http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/tim-manning-updates.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/tim-manning-updates.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:01:28 -0500 Timothy W. Manning, Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will visit the Marieville Elementary School on Mineral Spring Ave. in North Providence. He will arrive at 10:30 AM on Thursday, October 22, to observe first hand a STEP class taught by Carol Zona. STEP is an acronym for Student Tools for Emergency Planning.

This program was developed by FEMA for fourth and fifth grade students. The success of the Rhode Island program has motivated Mr. Manning to see for himself, STEP in action. We have by far, the highest percentage of eligible students in New England participating in STEP and thanks to the skills and enthusiasm of our teachers, the program has been getting rave reviews across the State.

It is our hope that if Tim Manning likes what he hears and sees, he will return to Washington with the goal of taking this program nationwide.

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Tim Manning

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/tim-manning-working-for-fema.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/tim-manning-working-for-fema.html Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:46:06 -0500 Tim Manning will serve as deputy administrator of the National Preparedness Directorate. That federal agency falls under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Manning assumes his new duties in Washington D.C. today.
I am very pleased that the Senate has confirmed Tim Manning for this critical role that is so vital to FEMA and to our country,” said U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last week. ” Tim brings an excellent portfolio and experience to the position, and I am pleased to have him join the DHS and FEMA leadership teams.
Today, Gov. Bill Richardson announced that he appointed John Wheeler as Manning’s replacement. He will also begin his new position today.
While I am sorry that Tim is leaving, this is truly a win-win for the State of New Mexico, Richardson said earlier today in a statement. We are fortunate to have someone with John Wheelers experience and ability to step into this critical role.
Richardson also said that New Mexico will benefit from having a New Mexican in such a key national position.

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Tim Manning

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/why-we-should-be-missing-president-nixon.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/why-we-should-be-missing-president-nixon.html Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:42:05 -0500
As Congress and the nation battle it out over healthcare reform - with the fate of more than 40 million uninsured people hanging in the balance - the former president's brother, Ed Nixon, is hoping people take some time to reflect on the lost opportunity, as well as his brother's accomplishments.

"My brother's offer to address healthcare was genuine, and it stemmed from his feeling that we needed tighter regulation on the insurance industry," said Nixon, co-author of The Nixons: A Family Portrait, from Book Publishers Network (www.thenixons-afamilyportrait.com). "He knew back then what was on the horizon, seeing the writing on the wall three decades before the storm."

While popular culture has remade the former president as a negative caricature with his portrayals in movies, both fiction and non-fiction-based, Ed Nixon believes his brother's accomplishments remain undeniable. President Nixon's relevancy to the political news cycle of the last decade crystallizes even more when people consider the foreign policy challenges facing President Barack Obama.

"The old line that ‘Only Nixon could go to China' has been used by pundits for decades, and even made it into a Star Trek movie as a Vulcan proverb," Ed Nixon said.

But the underlying truth is that his brother went to communist China in the middle of the Cold War to prevent complete Soviet domination in Asia.

"His trip had nothing to do with economics," Ed Nixon said. "While President Reagan is largely credited for ending the Cold War, the seeds were planted during the Nixon administration. This issue was of significant strategic interest to both China and the U.S. at the time, and working together to keep the Soviets in check was a key element that led to the fall of the Soviet republic. If they couldn't expand, they would not have the economic base to support their massive military budget. When their expansion ceased, it helped hasten their fate."

"The White House today could certainly use an advisor with the kind of historical perspective and clear vision possessed by Richard Nixon," he added.

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Tony Panaccio is a Staff Writer at News & Experts.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/why-china-wont-start-trade-war-over-tariffs.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/why-china-wont-start-trade-war-over-tariffs.html Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:40:18 -0500
While pundits contemplate such a possibility, at least one expert believes that the Chinese aren't as interested in the single issue of tariffs as much as they are about their current course of geo-political expansion. Mike Green, author of the espionage novel Path of Thunder, from Peacemaker Productions (www.pathofthunder.com), believes that China's next steps are driven by a far more complex agenda of global military and economic ascendency. Green dismissed the tariffs as union pandering, warning that Americans need to be concerned about something other than the obvious - the awakening of a sleeping giant.

