November 26, 2010 Nº 983 - Vol. 8
" A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune."
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
In today's Law Firm Marketing, Are your prospects among the 104 million who use this service?
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Migalhas Christmas 2010
It is already this time of the year at Migalhas and the bells are ringing. It's Migalhas Christmas 2010. Publisher Editora Disal offered a copy of a must-have "Break the branch?"by Jack Scholes. It has hundreds of very common, everyday words and phrases in Brazilian Portuguese with translation into English and clear example sentences to show you how to use the words and phrases in context, also translated into English. There are also special TIPS & NOTES on an incredible wealth of topics, including grammar, usage, vocabulary, culture and customs. We invite you to be part of this celebration. All you need to do to take your chance is to fill out a registration. Click here and read more about this wonderful serendipity.
An outdated terrorism law
When the 112th Congress is seated in January, one of the many urgent issues it must address is to update and clarify the legal authority for U.S. military and intelligence agencies to kill and detain terrorists who threaten the United States. For the past decade, executive-branch agencies have relied on a sparely worded statute that Congress passed hastily on Sept. 18, 2001, while the wreckage of the World Trade Center was still smoldering. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) provides insufficient authority for our military and intelligence personnel to conduct counterterrorism operations today and inadequate protections for those targeted or detained, including U.S. citizens.
The act authorizes the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided" the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush and Obama administrations have relied on this authority to wage the ground war in Afghanistan; to exert lethal force (including drone strikes) against al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia; and to detain suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban members in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan.
As U.S. forces continue to target terrorist leaders outside Afghanistan, it is increasingly unclear whether these terrorists, even if they are planning attacks against U.S. targets, are the same individuals, or even part of the same organization, behind the Sept. 11 attacks. Moreover, no law, including this act, contains specific provisions for killing terrorists who are U.S. citizens and who enjoy at least some constitutional rights, such as the Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, whose purported targeting is the subject of a lawsuit brought by civil liberties groups.
Nor does the 2001 legislation include explicit authority for detention. Federal courts (and even civil liberties groups) have accepted that the authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" includes the authority to detain, but the statute does not specify who may be detained, for how long or what review procedures may be used. Instead, Congress and the executive branch have left it to a small group of overworked federal judges to legislate the details piecemeal in the context of individual habeas corpus petitions.
The Obama administration has aggravated the legal shortcomings of the act by insisting that, unlike the Bush administration, it is relying only on the congressional grant of authority and not on any inherent constitutional powers of the president. Given the Bush administration's excessive assertions of executive authority, the Obama administration's dependence on the legislation alone is politically understandable. But it is legally risky. Should our military or intelligence agencies wish to target or detain a terrorist who is not part of al-Qaeda, they would lack the legal authority to do so, unless the administration expands (and the federal courts uphold) its legal justification.
For at least five years, lawyers in and outside the Bush and Obama administrations have recognized the need to replace this act with a clearer law. The Bush administration chose not to seek an update because it did not want to work with the legislative branch.
Source: John B. Bellinger III, The Washington Post
Europe suggests revisions to carbon trading scheme
The European Union's executive commission has proposed a ban on the most common types of carbon offsets, mostly from India and China, to help restore credibility to the system.
Violence rises in Brazil
Armored personnel carriers on loan from the Brazilian military rumbled through the streets of Rio de Janeiro as police with assault rifles battled heavily armed gangs for a fifth day. (Read more)
Letter to the editor
SIr, In view of recent events in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the repercussions of this case, we Brazilians are the bank ... yes, the bank. Other interests seem to be on the front line, while the victims in Rio de Janeiro did not know what to expect from the authorities, who are clearly losing the power to criminal factions! I think it is time to get help from the international community because we are losing the war! I say this based on the victims of this senseless violence and gigantic proportions , the government should not be afraid of a crime, should defend the nation and not think that resolves the situation by sending dangerous prisoners from one state to another and so vainly believing that the problem is solved, while the population is not safe and worse: it is dying! No time to think about the World Cup or Olympics ... it's time to protect the good citizen and face hard crime, establishing order in the country. From Claudia Sinibaldi, law graduate and post-graduate degree in politics and international relations.
