZjY2Y2Ey&hl=en

Labels: arab, education, personal, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Steven Fraser, a professor of American studies at Columbia University, has taught the cultural history of Wall Street for years, usually bringing his students up to the 1990s. But this fall, with the financial crisis providing an irresistible new coda to the course, he extended the timeline to include the drama, intrigue and pain of the past two years."

read complete article : Economic Crisis Is on Curriculum at Columbia and Elsewhere - NYTimes.com

Labels: education, finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

"Well, it's a good thing life comes with an unlimited data plan, as a recent study conducted by the University of California, San Diego has found that Americans consume plenty of gigabytes in the average day. Thirty-four gigabytes, to be specific, which translates to a grand total of of 3.6 zettabytes of information consumed by American households in 2008 (or 3.6 billion trillion bytes). Of course, that doesn't just consist of gigabytes "consumed" the traditional way, but instead encompasses everything from TV (still the leader by a wide margin) to phone calls to newspapers. In terms of time, the study found that Americans spent about 11.8 hours a day consuming information in one way or another, the majority of which was spent staring at a screen of some sort -- and, yes, they did take HD content into account, but its growth apparently hasn't yet resulted in a huge jump in data consumption."

Labels: society, technology, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

"More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.

That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage."

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

by Olivier Blanchard Marianna Riggi: "In the 1970s, large increases in the price of oil were associated with sharp decreases in output and large increases in inflation. In the 2000s, even larger increases in the price of oil were associated with much milder movements. This column attributes the difference in the US to more flexible labour markets and more credible monetary policy during the Great Moderation."

Labels: finance, middle east, united states, world

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

"The Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 2007 and 2008 — National-level tabulations from the Current Population Survey on this population group are shown by a wide range of characteristics including education, marital status, employment status, occupation and industry, earnings and poverty, and household type and tenure. Unique to this data set are tables that show the foreign-born population by these characteristics crossed by generation status (i.e., first, second or third). Internet address:
2007 <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/cps2007.html>;
2008 <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/cps2008.html>."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

"The Foreign-Born Labor Force in the United States: 2007 — This analysis from American Community Survey data looks at the characteristics of the civilian foreign-born vs. native labor force population on topics that include educational attainment, occupation and industry.
Internet address: <http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acs-10.pdf>."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

"In dire need of agents fluent in Arabic, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has made an unusual public show of its recruiting effort in Dearborn -- a city of 100,000 with the densest Arab population in the United States.

The agency has bought full-page ads in Arabic-language newspapers and it is rolling out TV ads aimed at luring Arab-Americans and Iranian-Americans to spycraft.

But despite a weak economy and high unemployment, the CIA will find it hard to hire here, residents say. Many see U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East as misguided and anger over the perceived mistreatment of Arab-Americans runs deep.

It won't be easy to win hearts and minds here, they say."

Labels: arab, politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

"U.S. academic institutions awarded 48,802 research doctorate degrees in 2008, the sixth consecutive annual increase in U.S. doctoral awards and the highest number ever reported by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Survey of Earned Doctorates.

The total number of doctorates increased 1.4 percent over 2007's total of 48,112, which was the smallest annual increase during the last six years. NSF's Science Resources Statistics division compiled the survey results."

Labels: education, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed or higher in October. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 13 states registered rate decreases, and 8 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent in October, up 0.4 percentage point from September and 3.6 points from October 2008.

In October, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 28 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 21 states, and remained unchanged in 1 state. The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in Texas (+41,700), followed by Michigan (+38,600), California (+25,700), North Carolina (+12,100), and Pennsylvania (+10,600). Michigan experienced the largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+1.0 percent), followed by the District of Columbia (+0.8 percent), Montana (+0.7 percent), Oklahoma (+0.6 percent), and Utah (+0.5 percent). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in New York (-15,300), followed by Florida (-8,500), Georgia (-7,500), Virginia (-7,100), and South Carolina (-5,800). Wyoming (-0.9 percent) experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decrease in employment, followed by Idaho and Nevada (-0.4 percent each), and South Carolina (-0.3 per- cent). Over the year, nonfarm employment decreased in all 50 states and in- creased in the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-year percentage de- creases occurred in Arizona (-6.9 percent), Michigan (-6.4 percent), Nevada (-6.0 percent), Georgia (-5.6 percent), and Wyoming (-5.5 percent)."

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

"According to a report released last month by the New York City advocacy group Coalition for the Homeless, there are currently almost 37,000 people in the city shelter system. This includes approximately 10,000 homeless families with 16,500 children.

The number of homeless housed by the city marks an 11 percent increase over last year and is the highest number of people seeking shelter on record. These figures are all the more significant because they reflect the state of the homeless population before the cold weather has started." (by  Sandy English and Ali Ismail )

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

"A new study released today shows that rising obesity rates will continue to be an increasing burden on the health care system over the next decade. The report, titled, "The Future Cost of Obesity: National and State Estimates of the Impact of Obesity on Direct Health Care Expenses," is the first to estimate obesity prevalence and costs at the state and national level 10 years from now. Based on research by Emory University health care economist Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), the report was commissioned by UnitedHealth Foundation, Partnership for Prevention, and American Public Health Association in conjunction with their annual America’s Health Rankings report.

The new data shows that if current trends continue, 43 percent of U.S. adults will be obese and obesity spending will quadruple to $344 billion by 2018. However, if obesity rates are instead held at current levels, the U.S. would save nearly $200 billion in health care costs."

download study http://www.fightchronicdisease.org/pdfs/CostofObesityReport-FINAL.pdf

read complete article : Obesity Rates

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments

"MIAHUATLÁN, Mexico — During the best of the times, Miguel Salcedo’s son, an illegal immigrant in San Diego, would be sending home hundreds of dollars a month to support his struggling family in Mexico. But at times like these, with the American economy out of whack and his son out of work, Mr. Salcedo finds himself doing what he never imagined he would have to do: wiring pesos north.

