Some experts estimate that as many as 100,000 new websites go live every day That’s 36,500,000 new websites a year! And, I venture to say that that’s a conservative estimate. So following are three basic SEO tips that every freelance writer can start using immediately to increase website traffic.

1. SEO Tips for File Naming: Naming your files descriptively will help you get more page views because search engines can more readily identify what they’re all about. Let’s use a photo as an example. If you had a freelance writing website and you uploaded a graphic to the jobs page, instead of naming the file .jpg1, name it “editing-jobs1.jpg.”

2. SEO Tips for URLs: This piggybacks on the above tip. When you are naming your files, use hyphens as opposed to underscores. This is extremely important for SEO purposes because search engines treat hyphens as a space. This means that they recognize the words on each side of it as separate entities. This is not the case with underscores.

As an example, if a surfer typed in the phrase “editing jobs” and your file was named “editing-jobs.htm,” for example, the search engine would return that page as a result. It wouldn’t if it was “editing_jobs.htm.”

3. SEO Tips for Title Tags. This is one of the most important SEO tips you can use to increase traffic to your website/blog. Don’t name all of your website pages the same thing. Each page should have a unique title - one that is relevant to the content on the page.

The title tag is what shows up in the bar across the top of the page when you’re on a website. It should be directly relevant to what’s on the page, and should contain your main keyword phrase.

Combining all of these tips, this is what this page would look like:

SEO Tips 1 and 2 Combined: InkwellEditorial.com/ SEO-tips-for-freelancewriters.htm

SEO Tip 3: The title tag for this article on my website is “Basic SEO Tips for Freelance Writers.”

In case you’re wondering, the keyword phrase for this article is “SEO Tips”, which appears a number of times throughout this article. Search engine optimization is not hard, if you learn — and implement consistently — basic SEO tips.

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is a freelance writer and the author of How to Make $250+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles, found here. Ms. Black says, “You can work from home as a freelance writer in your PJs, getting assignments via the internet. I do it every day. All you need is a computer and an internet connection to get started.” Click to get more SEO tips for freelance writers.

Search Engine Marketing

First, directory submissions can be of benefit for link popularity reasons. Most directories do not require a reciprocal link, so the link counts as a one way link to your site. One way links are many times more valuable than reciprocal links to the search engines.

Second, some directories get a good amount of traffic and therefore this increases the chance that you will receive targeted visitors from your directory link. These visitors are free!

Third, the cost of directory submissions is very low. All it takes is some time. You can also hire a professional to do your submissions for very low cost to save you time.

Fourth, is the benefit for search engine optimization purposes. You can vary your title and description as often as you like to include more of your keywords and phrases. This helps increase the chance of better rankings for those additional phrases and also shows the search engines that your links are more natural due to the varying anchor text.

Fifth, if you submit to a few quality directories while your site is brand new and not yet indexed by the big search engines like Yahoo, MSN and Google, getting a few quality directory links can be a great way to get indexed within days instead of weeks or months waiting for them to crawl your site from your ADD URL page submission.

Sixth, most directory links are permanent once you are listed in them. This means those links will help you even more as time goes on and your links “age”. Older links from sites that have been around awhile or that are respected in their industry are simply worth more to search engines and will have more benefit as far as search engine optimization.

Those are the benefits, now here are some tips:

- Keep track of which directories you have submitted to, this will save you from submitting to the same one twice.

- Don’t submit to hundreds at once, search engines like to see more natural link building, so a couple times a month take an hour or two to submit to directories.

- Prepare all your website information, including your titles, description, keywords, URL, email etc, use a program like TypeItIn to speed through the form filling.

- Don’t forget niche directories! This is important, there are directories out there for just about every niche. From gourmet food, weddings, science, crafts, you name it. These directories may have even more benefit as far as search engine optimization and also may bring in highly targeted traffic to your site. Many times, it’s worth it to pay for listing in a niche directory that caters to your audience.

- Watch the Pagerank. While it’s not everything and it’s not a science, knowing the Google Pagerank of a directory can help you determine the quality of a directory link. It ranges from 0 - 10 and the higher the better. Download Google’s free toolbar to view any website’s Pagerank when you visit it. You can get an idea of whether it will be worth it to pay for a directory link by viewing the Pagerank.

- Pay attention to the submission guidelines of each directory. Many have different requirements for your title and description.

- Choose the proper category! This may seem obvious, but be sure to choose the right category. Drill down and select a category that is most appropriate to your site and it’s content, not just whatever category you want to be in.

- Go ahead and submit to the free, low PR directories, even new directories. Many of these will gain popularity as time goes on and may even begin to charge for what used to be free links. So getting in early may mean cost savings for you.

