Friday, October 7, 2011

Unemployment insurance in USA

Unemployment insurance in USA is managed by the states through the state trust funds. Here is a glimpse of what is happening.
..... spending on unemployment benefits fell by 24%, as fewer claims were filed and a temporary $25 weekly increase in benefits expired.
At the same time, businesses paid $12 billion more in unemployment insurance taxes in 2011. Many states have raised unemployment taxes on companies to replenish their depleted UI trust funds.
My view: An alternative to unemployment insurance is for the state to offer a low cost interest loan to unemployed people. They have to pay back the loan, but it will be at a low interest rate (and not the high rate of interest charged by the banks). Some of the loans will have to be written off, but a large part can be recovered from the lenders when they find their jobs in an economic recovery, or when they sell off their house in the future.

Beware of a new type of motor insurance scam

Here is a new type of motor insurance scams that target motorists - and not the insurance companies.

Mr X's car was hit by a van. He reported to an reporting centre. An agent of the workshop approached him and told him that the workshop can handle his third party claim - so that he does not need to lose his No Claim Bonus. Mr. X agreed and sign a few forms given by the workshop.

Six months later, the workshop told him that they could not proceed with the third party claim as the other party had a witness that Mr. X had turned into is lane. The workshop asked Mr. X to pay for the repairs at about twice of the estimated cost. If Mr. X did not pay, the workshop would get a lawyer to sue him. It seemed that the forms signed by Mr. X gave this legal right to the workshop.

Mr. X approached his insurance company to handle the claim, but the insurance company refused - as Mr. X did not meet the policy condition of getting his own insurance company to handle the repair in the first place.

Mr. X is now in a dilemma - having to pay for a claim that should be covered by the insurance policy and now having to pay for twice of the actual cost. Mr. X suspected that the workshop was acting fraudulently and was targeting him in the first place.

Lesson - always leave it to your insurance company to handle the repairs. Do not try to save on your No Claim Discount. It is not worth the unexpected trouble.

Unstable employment and fall in fertility

Lucky Tan wrote this article about the impact of unstable employment on the fertility rate. When people are unsure about their employment, they are reluctant to get married and start a family. In my view, the situation is worse in Singapore than in other countries, so we have one of the lowest birth rate in the world. This is a key reason why the measures taken by the Government to boost the birth rate during the past 25 years have failed to produce the desired results - as they do not address the underlying causes - the unstable employment and increasing cost of living. 

Ignat Solzhenitsyn Joins North ... - Triangle Arts and Entertainment

The theme from?2001: A Space Odyssey launches a concert to remember later this month when the North Carolina Symphony, led by Maestro William Henry Curry and joined by renowned pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn, presents works by three of classical music?s leading lights.

?Zarathustra,? featuring blockbuster music by Strauss, Beethoven and Wagner, takes place in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Thursday, Oct. 27. The performances continue at Meymandi Concert Hall, in downtown Raleigh?s Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-29. All three concerts begin at 8:00 p.m.

The evenings begin with some of the most famous opening notes in all of music, Richard Strauss?s deep and commanding tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra, most famously used in the opening scenes of Kubrick?s?2001: A Space Odyssey.

?Strauss?s tone poems are all unique,? says Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn. ?They?re all wonderful. This one is a very interesting blend of the intellectual and the visceral, and it?s intriguing to me to see Also sprach Zarathustra, with all of the philosophical implications behind the literature that inspired Strauss, with Solzhenitsyn?s name on the same program.?

Ignat Solzhenitsyn

Ignat Solzhenitsyn

The Solzhenitsyn in question is celebrated pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn, son of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and recognized as one of today?s most gifted artists, enjoying an active career as both pianist and conductor. His extensive touring schedule has recently included concerto performances with major orchestras across the world, from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington to London, Zurich, Tokyo and Sydney.

He is particularly well-known for his interpretations of Beethoven. ?Great Beethoven performances don?t come along all that often,? wrote the?Philadelphia Inquirer following a 2008 concert by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, which Solzhenitsyn led as principal conductor for six years. ?Under Ignat Solzhenitsyn, the group has been a revitalizing force with Beethoven, but now more than ever.?

