A Positive Note for Entrepreneurs

The Different Choices We Face

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we
will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to
be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To
have less. To read less and think less. To try less and
discipline ourselves less.

These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are
the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant
apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we
can possibly be. All of us have the choice.

To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be
less or to be nothing at all!

Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to
stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our
capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that
we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as
our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for
doing less than we could do my people, is to fail.

Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not
conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results!
And if our results are less than our potential suggests that
they should be, then we must strive to become more today
than we were the day before.

by Christabelle Ogechi

Video Clip of Britney Spears Saying she's "off to see the wizard!"

Britney Spears announces she's off to see the wizard... I've been waiting to meet her for 10+ years! Can't wait!

Stockton Should boost its Image with Jobs

Stockton city leaders met for a town hall meeting with residents, and together they discussed the ongoing financial challenges that are facing the city.

The meeting lasted more than two hours, and Mayor Ann Johnston and City Manager Bob Dies answered the questions posed by the 100 or so attendees. They even waited out a protest by representatives of the Occupy movement.

Throughout the meeting, city officials stressed the steps being taken now do not mean the city is heading to bankruptcy. In fact, the AB 506 process is designed to avoid bankruptcy. However, they presented three options for a balanced budget: deep cuts to personnel and salaries, a successful AB 506 negotiation, or bankruptcy. The city has until July 1 to adopt a balanced budget.

Should the city look to further impose cuts on employees, the city would have to cut 64 police officers, close two fire stations, and instill other cuts. In the opinion of the city leaders, those cuts are both unsafe and unwise.

Meanwhile Barack Obama, Overstays his Welcome in Afghanistan.

Candidates Show their Money trail

By Scott Smith
Record Staff Writer
April 01, 2012 12:00 AM
STOCKTON - Mayoral candidate Jimmie Rishwain has kick-started his campaign with a $100,000 loan to himself, saying he wants to make sure he can respond to his opponents as the race gets hot.

"I want to be competitive," he said. "I want to be able to answer any comments that other candidates are going to be putting out."

That sum also puts him ahead of incumbent Mayor Ann Johnston and Tony Stevens, two other candidates who have money backing their candidacies.

Johnston has $57,792 on hand from contributions, and Stevens has $39,000, including $30,000 loaned from his Elk Grove auto dealership.

Mayoral candidates who have raised $1,000 or less are James Butler, Gregory Pitsch, Anthony Silva and Ralph Lee White.

The seven candidates will square off June 5 for the mayor's seat. A candidate can win in the primary with 50 percent of the vote, plus one. If there is no clear winner, the two top candidates will move on to the Nov. 6 general election.

Rishwain, who served as mayor in the 1960s when City Council members voted on the position, said he has pledges from other supporters.

Johnston in her 2008 race for mayor spent $310,000, according to campaign records at City Hall. In 1996, Ed Chavez spent $236,143 to win his mayoral race.

In three Stockton council races to appear on the June 5 ballot, each of the incumbents has outpace their opponents in fundraising so far.

Vice Mayor Kathy Miller has $60,540, while challenger Randy Hatch's filings indicate he has no campaign funds. The two are vying in Council District 2.

In District 4, Councilwoman Diana Lowery has $66,407, while challenger Moses Zapien reported $13,754, the most of any council challenger. Theresa Velazquez reported no money.

In District 6, Councilman Dale Fritchen has $36,372 on hand, and challenger Michael Tubbs reported having $5,694.

Contact reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or ssmith@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/smithblog.

West Coast leaders launch plan to create a million new jobs by 2020

By: Pacific Coast Collaborative

VANCOUVER, March 13, 2012 - Gathering on the eve of the GLOBE Conference on Business and the Environment, leaders from British Columbia, California, Oregon and Washington today endorsed a bold new action agenda to grow the clean economy along the West Coast.

"B.C. is proud to host this year's Leaders Forum," said British Columbia Premier Christy Clark. "The Pacific Coast Collaborative is a unique and innovative vehicle for West Coast leaders to identify collaborative strategies in a face-to-face setting. Today's meeting is the culmination of months of work within our four jurisdictions on an action plan to create jobs and strengthen the economy of our shared mega-region."

To guide the 2012 West Coast Action Plan on Jobs, Pacific Coast Collaborative Leaders commissioned an economic analysis of the clean economy to identify the most promising markets for job creation, including energy-efficient buildings and advanced transportation. All told, the new report, West Coast Clean Economy: Opportunities for Investment & Accelerated Job Creation, released today, found that the $47-billion clean economy sector could triple in size by 2020, given the right policies and partnerships.

