The Advantages Of A 'Green' Business

Over the last few years, there has been much publicity on 'going green', and making our homes or businesses more environmentally friendly. Many people are changing to "green" business technologies for different reasons. There are several different studies, such as the study published by the Retail Systems Research, sponsored by Intel, which cited different advantages of green businessES.

The study said that those companies or retailers who have outperformed their competition are building or practicing environment-friendly strategies. Aside from that, operation costs were also reduced. Although, it may appear that going 'green' could actually increase expenditure, since 'green' products tend to be more expensive, businesses and homeowners would eventually feel that they are saving more money in the long run.

Let us take the example of a delivery company. They have started using digital record keeping and communication through e-mail. Eventually, such practices paid off. Their 30,000 strong-company was able to save about £2 million pounds a year just by reducing paper transactions to two pages a day. Simple practices like these may not be appealing initially or may appear insufficient, but surprisingly, they eventually deliver results.

The conclusion is, going 'green' can help your business save more. Even Microsoft are saying that owners, businesses and residences could save £90 every year on electricity just by switching their computers into hibernate mode when not in use.

The government is also recognizing the efforts of the private sector in building a safer environment. There is a federal stimulus bill in 2009 which offers incentives and tax reductions to business who are practicing 'green' methods on reducing their energy consumption by as much as 50%. This stimulus bill is said to have about £50 billion in funds to promote cleaner energy.

Apart from that, there are consumers who stick to brands and companies that they know are taking the environment into consideration. Customers are starting to pay attention to the choices they are making. Which is why it would pay to advertise the company's environmental stance. There are different organizations and PR companies that could help businesses let the world know how they are taking eco-friendly steps. They could help in sensitively promoting your business and instil social awareness and responsibility among audiences and consumers.

Consumers are starting to take an interest in 'green' products and companies since they show that they are safer to use and they are making a contribution to the environment. 'Green' businesses are not only getting more attention from possible customers but from possible investors, also, according to Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

What caused this shift? According to Forest Reinhardt, disasters from the past have contributed to social awareness, such as oil spills and gas leaks which killedmany people and at the same time created a geological hazard. Emerging global problems caused by a series of human activities and effects which are possibly irreversible are also contributing factors.

Following green business practices and strategies would benefit not only businesses, but the entire population. Business owners and managers are part of a community which would benefit by making 'green' and smart choices.

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If Corporations Are Persons

Last year, in the ironically named Citizens United case, the U.S. Supreme Court followed the logic of a line of cases declaring corporations to be "persons" within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and found them equal to human beings in the matter of spending money to influence politics. In August of this year, the smart money's Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, kicked it up a notch by declaring in answer to a hostile taxation question at the Iowa State Fair, "Corporations are people, my friend."

I'm a mere retired judge, but my own view is that corporations are legal technology, ink on paper, and they have no rights not conferred on them by the legislature. I would go further and urge tribal governments to enact business codes that limit corporate activities and require a tribal charter to do business on tribal land. But that's just me.

In keeping with my personal tradition of finding odd connections in the news, I see that the indigenous President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is about to promulgate la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra. In English, "the law of the rights of Mother Earth."

Morales did not pull this out of his sombrero the idea of humans as one small part of an interconnected universe is common to many indigenous traditions, including my own. It's the difference between asking pardon of an animal if you take its life or believing humans are deputized by God to cut any swath through the natural world that they find convenient.

Moving from spirituality to science, the indigenous worldview finds expression in the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, holding that all animals and all plants and even inorganic materials are part of one incredibly complex system that has a preferred homeostasis. That homeostasis is optimal for the currently existing life, and the hypothesis holds that Gaia will adjust her systems to maintain it. That's a very optimistic idea. Let's hope it pans out.

Completing the circle back to Morales' new law, we have Justice William O. Douglas' dissenting opinion in Sierra Club v. Morton, an opinion that generated as much vitriol against Justice Douglas as any he ever penned, and that's a tough competition. I've heard it cited as evidence that the old man had stayed on the Court too long and his reasoning power had faded.

The Sierra Club had brought a lawsuit to prevent logging of the Mineral King Valley, a land aboriginally occupied by the Yokut people. The Sierra Club's concern was encroachment upon Sequoia National Park.

Who "owns" Sequoia National Park? All citizens of the United States. Therefore, the Supreme Court reasoned, the Sierra Club had no "standing" to bring a lawsuit. If the Sierra Club does, the argument goes, anybody does, and nothing can ever get done because of all the lawsuits.