Good thing for Triangle concertgoers, as Solzhenitsyn joins the North Carolina Symphony to perform one of Beethoven?s most beloved compositions, the tender and lovely Fourth Piano Concerto.

?[Here] the piano concerto once and for all shakes itself loose from the 18th century,? wrote American musicologist Milton Cross about the Fourth. ?Virtuosity no longer concerns Beethoven at all; his artistic aim here, as in his symphonies and quartets, is the expression of deeply poetic and introspective thoughts.?

The tender piece is a perfect balance to the evening?s rousing finish: Wagner?s stately Overture to?Tannh?user. ?Pure unadulterated orchestral power,? says Llewellyn of the Overture, a bold finish to any concert from the first of Wagner?s operas to be staged in the United States.

?Zarathustra? is part of the Symphony?s four-concert miniseries ?Piano Icons.? The miniseries, made up of programs from the larger Duke Medicine Classical Series Raleigh, showcases five world-class soloists as they perform the breakthrough works of music?s most accomplished pianist-composers.

Solzhenitsyn is followed in the miniseries by the incredible Louis Lortie playing dark and luscious masterworks by Liszt and Rachmaninoff on Nov. 11-12. Visit?www.ncsymphony.org/pianoicons for this exciting opportunity to save. ?Piano Icons? is presented in partnership with Fidelity Investments.

Regular tickets to the Duke Medicine Classical Series Raleigh performances of ?Zarathustra? on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-29 range from $40 to $70, with $40 tickets for seniors.

Tickets to the Chapel Hill Series performance on Thursday, Oct. 27 range from $40 to $60, with $40 tickets for seniors.

Students receive $10 tickets at both venues.

Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh. Memorial Hall is located on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, at 208 E. Cameron Ave.

Beyond the Stage

Pre-concert talks are held before Symphony concerts across the state. These engaging conversations offer a unique perspective on the evening?s featured composers, the chance to ask questions and hear the inside story on what to listen for.

For ?Zarathustra,? Dr. Letita Glozer of UNC-Chapel Hill will present a pre-concert talk at UNC?s Gerard Hall on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7:00 p.m.

In Raleigh, Dr. Jonathan Kramer of North Carolina State University will present pre-concert talks in the Meymandi Concert Hall lobby on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-29, at 7:00 p.m.

About the North Carolina Symphony

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children. The orchestra travels extensively throughout the state to venues in over 50 North Carolina counties. The orchestra employs 67 professional musicians under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks.

Based in downtown Raleigh?s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It also holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington and individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year.

For tickets, program notes, podcasts, musician profiles, the Symphony blog and more, visit the North Carolina Symphony Web site at?www.ncsymphony.org. Call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at?919.733.2750 or toll free?877.627.6724.

Concert/Event Listing:

North Carolina Symphony
Zarathustra

William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano

Thur, Oct 27, 2011, 8pm
Memorial Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Fri/Sat, Oct 28-29, 2011, 8pm
Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh, NC

Program Listing:

North Carolina Symphony
Zarathustra

William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano

October 27-29, 2011

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Prologue: Sunrise ? Of the Inhabitants of the Unseen World ? Of the Great Longing ?
Of Joys and Passions ? The Dirge ? Of Science ? The Convalescent ? The Dance-Song ?
The Night Wanderer?s Song

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante con moto ?
III. Rondo: Vivace
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano

Overture to?Tannh?user
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/event/ignat-solzhenitsyn-joins-north-carolina-symphony-for-beethoven%E2%80%99s-fourth-piano-concerto-oct-27-29/

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Kildare Hotels

Amplify’d from luxuryhotelsireland.org

Kildare is a county with the world class racecourse, the Curragh, on which all of the Irish classics are run.


kildare-hotels1


And it has some of the finest hotels in Ireland or the world-hotels such as the K Club, Carton House Hotel in Maynooth, Barberstown Castle in Straffan, the Carlton Abbey in Athy, Killashee house near Naas with it’s spa services, the very traditional and comfortable Keadeen hotel in Newbridge, Kilkea Castle hotel near Castledermot with it’s golf course and many more. (See also castles in Ireland and luxury hotels Ireland)

Read more at luxuryhotelsireland.org
 

Castles in Ireland

Amplify’d from luxuryhotelsireland.org

Some of the most famous and well known castles in Ireland are Trim castle in County Meath, Dromoland castle in County Clare which has a fantastic castle hotel and golf course, Bunratty castle in County Clare and many others.


castles-in-ireland


In fact practically every county in Ireland from Donegal to Cork in the South and from Waterford in the south east to Mayo in the west have their fair share of castles. Check out Adare Manor Ireland and castle hotels in Ireland also.