"The U.S. Pacific Fleet has steadily declined in numbers of ships and submarines since the end of the Cold War, and follow on generations have lost momentum in both numbers and funding," he said. "The over budget F-22 Raptor, our next generation air supremacy fighter that set a fifteen year developmental record, leaves the Pentagon cringing as it refocuses on smaller, more nimble elements of our military components better equipped to deal with insurgencies. Continuing the trend, the Navy's CVN-78 generation of aircraft carriers has been cut back to a five year ‘more sustainable' build out pace, and our new administration is not known for its pro-military bias. Japan's new government is moving our Marines on Okinawa to Guam, nearly a thousand miles further from China's waters. We see a curious trend.
All of these things potentially represented threats to China - could there be something more to this story?"

Green also made note of the Chinese lack of respect for our diplomats. Our new Secretary of the Treasury drew laughs recently when he tried to convince a Chinese audience of the soundness of additional Chinese investment in the United States.

"The United States in the midst of this entire decline has just had a titanic financial hiccup, and, in the face of spiraling and unprecedented deficits, is now re-evaluating its spending priorities across a broad front," Green said. "The obvious loser so far has been the defense budget. So, with the US' flagging military presence, lost budgetary muscle and a dearth of respected diplomat in the region, our leverage there is dwindling."

"Also, until now, China has enjoyed the luxury of being able to pursue a very aggressive policy of militaristic expansion, while at the same time growing its influence over the United States through the financing of its national debt," Green added. "But now China's economy suffers with the rest of the world, and China's government faces considerable domestic unrest over a host of issues. Even with fresh signs of a recovery, China is faced with the prospect of a smaller economic surplus, forcing difficult decisions related to two looming demands: 1) Re-commitment to financing the United States' growing deficit, and 2) Filling China's share of the growing global military vacuum'."

"The lullaby that China isn't a threat to US national security is frighteningly similar to a jingle we were hypnotized by in the years leading up to December 7, 1941," Green warned. "Regardless of the tune, it would behoove inwardly focused policy makers to keep one eye open for the long haul, and re-tool our spending priorities with the growing Chinese threat in mind."

Talk of a trade war is just more noise that distracts us from the bigger picture.

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Rachel Friedman is a Staff Writer at News & Experts.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/u.s.-lacks-strategic-presence-near-china-india.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/u.s.-lacks-strategic-presence-near-china-india.html Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:02:22 -0500
That's the opinion of Sir James Mancham, the first president of an island country called the Republic of Seychelles. Situated near the center of the Indian Ocean, Seychelles is a nation of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, 930 miles east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. More importantly, it sits in a position that makes it advantageous strategically in a military conflict for any aggressor near the Indian Ocean - China, India, Pakistan, Russia, and North Korea - who needs a refuelling station for aircraft or a port for ships.

"All the countries in the region have active embassies in Seychelles, while the U.S. is conspicuously absent," Mancham said.

"I remember a time when Cuba was considered an inconsequential little sandbar off the Florida coast, filled with casinos and showgirls," Mancham said. "That is, until Marxists took over and the Russians deposited some missiles there, a scant 90 miles from the United States. Suddenly, it became a very important little sandbar."

Mancham speaks from experience. Seychelles was given independence from Great Britain in 1976, and Mancham was elected its first president. A year later, Marxist rebels staged a coup d'état, ousting Mancham from office. He escaped the country and lived in exile for 20-plus years until the Cold War ended. He returned to Seychelles as an elder statesman with a view to reunify his divided country.