This theory of standing legalizes an ecological theory proposed by Garrett Hardin. He described the problem of numerous people sharing a resource and therefore an interest in not depleting the resource. However, each individual consulting only his rational self-interest takes amounts of the common resource such that the resource is in fact depleted. This is why governments make hunting and fishing seasons, bag limits, and sometimes ban the taking of juveniles or females.

The short version is that if we all "own" it then nobody owns it and so nobody will take care of it and we will all lose it. "It" might be timber, clean water, or game. Anything that can be depleted.

I am reminded of a report on the depletion of fisheries in the Northeast, where a number of fishers were asked if they could make a 15 percent annual return on their investment forever or a 60 percent return and the fish would be gone in ten years, which would they choose? Invariably, the fishermen who were descended from fishermen chose sustainable harvest, while those who had a trawler as a new investment were more inclined to cash out. This, along with the histories of many Indian nations, suggests that "the tragedy of the commons" has a strong cultural component.

In the Sierra Club case, the Supreme Court institutionalized the tragedy of the commons by holding that nobody outside government can stand up and prevent a collective blunder. Everybody knows government is always a rational actor, right? Especially when corporations can make campaign contributions just like other people.

In dissent, Justice Douglas located the legal standing not in the Sierra Club but in the trees themselves, and earned himself decades of ridicule. Douglas claimed the only proper question was whether the Sierra Club had the resources and the proper motive to actually represent the interests of the trees.

Douglas did not limit this idea to living things. Had his dissent been law, some of us here in Texas would have been able to file a lawsuit some years ago when there was a proposal to allow Enchanted Rock, which I've been told is sacred to the Tonkawa and Comanche peoples, to be cut up and hauled off for building materials.

Thanks to Evo Morales, Justice Douglas' dissent is about to become law in Bolivia. I cannot resist pointing out that in our country, corporations are persons but Mother Earth is not.

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Why Vote? Because Even Imperfect Elections Still Matter

We know democracy's slogan: "Elections matter." Or if that doesn't work, draw on so many other oft-repeated phrases that make up the melodies in our politics. "Vote for change," "stay the course," or these days, "we are the 99 percent," and the result, as George Orwell once observed, is "political" language. Such phrases Orwell wrote are designed to make "lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

We want that solid wind and a solid win. Victory feels good, especially when it's "our" side that's the "we."

But the wind is never solid. The same storm that carried Barack Obama to the White House in 2008 also blew strongly for Republicans in the congressional elections of 2010. Both sides two very different ways of looking at the world claim the people's approval for their course of action.

There are structural reasons for that. First, the U.S. Constitution is not a mechanism for solving complicated problems when the nation is this divided. It's too easy for those out of power to just say no.

Consider the political math: Two houses of Congress must agree. One of those chambers, the U.S. Senate, essentially requires a supermajority of 60 votes before an idea can take hold.

The truth is neither house of Congress actually represents the will of the people (whatever that is).

The House reflects 435 congressional districts designed for the most part to be ideological islands where the majority is determined every decade through the redistricting process. Only a few house seats, just enough to decide who runs things, are actually competitive.

The Senate is even less democratic. A Senator from Wyoming has an upper chamber vote that represents 544,000 people, while a Senator from California has the same single vote on behalf of 37 million citizens. Why is it more fair for one state's residents to have two votes in the Senate than, say, 5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives represented by some 500 nations, villages and tribal governments?

So why bother? Why vote? It's easy to dismiss the process as unfair and irrelevant. But that's not true either. The fact is imperfect elections do matter. (Hardly a slogan, I know.)

Four years ago there was strong support for Obama from Indian Country, unprecedented excitement actually. Many thought that election would bring about a new kind of government one that would solve many of the problems that had been lingering for decades. And, as I wrote before the last elections, by any objective measure Obama has been an engaged and effective president. There's a long list of successes: the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, solid budget requests, key appointments, and soon to be a third annual meeting with tribal leaders and the White House.

Yet somehow that doesn't seem to be enough. There's not nearly the enthusiasm across Indian Country for the upcoming election, let alone the president's re-election campaign.

But the Republican alternative is significant reason to vote. All of the Republican candidates for president are advocating deep budget cuts. The frontrunner, Mitt Romney, has a plan to cut a $100 billion from Medicaid and then shift the remaining funds to state governments through block grants. This action would, at least if Romney was successful, mean less money for an already underfunded Indian health system. Other Republican candidates would consider that generous. They'd return government to its place, at funding levels that might have been appropriate during the 1950s.