Unemployment has hit migrant communities in the United States so hard that a startling new phenomenon has been detected: instead of receiving remittances from relatives in the richest country on earth, some down-and-out Mexican families are scraping together what they can to support their unemployed loved ones in the United States. "

Labels: finance, united states, world

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

"President Obama should follow the lead of all four of the Bush administrations' U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations and speak directly to these millions of Arab households by sitting down for an on-the-record interview with al-Jazeera Television.
Although the most popular Arab network has had its share of bias problems, President Obama is missing an important and easy opportunity to change the hearts and minds of the majority of the Arab world. The Pentagon and the Senate Armed Services Committee have issued reports recently urging better global strategic communications. And the Department of State is constantly looking for ways to counter the propaganda put forth by militants in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Additionally, millions of tax payer dollars are being spent to counter such rumors. But the best way and the cheapest way to speak directly to the people most affected is being ignored."

Labels: middle east, politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

"BEIRUT: Figures released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicate that Lebanon exported $6.95 billion in Information Technology (IT) and Information Communication Technology (ICT)-enabled services in 2007, making it one of the largest exporters of such services among developing economies."

Labels: lebanon, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

“Agency's First-Ever Web Site Devoted Exclusively to Investor Education

Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today launched its first-ever Web site devoted exclusively to investor education, providing investors with in-depth information and "top tips" on how to invest wisely, plan for the future, and avoid being scammed.

By visiting www.investor.gov, investors can access information in a user-friendly format that is specifically tailored to their needs. The site includes sections specifically for those just getting started investing, for those saving for a child's education, and for those planning for retirement. It also has a detailed "Seniors Care Package" section for senior citizens and caretakers."

Labels: education, finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Two out of every three black children born between 1985 and 2000 were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared with just 6 percent of white children, a new report from the Pew Foundation finds. These numbers are virtually unchanged from thirty years ago. Among children born between 1955 and 1970, 62 percent of black children were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared with only 4 percent of white children, according to the Pew report. This gap persists even when the poorest families are excluded from the analysis. Among children from the upper three income quintiles, almost half of black children -- 49% -- lived in high-poverty neighborhoods, defined as those with at least a 20% poverty rate. Only one percent of white children from the upper three income quintiles lived in high-poverty neighborhoods."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

"More than any other populace on Earth, Americans are on the move. Because of factors such as employment, climate or retirement, 14 percent of the U.S. population bounces from place to place every year."

study available at http://www.business.ku.edu/_FileLibrary/cae/KSTaxpayerMigration.pdf

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments

"A Trinity College survey predicts a quarter of Americans will identify as nonreligious in 20 years (as opposed to the 15 percent who do so now). Dan Gilgoff, in his U.S. News column, predicts what that might to do American politics. Think “culture-war battles” and antireligious Democrats. (HT: Andrew Sullivan)"

Labels: politics, religion, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

"Nearly 8.3 million adults (age 18 and older) in the U.S. (3.7 percent) had serious thoughts of committing suicide in the past year, according to the first national scientific survey of its size on this public health problem. The SAMHSA study also shows that 2.3 million adult Americans made a suicide plan in the past year and that 1.1 million adults — 0.5 percent of all adult Americans — had actually attempted suicide in the past year."

Labels: science, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

"… Census Bureau, which on September 10 reported that median household income fell 3.6% in 2008, the largest one-year decline on record, while the poverty rate rose to 13.2% in 2008 from 12.5% in 2007. The Census also reported that the number of Americans without health insurance rose to 46.3 million in 2008 from 45.7 million in 2007."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments

cited major points:

* "American teachers spend on average 1,080 hours teaching each year. Across the O.E.C.D., the average is 794 hours on primary education, 709 hours on lower secondary education, and 653 hours on upper secondary education general programs."

* "The average public primary-school teacher who has worked 15 years and has received the minimum amount of training, for example, earns $43,633, compared to the O.E.C.D. average of $39,007."

* ""Comparing each country’s teacher salaries to the wealth of that country makes United States educational salaries appear lower. In the United States, a teacher with 15 years of experience makes a salary that is 96 percent of the country’s gross domestic product per capita. Across the O.E.C.D., a teacher of equivalent experience makes 117 percent of G.D.P. per capita."

note: OECS is Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with 29 member Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.

read full article at Teacher Pay Around the World - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

Labels: education, united states, world

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments

"NEW YORK –Despite fears that Muslims in the United States may be unfairly targeted or harassed because fears about terrorism, a new survey by Public Agenda finds Muslim immigrants are less likely than other immigrant populations to say there's discrimination against immigrants in the United States, no more likely to encounter it personally, and overwhelmingly more likely to say the United States will be their permanent home."

Labels: politics, religion, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

"The chief executive of Wells Fargo gave notice that the bank would “shortly” return $25 billion in bail-out money. Of the big banks that were helped by the Troubled Asset Relief Programme, only Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup have yet to repay. John Stumpf said his bank would not need to raise extra equity and would pay back the money in a “shareholder-friendly way” that would not dilute investors’ stock." (Business this week: 29th August - 4th September 2009 newsletter)

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

Mark Fiore's Animated Cartoon Site

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments

ABSRACT: "We propose a model of communication in organizations in which the quality of communication depends on the match between senders and receivers of messages. The model allows for two dimensions of knowledge: breadth and depth. Specialists have deep knowledge of few areas while generalists have superficial knowledge of many areas. Generalists are useful because they can communicate with many different specialists. As a consequence, optimal organizational structures are such that generalists are at the top and specialists are at the bottom. Our model has implications for organization design, the optimal degree of centralization of decision making, and the depth of hierarchies. In particular, we show that an increase in the complexity of the environment together with improvements in communication technology lead to a decrease in specialization at the top."

