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VA disability compensation claims: Avoiding the pitfalls
Roy Phillips Civil & GovernmentIf you're considering filing a claim with the VA, you should know that there are good three reasons why you should do it. The first is that, if you were injured while in the military, you should have your medical problems determined to be "Service Connected." The second reason to file a claim is that guaranteed income greatly increases your credit worthiness. It could make the difference between getting a home loan or not. The third reason is that increased numbers of claims lead to an increased budget for the VA, which translates to better care for vets. Before you file, please consider the following.
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Real-time crime centers: A look into the new-age tool every agency could…
Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityData for the first six months of 2019 shows a huge decrease in crime in Fort Myers, Florida. The city’s police department said that it owes the good news to better policing strategies, used in tandem with new technology. Fort Myers’ Real-Time Crime Center played a significant role in bringing down the numbers. More and more police departments are now looking to allocate a part of their budget to set up these real-time crime centers.
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How technology manufacturing fuels the US-China trade war
Michelle R. Matisons ManufacturingIt’s official: the trade war with China is heating up. On Aug. 5, after President Trump announced increased tariffs on Chinese imports, China devalued the yuan. The New York Times said it was the "worst day of the year" for Wall Street, with the S&P 500 closing down nearly 3%. There’s no consensus on what's happening here. China’s plan to move from cheap to high-value tech goods manufacturing plays a major role in President Trump’s tariff increase on Chinese imports and the no-deal climate between the countries.
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Native Alaskan tribe’s lawsuit fights ANWR drilling
Michelle R. Matisons Natural ResourcesJuly 31 was a fateful day in the climate change struggle. Just as the Gwich’in tribe of Alaska and Canada launched an important anti-drilling lawsuit, Greenland’s ice sheet lost 12.5 billion tons of ice in one day. Although an offshore drilling ban was recently upheld by Alaska federal court for some Arctic areas, the Trump administration seems set on drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's (ANWR) 1002 Area, with speculated returns of up to 9 billion gallons of oil. The Gwich’in tribe, along with the Wilderness Society, Alaska Wilderness League, and Defenders of Wildlife, want to keep the oil in the ground.
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Age discrimination harms everyone, but it’s hard to prove
Patrick Gleeson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementYou may think you have a realistic understanding of discrimination against older workers, but it's likely you underestimate how widespread age discrimination in employment actually is. For example, "front-facing" jobs in industries that involve in-person contact with customers often go to younger workers whose presence suggests that the company is forward-looking and innovative. Contrary to its reputation for liberal political and social ideas, Silicon Valley is another prominent offender. But it's less well-known that this kind of discrimination exists in nearly every industry in America.
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Interesting notes from recent TPWD law enforcement reports
John McAdams Recreation & LeisureThe Texas Parks and Wildlife Department publishes some of its more interesting events compiled from TPWD law enforcement reports each month or so. These reports are usually good for a laugh and sometimes even provide a good lesson or two. As I noted in a previous article, usually those lessons contain good advice on what not to do, though. Interestingly enough, neither of these episodes involve any social media mishaps or alcohol use, which makes them somewhat unique among noteworthy game warden encounters.
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How will the Bipartisan Budget Act affect businesses, government?
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementNow that President Trump has inked the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, what does it mean for businesses and the federal government? For one thing, the BBA 2019 suspends the national debt limit until after the 2020 election and hikes spending by $324 billion over two years. "That makes it easier for Congress to do something to help small businesses if it wants to," Frank Knapp Jr., head of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, told MultiBriefs in an email. "We'll see."
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Parental participation in IEPs
Howard Margolis EducationSome parents of children with disabilities readily accept whatever the school’s IEP team members recommend. After all, they reason, these people are the professionals. They know best. Other parents believe it’s critical that they participate in every aspect of developing, implementing, and assessing their child’s IEP. They believe that they know a great deal about their child’s needs that school-IEP team members need to address but may not know or fully appreciate. They see much that school personnel don't.
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Cruises are popular, but what effect do they have on the environment?
Bambi Majumdar Waste Management & EnvironmentalPrincess Cruises, a Carnival subsidiary, recently made news for the wrong reasons. Carnival will have to pay a $20 million fine after illegal and environmentally damaging acts were revealed on Princess ships. Princess violated the terms of its 2017 probation when it was convicted for improper waste disposal. Perhaps even more damaging was that the cruise line did not report the findings of environmental inspections to the authorities. Carnival is not the only cruise line to flout regulations, and the environmental costs of these firms' negligence are high.
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Travel2020: Annoying hotel fees are finally getting their day in court
Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementIf you have been to a hotel or a resort lately, you likely saw some unexpected hotel fees tacked on to the bottom of your bill. Hotel and resort fees are nothing new. We have been seeing "fee creep" for years and find ourselves either accepting these unwanted pests as part of the price of traveling or finding ways to delete them during front desk dealings upon checkout. Until this month. July was an interesting month for Marriott and Hilton, as both are under siege by angry hotel room consumers who are questioning just what those fees are for and whether they are legal.
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