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Chinese marriage law experts urge curbing domestic violence
With 34.7 percent of Chinese families reporting incidents of domestic abuse, Chinese marriage law experts on Thursday called for legislation on domestic violence. Women suffer physical, psychological and sexual abuse an average of 7.4 times a year, according to data from women's organization Beijing. The reasons for the abuse range from infertility, giving birth to a daughter and husbands engaging in excessive drinking. To obtain a divorce for domestic violence in China, civil law requires a wife to be able to prove in court that her husband beat her, though any injuries that she may have sustained have usually healed by the time the hearing is held, Jiang Yue, a professor of marriage and family law at Xiamen University, pointed out.
Are your prospects among the 104 million who use this service?
by Tom Trush
If you've been reading my articles for any length of time, you know my favorite method for marketing businesses is writing and distributing educational content.
However, one medium is growing so fast it's impossible to ignore -- online video. I started complementing my marketing efforts with video about a year ago. My only regret is I didn't start sooner.
Viewership of online video has never been higher, and its growth is staggering. According to The Nielsen Co., nearly 136 million unique viewers spent an average of 3.5 hours watching online video in July 2009, a jump of 42.2 percent over the previous year.
The top site for watching video, according to Nielsen, was YouTube -- with more than 7 billion streams and 104 million unique viewers.
The best news for budget-strapped businesses is getting your videos on YouTube won't cost you a single cent. Where else can you make your marketing message available to millions without ever opening your wallet?
The following piece originally appeared in the Flagstaff Business News:
How to Use Online Video to Promote Your Business
Consumers' online video viewing habits are creating big opportunities for businesses willing to incorporate the ever-growing medium into their marketing strategies.
According to eMarketer, a digital marketing and media research firm, 67 percent of all Internet users view some form of video advertising at least once a month. By 2012, that number is expected to jump to 81 percent.
In fact, the popularity of online video has grown so much that YouTube recently surpassed Yahoo as the world's No. 2 search engine.
"The Web has become increasingly social and eyeballs are shifting from mainstream TV to the Internet," said Gary Vaynerchuk, whose Wine Library TV show receives more than 80,000 online views a day. "There is an unprecedented opportunity to capture people's attention by pumping out expert, free content within your niche."
In September 2006, Vaynerchuk, director of operations at Wine Library in Springfield, N.J., set up a cheap camera in the corner of his office and began recording his commentary about wine. Today, thanks in large part to his online presence, he is a nationally acclaimed businessman and marketing strategist.
The biggest mistake Vaynerchuk sees businesses make when getting started in video is attempting to create a Web show that looks like a television program.
"They spend weeks working extremely hard over-producing video with bells and whistles when they could have pumped out more content and spent that time more productively getting engaged with their community," he added.
After a career behind the camera, Mike Koenigs stepped in front of it and began recording in his garage using shop lighting. A few years later, he built a four camera, high-definition recording studio -- Digital Café -- and counts Tony Robbins, Debbie Ford and Deepak Chopra as clients.
He says today's technology allows anyone to communicate worldwide without restriction or any form of traditional media distribution.
"Just get something and get started," stressed Koenigs, who has distributed more than 3 million videos in less than two years with his Traffic Geyser product. "Your first video will be your worst video and your second video will be your second-worst video, and after that you'll start getting a handle on it."
As for equipment, a Flip Mino set on top of a book can get you started for little more than $100. But Koenigs recommends spending around $250-$300 for a camera, adding a tripod and investing in overhead natural lighting for a more professional look.
For enhanced sound quality, he also suggests using a condenser microphone plugged into your camera.
Once you're set up, answers to the most frequently asked questions about your product or service can serve as video topics.
If you're not comfortable in front of the camera, an optional starting point is screen-capture video. Using a screen recording software such as Camtasia (PC) or ScreenFlow (Macintosh), you can narrate and record what's displayed on your monitor.
"As a business owner, you've probably made a PowerPoint presentation hundreds of times," Koenigs said. "If all you did was snapped on a little microphone, did your presentation and spoke as if you're in front of an audience, you could have your whole video."
Once your video is complete, distribution is key to getting noticed. So Koenigs encourages submissions to as many video sharing sites (e.g., YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo), social networking sites and blogs as possible.
For increased visibility, he suggests writing your video title and description using terms people search online to find information about your product or service.
When it comes to video distribution and getting noticed on the Internet, Vaynerchuk says prepare to put in effort and engage with your community.
"Putting out great video content is not enough," he warned. "Use Twitter, Facebook and all the other essential social media tools. All of these tools are free -- you just have to be willing to work your face off."