 


Castles for weddings in Ireland


You will find that many of the castles in Ireland have been restored, either fully or partially, as hotels or guest accommodation and also make wonderful venues for weddings.


 


Cabra castle in Cavan is a small castle hotel which provides a nice, intimate venue for a wedding. If your budget can stretch a little further then Dromoland Castle and Ashford Castle Hotel will afford you all the luxury you can imagine and are popular wedding venues.


castles-in-ireland1

Read more at luxuryhotelsireland.org
 

Can Your Car Run On Water? - Why People Do Not Believe That Cars Can Run On Water

In the medieval era, alchemists were trying to convert lead into gold. However, the effort was futile. In the past 20 years, scientists have been trying to convert water into viable energy and allow car to run on water, they succeeded, however, the result was little-known. Why?





Fossil fuel, is also known as the black gold. There have been many economics theory on this cursed black gold. Any third world country that discovers the black gold will become poorer and the politic will become more unstable, havoc and corrupted. By referring to the archive of history, we can easily see many countries fall into the curse of gold and unable to progress. One perfect example will be Chad, one of the poorest country in the world. The leaders do not invest money in building schools and hospitals. Instead they spent all the money from fossil fuel on building roads and buying arms. Even though International Monetary Fund has demanded Chad to spend 4% of the income on education, the leaders threaten to stop supplying oil.


We Buy Any Car


From the example above, you should know that the world politics are influenced by the black gold. Whoever owns the black gold, will prosper. Think logically, do you think that these people will allow the news that water is a viable source of energy to run a car? Vehicle uses most of the fossil fuel today. If you can run your car on water, what will these people do? There are laws to forbid people to use other things to run a car, this includes peanut oil, vegetable oil etc.


There are many people who do not believe that you can make car that runs on water. This is because they have been blinded by the political tactics. You can find out more about how to modify car to run on water in my website below.


Can Your Car Run On Water? - Why People Do Not Believe That Cars Can Run On Water

Car Insurance Quotes online : Tips for hire car insurance for USA?

Car Insurance Quotes online : Tips for hire car insurance for USA?
 
 
California Mid-Am on May 17 and will be renting a car rental for 10 days while Hertz will offer the best deal for a compact (about £ 135). The confusion over the insurance.Hz, as well as employment LDW covers damage to the vehicle. (But not the tires, windshield, or the first £ 500 of damage.) Any suggestions for companies that provide insurance for third parties (SLI was known as Hertz), a hit man, I wouldnt fancy being sued for $ $ $ millions and who will cover the first £ 500 of LDW. I've seen companies like WorldWideInsurance.com.
 
But they want £ 105 for the policy year, or £ 119 for 10 days, one subject: Re:. The easiest and most often do not have to pay rent directly to the company through a broker, but here in the USA - News and such. Usually they include all the insurance you need in one rate. Confusion about the origin because the majority of Americans (the most frequent hirers of the vehicles in the U.S.) have all of these insurance policies through their own cars. (Unlike here) the transfer is temporary to hire a car. Thanks for the suggestion. I read the other book about the brances Uk (hertz.co.uk than COM.) And you are right -
 
 
 if you go through it, including the UK, insurance, etc.. I have found the remains Hz is the lowest quote, the Uk, I was offered £ 128 for the economy for 10 days and rent includes LDW, SLI and drivers are insured. California regulations do not allow the car to the hirers cost for additional drivers, so I saved even more money. I'm trying to clear up the differences between the CDW and LDW, because as far as I can be anywhere on the Web site Hz, the LDW is not excessive (such as rubber, $ 500 of damage is not covered or For the first time or the windshield) I know that these things will apply to the CDW LDW would say this, but Ive sent them to ask for clarification. Be sure about the difference between
 