Labels: society, technology, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

"The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday warned consumers about fraudulent solicitations that appear to be made with the approval or involvement of the Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve officials, or other U.S. government officials. These solicitations promise bogus financial services or large sums of money in exchange for either payment or personal information that can then be used to access a consumer's bank account.

The Federal Reserve is advising consumers that it has no involvement in these solicitations.  Consumers are strongly urged to verify the legitimacy of potential service providers before entering into a business transaction. Individuals seeking help with repairing their credit history, avoiding home mortgage foreclosure, finding mortgage refinance options, or managing their credit card debt should do business only with reputable service providers. Information related to these issues may be found on the Federal Reserve Board's website at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo.

Individuals who have or suspect they have been a victim of a scam should contact local law enforcement agencies. Information related to how to identify a fraud or scam may be found on the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Help Center website at: http://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov."

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hulu - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Good News/Bad News - Americas Recession

…thanks Wayne

Labels: media, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

"The rich have been getting richer for so long that the trend has come to seem almost permanent.

They began to pull away from everyone else in the 1970s. By 2006, income was more concentrated at the top than it had been since the late 1920s. The recent news about resurgent Wall Street pay has seemed to suggest that not even the Great Recession could reverse the rise in income inequality.

But economists say — and data is beginning to show — that a significant change may in fact be under way. The rich, as a group, are no longer getting richer. Over the last two years, they have become poorer. And many may not return to their old levels of wealth and income anytime soon."

 

Labels: finance, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments

"The Consumer Action Handbook - This guide from the Federal Citizen Information Center can help with your consumer problems and questions. Find help on such topics as buying and leasing cars, shopping from home and protecting your privacy and yourself from fraud."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

"The latest ACT scores are another poke in the ribs to those who worry that American students are falling behind in math and science. But Public Agenda's research makes us wonder whether those who need to be nudged the most -- parents -- will feel a thing.
The ACT report notes slight improvements overall but found a "lack of college readiness is again most evident in the areas of science and math." Only 28 percent of the students who took the ACT are ready for college biology and 42 percent are ready for college algebra. By contrast, more than two-thirds are ready for college-level English composition." read complete article

Labels: education, science, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

"…In defiance of all reason and compassion, the criminalization of poverty has actually been intensifying as the recession generates ever more poverty. So concludes a new study from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which found that the number of ordinances against the publicly poor has been rising since 2006, along with ticketing and arrests for more “neutral” infractions like jaywalking, littering or carrying an open container of alcohol."…

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Young adults ages 19 to 29 are one of the largest segments of the U.S. population without health insurance: 13.2 million, or 29 percent, lacked coverage in 2007. They often lose coverage at age 19 or upon high school or college graduation: nearly two of five (38%) high school graduates who do not enroll in college and one-third of college graduates are uninsured for a time during the first year after graduation. Twenty-six states have passed laws to expand coverage of dependents to young adults under parents' insurance policies. Congressional proposals to reform the health system could help uninsured young adults gain coverage and prevent others from losing it. This is the seventh edition of Rite of Passage, first published by The Commonwealth Fund in 2003."

Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help, 2009 Update - The Commonwealth Fund

Downloads

• Issue Brief (1178K PDF )
• Chartpack (40K PDF )
• Chartpack (256K PPT )

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

"BBB is warning consumers to be wary of four online diploma mills in particular:

Belford High School and Belford University
The BBB serving Houston has received 117 complaints from students in more than 40 states who paid for high school diplomas and advanced degrees from BelfordHighschool.com and BelfordUniversity.org.

…

Most people learned that their Belford diplomas and degrees were worthless from college admissions offices or military recruiters and several received the bad news during a job interview.

Jefferson High School Online and Vencer High School Online
BBB has received complaints from consumers in Texas, Ohio, and South Carolina who say they passed Jefferson High School Online’s test and paid more than $200 to receive a high school diploma. When the students tried to enroll in college using the diploma they were told that it was not valid.

…

Jefferson High School Online is owned by MMDS Ltd., based out of St. Kitts, a small country in the eastern Caribbean. MMDS Ltd. also operates a Web site called Vencer High School Online. Aside from using a different name, the site is an exact replica of Jefferson High School, and offers the same services. "

Labels: education, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

Greed Is … More Prevalent

“With so much attention focused on the risky practices of financial institutions as a factor in the economic crisis, many Americans see the leaders of those businesses as greedier today than they were in the past. Some six-in-ten say those executives are greedier, while 37% say they are about the same as they have always been. There are only slight partisan differences in these opinions, but those who say they are struggling in this economy are significantly more likely to see more greed today.