"We have proof that our actions are already working," said Washington Governor and Pacific Coast Collaborative Chair Chris Gregoire. "Now we want to go even faster – and create up to one million jobs in the next decade through the 2012 Action Plan on Jobs. Through collaboration and low-carbon innovation, we have developed a win-win competitive strategy that will continue to work well for all of our jurisdictions."

The 2012 West Coast Action Plan on Jobs outlines a series of measurable commitments by each jurisdiction for retrofitting state-owned buildings, fleet purchasing of advanced technology vehicles, and creating world-class energy standards to incentivize private sector leadership and advanced manufacturing.

For example, each of the four jurisdictions has pledged to implement strategies to move the public building stock toward net-zero energy building performance, beginning with a commitment to achieve at least a 20 per cent improvement in energy use by 2020, within the context of programs within each jurisdiction.

"We have come together here in Vancouver to reject the myth that jobs and the environment are in conflict," said Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber. "More than 500,000 Pacific Coast residents are cashing clean economy paychecks right now. And job creation rates in the clean economy are well above those for other shrinking sectors of the economy, pay better, and have been more resilient to the recent economic downturn."

"California already gets 20 per cent of our energy from renewables, and by 2020 we'll achieve 33 percent or more," said California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. "Our policies are building new markets and spurring creativity globally. By working collaboratively with our Pacific Coast neighbours, we can set the terms for long-term job growth and economic strength."

Calif. Democratic treasurer perpetrated $7M fraud

By TOM VERDIN and DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2012 - 10:20

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Democratic campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee defrauded at least 50 candidates, officeholders and political organizations out of $7 million in a scheme that dates back more than a decade, according to a court filing made Tuesday by federal prosecutors.

The U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento filed the additional charges in federal court, providing the most detailed account to date in a case that has left some Democratic candidates scrambling for campaign cash in an election year.

Such filings typically are a prelude to a plea, but prosecutors would not confirm such a development or offer any further details.

Durkee, who heads Durkee & Associates in Burbank, was arrested in September and charged with suspicion of mail fraud after millions of dollars disappeared from the campaign accounts of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, other Democratic members of Congress and several Democratic state lawmakers.

The filing details a complex shell game in which Durkee shifted campaign money to cover an array of personal and business expenses.

In one example, $23,000 taken from Feinstein's account was used to help pay American Express credit card charges from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Amazon.com, Disneyland, Trader Joe's and Turners Outdoorsman.

Other misappropriations from Feinstein's account covered payments for a Long Beach condominium owned by Durkee and to the 401(k) plan for her employees.

The court filing said Durkee had devised a scheme from January 2000 until she was arrested last September "to defraud clients of Durkee & Associates, and to obtain money from them by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises."

It said she had signature control over roughly 700 bank accounts, including those used by political campaigns.

Durkee's attorney, Daniel Nixon, did not return telephone and email messages Tuesday evening.

John Kevin Vincent, the assistant U.S. attorney listed as the chief prosecutor in the case, declined to discuss the material in the latest filing and would not say whether a plea deal was in the works.

"When we get to that point, we'll send out a notification," Vincent said.

Durkee was scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon at a hearing that had been set before Tuesday's developments.

She has been accused of looting the accounts of dozens of Democratic officeholders, candidates and political organizations. Prosecutors also say Durkee filed false information with the Federal Election Commission and the California Secretary of State, which track campaign contributions and expenditures.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/27/4371582/prosecutors-filing-hints-at-plea.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/27/4371582/prosecutors-filing-hints-at-plea.html#storylink=cpy

Stockton Going Broke Shows Cop Pay Rising as California Property Collapsed

By Alison Vekshin The bankruptcy that Stockton (3654MF), California, resisted for three years is now at its doorstep, spurred by the weight of retiree costs, the housing bust and accounting blunders that drained the city’s coffers.

Stockton, 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of San Francisco, rode the boom-and-bust cycle of the 2000s with a surge in new- home construction that attracted buyers seeking an affordable alternative to Bay Area real estate. Then a crash came, as homeowners faced a wave of foreclosures that sapped the city’s tax-revenue gains.

The city born in the gold rush has struggled for decades, relying on revenue from farming and shipping at its river port. Meanwhile it granted employees some of the state’s most generous benefits, and now has 94 retirees with pensions of at least $100,000 a year -- more than twice as many as some comparably- sized California cities. It has a history of ethnic tension and the notoriety of a 1989 schoolyard shooting in which five children were gunned down.

“We’re really struggling,” City Council member Dale Fritchen, 51, said by telephone Feb. 28. “There were horrible decisions made. City leaders spent money faster than it was coming in, thinking that the gravy train would never go away.”

