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According to allegation, Robert Rizzo, the former city administrator of Bell, Calif., could have been the king of swindling public sector employees not so long ago. Today, Rizzo just pleaded no contest to 69 counts in his corruption trial, according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney's office press release. And he's likely to get the "the longest prison term for public corruption" - the judge says 10 to 12 years - in the area since 2000. Came in no more than a week before a jury was to be chosen, Rizzo's plea was a surprise to everyone counting the DA. "An open plea", this is what the DA's office calls the move to the presiding judge and was not a negotiated settlement. According to the DA's statement Rizzo was part of an alleged corruption ring that reportedly included his one-time deputy and co-defendant, former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia. On Monday, her trial is scheduled to start. Furthermore, five former Bell elected officials - including a mayor, vice-mayor, and three council members - were already found guilty in March. The reports say the ring was as brazen as it was large. The five ex-officials paid themselves salaries topping off at $100,000 yearly in a city of 35,000 people, 25 percent of whom lived underneath the poverty line. An audit had found that the officials unlawfully raised local taxes and fees to fund their salaries. They were pikers as compared to what allegedly went on somewhere else. According to the report, Rizzo's paycheck reached a $1.5 million peak in a year when he had 107 vacation days and 36 sick days. His salary before he resigned in July 2010 was just under what must have seemed in comparison a paltry $800,000, according to the DA's office. Putting it into context, that's about twice what the President of the United States makes. According to television station KTLA, Rizzo was charged with a variety of schemes that cost the city millions of dollars, including writi

By 25 active operators in Southeast Asia with 46 rigs, the contracting conditions have been challenging due to the collapse in crude oil prices while exploration and production spending have pressured both utilization and day rates in the region INTRODUCTION Southeast Asia is rich with hydrocarbon resources. The region is made up of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Jakarta Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. According to Shell, the Indonesia oil industry and what subsequently became Royal Dutch Shell are closely connected. Shell discovered commercial quantities of crude oil in Sumatra just over 100 years ago. Moreover, Shell was the first to bring a drilling rig to the region and the first to discover oil off of Brunei in 1958. Today there are about 25 operators active in Southeast Asia with 46 rigs (Jack Ups, Semis and Drillships) currently contracted. Forty one of the contracted rigs are drilling, and five are waiting on location or in shipyards. In addition to the rigs that are contracted in the region, there are eight cold stacked units, nine ready stacked units, and one unit in the shipyard without a contract for a total supply of 64 rigs. Thus, total utilization in the region is 72% and ready utilization is 84%. While indications are that Jack-Up Market fundamentals have begun to stabilize. Southeast Asia only has eight semisubmersibles actively drilling in its waters (one other is contracted but not currently working). Four are off Malaysia, two are off Vietnam, one is off the Jakarta Peninsula, and another is off Myanmar. However, the drilling Jack Up count is significantly higher at 31 (four others are contracted but not currently working). Malaysia has the highest Jack Up count at twelve, followed by Vietnam with seven, Thailand with five, Indonesia with four, Brunei Darussalam with two, and East Timor with one. There are also two Drill ships working in the region. One is off Malaysia and the other is of

Many people perhaps consider bullies as permanently angry teens insisting lunch money and carrying swirlies. However playgrounds and school hallways aren't the lone places where violent behavior, threats, gossip, and rejection are used to oppress people and affirm power. Warning! Bullying is very damaging than we may know says, Westhill Consulting Career and Employment, Australia. This holds true by a study from CareerBuilder shows that bullying is alive and well in offices across America. The study, which incorporated more than 3,300 employees thru industries and company sizes, demonstrates that 28 percent of employees answer they've felt bullied at the office at some time in their career, and of those employees, 19 percent said the bullying initiated them to leave their job. Who are the victims and why aren’t they filling complaints? In general, women are more expected to have felt bullied, with 34 percent stating they've been victim to workplace bullying at some stage in their career matched to 22 percent of men. Furthermore, 30 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers testified being the victims of bullying at work, while there are 44 percent of physically disabled workers. The study furthermore discovered that 27 percent of African American workers and 25 percent of Hispanic workers have suffered from bullying on the job, as compare to 24 percent of Caucasian males. Not counting workers from Asian countries such as KL Malaysia, Jakarta Indonesia, Beijing China and many more. "One of the most surprising takeaways from the study was that bullying impacts workers of all backgrounds