A year from this week we will once again go to the polls. Sure, there will be promises that meet all of our expectations. And, for some, that's probably enough (though disappointment will follow).

But for the rest of us, this election ought to be about real alternatives in flawed democracy. On one hand, we need to keep pressing for reforms that would help this country live up to its ideals. At the same time, we need to elect candidates that do their best while seeing the landscape for what it is. No matter how hard the wind blows.

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The Gist’ of Inheritance Tax

Inheritance Tax 2011:

If the deceased was married, the surviving spouse can file married filing jointly for the year after the death.

States Inheritance Tax Laws

States that currently collect a tax on inherited estate money or property are Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Iowa. Instead of imposing an estate tax in this situation, there are many states that impose an inheritance tax.

Since each state is likely to tax their residents differently, individuals need to research the inheritance tax laws in their state or hire the services of a professional tax attorney.

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Tax form 1040
November 20th, 2011

1040 Tax Form
1040 Tax Form Information and Instructions

Starting in 1916, tax form 1040 was instituted as an annual requirement for Americans filing an individual income tax return.

It’s typically referred to as the “long form” to distinguish it from other variants.

If you have an uncomplicated tax situation – no itemized deductions, no capital gain or loss, no business expenses etc. – then you may be able to use the simplified form 1040a (the short form), or maybe even the 1040ez.

Tax Form 1040 is made up of two pages, but this does not include the dozen possible attachments. Here’s a brief explanation of the possible attachments you may need:

•Schedule A: is used to itemize allowable deductions against income
•Schedule B: is used to enumerate interest or dividend income and is required if either interest or dividends received for the tax year exceeds $1,500 from all sources

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Exactly why Medical Gloves Are Crucial For Any Medical Pack
November 18th, 2011

Medical equipment is a set of specialized equipment that’s used by medical practitioners to diagnose or perhaps deal with several medical situations and patients right down to the bits we dont see, like the right gloves and syringes etc. You will find thousands of various kinds of medical equipment accessible in the market today from no more than a clipper or perhaps a pair of scissors to as complex as CT scanners as well as other types of huge machines which are used in cancer prognosis as well as treatment.

Not only do firms manufactuer products for the health centers and hostipal wards, but they are furthermore necessary within the workplace and home. Having the proper gear for every unexpected emergency is vital, not only will it assist the aid of the wounded persons, but may also keep you protected as you take care of them. Purchasing healthcare equipment for such locations is easy, because you can locate them in any supermarket rather than the drug store. But for the big products, such as scanners, cardiovascular monitors and x-ray machines, this process must be planned out rigorously.

To cater these large requirements of medical equipment, there are lots of specialized industries which make surgical and medical equipment. This is to become noted here that medical equipment is extremely distinct towards the other industrial graded or even everyday use equipment. It is to be produced with unique materials which are resistant against germs as well as may be easily sanitized. In the end, you need to diagnose and cure the disease, don’t cause it!

Medical and surgical equipment production has become a business by itself. There are countries as well as manufacturers that concentrate within the manufacturing of medical equipment. The majority of the simple medical equipment like scissors, clippers, cutters, blades as well as knives are generally manufactured from stainless. They’re fairly uncomplicated as well as simpler to use and pay for. The revolutionary and technologically advanced medical equipment utilized for the prognosis as well as cure of intricate illnesses like all kinds of cancers, HIV, Hepatitis as well as tumors are much much more complex as well as difficult to purchase because of extremely high expenses associated with them.

If you are anticipating to setting up your own medical center or even healthcare facility, you will need a huge supply of medical equipment including standard diagnostic medical equipment for example nitrile gloves, scissors and trimmers to more complex including X-ray machine, Ultrasound equipment, medical laser equipment and many other more complicated and expensive equipment. Prior to selecting what to purchase as well as what not to buy, it is always great to think exactly what kind of clinic or hospital you’re planning to open. If it is going to be a general clinic or hospital then you can purchase simple medical equipment yet if you’re making a complex clinic or hospital then it will set you back a lot of cash. You should probably get a funding organization or perhaps a financial institution when you have such ideas.

It is also crucial to hold some medical equipment in your residence. This really is referred to as a medical kit. This includes all medical equipment which is required for giving first-aid to someone. It is a must in your automobile and your home to assist if there are urgent matters, such as accidents.

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The Big To-Do on Federal Tax Rates 2011

Federal payroll tax rates are determined by the US government, and they can vary from time to time, depending on the tax laws that are passed or extended. It is important that you keep yourself updated with the amount of federal payroll tax that you need to pay, so that you can plan your finances better.