This week, Stockton moved closer to bankruptcy with a City Council decision to preserve cash by defaulting on $2 million in bond payments. It also voted to begin a mediation process required under state law prior to seeking court protection. The city said its goal is to avoid bankruptcy. If it files, it would be the most populous U.S. city to do so.

Bankruptcy Code

From California to Rhode Island, cities are using the federal bankruptcy code to get out from under billions of dollars in obligations they can’t afford. Central Falls, Rhode Island, filed for protection in August after failing to win concessions from its unions. Jefferson County, Alabama, turned in the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history last November, with $4.2 billion in debt. Vallejo, California, sought Chapter 9 reorganization in 2008.

Stockton’s unemployment rate soared to 17.3 percent in 2010, the country’s sixth-highest, from 7 percent in 2000, according to the California Employment Development Department. The foreclosure rate in the Stockton metropolitan area was the second-highest in the U.S. last year, after Las Vegas, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc. Violent crime in the Stockton area was the eighth-highest rate in the nation in 2010, according to FBI data.

Gold Rush

Stockton was founded in 1849 as a supply center for people rushing to work in mining, a year after gold was discovered on the American River east of Sacramento. Early settlers flocked from eastern states and from Asia, Europe and Africa.

Later, shipbuilding became a major industry in Stockton, with its deep-water port on the San Joaquin River. Agriculture surged as the region supplied asparagus, cherries, tomatoes, walnuts and almonds.

In the 1990s, city officials doled out generous retirement health benefits without ensuring the city could afford the payments over time, City Manager Bob Deis said at a Feb. 24 news conference. A worker employed as little as a month could qualify for city-paid retirement health care for the retiree and his or her spouse for life, Deis said.

“It was not a Cadillac plan,” Vice Mayor Kathy Miller said in a telephone interview. “It’s a Lamborghini plan. No one in the private sector had anything like that.”

Among expenses the city can no longer afford is a $417 million unfunded retiree health-care liability.

‘Nobody Asked’

“The problem is, nobody asked the question: ‘How do you fund it?’ And consequently there was no money set aside to fund those commitments,” Deis said. “It was an unsound decision and it has similarities to a Ponzi scheme.” In the 2000s, as housing prices soared in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, buyers from San Jose to Oakland seeking affordable alternatives flocked to Stockton, where starter homes cost around $400,000. Single-family home construction, which had averaged 2,500 units a year from 1991 to 1997, tripled to 7,500 annually from 2003 and 2005, according to Robert Denk, senior economist at the Washington-based National Association of Home Builders.

The city’s population grew 20 percent in a decade, to 291,707 in 2010 from 243,771 in 2000, driven by a surge in Hispanics who identify themselves as Mexican, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That ethnic group jumped 56 percent in the period, to 104,172 from 66,900, while the black population grew 30 percent and the Asian population rose 29 percent, Census figures show.

‘Boom Time’

“Money was just pouring into the city coffers for development fees and permits,” Miller said. “Property taxes were going through the roof. It was boom-time.”

Pay and benefit packages continued to swell. In 2005, the city completed a new ballpark and arena on the waterfront using bond funds. “There was an unspoken policy that to keep the unions from complaining about the amount of money being spent on projects, the easiest way to do that was to continue sweetening their compensation packages,” Miller said.

Among those measures were automatic salary increases regardless of whether the city had the revenue to support them. The contract with the fire union required the city to compare its pay with that of 16 cities including Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Torrance. Stockton firefighters’ salaries were required to rank fifth-highest, according to the city’s May 2011 emergency declaration document.

$100,000 Pensions

Stockton retirees also fared well. The 94 with pensions of more than $100,000 compares with 38 in Bakersfield, which has 347,000 residents, and 35 in Chula Vista, with a population of 244,000, according to data compiled from state pension records by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a Citrus Heights-based group that advocates pension reform.

An epidemic of foreclosures reached Stockton in 2007, as the recession left thousands of homeowners unable to afford their mortgages. Home construction collapsed and housing prices plummeted.

Revenue dwindled to an estimated $161.8 million in fiscal 2012 from $203.1 million in fiscal 2009. The city fired 25 percent of its workforce.

In Stockton’s San Joaquin County, assessed property values tumbled almost 11 percent in fiscal 2010, followed by 3.9 percent in 2011 and 4 percent in the current year, according to the county’s website.

‘Drastic Decisions’

“In the beginning, when this whole economic bubble burst, everyone had the attitude, ‘We’ll just avoid making drastic decisions and in a year or two things will be back to normal,’” Miller said.