Lydia Quinn writes for TXTlinks Directory, a general topic website directory where you can submit your URL for free. Visit us at: http://www.txtlinks.com

Learn how to get High Page Rank

Of course, having a web site isn’t enough of a reason for people to want to buy from you. There should be plenty of content to keep your potential customers entertained and informed so that the chance that they will become actual customers only rises. This includes interesting information about your company and what you do, information about the products, and even articles relevant to your target market.

Selling the best baby bottle ever? Have an article or three on breast pumps, first-time mothers, or getting Daddy involved in feeding. Selling horse feed? Inform your customers about the best methods for grooming a show horse or the best way to grow feed. Keeping your customer interested will ensure that they bookmark your site and return again, hopefully making a purchase in the process.

To make those articles work double-duty for you, they should be written to attract the attention of search engines to place your web site higher in the rankings. How much more likely is it that customers will find your site if it is on the first page versus the third? The answer is that most people never even look past the first page of results.

Drawing people to your web site means drawing potential customers to your product. In the writing and internet worlds, these special articles are known as SEO, which is an acronym for Search Engine Optimized. These SEO articles are packed full of your keywords so that search engines rank your web site as extremely relevant.

You might think that anyone can write an SEO article, and to some extent that is true. You could probably come up with a page long article that mentions horse feed twelve times, but would it be interesting to read or relevant to your customers? Sure, you’ve attracted the search engines, but if customers roll their eyes at your obvious attempts to snag them, they are unlikely to explore the rest of your site.

The solution is to outsource writing for your web site to experienced writers. A good writer should be able to write an interesting and relevant article with up to a five percent keyword density. This means that up to five percent of the words in the article are your chosen key word. In other words, your word is used five times out of every one hundred words. That may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that in a five percent density keyword article, this current paragraph would have used your keyword five times, both naturally and efficiently.

There are a few guidelines to keep in mind when you are outsourcing. The best advice we can think of is that if the price is incredibly low, the quality likely is, too. Best to spend a little more for great work than to settle for something your child could write. A second guideline deals with the density — a good SEO article can be done with as little as one or two percent density for a single keyword. More can often mean better, but more than five percent and it becomes almost impossible to include the word without sounding artificial. Also, the more words in your key phrase, the less dense your article should be. (A five percent density of a five word keyword means that a full quarter of each paragraph is made up of your keywords, leaving little to no room for anything else.)

For a good writer, you don’t even need to come up with a title or theme! Hand them a few key words and ask for three articles of a certain word length (400-600 words is average) and prepare to be amazed at what you get back. Not only will your business climb the search engine ranks, it will also boom with interested new business.

-Ben Anton 2007

We invite you to read more about web site search engines optimization at Mad Fish Info’s home page. Located in beautiful Portland, Oregon, Mad Fish Info, is a Search Engine Marketing firm, specializing in getting web sites a top listing across all search engines.

Search Engine Marketing

Here we are less then one Month after Hurricane Katrina and a 2nd Category 4 Hurricane Rita is threatening the Gulf coast of the United States. Fortunately it looks like Rita will be well west and south of Katrina so none of the Katrina victims will suffer a 1,2 Punch.

The main force of Hurricane Rita is predicted to hit in the Galveston and Houston Area’s of Texas. Fortunately the people of Texas seemed a little better prepared to handle the Storm. Cities along the Gulf Coast in Texas have already ordered evacuations.

Plans are in place in Galveston and Houston to use City and School buses to evacuate the sick and people with no other means out of the city. Many of the Hurricane Katrina Victims who were evacuated to Houston are now getting ready to be moved again this time it looks like Arkansas.

Hopefully the Death Toll from Rita will be much lower then Katrina, It appears Texas is much better prepared for Rita then New Orleans and surrounding areas were for Katrina, My heart goes out to the Families and friends of those 1,000 plus people who died in Katrina, At this point the best memorial we can have to those people who died needlessly is to never forget what happened and never let inaction to known natural disasters cause needless deaths in the future.

About the Author
Mike Makler Offers Financial Services (Mortgages,Life Insurance, Annuity) in Florissant Missouri which is in North St. Louis County Missouri Just Across the Bridge from St. Charles Missouri

Call Mike at 314 398-5547

Visit Mike’s Web Page:
http://ewguru.com/finance

For Missouri Specific Insurance and Loan Questions:
http://ewguru.com/Mo-Finance

Get Mike’s Newsletter Here
http://ewguru.com/fin-news

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler

High Page Rank Domains

Before you do that, you need to be aware of 4 traps. Using this knowledge, you can make a better decision whether to buy used pallet racks directly from the liquidation site or the dealer at a higher price but assured quality.

1. Sometimes, some items on the listing are not available at the liquidation site. The listing is only for illustration and it doesn’t represent a true picture of the racks to be liquidated. You may find extra items that are not on the listing at the location. You are advised to visit the site so that you can view the items yourself.