The percentage of your paycheck that is withheld as federal payroll tax varies according to your income level and filing status. Presently, it can range from 10% to 35% of the salary or wage that you receive from your employer. If you are filing as a single person and you make $2,100 to $10,600 a year, you will have 10% of your pay withheld for federal payroll tax. If you are in the income tax bracket of $10,600 to $36,600, your income will be taxed at a rate of 15%.

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Allied Health Career a Job that is Right for You

There are various kinds of allied health professions in the health care industry. One area of allied health care can be all in regards to the paperwork regarding medical practices and providers, and is handled by medical assistants and coders. One other area of the allied health care covers affected person providers that involve direct contact, and examples of professions in this particular field are physiotherapy, speech pathology and psychology. They will be assisting the docs in terms of gathering details about the patient’s response to treatment.

::list of allied health careers::

Allied health is the health professionals who cowl many jobs in the space of health care, however it does not embrace dentists, medical doctors and nurses. So many individuals are getting into this kind of profession as a result of benefits that it may give. They make up a huge portion of the in health care as they offer a lot interest in several jobs. The benefits that they are offering are highly beneficial. It is a truth usually acknowledges that there’s a big demand in Allied healthcare professions because of many factors. The increasing aged inhabitants and the rising specialization of health care practices contribute to the need for the need for health care professionals. Many individuals choose to engage themselves such jobs as a result of they can actually enter the healthcare trade without the required training required to be a doctor. All that they must do is to train to supply direct choose to the sufferers and support services. Furthermore, they’ll work in areas just like the technical and therapeutic services.

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Don’t Lose Sleep Over Your Personal Finances: Try These Tips First

A good skill to learn is how to manage your money before you start your adult life. It’s never too early or too late to learn about personal finances. It is never too late to become more educated about personal finance issues. The tips in this article can help you out.
Manage your money to be successful. You need to invest your profits as necessary in order to build your business. You can turn your profit to investments but make smart investments so that you see a return. Set goals for what you are going to hold onto as profit and which funds will be directed towards capital.
Saving money for emergencies or retirement is an essential part of any effective personal financial management plan. Saving money should be a top priority , not one that you keep putting off. Make a habit of reserving a particular sum of money for your savings each month. Pay yourself first, and you will begin to accumulate a financial cushion.
Wherever you go, bring along a small envelope. You can store receipts, business cards, and other important items in it. Keeping up with these items can help you to maintain more accurate financial records. You may need them to compare to your credit card statements in the small chance that you are double charged.
Replace old incandescent light bulbs with CFL light bulbs. Not only will you be lowering your electric bill as a result, but you will also be doing something good for the environment. The lifespan of CFL bulbs is much longer than the traditional bulbs. By purchasing fewer bulbs, you won’t be spending as much money.
Patience is a valuable asset when it comes to managing your money. When electronics are first introduced onto the market, there is a mad rush by consumers to purchase them. However, if you take a step back and wait for a bit, the price will likely drop. This will save you money in the long run.
Don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake with your finances, as everybody does sometimes. Your bank may waive a bounced check fee if it was a one time mistake. Of course, this is a one-time thing that banks offer only to those who maintain a positive balance and manages their account effectively.
You need to make sure you break down your expenses into categories. Put all your necessary expenses in one section and your unnecessary expenses in another. By doing this, your budget will be much easier to follow. When you see how much you will need for each expense, it becomes easier to follow a budget.
Take a look at your credit report on a regular basis. You are entitled to a free credit report every year, and there are other ways to monitor it for little to no cost. It’s good practice to review your credit report twice a year. When you review it, check for charges that you aren’t aware of or any other information that does not seem correct and look into it immediately.
Loan
Having a savings account into which you regularly deposit money will help you achieve financial stability. You will be able to face unforeseen events and will not have to get a 1 hour loan when you’re strapped for cash. What you save does not have be a large amount, but always put something in the account each month. Even saving a little bit each month adds up over time.
It may not be possible for everyone, but avoiding debt as much as you can is one of the most sound financial decisions you can make. However, there are exceptions, such as car loans or mortgages. In everyday life, do not depend on credit cards or loans to cover your living expenses.
Being sensible with money is one of the hallmarks of a reliable, mature individual. Fortunately, this is an easy trait to acquire. With a little time and studying, anyone can become better at managing their money. The tips you just read can make you a true financial whiz when it comes to your own finances.

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