Solid majorities of Republicans and Democrats (62% each) say they see financial leaders as more greedy today than in the past; 60% of independents share this view. Significant differences, though, are evident among those who describe themselves as professional class, working class or struggling. Slightly more than half of those who define themselves as professionals (54%) say that leaders of financial institutions are greedier today. That increases to 61% of those who describe themselves as working class and nearly three-quarters (74%) of those who see themselves as struggling.”

also see 2001 research paper,  “Risky Business: Americans see greed, cluelessness behind dot-coms’ comeuppance” :

“Most Americans (67%) agree that this is a major reason behind dot-coms financial woes. But Americans between age 18 and 29 are less likely to blame greed than their elders are. Fully 78% of those between 50 and 64 say investors’ risky behavior is a major cause of the downturn, while 58% of Americans between 18 and 29 feel this way. Some 21% of Americans think investors’ risky behavior is only a minor factor in dotcoms’ fading fortunes. Young Americans are much more likely to say this than older Americans. One-third (34%) of those in the 18-29 age group say investors’ risky behavior”

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

The study and investigation of high-tech and economic crimes can involve focusing on a wide array of information. Topics and data sources can range from being extremely limited to all-encompassing in scope. This list of websites represents a collection of Internet resources which provide information on a wide range of topics pertinent to the study and investigation of white collar crime."

download

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

U.S. Inquiry Statistics
U.S. Complaints Statistics
U.S. Statistics Sorted by Industry
Canadian Inquiry Statistics
Canadian Complaints Statistics
Canadian Statistics Sorted by Industry
Combined US/Canada Inquiry Statistics
Combined US/Canada Complaints Statistics
Combined US/Canada Statistics Sorted by Industry "

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments

 

	Complaint Type	FY 2007 Totals	FY 2006 Totals	Change	Rank in 2006
1	Spam: Unwanted Emails or Faxes	1,755	1,950	Down 10.00%	2
2	Advance Fee Fraud - security related	1,706	2,099	Down 18.72%	1
3	Manipulation of securities, prices or markets	899	953	Down 5.67%	3
4	Account records: Errors or omissions	800	773	Up 3.49%	5
5	Transfer of Account	781	806	Down 3.10%	4
6	Delivery of funds or proceeds	763	666	Up 14.56%	7
7	Account closing: Problems w/ redemption, liquidation or closing	641	719	Down 10.85%	6
8	Short selling	604	631	Down 4.28%	8
9	Theft of funds or securities	499	570	Down 12.46%	n/a
10	Misrepresentations: Inaccurate or incomplete disclosures	458	426	Up 7.51%	n/a

 

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

Extract from executive summary:

“ From the submissions, IC3 referred 72,940 complaints of crime to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies around the country for further consideration. The vast majority of cases were fraudulent in nature and involved a financial loss on the part of the complainant. The total dollar loss from all referred cases of fraud was $264.6 million with a median dollar loss of $931.00 per complaint. This is up from $239.1 million in total reported losses in 2007. Other significant findings related to an analysis of referrals include:

* Non-delivered merchandise and/or payment was, by far, the most reported offense, comprising 32.9% of referred complaints. Internet auction fraud accounted for 25.5% of referred complaints. Credit/debit card fraud made up 9.0% of referred complaints. Confidence fraud, computer fraud, check fraud, and Nigerian letter fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.

*Of those complaints reporting a dollar loss, the highest median losses were found among check fraud ($3,000), confidence fraud ($2,000), Nigerian (west African, 419, Advance Fee) letter fraud ($1,650).

* Among perpetrators, 77.4% were male and half resided in one of the following states: California, New York, Florida, Texas, District of Columbia, and Washington. The majority of reported perpetrators (66.1%) were from the United States; however, a significant number of perpetrators where also located in the United Kingdom , Nigeria , Canada , China, and South Africa.

* Among complainants, 55.4% were male, nearly half were between the ages of 30 and 50 and one-third resided in one of the four most populated states: California, Florida, Texas, and New York. While most were from the United States (92.4%), IC3 received a number of complaints from Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India, and France.

*Males lost more money than females (ratio of $1.69 dollars lost per male to every $1.00 dollar lost per female). This may be a function of both online purchasing differences by gender and the type of fraudulent schemes by which the individuals were victimized.

* E-mail (74.0%) and webpages (28.9%) were the two primary mechanisms by which the fraudulent contact took place.”

click here for the full report

Labels: finance, society, technology, united states, world

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

 list of articles between 2003 and 2009  on white collar crime from the FBI.

2009 articles listed below

06/30/09 ONLINE AUCTION FRAUD: Don't Let it Happen to You

06/24/09 A MAJOR CRACKDOWN: On Health Care Fraud

06/19/09 PONZI SCHEME INDICTMENTS: Five Charged in $7 Billion Ploy

06/02/09 BACK TO BASICS: The Director on the Financial Crisis

04/27/09 MORTGAGE FRAUD SCAM: 'Dream Homes' Turn into Nightmare

04/17/09 WORK-AT-HOME SCAMS: Job One: Don't Take the Bait

04/01/09  SPEAR PHISHERS: Angling to Steal Your Financial Info

03/09/09 SEEKING VICTIMS: In the Stanford Financial Group Case

03/03/09 DON'T PUT YOUR HEALTH: In the Hands of Crooks

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments

Top Fraud Schemes according to the FBI:

High Yield Investment Fraud

Ponzi Schemes

Pyramid Schemes

Advanced Fee Schemes

Foreign Currency Fraud

Broker Embezzlement

Hedge Fund Related Fraud

Late Day Trading"

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Securities Fraud Awareness & Prevention Tips

Labels: finance, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Read the real-story of well-educated and religious person John W. Worley who fell into a Nigerian money-wiring scam, lost tens to hundreds thousands of dollars, and found guilty in courts as well. It’s all about greed….

 http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/15/060515fa_fact?currentPage=all

“Ladies and gentlemen,” [prosecutor] told the jury, “it’s clear John Worley understands behavior of people and motivation of people, and he could and he can manipulate both behavior and reaction. . . . There is only one story here, and that’s the story of John Worley’s greed.”

