Friday, September 30, 2011

BREAKING NEWS!!! "ALABAMA'S NEW IMMIGRATION LAW"

It's official!  The state of Alabama, which some people consider to be a foreign country of its own, now has the toughest immigration laws in America.  Surpassing even Arizona.

Among other onerous provisions, the new Alabama law allows police officers to arrest anyone they even suspect of being an "illegal (unlawful)" immigrant during a "routine" traffic stop.


The new law also requires schools in Alabama to verify students' immigration status, as well as gives police authority to determine citizenship and status of those they stop, detain or arrest.

[Also see the book, "THE IMMIGRATION PARADOX: 15 Tips for Winning Immigration Cases", by Charles Jerome Ware, former U.S. Immigration Judge, (iUniverse Publishers, 2009).

Thursday, September 29, 2011

BREAKING NEWS!!! --- "BANK OF AMERICA (BAC) TROUBLES"

A troubled Bank of America (BAC), drowning in financial problems, customer complaints and lawsuits, now plans to add to its customer problems by sticking an additional $5.00 monthly fee on all debit card purchases.

Followers of this law firm's blogs and tweets have been forewarned previously about the perils of debit card usage.

"DEBT! There is simply too much debt!"

(Excerpts from the new book, "LEGAL CONSUMER TIPS AND SECRETS", by Charles Jerome Ware, former Special Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission; iUniverse Publishers, 2011).

The reader should know that a major economic depression occurs about every 50 to 60 years.  This is a normal and natural part of a self-correcting "free enterprise" economy after it has been subjected to excessive imbalances by both private sectors and governments.

The Bible makes reference and note of "50-year Jubilees", when historically all debts were forgiven.

SUCCESS: The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success --- A Practical Guide To The Fulfillment Of Your Dreams; by Dr. Deepak Chopra (1993)

Excerpts by Attorney Charles Jerome Ware:

Chapter 1 - The Law of Pure Potentiality
Chapter 2 - The Law of Giving
Chapter 3 - The Law of "Karma" or Cause and Effect
Chapter 4 - The Law of Least Effect
Chapter 5 - The Law of Intention and Desire
Chapter 6 - The Law of Detachment
Chapter 7 - The Law of "Dharma" or Purpose in Life

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

COMPANY SECURITY RISKS: Employees

(Extracted from the best-selling book, "UNDERSTANDING THE LAW: A Primer", by Attorney Charles Jerome Ware (iUniverse Publishers, 2008); and the new book, "LEGAL CONSUMER TIPS AND SECRETS", by Charles Jerome Ware, former Special Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (iUniverse, 2011)).

What is a company's biggest security risk?
Answer: the employee.  That's right, employees are the weakest link in company security.  Particularly for "hackers' or "crackers", who access computer systems by circumventing security systems.

The following are just four (4) of several ways "hackers" or "crackers" use employees to break company security:

(1) The employee opens an unexpected email attachment from a colleague.  Hackers frequently use these opportunities to inject viruses inside the company network, bypassing the firewall. 

(2)  The employee uses his or her personal web email for work.  The employee believes this makes it easier to work from home or to move files between computers.  Hackers, however, see this as an opportunity path to access critical data from relatively unprotected services.

(3)  The employee brings a new personal computer or electronic gadget to the work network.  The employee sees this as an opportunity to stay up with the latest computer technology.  Hackers, though, see this as a new route or opportunity for viruses and spyware to find their way into corporate systems.

(4)  The employee uses the company's computer to post his or her job details on LINKEDIN.  The employee sees this as creating a professional presence and finding another potential job.  Hackers, usually rather cleverly, use this opportunity and vehicle to acquire hierarchies and to target particular users with spear-phishing attacks.

Friday, September 23, 2011

CONTRACTS: FOUR (4) SECRETS (Taken from the book, "UNDESTANDING THE LAW: A PRIMER", by Attorney Charles Jerome Ware, iUniverse Publishers)

1.  If the contract is in writing, ALWAYS read it yourself.

2.  Make sure you understand EVERYTHING in the contract BEFORE you sign it.

3.  Although many contracts can be in writing or verbally, MOST contracts SHOULD be or MUST be in writing.

4.  Remember:  usually the large print in contracts gives you rights, BUT the small print takes your rights away.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

LOS HISPANOS: LA MAS RAPIDA CRECIENTE MINORIA

Hispanos, el mayor y mas rapido crecimiento de grupos minoritarios de Estados Unidos, Ahora Son mas de 50.5 millones de personas --- 16.3 porciento de la poblacion Americana, de acuerdo con el censo del 2010 y el libro, "La paradoja de la Inmigracion: Quince (15) consejos para ganar casos de inmigracion" por Charles Jerome Ware, Ex juez de inmigracion de Estados Unidos (iUniverse Editoriales).