"No country is small if it is surrounded by the sea," Mancham said. "Consider that this region houses China, whose impact on the U.S. economy is immeasurable. In addition, India and Pakistan are two neighbours whose religious malevolence towards each other surpasses even that of the myriad Middle Eastern conflicts. Also, they both have nuclear capability and absolutely no fear of the bomb. To our east is Africa, whose natural resources are of great interest to China as well as American business interests. For the U.S. not to have a diplomatic presence in Seychelles - where embassies represent each of their allies in the region - is an unconscionable omission of mythic proportions."

The growing competition for power and influence in the Indian Ocean, the world's primary energy and trade seaway has certainly put the Seychelles at the center of superpower rivalry. Only on the 1st of September, 2009, China and Seychelles signed an agreement for military collaboration. Two days later, the U.S. sent the Stuttgart-based Commander of the U.S. Africa Command, General William Ward to assure Seychelles that the U.S. is committed to a partnership towards "the common objective of peace and security in the region and around the world."

"The U.S. supports new democracies, but China holds great power over the U.S. economy. Diplomacy would rule the day, but with no embassy in a strategic, as well as neutral, country in the region, the U.S. would lack a powerful tool and ally for stabilization and peace," Mancham stated.

Mancham, whose autobiography, Seychelles: Global Citizen (www.paragonhouse.com), traces the roots of the country and how it has grown into its strategic and diplomatic significance, believes that global geo-politics is not a regional phenomenon. Instead, it is a complex, but singular, tapestry. The slightest pulled thread in the Far East can have wide ranging implications in the west.


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Sir James Richard Marie Mancham once tasted power. He was the founding President of the Republic of Seychelles - a tiny Republic, if you want, but also one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Unfortunately the Seychelles became "strategic territory." In the early sixties, JRM stuck his neck out when the US Air Force decided that it would be in the US national interest to build a Satellite Tracking Station atop of Seychelles' main Island of Mahé in the middle of the Indian Ocean to gather military intelligence over a then aggressive Soviet Union.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/what-u.s.-cities-are-doing-to-promote-new-construction.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/what-u.s.-cities-are-doing-to-promote-new-construction.html Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:25:46 -0500
Although home sale numbers may be resurrecting in some cities, this is not the case for most. Not only are home sales down, but new home construction has hit rock bottom in many major cities.

Commercial vacancies are also steadily climbing, which have caused the lending industry to raise the bar in obtaining new construction loans. Builders are now struggling more than ever with a variety of costs, and are much more hesitant in a down economy to begin new projects.

Insightful U.S. cities are noticing the significantly diminished number of new building permits, and are responding. In order to kick start the slumping industry, many cities are cutting various impact fees typically charged to builders. Generally, impact fees are one-time fees charged on new construction to pay for infrastructure for the new development, like roads, sewer systems, curbing, lighting, schools, parks and other community needs.

The hope is that the savings will entice developers to complete or build-out existing construction and encourage new residential and commercial development.

Earlier this year, the City of Harrisburg, Oregon, cut in half what are called the city's Systems Development Charges. These are the fees the city bills home builders pay per house. City officials stated that the reduction in fees saved new home builders nearly $5,000 per house, a savings that is supposed to be passed along to the buyer. The city's program ended August 1.

Following suit with numerous other local California governments, Riverside County reduced their impact fees to builders just this month. The California Building Industry Association says it's a growing trend that's paying off. Riverside officials voted to cut development fees by 50 percent for one year effective August 15. That adds up to a savings of about $2,100 per single-family dwelling. In addition, the Western Riverside Council of Governments will consider a reduction in the Traffic Uniform Mitigation Fee (TUMF) that currently cost builders $10,000 per home.

Naples, Florida, made history in cities that are considering the reduction of impact fees. Known to charge the highest impact fees in the state, the city was one of the first to consider lowering impact fees in January of this year. The county's commissioners voted to suspend certain impact fees for two years. Benefactors of the suspended fees will primarily be existing commercial property owners who change the use of commercial space listed on the building permit.

Arizona state government initially rejected, and then subsequently approved, a budget that included a two-year suspension for impact fees assessed by city governments relative to construction sales and building codes, along with reduced assessments for commercial property tax. The National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP) and Home Builders Association of Central Arizona (HBACA) had been petitioning for a three-year moratorium on impact fees.