….

academically speaking..:

“Robert B. Reich, the former Labor Secretary, who has studied the psychology of market behavior, says, “American culture is uniquely prone to the ‘too good to miss’ fallacy. ‘Opportunity’ is our favorite word. What may seem reckless and feckless and hapless to people in many parts of the world seems a justifiable risk to Americans.”

from Zuckoff (2006), “How a Massachusetts psychotherapist fell for a Nigerian e-mail scam”, New Yorker retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/15/060515fa_fact?currentPage=all

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

“The Economic Report of the President is an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. It overviews the nation's economic progress using text and extensive data appendices. The Economic Report of the President is transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the Budget of the United States Government. Supplementary reports can be issued to the Congress which contain additional and/or revised recommendations. Documents are available in ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), with many of the tables also available for separate viewing and downloading as spreadsheets in xls and comma delimited formats”

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/

Download entire 2009 report as a single PDF file (5.4 MB, PDF)

Statistical Data for 2009 http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/tables09.html

from the Housing and Financial Market chapter:  chart above shows “measures of consumer confidence from both the Reuters/ University of Michigan survey and the Conference Board survey, which reveal substantial pessimism among consumers in the recent data. In fact, in October 2008 the Conference Board measure of confidence reached the lowest level ever seen in the index’s 51-year history”.

from Education and Labor chapter: chart above: “For most people, a strong motivation to obtain additional years of
schooling is the labor market return they expect to receive. Indeed, according to Chart 8-1, adults with a bachelor’s or an advanced degree earn considerably more than adults with a high school degree?

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments

Abstract:
The ratio of total household debt to aggregate personal income in the United States has risen from an average of 0.6 in the 1980s to an average of 1.0 so far this decade. In this paper we explore the causes and consequences of this dramatic increase. Demographic shifts, house price increases, and financial innovation all appear to have contributed to the rise. Households have become more exposed to shocks to asset prices through the greater leverage in their balance sheets, and more exposed to unexpected changes in income and interest rates because of higher debt payments relative to income. At the same time, an increase in access to credit and higher levels of assets should give households, on average, a greater ability to smooth through shocks. We conclude by discussing some of the risks associated with some households having become very highly indebted relative to their assets.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1019052

Labels: finance, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

CSPAN:

Today is the 40 anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the 1969 mission with former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. The Newseum held a discussion on "The Apollo Legacy". Yesterday, the Apollo crew spoke at the Smithsonian Nat'l Air & Space Museum on space history.

Newseum: From Earlier Buzz Aldrin on Washington Journal (7/19)

Apollo Crew at the Smithsonian (7/19)

NASA's Website

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

“Unemployment among blacks in New York City has increased much faster than for whites, and the gap appears to be widening at an accelerating pace, new studies of jobless data have found.

While unemployment rose steadily for white New Yorkers from the first quarter of 2008 through the first three months of this year, the number of unemployed blacks in the city rose four times as fast, according to a report to be released on Monday by the city comptroller’s office. By the end of March, there were about 80,000 more unemployed blacks than whites, according to the report, even though there are roughly 1.5 million more whites than blacks here.”

read full article at New York Times by Patrick McGeehan and Mathew R. Warren

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

"the public has a far less positive view of the global standing of U.S. science than do scientists themselves. Just 17% of the public thinks that U.S. scientific achievements rate as the best in the world. A survey of more than 2,500 scientists, conducted in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), finds that nearly half (49%) rate U.S. scientific achievements as the best in the world. When asked about their own scientific specialty, about the same share of scientists (45%) rate U.S. scientific achievements the best in the world.

..

While the public holds scientists in high regard, many scientists offer unfavorable, if not critical, assessments of the public’s knowledge and expectations. Fully 85% see the public’s lack of scientific knowledge as a major problem for science, and nearly half (49%) fault the public for having unrealistic expectations about the speed of scientific achievements.

"

Labels: science, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Next Monday, Wall Street's biggest and most brazen crook, Bernard Madoff, will leave his jail cell to hear his punishment."

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

" Morten L Bech and Tara Rice June 2, 2009 Reviews recent developments in the balance sheets and in the profitability of U.S. commercial banks. The article discusses how developments in the U.S. banking industry in 2008 and early 2009 were related to changes in financial markets and in the broader economy.

PDF (318 KB)"

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Data.gov The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government….Data.gov includes a searchable data catalog that includes access to data in two ways: through the "raw" data catalog and using tools.”

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 2:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Pres. Carter on Lessons Learned from 1979 Energy Crisis Today Pres. Jimmy Carter offered an historical perspective on the impact of energy issues on national security before a Senate Foreign Relations Cmte. hearing. During his time in office, the Iranian Revolution resulted in an oil shortage and high gasoline prices that increased tensions between the two nations."

see the video

Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments

US Treasury Department released an updated monthly and quarterly economic statistics.

Monthly Statistics

http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/economic-policy/macroecon/monthly_economic_data.pdf

Quarterly Statistics

http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/economic-policy/macroecon/quarterly_economic_data.pdf