 
CDW and LDW - CDW will cover customers in the event of an accident, while LDW usually covers any loss, damage to the rental companies, including glass and tires. vandalism, theft, and "loss of use", "loss of use" is when the car is to repair the damage associated with any rental company will still charge the customer. Carhire3000 look at them more than £ 25 Hz. In addition, under California law, damages under $ 500, with any vandalism caused by tenants will not be responsible. (Whether or not you are out LDW). I've tried just about every site I could find for 2 drivers, but I will not get it down to £ 300,
 
 
 even just driving and I was only fractionally under I have looked on eBay and want to people to try and help you save 55% on car hire, but there are soooo add - ons in the U.S. and I do recommend buying here rather than through the United States is our price. all in I'm curious, is also a possibility that you can use these cards on the vehicles 'top up' through its website, UK? We are actually in it for 21 days - the days when we get there we think we will have a shuttle to the hotel and sleep and just take it easy the last day
 
 
. We are in the same hotel and we want to know everything that is in the vicinity. However, many sites offer a 19day rental rates from 21 days worth about 1/5th of the weekly rate will be displayed. I have some really great discount codes? I miss the hot deals as I'm sure they used to have lots of code. But now I can not find them on the site redesign

Affordability of housing

IMF figures show that a 70 square meter home in Beijing costs about 20 times the average annual household disposable income, quadruple the national ratio and almost seven times higher than in the United States. Definition: Disposable income is total personal income minus personal current taxes.  

Trichet to leave ECB with bigger, riskier role

European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet, center, speaks during his last appearance in front of the finance committee at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. Trichet's eight-year term expires Oct. 31 and he will hand over to successor Mario Draghi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet, center, speaks during his last appearance in front of the finance committee at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. Trichet's eight-year term expires Oct. 31 and he will hand over to successor Mario Draghi. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet speaks during his last appearance in front of the finance committee at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet listens to questions during his last appearance in front of the finance committee at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet attends the Eurogroup ministers meeting in Luxembourg, Monday Oct. 3, 2011. The eurozone's financial chiefs faced tough decisions over how to deal with Greece's debt crisis on Monday after Athens' admission that its deficit will be higher than promised sent markets tumbling. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

(AP) ? Jean-Claude Trichet, the euro's chief guardian, will this month leave the European Central Bank in a very different place from when he took the helm in 2003, with a dramatically expanded role to fight the government debt crisis.

The bank has gone from arbiter of interest rates to chief firefighter in the crisis, government creditor and even political enforcer of budget cuts on elected governments.

It's a role that Trichet, who on Thursday will chair his last monthly ECB news conference, took on with reluctance and, many say, with little choice.

The bank's bold steps against the debt crisis have so far kept the eurozone from a widespread collapse of government and bank finances. But those emergency measures, particularly the purchases of troubled governments' bonds, mean long-term risks for the bank's credibility as the key institution behind Europe's 12-year-old shared currency.

It is even still possible that Trichet's legacy could be marked by unforeseen events in the final three weeks of his eight-year term, which ends Oct. 31. The crisis is still alive with worries that Greece might default, which would rock Europe's banking sector.

Many expect it will be years before it is clear if the path Trichet has led the ECB down was the right one.

"The book is very much still open and the assessment of the ECB policies during this crisis will only be possible in quite some time," said Marie Diron, senior economic adviser to Ernst & Young. "But on the whole he probably leaves the ECB in a stronger position."

"The ECB has played probably a much bigger role during this financial crisis than it had itself would have envisaged at the beginning," she said, "by the broad nature of the interventions that it had to take, the size of the interventions that it had to take, and the political roles that it had to play in negotiations on debt restructuring and fiscal policies."

The 68-year-old Trichet will start saying his public goodbyes on Thursday at his final post-meeting news conference after a meeting of the bank's 23-member governing council in Berlin. Mario Draghi, currently head of the Bank of Italy, was chosen by eurozone leaders as his successor and takes over Nov. 1.

