News Junky Journal

My Girlfriends House, Inc. was hoping to give away 500 purses filled with life’s necessities to at-risk young ladies and women in the Washington metropolitan area. Halfway through a month-long drive to solicit purse donations, the group has already shattered that goal.

“Last year we distributed 300 purses as part of our Purse Strings drive,” said My Girlfriends House executive director, Veronica Eyenga. “When we decided to try for 500, I thought that was an almost impossibly ambitious goal. The amount of support we’ve received is incredible: we’re approaching 600 purses already.”

The largest donation came from Beauty-In-A-Purse, a Maryland-based organization that helps women whose lives have been impacted by homelessness, domestic violence and incarceration. “We’re excited to be a part of My Girlfriends House’s Purse Strings Drive, said BIAP founder, Lanitra Jackson, as BIAP donated 200 purses. “”I understand the commitment and impact of the work of My Girlfriend’s House and this was BIAP way of facilitating those efforts to enhance the self-image of at-risk girls and women.”

The next challenge, according to Eyenga, will be to stuff the purses with health and beauty aids and personal care items. “We’re currently seeking monetary and in-kind donations to fill the purses,” she noted. “We’ve received some corporate and foundation support, and we’re aggressively seeking more.”

The annual Purse Strings Drive, which benefits high school students as well as women in area homeless shelters, halfway houses and other facilities and programs, is only part of the organization’s services, Eyenga noted: the group’s primary focus is to mentor at-risk young ladies to help them succeed in school and the workplace, and support them with the Purse Strings drive, college scholarships, clothing and school supplies. “By working with middle and high school students, we can help them rise above their circumstances in every aspect of life,” Eyenga noted. “We all had help along the way, and we appreciate the support we’re getting to help us give back to the young ladies who need it most.”

For more information, visit http://www.mygirlfriendshouse.org.

ABOUT MY GIRLFRIENDS HOUSE, INC.
My Girlfriend’s House, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of professional women dedicated to both community service and friendship. The organization improves the lives of at-risk girls and young ladies ages 14-18 in Maryland, Virginia and D.C., with personal care items, school supplies and clothing, and helps them prepare for adulthood and the workplace with scholarships, mentoring and internship opportunities. Members also organize a variety of social activities designed to foster and strengthen new friendships and connections. For more information visit http://www.mygirlfriendshouse.org.

Rental car companies in Florida are not financially responsible for accidents involving customers driving the company’s vehicles, according to the Florida Supreme Court.

The court, in Rafael Vargas v. Enterprise Leasing Co., threw out a Florida law that said that rental companies could be liable for up to $500,000 when a customer caused an accident while driving a rental car. The court said the Florida law was preempted, or rendered ineffective, by a federal government law that says transportation companies are not financially responsible when a leased vehicle is involved in a wreck.

The court said that the federal Graves Amendment prohibits states from imposing “vicarious liability” on rental car companies. In Florida, the owner of a car may be liable if the car is involved in an accident. Long term leases, that run for more than a year, specify that the person leasing the vehicle from a car dealership is considered the “owner” for purposes of the law.

But the law regarding shorter term rentals, such as vacation or business trip leases, previously defined the “owner” of the vehicle as the car rental agency. This ruling makes it clear that the agency, even though it owns the car, is not responsible for the driver’s negligence.

Rental companies can still be responsible if the injured person proves that the company was negligent in renting the car to the person responsible for the accident. The rental company may also be liable if the accident is caused by a mechanical problem with the car. But, the court said, rental companies are off the hook when it comes to financial responsibility solely because they own the car.

In most circumstances, rental companies offer insurance to people leasing cars from the company. If the driver buys that rental insurance, the insurance company is responsible for damages in case of an accident. In many cases, rental drivers who have their own car insurance on a personal vehicle are also covered by those policies while driving rental cars.

Article provided by Gross & Schuster, P.A.
Visit us at http://www.grossandschuster.com

Many people experiencing financial problems may consider the services of a debt consolidation firm. Others may be tempted to take out a loan and combine their debts into one manageable payment. There are indeed some benefits to these practices. Consolidation may allow consumers to escape high interest fees that keep them from paying off smaller debts. Interest on debt consolidation loans can be as low as six percent, while interest on credit cards could be as high as 29 percent. Meanwhile, debt consolidation companies can help reduce troublesome interest and fees on credit accounts.