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© Trey Ryder
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Minería
La justicia de Costa Rica anuló la concesión que poseía Industrias Infinito, subsidiaria de la canadiense Infinito Gold, para extraer oro de la mina Crucitas en el país centroamericano.
TLC Panamá x Colombia
La tensión política entre Colombia y Panamá por el asilo político que le otorgó este país a la ex directora del DAS, María del Pilar Hurtado, provoca suspensión de la negociación del TLC entre ambas naciones.
Using software to sift digital records
Companies in litigation pay lawyers handsome sums to pore over their vast archives of emails, documents and other electronic records. The goal of this sleuthing is to identify which records contain information relevant to a lawsuit. The process, termed electronic discovery, has grown into one of the costliest, and most nettlesome, aspects of litigation. Large companies expect to spend about $1.3 billion, or 7.1% of their litigation spending, on it this year. Litigants increasingly are using software that can scan gigabytes of data quickly and identify which records contain potentially relevant information and which include proprietary information that shouldn't be revealed.
Madoff trustee sues UBS
Swiss bank UBS is being sued for over $2bn amid claims it concealed the Ponzi scheme of fraudster Bernard Madoff that lost clients billions. Irving Picard - who is acting as trustee for Madoff's victims - lodged the lawsuit against UBS and various associates at a US bankruptcy court. The bank, which has made no comment on the charges, earned fees for promoting and administering Madoff's funds.
N Korea warns South on war games
North Korea warns that an impending joint military exercises by the South and the US are pushing the region to 'the brink of war', amid rising tension.
EU bans bisphenol-A chemical from babies' bottles
The European Commission has announced a ban on the use of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles. The commission cited fears that the compound could affect development and immune response in young children. The EU ban will come into effect during 2011.
Cloned cattle food safe to eat, say scientists
Meat and milk from cloned cattle and their offspring is safe to consume, independent scientists have said. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes said it believed the food was unlikely to present any risk. Questions raised by reports over the summer that meat from cloned animals' offspring was sold to consumers "remain unanswered", the Soil Association says. However, the committee's scientists said there was no substantial difference between meat and milk from cloned animals and produce from conventional livestock, in line with a number of other scientific assessments.
Germany high court upholds genetically modified crop restrictions
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld restrictions on the use of genetically modified (GM) crops. The German state of Saxony-Anhalt had challenged the 2008 law, which requires "buffer zones" between GM and conventional crops. The law also mandates that GM farmers compensate neighbors if their crops become contaminated. Upholding the restrictions, the court found that the legislature acted in the public interest. The ruling was welcomed by environmental groups such as Greenpeace, but the German Farmer's Association said that the risk of financial liability was too great and warned against planting GM crops.
Turkey suspends three senior officers over coup plot
The Turkish government has suspended two generals and an admiral accused of being linked to a plot against the ruling Justice and Development Party. It is believed to be the first time in modern Turkish history that a civilian government has suspended serving military figures of such high rank. The three men have appealed to military judges to cancel the decision.
British bankers fretting over bonuses
The British government is pressing banks to avoid paying large bonuses just as the deepest public spending cuts since World War II are taking effect.
Federal jury convicts 5 Somali pirates
A jury for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday convicted five Somali men on charges of piracy, the first such conviction in the US in nearly 200 years. The men were found guilty on charges of piracy, attacking to plunder a maritime vessel and assault with a dangerous weapon for their roles in an April attack on the USS Nichols, which was deployed to combat piracy in waters off the eastern coast of Africa. They were charged by a federal grand jury in April, and pleaded not guilty in July. They face mandatory life sentences at a sentencing hearing scheduled for March 14.
Chile mine owner to sell assets to avoid bankruptcy
The company which owns a mine in Chile where 33 men were trapped underground for more than two months has agreed to sell its assets to avoid bankruptcy. Creditors gave the San Esteban Mining Company 15 months to repay its debts. Some of the money from the sale will be used as severance pay for the more than 300 miners and plant workers who lost their jobs after the collapse. In addition, the Chilean government is trying to recoup the money that it spent on the rescue operation.
Air France to resume Atlantic flight recorder search
The French government has said it will resume the search for an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, killing 228 people. Officials will launch a fourth hunt for parts of wreckage, including the flight recorders, in the area of ocean where the Airbus A330-200 went down. All those on board Flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris died in the June 2009 crash. The cause of the disaster has never been established.