One token of the bank's burgeoning role can be seen in the detailed letter Trichet and Draghi wrote in early August to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The two unelected central bankers pushed Berlusconi hard to move quickly on cutting Italy's deficit, and urged specific changes such as cuts in public employee wages, according to a leaked text published in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Trichet says there was no "negotiation" with governments over the terms of the bank's help.

But the fact remains that the ECB and the bond purchases, which drove down interest rates on government debt after they were launched Aug. 8, were, and still are, the only thing between Italy and a possible death spiral of higher borrowing costs.

Similar spirals based on bond market fear of default earlier pushed Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts. But Italy and Spain are considered too big to bail out.

In effect, by pushing for government policies in exchange for help, the ECB was taking on an enforcer's role more typically played by the International Monetary Fund.

The bond purchases led to strife on the ECB board; chief economist Juergen Stark is retiring in apparent disagreement, and Axel Weber, head of Germany's Bundesbank, earlier this year abandoned a bid to succeed Trichet over disagreement with the board's decision on bond purchases.

Trichet, whose position has less direct authority than that of the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, has had to build consensus. He steered a course between strict bailout opponents such as Stark and Weber, and outside economists who have urged him to buy the bonds by creating new money, a potentially unlimited source of financial firepower but also potentially inflationary. The ECB has refused, although the Fed and the Bank of England have done so.

Trichet's own summing up in recent speeches focuses more on the bank upholding its mandate to keep inflation under control, as spelled out in the 1993 Maastricht Treaty that created the euro.

With the debt crisis, he said Tuesday before a European Parliament committee, "it is sometimes forgotten that our primary objective is to maintain price stability."

"This is what the Treaty demands from us. This is what the citizens of the euro area expect from us. And this is what we have delivered."

He stressed one number: 2.01 percent, the annual inflation rate over the life of the euro despite sharply higher oil prices over the period. That is better, he says, than member states were able to achieve under their separate currencies over the previous 50 years.

Yet with the crisis now threatening the existence of the euro itself, the most intense discussion is now about the bank's efforts to douse the crisis. Risks include potential losses on the euro160 billion ($211 billion) in government bonds it has bought, some euro40 billion to euro50 billion from Greece.

Analyst say the bank has the capital cushion to handle losses but the more serious damage would be a dent in its reputation for well-thought out policies.

Commerzbank economist Michael Schubert said that if the bond program ends with losses from a default "then I think it will have an effect on their credibility."

"It depends very much on what will happen. People will not think too badly about what the ECB has done regarding the bond purchases if, in the end, states will consolidate. Then they will say, 'Oh, that was the right measure.'"

A bigger risk could be so-called moral hazard: the chance that governments will move more slowly to fix their finances, or that EU leaders will be more reluctant to take over the bailout burden, because they think the central bank will step in and rescue the situation.

Guntram Wolff, deputy director of Brussels think tank Bruegel, says the bank's actions are "a big example of moral hazard.

But he adds it had little choice.

"The ECB had to step in and be a market maker for Italy and Spain or they would have risked a financial meltdown," said Wolff, who formerly coordinated the research group on fiscal policy at Germany's famously anti-inflation Bundesbank.

"I don't see how the ECB could not have done it. And it was difficult for me to come to that conclusion, with my background at the Bundesbank."

Wolff said the challenge now for Draghi was to shift the balance and force governments to be the ones to do the bailing out and enforce the terms of good behavior.

"It should come from the capitals," Wolff said. "It shouldn't come from Frankfurt."

Trichet appeared to concede Tuesday the bank's hand was essentially forced, and to say no would have meant even more worse trouble.

"To be in denial that we have the worst crisis since World War II would be the biggest mistake we could make," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-10-05-EU-Trichet's-Legacy/id-942564cf78a147949a0cdc26ca75792e

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Word Power Vol 1

This is the soft copy of the book. It gives exercises to allow you to improve your vocabulary. It contains 80 puzzles of 20 words each. You can record the time taken to solve each puzzle and the number of correct words.    By carrying out the fun exercises regularly, you can learn more words.