However, consolidation has its downsides; especially when offered by unscrupulous companies intent on taking advantage of vulnerable consumers. It may be surprising to some, but not all debt settlement firms are created equal. Desperate consumers are told they can be debt free without the stigma of bankruptcy, only to be left worse off financially than they were before. This article offers some tips to those seeking to combine their debts so that they may avoid debt consolidation traps.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. – The old adage you learned as a kid still holds true today. There are thousands of shady debt elimination scams out there that claim to wipe out your debt just by paying a certain fee. The truth is, no company can eliminate debt overnight. In fact, creditors rarely (if at all) favor one debt consolidation company over another, so the potential savings should not be very different among firms. If a company tries to lure you in with stories of reducing debt by 60 percent or helping consumers avoid bankruptcy, be skeptical.

Understand the fine print - Debt consolidation loans (also known as “easy” loans) are geared towards consumers with spotty credit histories. While low interest rates may be attractive, it is important to understand the duration of the loan, as well as the penalties that may accrue should you not be able to pay it off in time. Some loans may continue indefinitely while others have unrealistic payment periods. Make sure all terms are explained in plain language and appear in the loan documents.

Do your homework – As stated before, many dishonest businesses hold themselves out to be saviors working in your best interest. They may even have emblems showing themselves to be certified by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or American Association of Debt Management Organizations (AADMO). Remember, these certifications enable firms to enter the field, and are not accurate representations of their ability to help consumers. Those truly interested should check with the state Attorney General’s office or the Federal Trade Commission before they work with a debt consolidation firm.

The preceding is not intended to be legal advice. If you have questions about debt consolidation and its legal implications, an experienced attorney can advise you.

Article provided by Derren S. Johnson & Associates
Visit us at www.derrensjohnson.com

Portland, Oregon based Namba Gear announces another offering of high performance laptop bags, backpacks and accessories for musicians and dj’s. The Lil Namba Remix Backpack features a security design that can hold up to a 15’’ laptop computer along with many 2-octave MIDI controller keyboards or computer dj controllers. The company uses the highest grade 1680D/poly nylon material for the exterior of their products and includes lockable zippers to secure the contents. The bag is also equipped with cable-ties as part of an integrated cable management system and contains a secret stash pocket.

The backpacks are visually distinctive for their lack of exterior pockets. The bags have two large lockable compartments with all of the pockets inside the compartments to provide better security for their contents.

“I love the design and comfort of the Lil Namba Remix Backpack. It is ergonomically correct for my back and the super cushy shoulder straps make it even better. It’s very flexible for me as a DJ/producer with all the traveling I have to do at times and club gigs. I can fit my Macbook Pro 15? with cables, hard drive, 12? vinyl and Serato box when it’s club time and a mini keyboard or pad controller when it’s producer time”, said Los Angeles DJ Michael Trance.

Other features of the Lil Namba Studio Backpack include: holds 12’’ vinyl and audio devices; convenient carry handle; extra thick padding; extra wide shoulder straps with integrated phone pocket. The Lil Namba backpack is available in five musician-friendly colors: mayan brown, charcoal grey, olive green, midnight blue, and killer bee black.

Namba Gear has also partnered with Broadjam.com and offers a free one year membership to the musician’s online community, along with other valuable offers, upon online product registration.

Namba Gear products are available via musical instrument & dj retailers, Amazon.com, Best Buy online, as well as through Namba Gear’s online webstore.

About Namba Gear:
Namba Gear is a Portland, Oregon based bag and accessories company that designs and produces premium, high performance transport solutions for the working musician. The essence of the brand is defined by the working musicians and dj’s at Namba Gear who are dedicated to creating and delivering exceptional carrying solutions that will stand up to the unique and rigorous workload of professional musicians.

AvantLink.com announced this week the launch of their application market. Think platform technology (iPhone) and application software (foursquare), then apply that to Affiliate marketing. AvantLink has always offered Affiliates integrated ad technology for free, but the AvantLink App Market takes that one step further by allowing developers from around the world to add functionality to the network.

There are no fees for developers or end users of the applications. Developers have the opportunity to monetize applications, tools, scripts or widgets by participating in the income streams generated by these capabilities, and qualified network Affiliates have free access to certified app market tools. With the AvantLink App Market…

• Affiliate marketers can utilize innovative marketing tools or applications from independent developers.
• Affiliate developers can earn residual income (with zero marketing) on approved app market functionality they build and submit.

The AvantLink App Market is structured like any other Affiliate program. Software application developers will earn 20% of the network’s commission for every sale generated through their capabilities, as long as they keep their app available through the market. For access to the submission platform and for additional terms, Affiliate developers must first apply and be accepted.

“We have already seen lots of killer apps, widgets, dynamic scripts, plugins, etc. being developed out there with the use of our industry-leading Affiliate API… so why not allow developers of these tools to make them available to other Affiliates and further monetize them through our platform?” explains AvantLink CEO Scott Kalbach. “At the same time this expands our capabilities, and offers more innovative tools that can help drive sale conversion for Affiliates.”