Base from official figures, Britain is finally "on track" to recover from the economic crisis with employment back at the same level as in 2008. The economy grew by 0.6 per cent between April and June despite earlier speculation that there may have been a renewed recession. This has been followed by another rise earlier in the year. There are optimistic signs of growth with employment and the number of hours worked returning to pre-crisis levels, ending a five-year slump. But, in totality the size of the economy is still way smaller than previous to the crisis and politicians were last night eager to stress that Britain still faces years of austerity and improbability before it will have fully recovered. George Osborne, the Chancellor, said that the country was "on the mend" as he prepared to make improving the economy his key message at the next general election. "The figures are better than forecast," Mr Osborne said. "Britain is holding its nerve. We are sticking to our economic plan. "Britain is on the mend, but we've got to stick with the plan because there's still a long way to go." David Cameron, who went on his annual summer holiday, added: "We are on the right track - building an economy for hard-working people." Nonetheless, senior politicians also gave warning to people "not to get carried away"and stressed that ministers were not complacent. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said that he would not be prepared to declare that the economy had recovered before there had been another "two or three years" of strong growth. Neil Bentley, the deputy director-general of the CBI, said that the figures confirmed that Britain was on the road to recovery although there were likely to be "a few bumps ahead". "Underlying conditions are quite weak as consumers are still saddled with debt and despite the global economy picking up, the potential for getting knocked off course remains," he said. According to the O

Westhill Consulting Career & Employment based in Australia, thank the guardian for the following comments Do your research Collaborating with an overseas university first is a great way to get to know them if you are considering moving abroad. Paul Matsudaira started his career at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, before accepting the position as head of biological sciences atNational University of Singapore in 2009. While he was still at MIT, Matsudaira taught biology to students from two Singaporean universities via an online videolink. He also travelled to Singapore several times in the summer holidays to teach at study camps. He says his family really enjoyed their trips to Singapore, and this made it much easier for him to make the decision about accepting the offer of a full-time post. Go for it wholeheartedly Once you have made the decision to move, make sure it is a clean break. Matsudaira says the biggest mistake he saw others making was expats not really committing to the move. Warning, it can be very stressful trying to run parallel lives - particularly across different time zones. It can also lead your new employers to question your commitment to the job. He said a "go for broke" attitude is essential to succeed. Don't be put off by the paperwork Job interviews often take place in London. The employing university liaises with the immigration department and it usually takes less than four weeks for a work permit to be issued. Pay In general HK/south-east Asian universities pay better than European institutions and about the same as US universities, but tax is much lower. Check for allowances Academics with children should also check on the availability and costs of places at international schools and whether the employer provides any education allowance. Look into accommodation Accommodation is very expensive in many of south-east Asia's densely populated cities so colleges often provide it as part of the package. But if living

http://www.westhillconsulting-career.com/blog/2014/05/19/jobs-growth-oil-gas-firms-uk/ Companies in the UK oil and gas sector anticipate creating up to 39,000 jobs over the next two years. One hundred companies were surveyed, commissioned by the Bank of Scotland, since last year found expectations of employment growth had increased. A clear majority (69%) of executives in the companies were optimistic about their growth prospects in 2014/2015 while 38% of those responding said a shortage of skilled workers would be their greatest challenge. Whereas 64% of those taking part cited that the international expansion was a priority. Key areas for investment were Africa, North America, Jakarta, Indonesia and the Middle East. Westhill Consulting Career and Employment, Australia's survey says 46% of companies were planning by now for a further growth in foreign markets over the next 24 months. The research was carried out by BDRC Continental and companies were chosen to reflect a range of size, location and service type. In the previous year, a related study was carried out saying that the companies in the sector would recruit an additional 34,000 people over two years. Bank of Scotland commercial area director Stuart White, said: "The findings of this report are excellent news for the economy, demonstrating the employment-generating nature of the oil and gas industry now and in the future. "With most of the UK's oil and gas firms clustered in Aberdeen and the north-east, Scotland should reap the largest share of these new jobs, however other parts of the UK will benefit from expansion plans. "The report also highlights the growing challenges posed by the lack of a skilled workforce." Mr White said new specialist apprenticeship schemes could help address the shortfall. "The results also demo