In attempts to bolster commercial development, Meridian, Ohio has also jumped into the fray. Officials have waived impact fees for fire and police for all commercial building permits through September 30, 2009.

Boise, Idaho Mayor Dave Bieter has deferred fees for building permits and inspections for new construction. The fees are not due until the occupancy permit is issued by the city. In addition, impact fees for fire, police and parks are being deferred.

The trend seems to be catching fire throughout the nation; although it is unclear as to what extent these deferred, reduced or eliminated impact fees will benefit the community in the long-run.

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Ki has been interested in Austin real estate since graduating from the University of Texas. His website has a graphical search for Austin homes for sale. His website has statistics and information on Austin real estate and commercial real estate.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/u.s.-bankruptcy-judges-ruling-could-change-foreclosure-laws-nationwide.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/u.s.-bankruptcy-judges-ruling-could-change-foreclosure-laws-nationwide.html Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:24:53 -0500
Typically, a mortgage note goes through several iterations of sale to different mortgage lenders, which makes it difficult to produce original loan documentation. When lenders begin foreclosing on homeowners in bankruptcy, the original note is often not available.

MERS is a program that was initiated by several lenders over 20 years ago to simplify the complicated mortgage process. The system is designed to track mortgages and any associated sale of the note via a central database. Over 60 million mortgages are currently monitored by the program. Lenders who are members are represented by MERS throughout the foreclosure process.

Although the bankruptcy judge's ruling presents a roadblock for lenders in the foreclosure process, it is not the first time MERS was challenged in court. The same ruling was handed down in a Florida court; however, the company eventually won on appeal.

For homeowners who owe more than their home is worth, or are unable to pay their mortgage payments, the ruling may only delay proceedings for about a month or more. In attempts to further assist homeowners in default on their mortgage, a Nevada state representative introduced legislation to allow homeowners in financial hardship to ask for arbitration in their mortgage default process. This would overstep service providers like MERS, and require mortgage lenders to be involved, instead.

Even though it was handed down in Nevada, bankruptcy attorneys in other states have voiced appreciation in regards to the ruling. One noted Houston attorney stated that the new law could have a nationwide impact on the ability of lenders to enforce mortgage loans. In addition, it throws some negotiating leverage onto the playing field that was not available before for homeowners in foreclosure going through bankruptcy.

A deluge of complaints have been filed against service providers in regards to aggravating the excessive number of foreclosures initiated in the past two-and-a-half years. On the other hand, MERS argues that its services enable a broader range of home lending options for homebuyers.

The program maintains current mortgage information and ownership, and avoids the astronomical millions associated with recording fees, along with the associated paperwork. MERS officials noted verbiage from one Florida court decision that stated the program was "innovative."

Will the decision hold up? Regardless, as in the Florida case, MERS immediately appealed the judge's decision.

The bigger question, however, is whether the ruling will catch fire in other states. Also, it will be interesting to see if the Nevada statesman's proposed bill will be cause for pause for legislation in other states across the Union.

With all the twists and turns we're seeing in the courts of late, anything could happen.

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Ki's company is located in Central Austin. He maintains a website allowing buyers to search for homes in the Austin MLS. He has worked with Austin real estate for almost 10 years. His site has information and graphs on historical interest rates.


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/middle-east-peace-depends-on-obama.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/middle-east-peace-depends-on-obama.html Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:03:57 -0500
That's the opinion of David Price, a scientist turned political activist and author of the book The (Induced) Ignorance of Power (www.roadmapforamerica.com), who spent 10 years in the Middle East and understands the culture better than most who are commenting on the conflict.

"The recent allegations from the human rights group ‘Breaking the Silence' that Israel engaged in systematic human rights abuses and war crimes in Gaza, comes as no surprise," Price said. "In the 1980's forces under the control of Israel massacred 700+ unarmed refugees during a similar incursion into Lebanon. Washington turned a cold shoulder to the allegations, and the memory of that inaction - combined with decades of enmity with the Arab world and religious extremists - continue to plague America's efforts to halt terrorism."