About AvantLink
The AvantLink Affiliate network is the premiere Affiliate referral tracking, analytics and technology platform for top tier Affiliates and web retailers. Founded in 2005 on the ideas of innovation, quality and service, AvantLink offers an array of industry leading Affiliate marketing tools and scripts integrated in the network platform free of charge.

Mitch Albert, Master instructor from the Search Engine Academy, will be teaching a free SEO webinar on a Google tool called Insights for Search, on Wednesday, October 26 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Albert said, “Business owners who want to learn what their customers actually search for on the search engines, should understand how to use this tool.”

Google Insights for Search is a Google search tool that helps advertisers and marketers understand searcher behavior. Insights offers a comprehensive set of statistics based on search volume and patterns, where business owners can compare geographic distributions, seasonal trends and category specific searches. Results can be grouped together to get specific search data.

Google also allows you see “rising searches” separate or in a specific filter that the user can set up. Google Insights for Search analyzes a portion of Google’s worldwide web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time.

The free webinar is available to a limited number of people who register ahead of time by going to http://bit.ly/sea111026.

John Alexander, founder of the Search Engine Academy said, “This is part of a series of weekly free SEO webinars available to people who want to learn more about search engine optimization for their own business.”

About the Search Engine Academy

The Search Engine Academy was founded in 2002, and teaches hands-on search engine optimization and internet marketing workshops throughout the world, including classes throughout the USA, Canada, Asia and Australia.

Spurred by a series of federal grants, Washington law enforcement agencies are preparing to launch an intensive initiative targeting teen prostitution and the sexual exploitation of children. Backed by new, stronger sex crime laws, the initiative has the potential to sweep a wide segment of those accused of prostitution deep into the justice system.

Grants Meant To Fight Child Sexual Exploitation

Grants for child sex abuse enforcement have primarily been funneled into King and Snohomish counties. In September, Snohomish County received $449,908 from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund a law enforcement team solely focused on child sex trafficking. The Seattle Police Department received two grants from federal agencies, $292,000 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and $500,000 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Snohomish County has earmarked the money for a detective, a prosecutor and a host of support staff and expert witnesses dedicated to bringing down those involved in child sex crimes. The Seattle PD intends to use the influx of cash to add a new two-year position in addition to funding equipment, training and overtime needs associated with sex crimes enforcement.

Severe Sex Crime Penalties

Recent updates to Washington law have ratcheted up the potential penalties facing convicted pimps and johns. Promoting the commercial sexual abuse of a minor is now a Class A felony carrying a sentence of seven to 10 years, up from a two year prison term under previous provisions.

Johns, the men who pay for sex, also face increased penalties for involvement with underage prostitutes. Formerly, the maximum jail sentence was 90 days; now, johns incarcerated for sex with a minor could be behind bars as long as two years. In addition, new court fines can amount to thousands of dollars. Even johns who are mistaken as to the age of a prostitute and are not intentionally soliciting a juvenile can be severely punished under Washington’s sex crime sentencing scheme.

Protect Yourself

Even an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor can have disastrous consequences; unfortunately, an accusation of a sex crime has become the modern equivalent of a witch hunt. The recent federal grants mean Seattle enforcement agencies will be under increased pressure to produce results and secure convictions. If you have been accused of a sex crime, do not let this renewed fervor change your life forever: contact a Seattle sex crimes defense attorney today.

Article provided by Rhodes & Meryhew, LLP
Visit us at www.rhodesmeryhew.com

Halloween is a time of year when law enforcement is out in record numbers to crack down on DUIs.

Apparently, DUIs have been on the rise since 2006, according to AAA’s website, but not all DUIs result in fatalities or even injuries. In fact, even though the records show that DUI-related arrests have increased, actual car crashes involving DUIs have decreased 10% over the past three years.

Many citizens believe this decrease has been due to the Highway Patrol’s increasing of DUI checkpoints at certain times of the year. According to statistics, there is always a rise in DUI cases around the holidays, with Halloween coming in second only to New Year’s Eve.

There is, however, another school of thought that perhaps citizens have finally received the message about drinking and driving. There are more nightclubs and pubs that will take action and call cabs for customers who have had too much to drink. This could be because of bars coming under fire for serving their patrons beyond intoxication-level.

If you are one of the unlucky drivers who is pulled over at a DUI checkpoint, know that you do have rights and do not have to do the drunk driving test the police ask you to. It is your right to say no, but the police do have the right to haul you in if you refuse; it is a subjective call on their part. Also, many drivers are not aware that in California, a first time DUI is often considered a misdemeanor. Most of the time, it takes up to four arrests before any hard time in jail is required.

Your best bet is to avoid the police altogether by designating a driver for the evening or having the Halloween party at your place this year.

