17 Jul, 2011

Indonesia To Broach Joint ASEAN Visa Issue

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1.  Indonesia To Broach Joint ASEAN Visa Issue

2.  Gaylord Hotels and Teach For America Join Forces to Honour Teachers

3.  Facebook Investigators Launch Anonymous Service to Help People Catch Cheating Spouses

4.  New Report Released by American Citizens Abroad (ACA) Shows Devastating Consequences of FATCA Legislation

5.  As Unionization Becomes Easier, Projections Releases New Resources to Help Employers Connect with Employees

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1.  Indonesia To Broach Joint ASEAN Visa Issue

Jakarta, July 14 (ANTARA) – Indonesia is to bring up the issue of instituting a joint ASEAN visa system at an ASEAN ministerial meeting (AMM) next July 16-23, a minister said.

“The idea to adopt a joint ASEAN visa system for visitors from outside the ASEAN region will be discussed during a ministerial meeting in Bali. The concept of a joint visa system will resemble the Schengen visa system adhered to by some European countries,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Thursday.

However, the minister said a joint ASEAN visa system could not be implemented soon because it must be discussed further by related officials in the future.

He said the joint ASEAN Visa system would enable visitors from countries outside ASEAN to travel in the ten member countries of ASEAN with a single visa.

“We want countries outside ASEAN to see this organization as a single place to visit,” he added.

Some ASEAN countries have since 2005 been issuing free visas to visitors from fellow ASEAN member countries. Of the 10 members namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia only the last three countries have not yet implemented the free-visa policy.

Earlier, the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) comprised of member tourism organization from the 10-member nations of ASEAN, is busy lobbying their respective governments to adopt a policy of a single visa valid for all ten countries as a critical step of turning ASEAN into a single tourism destination.

According to ASEANTA`s Vice-President, Elly Hutabarat, the idea of a single ASEAN visa has received widespread support from the governments of the association but has encountered problems in moves towards the actual implementation of the measure due to the varying immigration and visa policies among the 10 countries.

2.  Gaylord Hotels and Teach For America Join Forces to Honour Teachers

Nashville, TN (PRWEB) July 15, 2011 – This August, Gaylord Hotels honors teachers across the country through its partnership with Teach For America. As Gaylord Hotels’ Rooms for Good featured charity during this month, Teach For America will receive 10 percent of the total Rooms for Good package rate booked at all four of the brand’s resorts.

Teach For America is a national nonprofit that recruits, trains, and supports top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity. This fall, 9,300 corps members will be teaching in 43 regions across the country, impacting 600,000 students.

“We’re grateful to be Gaylord Hotels’ selected charity this month,” said Kyle Ridaught, vice president of corporate relations at Teach For America. “This support will help us to continue to recruit, train, and develop teachers to work in high-need schools across the country and lead their students to academic and lifelong success.”

The exclusive Teach For America Rooms for Good package rates start at $179* per couple/per night, based on availability and include one night’s accommodations at one of Gaylord Hotels’ four properties, located in some of America’s most popular destinations, including the Washington, D.C. metro area, just outside of Orlando, Fla., in the heart of America’s Country Music Capital, Nashville, Tenn., and in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, in the Lone Star State. Gaylord Hotels’ partnership with Teach For America also offers teachers a discounted room rate starting at $139* per couple/per night, based on availability**. The Teach For America Rooms for Good package is available throughout the month of August.

“As a hotel company that caters to the family market during August, and with ‘back to school’ just around the corner, we believe this cause will resonate with our customers,” said Amy Atkinson, Gaylord Hotels’ vice president of leisure marketing and public relations. “The outpouring of support for our Rooms for Good program has been heartwarming. We’re excited to be working with the Teach For America organization, and we know our guests will be enthusiastic about their mission.”

Rooms for Good is a co-operative marketing and fundraising program that features a different charity each month. In addition to raising money for non-profit organizations, Gaylord Hotels raises awareness of the cause through its advertising, public relations and social media platforms.

For more information and to book a Rooms for Good getaway, visit http://www.RoomsForGood.com.

For more information,  visit:

http://www.GaylordHotels.com.

http://www.teachforamerica.org.

*The rate varies at each resort and excludes tax, parking and resort fee.

**Proof of employment at educational foundation required upon arrival.

3.  Facebook Investigators Launch Anonymous Service to Help People Catch Cheating Spouses

(PRWEB) July 15, 2011 — New research by a UK-based extra-marital dating site has reinforced claims that Facebook is fast becoming the quickest way to catch cheating spouses.

llicitEncounters.com, the UK’s largest extra-marital dating agency, surveyed 800 of its members as to whether they had ever been “caught out” 41% of those who had been stated that a dalliance on the social networking site played an important role in their downfall.

“We are aiming to provide an anonymous method for people in the Facebook community who suspect the partner of a friend, colleague or family member to raise their concerns and benefit from a free basic investigation” explains Tony Burton director of Facebook investigators.

As many of the victims of online infidelity are unaware that their husband, wife, girlfriend or boyfriend is cheating, the Investigation Service has found that the best way to police online cheating is to enlist the help of the community at large.

Astral Pearson the brains behind the new Report a Cheating Spouse feature, explains that the thinking behind the service is simple: “if you are not doing anything wrong, then you have no need to worry, however if you are playing away from home, then the chances of you being caught have just skyrocketed”

With the reported rise of online affairs, the chances of adultery and services that actually promote it are increasing, and with no opposing force this is set to cause more heartache to yet more victims on online cheating, Facebook cheating aims to balance to scales.