However, while evidence of killing innocents would be the most dramatic example of abuse, the action that has poisoned the Middle East peace process has been the continual seizing of Palestinian homes and land by Israel, according to Price.

"For 40 years, Israel has been creating settlements on land considered to be sovereign Palestinian land, as declared by the United Nations," he said. "Stories of Palestinian families being evicted from their homes at gunpoint are standard in the Arab world. Every president since Richard Nixon has condemned this practice, but none has had the political courage to engage in anything but rhetoric."

However, US President Barack Obama has taken a harder line with Israel than previous presidents, including his predecessor George W. Bush.

"Barack Obama has stated settlement activity must stop, and has intimated aid to Israel may be withheld," Price added. "This is the first time in modern history that an American president has even head-faked in that direction. Even more significant, President Obama has said there must be a two state solution. Israel must withdraw from lands seized in violation of UN mandates, and that the Palestinian Territories must be given autonomy. Considering it took Netanyahu decades to even utter the words ‘Palestinian state' in the same sentence together, this is a dramatic turn of events in US/Israeli relations. With the US one of Israel's last remaining allies, it's possible that Obama's hard line may be just what it takes for the parties involved to take each other seriously in a renewed peace process."

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington and with the 2010 mid-term elections looming, it's likely there will be intense pressure on the Democratic Party to convince Obama to back down, he added.

"With the general public disenchanted with Obama's domestic deficit spending and bail-outs, the Democrats will be at risk of losing their majority," he said. "If the right is angered and the left is embarrassed, it leaves the center as Obama's only base of support. Most Congressional representatives will not want the added opposition of the Jewish community, so the real quandary for the White House is whether Obama is going to act as the leader of the Democratic Party, or as the President of the United States and leader of the free world."

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Political activist David Price is a PhD-holding scientist and agricultural consultant with extensive international experience. Working on every continent except Australia, he has had to immerse himself and otherwise learn foreign cultures at the grass roots level. David is distressed over the fact the U.S. government does not seem to understand any culture other than our own.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/forget-north-korea-stimulus-spending-creating-new-national-security-issue.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/forget-north-korea-stimulus-spending-creating-new-national-security-issue.html Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:38:49 -0500
"The North Korean threat, while of great concern, is not as problematic as the media suggests, said retired Navy intelligence expert Mike Green, author of espionage novel Path of Thunder, a September 2009 release from Peacemaker Productions (www.pathofthunder.com). "Yes, Kim Jong Il has demonstrated nuclear capabilities, but he knows the outcome of a nuclear exchange with the United States. So, North Korea will surely continue to rattle sabers and make threats, hoping for more tribute, but will fall short of ‘pushing the button'. And we are already addressing the containment of his sales of weapons and technology."

Green believes that US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner's new direction with China represents a portentous change in our relationship."We are leveraging of our national sovereignty."

"A few weeks ago, Mr. Geitner visited China on a mission to obtain Chinese funding of unbridled deficit spending," Green said. "As our primary creditor already, China has been asked to significantly increase its nearly one trillion dollar investment, taking a long term role in the capitalization of our deficit - at a time when China has publicly expressed reservations about where we are headed with our spending. China's assumption of strategic investment risks on that scale ultimately makes them our de-facto partner, not just our primary creditor. "

"No decision maker in China believes in the ‘American Dream,'" Green said. "So the $64,000 question is: ‘What's in it for China?' "The risk to us is that China inevitably gets either real or implied oversight over our national budgeting process, and I believe that is exactly what China wants."

China already has considerable leverage over the United States because of its primary creditor role, Green added.

"We are China's largest client for manufactured goods, and the Obama administration will most likely insist that we need each other," he said. "We simply have an expanding symbiotic relationship."