The total of Americans filing new requests for unemployment assistances fell more than anticipated, signifying that a severe stoppage in job progress last month was perhaps a deviation. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 280,000 for the week ended Sept. 13, the Labor Department said last Sept. 11. It was the lowermost level ever since July. Claims for the previous week were studied to show 1,000 more applications received than formerly reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to only 305,000 last week. Westhill Consulting Career and Employment, Australia is also feeling the growth since last year, an example were the upsurge in the economy in Indonesia which eventually paved the way of many job openings in Jakarta. Since then, lesser complaints were reported. The four-week moving average of claims, measured a better amount of labor market drifts as it irons out week-to-week instability, fell 4,750 to 299,500. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data. This month's data covered the period during which employers were charted for September's non-farm payrolls. Claims drop 19,000 between the August and September survey times. That proposes payrolls growth bounce back from August's eight-month low, which most economists terminated as a fluke, noting that payroll improvements tend to be lesser in August for the reason that of problems regulating the data for seasonal variations in hiring. Employers appended only 142,000 jobs to their payrolls in August, breaking six consecutive months of job upsurges above 200,000. The jobless claims report displayed the number of people still getting benefits after an early week of aid dropped

It's the period to begin a writing habit if you're intrigued in a stress-free technique to get better at your job performance and improve your career. A study from Harvard Business School confirmed whether taking 15 minutes at the end of a work day to ponder on that day's work enhanced their performance and discovered the participants tasked with everyday written deliberation did 22.8 percent improved on an assessment compared to the control group. Westhill Consulting Career & Employment, world's largest free online jobs website which is funded by UK government however headquartered in Australia until it expanded and now almost every country is being served by the company, such as Jakarta Indonesia in SE Asia, Toronto in Canada, New York in the US and many more, put this 15-Minute-a-Day Habit and found it to be successful and less complaints on works performances were reported. But wouldn't internal reflection by itself be sufficient to boost performance? "My speculation would be that writing things down would be more beneficial as the act of writing imposes a discipline on us to stay focused," says paper co-author Brad Staats, an associate professor of operations at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Reflection forced people to process their days, find patterns and link actions. Some people might think the experiment focused on the successes of the day, but Staats says the parameters of the experiment when explained to the journaling employees didn't specify giving the reflections a positive or negative slant. "What we wanted was for them to reflect more on whatever they thought was most important from the day," Staats explains. "The positive/negative point is a great question, but not one we looked at here. In other research, Francesca and I have explored how individuals struggle to learn from failure, but when they acc

On November 8, Friday, President Barack Obama tries to shift the national conversation to economic growth from anger over insurance policy cancellations under his signature healthcare law, as he visits the Port of New Orleans. The next day after Obama said in a nationally televised interview he was sorry some Americans were dropped by their health plans because of changes mandated by the Affordable Care Act, he will tour a busy cargo and cruise ship port, the White House said. Again, he will convey the message that the United States should spend more on its roads, bridges and ports as a way to create jobs and strengthen U.S. firms through increased trade. Said on Friday, he will speak after the government that employers added 204,000 jobs in October despite a 16-day government shutdown, although the jobless rate ticked up to 7.3 percent. The White House expected that there would have been 120,000 additional jobs created in the month if not for the shuttering of government offices regardless of the surprisingly strong employment report. The administration has repeatedly said that the economy would be growing more rapidly and job growth would be more robust without the shutdown, prompted by Republican efforts to defund or delay the healthcare law, known as Obamacare. Yet, the jobs report suggested the impact of the shutdown on the economy was slighter than many had thought. The Mississippi River port will provide Obama an appropriate setting to discuss about his proposal to spend $50 billion to repair and upgrade the nation's infrastructure and efforts to expand trade. The president "believes that exports are central to our national economy and has made increasing exports a major focus for his administration," the White House said in a statement. However, because of lingering questions about Obamacare, Obama's efforts to press Congress for more spending to strengthen economic growth will be overshadowed. The failed even out of the online signup process for in