The Facebook Investigators service is extremely easy to use, if you suspect that someone that you know is cheating, or may cheat, all you have to do is complete a simple form that will be scored and may lead to a free covert investigation to be sent to the potential victim.

Investigations involve attempting to make contact with the potential target and scoring their chances of cheating based on a set of 25 pre set indicators, ultimately leading to arranging a possible meeting in the real world, that the potential victim will be alerted of in advance, and will be armed with copies of all messages sent between the target and investigator.

4.  New Report Released by American Citizens Abroad (ACA) Shows Devastating Consequences of FATCA Legislation

Geneva, Switzerland (PRWEB) July 15, 2011 – American Citizens Abroad (ACA), an organization of U.S. citizens living overseas, today released a new report showing how the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) jeopardizes trillions of dollars of investment in the United States, and makes it difficult if not impossible for American companies and financial institutions to be successful in a competitive global environment.

FATCA legislation, which was buried in the HIRE Act passed by Congress in 2010, becomes effective in January 2013, only 18 months from now. But because its implications are so far-reaching and complex, the U.S. Treasury Department has not yet issued regulations on how to implement it, leaving banks, insurance companies, pension funds and mutual funds around the world in limbo as to how to put into place the onerous provisions of the new law.

“The goal of FATCA was to identify U.S. citizens with undeclared assets hidden in overseas bank accounts,” said Jackie Bugnion, ACA Director. “Although ACA applauds this goal, the way this new law is structured is totally disproportionate and unworkable— the equivalent of using a bulldozer to destroy an anthill.”

The full report entitled, “Why FATCA is Bad for America and Why It Should be Repealed Now!” may be viewed by clicking: http://www.aca.ch/fatcapp.pdf

ACA is working with a coalition of partners to oppose FATCA including the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), various American Chambers of Commerce and banking trade associations. “If truth in advertising laws had to apply to Congress’s handiwork, the term ‘FATCA’ would stand for Full of Adverse Tax Consequences for Americans,” said Pete Sepp, Executive Vice President of NTU. “Ironically, as a bigger chorus of policymakers calls for a ‘repatriation window’ to bring overseas financial assets back to the U.S., FATCA would have the effect of chasing those assets away from our shores. NTU is proud to stand with American Citizens Abroad and a growing number of allies to repeal FATCA and restructure our flawed tax system.”

Under FATCA, any institution in the world that holds U.S. securities must declare all U.S. account-holders directly to the IRS, or prove that none of their account-holders or investors hold U.S. passports. If the institution does not report this to the IRS, it faces a punitive 30% penalty on any transaction in those U.S. securities. FATCA creates an administrative nightmare for banks overseas, and a double reporting burden on both American businessmen operating abroad and overseas American residents who must have foreign bank accounts to function.

The law has already had highly negative consequences for the United States and its citizens overseas, even before it has gone into effect. Some banks overseas have closed the accounts of U.S. citizens, and have sold off all U.S. holdings, rather than comply with the heavy administrative burden of FATCA. ACA points out in the report that foreign investment in the U.S. currently exceeds $21 trillion. The sale of even part of these holdings would have a devastating effect on U.S. markets, and consequently on jobs in the United States, on U.S. exports, and on the U.S. economy overall.

Because most Members of Congress are unaware of the unintended consequences of FATCA, ACA is urging individuals to write to their Congressional representative asking that they repeal this flawed legislation. Information on how all Americans at home and abroad can send their letters to Congress- along with a sample letter- may be viewed on the ACA web site at http://www.americansabroad.org

American Citizens Abroad (ACA), the voice of more than 5.2 million Americans overseas, is a non-partisan, non-profit association of volunteers based in Geneva, Switzerland, with worldwide membership in over 90 countries. ACA has represented the interests of American citizens residing overseas for more than 30 years on issues ranging from banking and taxation to voting registration. For more information, visit http://www.americansabroad.org

5.  As Unionization Becomes Easier, Projections Releases New Resources to Help Employers Connect with Employees

Norcross, GA (PRWEB) July 12, 2011 — Today, employee communications company Projections, Inc. announced the launch of their new ‘Employee Communication Resources’ page on their website, which will serve as a clearinghouse for information on promoting positive employee relations and remaining union-free.

Just two weeks ago, the National Labor Relations Board published an official “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,” which will drastically shorten the timeframe from when a union files a petition for election and the actual date of election. Under current rules, elections are traditionally held within 45-60 days of filing.

“With the new rules, employee communication is going to have to start on day one,” said Walter Orechwa, CEO of Projections. “What this new part of our website does is provide relevant and detailed information on the best ways to connect with employees, including proper union avoidance strategies, positive employee relations, and much more, all in one place.”

The new web page features six categories of information: whitepapers, case studies, articles, press releases, webinars and links. Included is Projections’ newest article, “The Reality Of Shortened Union Elections, And What Employers Should Do Now.”

“The Reality Of Shortened Union Elections, And What Employers Should Do Now.” offers:

(+) Background information that led to the decision

(+) Quotes from the NLRB on why they want to change the rule

(+) Why labor is pleased about this announcement

(+) A step-by-step guide that employers may follow if they wish to remain union-free

“This article gives employers, attorneys, and consultants a great look into what is happening now, and what the changes mean for everyone,” Orechwa added. “And the strategic communication guidelines we included are a great reference for any employer whose union-free operating philosophy is being challenged by an organizing drive.”

Projections’ new ‘Employee Communication Resources’ page can be found here: http://www.projectionsinc.com/resources.html. The ‘Shortened Elections’ article is available directly here: http://projectionsinc.com/article_shortened_elections.html.

Visit Projections on the web at http://www.ProjectionsInc.com.