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

HISPANICS: FASTEST-GROWING MINORITY

Hispanics, the largest and fastest-growing U.S. minority group, now number more than 50.5 million people --- 16.3 percent of the American population, according to the 2010 Census and the book, "The Immigration Paradox: 15 Tips for Winning Immigration Cases" by Charles Jerome Ware, former U.S. Immigration Judge (iUniverse Publishers).

Friday, September 9, 2011

"GENERATION P": Hooked on Credit Cards

(Excerpted from Chapter 13, "The Dark Secrets of Credit Cards and Debit Cards"; from the new book, LEGAL CONSUMER TIPS AND SECRETS, by Charles Jerome Ware, former Special Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [iUniverse Publishers, 2011].

Credit card companies are getting more and more people, between the ages of 18 and 25, hooked on "plastic".  Increasingly these new victims are women.  Collectively, they are called "Generation P", meaning generation plastic; because this group rarely if ever leave home without a credit or debit card.  And they use them frequently.

Monday, September 5, 2011

"IDENTITY THEFT, 2011".

(Excerpts from the new book, LEGAL CONSUMER TIPS AND SECRETS, by Attorney Charles Jerome Ware).

Identity theft is now one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States.  In recent reports, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that over 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year [from Chapter 5: "Avoiding Identity Theft and Identity Fraud," by Charles Jerome Ware, former Special Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)].

If you are a victim of identity theft, take the following 5 steps immediately:

(1)  Place a "fraud alert" on your credit reports and, of course, order and review them.

(2)  Close the accounts you know, or have good reason to believe, have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

(3)  File an identity theft complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

(4)  File an identity theft report with your local police or law enforcement agency in the community location where the identity theft occurred.

(5)  Keep a detailed record of your efforts and the responses you receive from your identity theft complaints, including copies of all correspondence related to them.

"BREAKING NEWS: U.S. SUES BANKS FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD"

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the government agency that oversees mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is suing 17 banking institutions for mortgage fraud.

The lawsuit was filed last Friday, September 2nd, 2011, against banking giants Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Nomura, and ten more big banks seeking compensation for more than $41 billion of losses related to subprime mortgage bonds.

The lawsuit charges the banks with violating Federal and state securities laws in the fraudulent sale of home mortgages.

"HOME IMPROVEMENT SCAMS"

Tips and Secrets from the new book, LEGAL CONSUMERS TIPS AND SECRETS, by Charles Jerome Ware, former Special Counsel to the Chairman of the United States Federal Trade Commission (iUniverse Publishers, 2011), Chapter 12.

The consumer is cautioned to not be fooled by wide-spread hurricane and tornado scams, and advised to hire only licensed home improvement contractors for repairs.  The consumer is also urged to get several estimates for repair work, check the contractors' licenses, and only pay upon completion of the repair work [see "Chapter 12: Home Improvement Tips and Secrets", from the new book LEGAL CONSUMER TIPS AND SECRETS (iUniverse Publishers, 2011), by Charles Jerome Ware].

Friday, September 2, 2011

SELLING PATENTS: A New Revenue-Generator for Companies

In the current tight economy for everyone, including many companies, a new way to generate much-needed capital (money) for some companies is to sell some of their PATENTS to other companies.

An example is the very recent sale by NOKIA Corporation to MOSAID Technologies, Inc. of over 2,000 corporate patents.

Another example is GOOGLE Inc.'s expressed interest recently in acquiring MOTOROLA Mobility Holdings, Inc. for $12.5 billion.  GOOGLE mainly wants MOTOROLA'S PATENTS.

Further, MICROSOFT Corporation and RESEARCH IN MOTION Ltd. have combined resources to pay NORTEL NETWORK Corporation $4.5 billion for its wireless PATENTS.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

ILLEGAL MERGER?: AT&T and T-Mobile USA

The Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit to block the proposed $29 billion acquisition (takeover or merger) by AT&T of T-Mobile USA.

The Government states that the combination of the second (AT&T) and fourth (T-Mobile USA) largest cellphone companies in the U.S. would harm competition and probably raise prices for consumers.  We agree.