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments

"April Job Numbers Show Slight Improvement By NICK WILSON WASHINGTON (CN) - Job losses slowed somewhat in April with the cutting of 540,000 jobs but total unemployment rose to 8.9 percent, the highest level in a quarter century, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday. "This is still a really bad number, but job loss did moderate," Commissioner Keith Hall said. The loss in April represent an improvement over the last five months, all of which were among the 10 worst months ever recorded for job loss. In January, for example, Americans lost a devastating 741,000 jobs. Hall appeared before the Join Economic Committee in Congress and argued that the April loss suggests a boost in consumer confidence. Once consumers spend more, Hall added, the economy rises to meet the demand and more jobs result. Nonetheless, April saw the total loss of American jobs continue to stack up. Unemployment rose to 8.9 percent in March, the highest rate since 1983. Of the 13.7 million Americans now reported as unemployed, 5.7 million of the losses occurred since the beginning of the recession in December of 2007. Race and level of education continue to play a significant role in unemployment. Blacks had the highest unemployment at 15 percent, Hispanics faced 11 percent unemployment, Whites had eight percent unemployment, and Asians had the lowest unemployment, 6.6 percent. In keeping with past trends, higher levels of education are directly linked to higher employment rates. People without a high school diploma have the worst chances, recording a 15 percent unemployment rate. High school diploma holders are unemployed at a 9 percent rate. Those with some college education earned a 7 percent unemployment rate, and those with college held a 4.4 percent unemployment rate. Hall cautioned that we will have to wait for next month's report to determine if the slowing of job loss is a trend."

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/05/08/april%20unemployment.pdf

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

snippet from Among college-educated, African Americans hardest hit by unemployment by Algernon Austin

Fifteen months into a deep recession, college-educated white workers still had a relatively low unemployment rate of 3.8% in March of this year. The same could not be said for African Americans with four-year degrees. The March 2009 unemployment rate for college-educated blacks was 7.2%—almost twice as high as the white rate—and up 4.5 percentage points from March 2007, before the start of the current recession

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

"Statement of Director Donna Gambrell on Release of Final Research Papers April 22, 2009 Washington, DC - "When the financial crisis hit last year, we at the CDFI Fund were well served by utilizing the findings from these research reports which addressed critical issues related to foreclosure mitigation, homeownerships counseling, and financial services for distressed communities," said CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell. "The findings are based on sound policy-oriented research, and they provide valuable insights into the roles and impact that the CDFI Fund's programs have in economically distressed communities across the country. The CDFI Fund commissioned this research, in part, because it was conducted by respected members of the community development finance field who are innovators crafting new strategies to extend financial services to our nation's most underserved communities. The research reports are timely, and they will be used for future policy, programmatic and legislative developments."

{….}

Research Report Overview

• Contents (.pdf)
• Executive Summary (.pdf)

Research Report Categories (click below to access related research reports)

• CDFIs and the Subprime Mortgage Market (3 research reports)
• Community and Economic Development and CDFI Lending (3 research reports)
• CDFIs in Rural and Underserved Markets (3 research reports)
• Institutional Development of CDFIs (3 research reports)

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments

U.S. recession showing signs of moderating: IMF

Wednesday, Apr 22, 2009 1:42PM UTC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is starting to show signs of shrinking more slowly but positive growth is not expected until sometime next year, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

"There has been some improvement in business confidence, some signs of bottoming out in housing market, but these are early days and we should not expect a return to growth any time soon," Charles Collyns, IMF's deputy director of research, told a press conference.

"We don't expect a return to positive growth in the U.S. until some time next year," he said in response to a question.

Collyns also said China was showing considerable resilience as it had reacted strongly to counter the global slump.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Economic Policy Institute writes:

"A recent report by the Center for Education Reform, a charter school advocacy group, finds that of the 5,235 charter schools opened since 1992, 657 have closed down. Of these 657 schools, only 91—or 14% (see chart)—were closed for “academic reasons,” defined as schools “whose sponsors found them unable to meet the academic goals and performance targets set by the state or written in their charter.”¹ Moreover, the number of charters actually closed for academic reasons is likely to be even lower: close investigations reveal that some charters supposedly closed for academic reasons were in reality closed because of finances, mismanagement, or other organizational problems.”

Labels: education, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

"We're finding that it is directly attributable to what is happening economically," she said. "Many of the hospitals around here report an increase of 20 to 30 percent of requests for consultation regarding suspected child maltreatment."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

NIST Creates YouTube Channel
K.C. Jones, InformationWeek

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has turned to YouTube to help teach citizens about its programs. NIST announced last week that it has created its own channel on the video social networking site.
The creation of the channel is just one of many steps NIST will take
to reach out to people on the Web. 'This official YouTube channel is
the first of several planned NIST Web sites hosted by the private sector,' Gail Porter, director of NIST's public and business affairs office, said in a statement. 'The effort is part of a broader, government-wide effort to encourage openness and transparency and to 'go to where the people are.' The move is part of a larger U.S. government plan to make more information available to the public."

http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/federal/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216500604
See also the NIST YouTube launch document: http://www.youtube.com/user/usnistgov

Labels: technology, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

below is the U.S. Department of the Treasury Economic Statistics - Monthly Data Update which shows how bad is the US economy: high unemployment, high business inventory, low sales, declining inflation, negative production growth, and more and more. A good sign is a decline in the U.S. trade deficit.

click here for the pdf http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/economic-policy/macroecon/monthly_economic_data.pdf

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

The New York Times has an interacting map on its website where it allows you to pick the regions of people who immigrated to the United States between 1880 and 2000. Click on the image below to see the screen shot of the Middle Eastern ones who immigrated until 2000.

Labels: middle east, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

Author/Editor: Crowe, Christopher W.

Summary: The recent housing bust has reignited interest in psychological theories of speculative excess (Shiller, 2007). I investigate this issue by identifying a segment of the U.S. population-evangelical protestants-that may be less prone to speculative motives, and uncover a significant negative relationship between their population share and house price volatility. Evangelicals' focus on Biblical prophecy could account for this difference, since it may enable them to interpret otherwise negative events as containing positive news, dampening the response of house prices to shocks. I provide evidence for this channel using a popular internet measure of "prophetic activity" and a 9/11 event study. I also analyze survey data covering religious beliefs and asset holding, and find that 'end times' beliefs are associated with a one-third decline in net worth, consistent with these beliefs providing a form of psychic insurance (Scheve and Stasavage, 2006a and 2006b) that reduces asset demand.

