Mindful of costs, wary Michigan cheers GM IPO

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors has returned to Wall Street to the cheers of traders and the loud growl of a Camaro’s engine.

There’s celebration in Michigan too. But those cheers are tinged with regret for what brought GM to this moment and worry for what lies ahead.

Michigan looked on in shock a little more than 18 months ago. That’s when GM filed for bankruptcy protection and was rescued with a $50 billion taxpayer infusion.

The company has emerged leaner and more profitable. Investors are enthused so far. GM’s shares began trading at $33 and closed at $34.19 Thursday.

But that success was achieved, in part, by closing four Michigan plants and laying off thousands of workers — adding to pain in a state with one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates.

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LifeLock.com for Identity Protection

Published November 19th, 2010 at 8:52 am in HOME SECURITY with no comments
Tagged with Identity Protection, LifeLock

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In LifeLock.com, you may get assistance in order to feel secure when doing online transaction. They provides the most professional security system in order to make your account secure. This web page will be very helpful for you in order to learn more from their blog first.

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Body of Indonesian maid found in Saudi dumptser

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia demanded an investigation Friday into reports that a domestic worker was allegedly killed by her employer in Saudi Arabia and thrown into dumpster — the second case of maid abuse to emerge this week.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting called to discuss the need to protect hundreds of thousands of migrants who flock to the Middle East in search of work.

Too many, human rights groups say, face slavery-like conditions, torture, sexual abuse and even death.

Indonesian Minister of Labor Muhaimin Iskandar said an embassy team was dispatched to the Saudi town of Abha to look into allegations the 36-year-old maid, Kikim Komalasari, had been killed by her bosses.

Her neck was slashed and she had severe cuts to the rest of her body, he said.

“It’s shocking to hear this … it’s beyond inhumane,” Yudhoyono said, adding, however, he was encouraged so far by the Saudi government’s quick response. “I’m hopeful the perpetrators will be punished according to law.”

The report came as a team of Indonesian officials headed to the Mideast to seek justice and medical help for another maid, Sumiati binti Salan Mustapa, who has been hospitalized in the Saudi city of Medina since Nov. 8.

The 23-year-old’s employers allegedly burned her, broke her middle finger and cut her lips with scissors.

Earlier this week, New York-based group Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait to do more to protect domestic workers in their countries, saying a string of allegations point to a “broader pattern of abuse.”

They were responding to reports that a Sri Lankan maid working in Jordan had been forced to swallow nails. Another maid employed in Kuwait claimed her employer drove nails into her body.

“The wanton brutality alleged in these cases is shocking,” said Nisha Varia, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, which called on authorities to investigate claims promptly and bring those responsible to justice.

___

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan contributed to this report.

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Lorich Construction Management LLC

Published November 19th, 2010 at 1:53 am in CONSTRUCTION with no comments
Tagged with CONSTRUCTION, Lorich, Management

Lorich Construction Management LLC Commercial

A construction project is a complex net of contracts and other legal obligations, each of which must be carefully considered. A contract is the exchange of a set of obligations between two or more parties, but it is not so simple a matter as trying to get the other side to agree to as much as possible in exchange for as little as possible. The time element in construction means that a delay costs money, and in cases of bottlenecks, the delay can be extremely expensive. Thus, the contracts must be designed to ensure that each side is capable of performing the obligations set out. Contracts that set out clear expectations and clear paths to accomplishing those expectations are far more likely to result in the project flowing smoothly, whereas poorly drafted contracts lead to confusion and collapse.

Legal advisors in the beginning of a construction project seek to identify ambiguities and other potential sources of trouble in the contract structure, and to present options for preventing problems. Throughout the process of the project, they work to avoid and resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the lawyer facilitates an exchange of obligations that matches the reality of the project.

Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must conform to local building authority regulations and codes of practice. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the construction materials used (e.g. brick versus stone, versus timber). Cost of construction on a per square metre (or per square foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site conditions, local regulations, economies of scale (custom designed homes are always more expensive to build) and the availability of skilled tradespeople. As residential (as well as all other types of construction) can generate a lot of waste, careful planning again is needed here.

The most popular method of residential construction in the United States is wood framed construction. As efficiency codes have come into effect in recent years, new construction technologies and methods have emerged. University Construction Management departments are on the cutting edge of the newest methods of construction intended to improve efficiency, performance and reduce construction waste.