About the Company:
Southern California DUI Defense Attorney Parker has been qualified to administer Standardized Field Sobriety Tests by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (N.H.T.S.A.). Additionally, DUI Lawyer Parker is a member of the National College for DUI Defense, California DUI Lawyers Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice.

Contact:
Kellee Parker
Parker Law Center
355 South Grand Ave. Suite 2450
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(800) 805-8804

http://parkerlawcenter.com

For years, the families of Tennessee bikers, walkers and joggers killed or injured at the hands of careless drivers have had to sit back and watch as the person responsible for harming their loved one escaped punishment.

Thankfully, a new law effective July 1, 2011 will help these families seek justice.

An organization called Bike Walk Tennessee partnered with Tennessee lawmakers this past legislative session to amend the state’s “Due Care Law” to provide increased protection for bicyclists and pedestrians. The campaign was spurred after a Nashville man was killed on his morning walk by a driver who fell asleep behind the wheel. His family discovered that there was no law on the books that allowed the state to prosecute his killer.

Previously, Tennessee law only required drivers to exercise due care to prevent a collision with another motor vehicle. Now, the amended law extends that requirement to include bicycles and pedestrians, whether they are located on the road, in a bike lane, on a sidewalk or on the road’s shoulder or berm.

The law further extends criminal penalties to drivers who cause serious bodily injury or death by failing to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, by failing to safely overtake and pass a bicyclist or by generally failing to exercise due care. Violations are punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in jail, a fine of up to $500 and revocation of driving privileges for up to one year.

“I Didn’t See You” No Longer an Excuse

Often, drivers who cause an accident with a bicyclist or pedestrian will try to blame the victim by saying they couldn’t see them coming. The new law is specifically designed to take away this excuse. It requires drivers to operate their motor vehicles in a manner and at a speed that allows them to see other users of the road, essentially placing an affirmative duty on drivers to be on the lookout for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Law Will Help Civil Claims

An added benefit of the law is that it will help strengthen negligence and wrongful death claims pursued by victims of motor vehicle accidents. The Murfreesboro Post quotes Sen. Andy Berke, one of the new law’s legislative sponsors, as saying that victims’ rights will be strengthened by “making it clear that the law requires people in a car to exercise proper driving restraint around people on a bicycle and pedestrians.”

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed as a result of a motor vehicle accident, you may want to contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area who can help explain how the new law affects your rights.

Article provided by Mart G. Fendley, Attorney at Law
Visit us at http://www.fendleylaw.com

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a powerful agency within the Department of Labor charged with ensuring safe and healthful working conditions for American workers. OSHA sets and enforces standards for workplace safety and provides training, outreach, education and expertise to employers and other groups.

OSHA has broad jurisdiction over private sector workplaces, federal agencies, maritime employers such as shipyards, military facilities, and other workplaces nationwide. Recently released agency data on the most common types of safety infractions in 2010 provide a snapshot of the types of cost-cutting and ignorance that can lead to injuries and fatalities.

The Top Ten OSHA Violations

The ten most frequently cited violations of OSHA regulations cover a range of hazards that could lead to serious construction injuries and other jobsite accidents:
- Scaffolding: OSHA’s general requirements for scaffolding mandate specific weight requirements, use of counterweights, connections to roofs and floors and other factors to keep workers safe when working high above sidewalks and other surfaces.
- Fall protection: Guardrails, safe walking surfaces, safety nets and harnesses must be employed under certain conditions to prevent injuries from falls.
- Hazard communication: Workers must be informed of chemical hazards via container labeling, material safety data sheets and employee training.
- Respiratory protection: Employers must provide appropriate respirators and prevent atmospheric contamination to guard against occupational diseases caused by harmful dust, gases, smoke and vapors.
- Ladders: Portable and fixed ladders must meet strict guidelines regarding weight-bearing capacity, space between rungs and surface materials.
- Lockout/tagout: Machines and equipment that require servicing and maintenance must be guarded by procedures and tags that prevent accidental startup.
- Electrical wiring methods: All wiring conduits must be grounded or bonded to ensure electrical continuity and prevent severe shock or electrocution.
- Industrial trucks: Forklifts, tractors, platform lifts, motorized hand trucks, and other specialized equipment must meet design requirements for fire protection, design and maintenance.
- General electrical requirements: Electric equipment must be free of recognized hazards based on strength and durability, connection space, electrical insulation, heating and arcing effects, and other factors.
- Machine guarding: Operators and other employees in the area must be protected using appropriate barriers and electronic safety devices to avoid nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks.

These violations put workers at risk. When workers on construction, renovation, demolition and excavation projects are injured due to OSHA violations, they may be entitled to sue the responsible parties for money damages for their pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost earnings.

Article provided by Arye, Lustig & Sassower, P.C.
Visit us at www.als-lawyers.com