U.S. warns allies about WikiLeaks
U.S. embassies around the world are warning allies that WikiLeaks might be poised to release classified cables that could harm relations by revealing sensitive assessments and exposing U.S. sources. The State Department has prepared for the possible release - which WikiLeaks has said would be seven times larger than the Iraq files released last month - by reviewing thousands of diplomatic cables and "assessing the potential consequences of the public release of these documents."
Estonia legislators adopt law on 'preventive' media fines
Estonia's parliament adopted a law that would allow the authorities to fine media outlets before they publish compromising material. Lawmakers voted 51-12 yesterday, with one abstention, to back measures allowing courts to demand so-called preventive fines from the media in case an article is deemed libelous or to have infringed privacy,
Polygamy law could rip families apart
The opening statements in the polygamy trial in B.C. Supreme Court (Canada) wrapped up Thursday with two more groups calling for the controversial law to be struck down. A lawyer for a group of fundamentalist Mormons in the community of Bountiful adopted prior submissions that the law was unconstitutional and violated their freedom of religion. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) did not seek to explain or justify any evidence of social harms arising from polygamy. Any such harms, such as forced marriages, should be investigated, but he argued that the polygamy law "lacks the nuance" to deal with any such harms. Many of the FLDS members in Bountiful, which has a population of 550, fear that the law could rip their families apart.
Alleged Nazi guard accuses Germany judges of bias
Alleged Nazi death camp prison guard John Demjanjuk issued a statement on Tuesday accusing the German judges conducting his trial of bias after the they rejected a number of defense petitions. In total, the judges rejected 23 petitions, including motions regarding whether Demjanjuk, who is Ukranian born but obtained US citizenship after World War II, is fit for trial. His family and physician argue that Demjanjuk, who is 90 years old, is too frail and in too much pain to make it through the trial. "While they silence the prison doctors and deny us the weekly clinical reports - against all Western legal and humanitarian standards - the judges rely on a court appointed medical stooge whose therapy is to shoot my father with various drugs and call him fit," Demanjanjuk's son, John Jr., said in statement appended to his father's. John Demjanjuk Sr. said, "The decision to continue with this trial is a crime of infringement of the law and a deprivation of my liberty. With this statement, I bring a charge against Judges Alt, Lenz and Pfluger for infringement of the law and deprivation of my liberty. I ask that my statement be provided to the authorities who must investigate and decide to take action regarding this serious charge."
Iran criticized by UN for crackdown on human rights lawyers
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday expressed her concern over Iran's crackdown on human rights defenders. Pillay expressed particular concern for Nasrin Sotoudeh, the human rights lawyer who has been conducting hunger strikes since her imprisonment in September for allegedly spreading propaganda and colluding against national security. Earlier this year, Amnesty International (AI) and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called on Pillay to pressure Iran to release Sotoudeh.
Dubai holding unit doubles its debt deal
Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of Dubai Holding, is seeking to restructure as much as $2.6 billion worth of debt by Nov. 30, twice as much as the amount that matures next week.
SAP verdict rattles tech-support sector
Oracle Corp.'s success in winning a $1.3 billion jury verdict against rival SAP AG sent tremors through a small but fast-growing niche in the technology sector: companies that provide technical support for other companies' software. Support companies say the TomorrowNow lawsuit is raising questions among potential clients about whether other third-party support companies will be sued and about their risk of getting dragged into a legal battle—even though the case was about TomorrowNow's actions, not the business model's legitimacy. Third-party support companies typically attract customers on pricing; software giants such as Oracle and SAP charge as much as 22% of the value of an initial license for annual support, which includes regular maintenance, bug fixes and upgrades. Profit margins on support can be upward of 90%, according to industry estimates. The litigation will warn off others in the industry from intellectual-property infringement. Some observers said that the SAP verdict focused on intellectual-property theft, setting no legal ground rules for others in the market.
EU Lawmakers: US Must Help Iranian Group in Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat, Pan-Arab daily, London, England
Met police chief warns about new era of civil unrest
The Guardian, Liberal daily, London, England
Expenses row MPs began claiming within days of becoming peers
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England
High onion prices will make you cry
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India
UN official to meet Myanmar's Suu Kyi: diplomats
Sify News, Chennai, India
How fraud artists ripped-off $16 million in federal loans
Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario
Zimbabwe PM takes Mugabe to court
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England
Lawyers must stop defending armed robbers - Police
GhanaWeb, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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