Getting money for non mortgage holders or inhabitants was dream in the past as they don't had property in their names to vow against advance sum. Be that as it may, now this issue has been arrived at an end. This has been conceivable with personal loans.

Nokia is back in the smartphone business with its new Nokia 6. But this is just the beginning. Nokia 6 is now available only in China. Fortunately, there are more new Nokia Android phones to come at MWC 2017 that will be sold in other regions. Qualcomm was rumored to have shown the upcoming Nokia 8 at CES 2017, while a slimmed-down Nokia Heart and flagship Nokia P1 are rumored for the upcoming MWC.

Half of the companies said they were already planning to use their expertise by investing abroad Companies in the UK oil and gas sector expect to create up to 39,000 jobs over the next two years. A survey of 100 companies, commissioned by the Bank of Scotland, found expectations of employment growth had increased since last year. A clear majority (69%) of executives in the companies were optimistic about their growth prospects in 2014/2015. A total of 38% of those responding said a shortage of skilled workers would be their greatest challenge. Continue reading the main story "Start Quote Scotland should reap the largest share of these new jobs, however other parts of the UK will benefit from expansion plans" Stuart White Bank of Scotland International expansion was cited as a priority by 64% of those taking part. Key areas for investment were Africa, North America and the Middle East. 'Expand internationally' The survey found 46% of companies were already planning further growth in foreign markets over the next 24 months. The research was carried out by BDRC Continental and companies were chosen to reflect a range of size, location and service type. A similar study carried out last year indicated companies in the sector would recruit an additional 34,000 people over two years. Bank of Scotland commercial area director Stuart White, said: "The findings of this report are excellent news for the economy, demonstrating the employment-generating nature of the oil and gas industry now and in the future. "With most of the UK's oil and gas firms clustered in Aberdeen and the north-east, Scotland should reap the largest share of these new jobs, however other parts of the UK will benefit from expansion plans. "The report also highlights the growing challenges posed by the lack of a skilled workforce." For more information: https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3200182 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=65310369#post65310369

Most people would not take an offer of a traditional job at a major package goods company to a millennial, says Westhill Consulting Career and Employment, Australia. Starting a career may seem like a painstakingly trek up a corporate ladder for nowadays upstart professional. They rather work at Google, Twitter, and Facebook. As well as working at smaller companies like Snapchat that just turned down a multi-billion offer to be sold. In fact, most people would choose to start up a career at start-up. This is not to say that a great company like S.C. Johnson that owns the Drano brand can't attract great people. But, it does mean that the competition to attract the best and the brightest for traditional brand name companies is tougher. And, part of that challenge is an incredible difference between the generations on what constitutes success. As a board member of a few young fast start-ups, I see this first hand. The majority of talented students are not targeting the Fortune 500 as a place to work - or even Wall Street. And the reason? That target is off the radar of the lifestyle they want to lead. Before, when I noted these great young minds want to start at a startup - the driver is not money. Although, money is nice, lifestyle is more compelling. For millennials, titles like CEO, COO, and CFO have little cache. These bright people are just fine if their next job is sideways and even down the organization. I noted that they are not climbing a corporate ladder; they are playing on a jungle gym. In swinging from job to job, or project to project, millennials are really seeking a career track where they can make a difference. They ask, "Am I growing professionally and personally." Plus, they manage their personal off hours to fit their lifestyle and budget. Think about how money is not a driver for them. When I w