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=22728.0

Labels: finance, religion, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 5:49 AM | Permalink | Comments

"In all, 53 percent of Americans in the Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Wednesday said they or a family member living with them cut back on health care in one or more ways to save money in the past 12 months.

Most commonly, they relied on home remedies or over-the-counter drugs instead of seeing a doctor, or they skipped a visit to the dentist - about a third of respondents reported doing each. Nearly one in four postponed a recommended medical test or treatment. Nearly as many didn't fill a prescription, while 15 percent cut pills in half or skipped doses of medicine. Seven percent reported problems getting mental health care.

Overall, 27 percent said their household postponed needed medical care. That included 16 percent who put off dealing with at least one serious problem: 10 percent delayed seeing a doctor for a chronic illness like diabetes or asthma, 6 percent postponed minor surgery in the doctor's office and 5 percent delayed major surgery requiring an overnight hospital stay. And 19 percent each skipped a doctor's visit for temporary illness or preventive care."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 6:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

"The Federal Reserve Board on Monday launched a new section of its website expanding the information provided about the policy tools the Federal Reserve has employed to address the financial crisis and simplifying access to that information."

..

The new section of the Board's website can be accessed at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst.htm

In addition, as part of ongoing enhancements to the Board's website, a new tool has been added to allow for advanced searches of recent and historical Federal Open Market Committee material. 

Labels: education, finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

"The crime was so brutal, shocking and rife with the worst possible stereotypes about their faith that some U.S. Muslims thought the initial reports were a hoax.

The harsh reality of what happened in an affluent suburb of Buffalo, New York — the beheading of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan and arrest of her estranged husband in the killing — is another crucible for American Muslims."

Labels: arab, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments

"World Affairs Council of America Discussion on U.S.-United Arab Emirates Trade Friday
The World Affairs Council of America 2009 National Conference continued with a keynote speech on commercial and bilateral trade between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates. Lubna al-Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade was the keynote speaker.
Washington, DC : 44 min."

Labels: middle east, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

" According to a new analysis of data about the U.S. foreign-born population from the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS), a higher percentage of people born in India have a bachelors degree or higher (74 percent) than people born in any other foreign country. Egypt and Nigeria had rates above 60 percent.  …     Meanwhile, among the nation’s foreign-born, Somalis and Kenyans living in the United States are the most likely to be newcomers, and Somalis are among the youngest and poorest   …

     The new data reveal the diversity among the 38.1 million foreign-born living in the United States in 2007, not only by where they were born, but also by where they live now.

       Other findings available for foreign-born populations of 65,000 or more in areas with a total population of 500,000 or more include the following : click here to route to the Census Report

Labels: education, united states, world

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

"Arab-American women living in southeast Detroit whose conservative dress limits their exposure to sun should be taking a vitamin D supplement to boost their dangerously low serum levels, according to a study published by Henry Ford Hospital researchers."

..

“Researchers found that all 87 women involved in a small study showed vitamin D levels averaging 8.5 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter) for those who wore western dress to 4 ng/mL for those who wore the hijab, modest dress with a headscarf. A healthy vitamin D level is 30 ng/mL or higher.”

Labels: arab, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

"The federal government should make preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and promoting mental health in young people a national priority, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. These disorders -- which include depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and substance abuse -- are about as common as fractured limbs in children and adolescents. Collectively, they take a tremendous toll on the well-being of young people and their families, costing the U.S. an estimated $247 billion annually, the report says."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments

Brian K. Bucks, Arthur B. Kennickell, Traci L. Mach, and Kevin B. Moore
February 12, 2009

The Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances for 2007 provides insights into changes in family income and net worth since the 2004 survey. The survey shows that, over the 2004-07 period, the median value of real (inflation-adjusted) family income before taxes was little changed, while mean income climbed 8.5 percent. Unlike family income over this period, both median and mean net worth increased; the median rose 17.7 percent, and the mean rose 13.0 percent. This article reviews these and other changes in the financial condition of U.S. families, including developments in assets, liabilities, and debt payments. PDF (398 KB)"

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

"In response to coverage of strapped households, a reader points us toward the Pew Research Center’s 2006 report on what kinds of goods Americans consider “necessities” versus “luxuries.” The results show that, as their incomes rose, Americans have gotten somewhat needier over time. For example, the percentage of Americans who call microwaves a “necessity” rather than a “luxury” has more than doubled in the past decade, from 32 percent in 1996 to 68 percent in 2006:

Chart (c) 2005-2009 Pew Research Center"

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 5:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Washington – Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 6, 2009

Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in January, and the unemployment rate rose from 7.2% to 7.6% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor"

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

Economic Policy Institute:

The January employment report released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the U.S. economy has shed nearly 3.5 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007, with 2.8 million jobs lost in the last five months. With the unemployment rate now at 7.6%, it is at its highest level in over sixteen years.

The Gavel » Blog Archive » What 3.6 Million Jobs Lost Over 13 Months Looks Like

"

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

"The “Buy American” provision in the US stimulus package would violate US trade obligations, damage the US' reputation, and have almost no real impact on US jobs. Moreover, the provisions will be read as an Obama trade policy that leans toward protectionism – with severe consequences abroad."

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Americans are rightfully angry about the economic decline, but with a few small exceptions, quietly so. Why? It depends on whom you ask."

Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

Arab American Bilingualism

The paper is the results of a knowledge research module at the university on human development and consists of three components :the "breadth component" that compares the classical language-acquisition theories of Piaget, Chomsky and Skinner, the "depth component" that synthesize recent researches on bilingualism and its impact to the cognitive development of children as well adults, and the "application component" that details Arab-American bilingualism in the United States followed by a set of suggestions for improved bilingual development in such society.

Labels: arab, personal, society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

"

KXAS

The Texas Department of Transportation says someone hacked into its digital road sign system to post a warning about zombies. "

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

"A US man apparently distraught over job problems is thought to have shot dead his wife and five young children before turning the gun on himself…..The man, identified as Ervin Lupoe, is believed to have killed his family after calling a local broadcaster and sending a fax about problems at work.”

Labels: united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:29 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Happiness inequality in the U.S. has decreased since the 1970s, according to research published this month in the Journal of Legal Studies."

“The study, by University of Pennsylvania economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, found that the American population as a whole is no happier than it was three decades ago. But happiness inequality—the gap between the happy and the not-so-happy—has narrowed significantly.

"Americans are becoming more similar to each other in terms of reported happiness," says Stevenson. "It's an interesting finding because other research shows increasing gaps in income, consumption and leisure time."

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

"Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month and by 1.9 million over the last four months of 2008. In December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industry sectors. The number of unemployed persons increased to 11.1 million in December. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has grown by 3.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.3 percentage points."

Labels: finance, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

"Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.
A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.
Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement."

Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

what is the Bilderberg Group? from Wikipedia:

“The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an unofficial annual invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of politics, business and banking.

The elite group meets annually at luxury hotels or resorts throughout the world — normally in Europe, and once every four years in the United States or Canada. It has an office in Leiden in the Netherlands.^[1] The 2008 conference took place in Chantilly, Virginia.”

^{from BBC}

“Informal and private networks like Bilderberg have helped to oil the wheels of global politics and globalisation for the past half a century. In the eyes of critics they have undermined democracy, but their supporters believe they are crucial to modern democracy's success. And so long as business and politics remain mutually dependent, they will continue to thrive.”

Labels: finance, politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: media, politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

Ben Stein astutely observes that highly intelligent advisers in past administrations often did not have the foresight to make sound policy decisions in unusually tough situations (“Ordinary People vs. Extraordinary Problems,” Everybody’s Business, Jan. 11). He also wonders whether the team of President-elect Barack Obama will similarly fail.

In so doing, he touches on an issue that psychologists have grappled with: the importance of emotional versus intellectual ability. The true gift of Franklin D. Roosevelt was his ability to grasp the fear of the American people and inspire them to endure as he experimented with different economic programs.

Let us hope that the very intelligent people in the Obama administration can similarly understand the emotional components of this crisis.

Richard E. Fischer, Ph.D.

Manhattan, Jan. 12

The writer is a clinical psychologist."

Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: finance, media, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

(AP) An estimated 3.4 million Americans identified themselves as victims of stalking during a one-year span, according to federal crime experts who on Tuesday released the largest-ever survey of the aggravating and often terrifying phenomenon. "

About half of the victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from a stalker, and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years, according to the report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. It covered a 12-month period in 2005-06.

Labels: society, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

We live in a networked world. War is networked: the power of terrorists and the militaries that would defeat them depend on small, mobile groups of warriors connected to one another and to intelligence, communications, and support networks. Diplomacy is networked: managing international crises -- from SARS to climate change -- requires mobilizing international networks of public and private actors. Business is networked: every CEO advice manual published in the past decade has focused on the shift from the vertical world of hierarchy to the horizontal world of networks. Media are networked: online blogs and other forms of participatory media depend on contributions from readers to create a vast, networked conversation. Society is networked: the world of MySpace is creating a global world of "OurSpace," linking hundreds of millions of individuals across continents. Even religion is networked: as the pastor Rick Warren has argued, "The only thing big enough to solve the problems of spiritual emptiness, selfish leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance is the network of millions of churches all around the world."

Labels: politics, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

In the past, Muslim groups did not publish annual reports, conduct audits or engage in the same kind of oversight that is commonplace among other charitable institutions. This was a result of inexperience as opposed to any devious intentions," the report states.

"Now, there is a growing awareness of basic expectations, not only to protect an organization from attack by law enforcement, but mainly to provide assurances to donors that their money is being spent according to their wishes."

Labels: arab, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments

Get news on the go with the Mobile News Network. Visit http://www.apnews.com to learn how to get it for your phone.

Regards,
Tarek Hoteit
http://tarek.hoteit.org

Labels: religion, united states

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

FOXNews.com - 'Safety' Remark Gets Muslim Family Kicked Off Plane

WASHINGTON —  A Muslim family removed from a plane Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation about the "safest" place to sit says AirTran officials refused to re-book them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.

All eight members of the Irfan family from Alexandria, Va., and a friend were kicked off an Orlando-bound AirTran Airways flight after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark, according to the Washington Post.

"My brother and his wife were discussing some aspect of airport security," Kashif Irfan told the Washington Post. "The only thing my brother said was, 'Wow, the jets are right next to my window.' I think they were remarking about safety."

Irfan said other fliers heard them discussing the safest place to sit and misunderstood the nature of the conversation.

FBI agents later cleared the ejected passengers, all but one of them U.S.-born citizens who were headed to a Florida retreat.

But the family members said AirTran refused to rebook them, and they had to pay for seats on another airline secured with help from the FBI.

Federal officials ordered all 104 passengers from the plane and re-screened them before allowing the flight to depart.

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Kareem Shora goes over the AADC’s recently released report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Arab-Americans. The report shows a decrease since the 2001 September 11th attacks."

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