The base pay for a Stockton police officer can be as much as $76,860, while a sergeant’s can reach $90,836, according to data provided by the city. In 2010, 87 percent of police officers got additional pay that added 8.7 percent for a canine handler, 4.3 percent for SWAT and 5 percent in “longevity pay” at six years of service. All are included in the calculation of retirement benefits.

“We are now the fifth-lowest paid police organization in the county where we handle the majority of the calls,” Kathryn Nance, a Stockton Police Officers’ Association board member, said in a telephone interview.

By 2009, city officials began considering bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy Protection

Fritchen, the council member, asked the city attorney’s office to lay out the pros and cons of bankruptcy protection at a budget committee meeting.

A year later, in May 2010, the city declared a fiscal emergency to deal with a $23 million deficit. The declaration allowed the city to make changes to existing labor contracts.

Crime escalated as the police force was reduced by about 27 percent to 324 sworn officers from 441, according to Pete Smith, a police spokesman. There were a record 58 homicides last year, most involving gang violence, Smith said.

“We’re losing our grip on some of the more troubled neighborhoods and don’t have the ability to police the city as proactively as we did,” Smith said.

In the spring of 2011, Deis met with about 15 police employees and budget officials to seek concessions from the union.

‘Breaking Our Contract’

“He said if we continue to fight on them breaking our contract, then he is going to push the reset button and go bankrupt and we will all lose,” Steve Leonesio, president of the police union, said in a telephone interview. The union is suing the city, challenging its authority to reduce benefits under the emergency declaration.

Last year, city officials uncovered bookkeeping errors requiring $15 million in budget cuts that “will have the effect of stripping Stockton’s cupboards bare,” Deis said.

The mistakes included double-counting of $500,000 in parking-ticket revenues and overstating the city’s available balance by an estimated $2.8 million.

On Feb. 24, Deis walked into a news conference at City Hall and announced that the errors and the recession represent “the knockout blow” for the city’s finances. He recommended the city invoke the state bankruptcy law. “We see no viable alternative,” he said.

Quote for Today

"One can only give his all, if he has all of his to give." Oh Zee - 2012 www.knkt.me

Ron Paul in Michigan, Sold Out!

Haley Barbour Tells ABC News, 'Somebody Else Might Get In"

Could the battle for the Republican nomination go all the way to the Republican convention in August? Could we see an entirely new candidate getting into the race?

One long-time Republican leader tells ABC News the answer to both questions is yes.

"If the Republican primary voters continue to split up their votes in such a way that nobody is close to having a majority, then there is a chance that somebody else might get in," former Republican Party chairman Haley Barbour said in an interview with ABC News. Barbour calls such a scenario unlikely, but not out of the question.

"I think the odds of having a contested convention are not good but the fact that we are where we are and there is actually a possibility, I guess this is why there is so much talk," he said.

A contested convention would mean another six months of Republicans battling Republicans, but Barbour says that's not necessarily bad for the party.

"It is not accurate to say that a hotly contested convention is necessarily bad," Barbour said. "I am not saying it is necessarily good, but I don't think it is accurate to say it is necessarily bad. Let's just see."

Barbour, who has not endorsed any candidate, says Mitt Romney has never really been a true front-runner.

Continue Reading this story at Yahoo! "Who Is coming into an already highly contested Race??? I hope Donald Trump, stays in the Back-Room of his 300 year old house." - Oh Zee

Ron Paul Says Santorum Can't Beat Obama

By Alexandre Jaffe
Ron Paul said he doesn't think that Rick Santorum can defeat President Obama in a general election. "I don't see how that's possible," he said on Sunday on CNN's State of the Union.

Paul also jabbed at Santorum for his aim “to control peoples’ lives” and what he framed as Santorum’s hypocrisy on the birth control issue. Santorum admitted in a 2006 interview on Fox News that he supported Title X, a government program that provides funds for family planning services, including access to contraceptives. Santorum said he voted for it during his time as Pennsylvania Senator, and though he believes in access to contraceptives, he personally feels they’re harmful to women and that abstinence education is a "healthier" option.

"I don't see how anybody can get away with that inconsistency—pretending he's a conservative,” Paul said in reference to Santorum’s vote. Paul dismissed the recent debate over contraception entirely, saying that while the other candidates discuss birth control, he's concerned with "the undermining of our civil liberties, the constant wars going on" and the debt.

Paul said the focus on social issues is a fundamental problem and an unwise fight for the GOP.

"I think it's a losing position," he said. "I talk about it because I have a precise understanding of how these problems are to be solved," on a state-specific level, he said.

Discovered 12,000 Year Old Structure

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