Lorich Construction Management LLC Info :A general contractor is a group or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction, renovation or demolition of a building, road or other structure. A general contractor is defined as such if it is the signatory as the builder of the prime construction contract for the project.

A general contractor is responsible for the means and methods to be used in the construction execution of the project in accordance with the contract documents. Said contract documents usually include the contract agreement including budget, the general and special conditions and the plans and specification of the project that are prepared by a design professional such as an architect.

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The plough and the veil

Man working a plough in India, 2009

Why do some cultures encourage women to work, while others prefer they stay secluded in the home? Why do women in Africa command a bride price for their hand in marriage, while in northern India it is the bride’s family who must pay a dowry to the groom? Why are women secluded in the home in many Islamic countries, but not in Africa? Why is there the same contrast between female seclusion in northern India and not in southern India? Why are sons so intensely preferred to daughters in China?

It’s all about the plough.

A new paper presented yesterday at NYU by Alberto Alesina, Paola Giuliano and Nathan Nunn:

…[S]ocieties with a tradition of plough agriculture tend to have the belief that the natural place for women is inside the home and the natural place for me is outside the home. Looking across countries, subnational districts, ethnic groups and individuals, we identify a link between historic plough-use and a number of outcomes today, including female labor force participation, female participation in politics, female ownership of firms, the sex ratio and self-expressed attitudes about the role of women in society.

The idea orginates with Ester Boserup (who wrote a book with the same title as this post), who hypothesized that the way people farm influenced gendered division of labor and attitudes about women’s roles that persist to today.

She observed that in societies that didn’t rely on the plough to till the land—the case in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, and southern India—farming was largely done by women. By contrast, in societies that did use the plough—including North Africa, the Middle East, and northern India—men strong enough to do the plowing dominated agriculture, while women, sometimes veiled, were restricted to duties in the home. Their labor valued less, women in plough societies paid dowries rather than receiving a bride price. This distinction persisted in contemporary labor force participation, Boserup thought, for example in southern India where women were more likely to leave the home for jobs in factories than their contemporaries in the north.

Alesina et. al. have now confirmed Boserup’s findings with a variety of cross-country and within-country data. They find these effects even persist among second-generation US immigrant women, who work outside the home more when they are from non-plough cultures compared to plough cultures.

Obviously, cultures do evolve. This 1917 recruitment poster for British women to take up the plow while their menfolk are away at war reminds us how disruptions like war can help to shift gender roles relatively quickly—in the US, too, droves of women entering the workforce during World War II irrevocably altered American attitudes towards women working outside the home.

This paper is part of two separate kinds of studies now enjoying a vogue in economics: (1) ancient history matters, and (2) culture matters. The authors interpret their findings as suggesting “a very long persistence of cultural traits.”

–
Top photocredit: flickr user Bindaas Madhavi

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Amnesty urges release of Pakistani Christian woman

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An international human rights advocate has joined calls for the release of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death under the country’s blasphemy laws.

Amnesty International on Friday also called on Pakistan to revise the law under which mother of five Asia Bibi was convicted this month.

The case stems from a dispute between Bibi and a group of Muslim women over the use of a water bowl. The other women accused her of making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. She has been in prison for one-and-a-half years and her case has been appealed.

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged Pakistan to release Bibi.

The case has drawn attention to blasphemy laws, which critics say are used to persecute Christian and other minorities.

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True Confessions: I’m still unable to conclude whether aid does more harm than good

Margaret Wente? in Toronto Globe and Mail perceives a growing backlash against humanitarian aid, that it may be doing more harm than good in Africa (she concentrates on seemingly everyone’s (including ours)?recent favorite example of Ethiopia).

I’m quoted in the article accurately. Contrary to some perceptions (not?in Wente’s article)?however, I have never made a general argument that aid does more harm than good, or called for aid to be abolished or even cut. I said aid “has done so much ill and so little good” in the subtitle to the White Man’s Burden. The “ill” is well covered in Margaret Wente’s column and is similar to the recent posts on this blog about aid financing autocrats and political repression, with similar examples in my book.? However, I have also given examples of aid successes, particularly in health (vaccinations!) It is very hard to conclude what the net effect of the ill and the good is, and I’ve never attempted to do so.

Instead?I think the viable?arguments?are that (1) aid’s record is sufficiently disappointing that it?is?unlikely to ever?be the main driver of successful development, (2)?if aid were more accountable it would do less ill and more good.

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