"It's not that simple. Down the road a few years when another emerging market, India perhaps, becomes the darling investment for China, the dump of Treasuries into the global markets would be catastrophic for our economy - we would need to raise interest rates to unsustainable levels in order to attract investors, and without them our government would collapse. Then who would be in control?"

Green also fears China would be able to influence US budgetary spending decisions.

"What's preventing from China whispering in our ear, ‘You really don't need that new generation of aircraft carriers? We think you can't afford it. Besides, our new aircraft carriers will take up the slack.'"

A huge percentage of our industrial capacity has already moved to China, so another of Green's concerns is that as the US systematically dismantles much of what's left, we risk losing our ability of produce much of anything anymore, including strategic defense systems.

"There is an epic irony here." Green says in conclusion."The federal government was established for two primary purposes - national defense and a common currency to facilitate commerce between the states. It is stunning to consider that those two fundamentals are being marginalized for the sake of all else that the federal government is doing now. Simply put: We've lost our way- we need to get back to basics."

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Mike Green is a career commercial banker and author. He comes by his national security concerns honestly as a retired Captain in Naval Reserve Intelligence. He's had three operational command tours of Reserve Units supporting the Global War on Terrorism and has had multiple assignments in the Middle Eastern theater of operations. His dual careers give him unique perspective on the impact of debt to China on U.S. foreign policy. Path of Thunder, Mike's first installment of an adventure novel trilogy that highlights his concerns with China, is due to be released on 1 September.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/yes-we-can-only-works-with-truly-new-ideas.html http://www.articletrader.com/society/politics/yes-we-can-only-works-with-truly-new-ideas.html Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:01:24 -0500
That's the opinion of one expert, who believes that even though Obama is adopting different policies than his predecessor, he is still using the same flawed decision-making backbone - and eventually - it will lead to decisions that are just as flawed.

Samuel Odunsi, author of Deep Thinking the Human Condition: New Ideas We Can't Do Without from Human Rethink (www.humanrethink.com) believes that the current academic infrastructure that is used as the basis for all current research and data on world affairs is flawed at the core. The academic world's motives don't revolve as much around solving problems as they do around the perpetuation of the power base it currently enjoys, according to Odunsi.

As a result, our leaders find themselves in a repeating loop of questions without answers and problems with unattainable solutions.

"Persistent underdevelopment in the Third World and persistent poverty in the developed countries - two problems Obama promised to address - exist only because of the shortcomings of the institution whose job it is to address these issues - academia ," Odunsi said. "If the designated problem solver had been doing his job, these troubles will not exist today. The dilemma is that we all rely on the conclusions of the academics that serve as society's conceptual back office. If the conclusions of our conceptual back office are wrong, we, too, are wrong. Our conceptual back office has misled us all. That is the reason why these crises cannot be solved."

This same flawed leadership explains much of the divisions between the political left and right in the U.S., Odunsi added.

"The divisions are superficial. Both sides depend on the same fundamental premises held by the academics," he said. "This is why the political right cannot change additional minds and continues to be co-opted by the political left. The end result is that the persistent underdevelopment in the Third World and persistent poverty in the West - problems that CAN be systematically solved, have not been solved. The concrete answers, known as canon among those in the field and those attempting to address the problems in the trenches, are never heard."

The key element that separates the problems from the solutions is the fact that rich countries are separated from the poor by virtue of culture, Odunsi explained.

"To see this logic, all we have to do is look back to how the United States was settled and grown," he said. "We had no universities or academic experts to feed leaders data and guide policy decisions. The policy was simply, ‘Go West, young man.' We populated the land and made it up as we went along. But now that we are rich and prosperous, the world looks to us for answers, and we look to our academics, who say, ‘Don't do it the way we did it - use these theories that have never been applied, instead.' If Obama is to have a chance at solving these problems, and many others, he and his team need to begin trusting those in the field, and turn their backs on the academic world who misguide our policy-makers.'"

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Odunsi has a B.A. in business from Texas State University. He resides in Texas and is a private business person not affiliated with any public or private academic institution or think tank.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>