2. Liquidators don’t arrange shipping when you close the deal. You need to arrange your own shipping from the location where the liquidated pallet racks are situated to your warehouse. Liaise with the liquidators for low cost transportation and good discounts as they have good relationships with the freight forwarders. Better still, if you can arrange your purchase with any of their coming liquidations, you can receive more savings when purchasing directly from the liquidated site.

3. Bear in mind that the goods sold by liquidators are “As Is, Where Is”. Some may have still have stickers or labels on them from their former use. Some of the racks have not been cleaned, repaired, or repainted. Don’t be surprised if you find damaged racks among the lot. Most of the racks should be structurally strong enough to almost match the structural integrity of those new or refurbished ones. So, inspect the racks properly before you buy them.

4. If your warehouse is located in California, Washington, South Carolina, Utah, Massachusetts, Nevada and other earthquake-prone areas, then the racks must comply to the state’s seismic requirements. It is your responsibility to get the seismic permit for your pallet racks. Based on the requirement, all pallet rack systems must built to seismic specifications. In other words, they must be strong enough to remain firm without crashing, cracking or malfunctioning in the event of an earthquake.

You can enjoy large savings if you buy used pallet racks directly from liquidated sites. Even though they have been use before, they are still in good condition and can perform the same function as the new ones. Moreover, they are far below market value which gives you a higher return on your investment. To secure your investment, visit the liquidation location directly for all pricing information, purchase, and shipping.

Joshua Peruzzi writes about effective shelving systems. If you want to save money on pallet racks, visit Joshua’s affordable pallet racks blog. Come and drop by at http://www.affordablepalletracks.com/ today and he will give you more tips for your future purchase of pallet racks whether it be new or used.

Get High Pagerank

Breckenridge, Colorado

Breckenridge, located less than one hundred miles outside of Denver, is known as one of Colorado top ski resorts. Here, you will find over two thousand acres of terrain ideal for skiing. Whether you are just starting to enjoy skiing or if it is a passion of yours, Breckenridge has what you need to have the time of your life.

In addition to skiing and snowboarding, Breckenridge is also known for its other fun winter activities, including shopping, dining, snowmobiling, and fly-fishing.

Aspen, Colorado

With four great mountains and over five thousand acres of land perfect for skiing, you are sure to have the ski adventure of your dreams in Aspen, Colorado. With the ability to fly in no less than ten miles from the slopes, you can spend your next vacation focusing on skiing and skiing alone.

In addition to adventurous slopes, Aspen is one of the premier destinations for luxury vacations.

Vail, Colorado

Vail, Colorado is commonly referred to as North Americas Premier Resort Community, and there is good reason for that. With over five thousand acres of land perfect for all levels of ski and breathtaking views, Vail is considered paradise for ski lovers.

When visiting Vail, Colorado, you may enjoy the old European feel created, which can make for the perfect vacation setting.

Crested Butte, Colorado

Although off the beaten path, Crested Butte is a top Colorado ski resort. If you are an avid skier, then Crested Butte, Colorado is a must see for you. With great grooming, safe steeps, and all around perfect conditions, it is ideal for all skiers, but it is most known for its challenging terrain.

Coupled with amazing skiing conditions and fine dining restaurants and shopping centers, you will never find a moment of boredom in Crested Butte, Colorado.

Steamboat, Colorado

With six mountain ranges and a little less than three thousands acres of ski-able land, Steamboat Colorado makes for the perfect ski resort. Whether you are ready to hop right on the slopes or improve your skiing techniques, you are able to do so at the Steamboat resort in Colorado. The Steamboat resort area is commonly referred to as “Ski Town, U.S.A.”

For a skiing adventure, with a touch of a Wild West theme, Steamboat, Colorado is the perfect winter vacation destination.

When examining the above mentioned Colorado ski resorts, consider booking a stay at a private vacation home rental to get the most out of your vacation. You can examine all options, many of which have private, home-like feels, at MojoVacationRentals.com.

Mr. Krueger has been in the travel industry 4 years and has advised thousands on individual and corporate travel, savings and marketing vacation home rentals. Mr. Krueger is President of The Rental Network, LLC, which operates MojoVacationRentals.com (Vacation Home Rental).

step to get high page rank

AQ’s ongoing organizational transformation, necessitated by their failures and conditions on the battlefields, reveals a terrorist operation that is much different than the pre-9/11 version. Prior to 9/11, AQ was unknown to the average American. However, after the spectacularly successful three pronged attack on 9/11, the world’s attention turned to AQ and it’s mysterious leader UBL.He has since become a household name amassing fame usually reserved for movie stars and former Argentinean doctors on red t-shirts. A deluge of news features, documentaries, articles, reports and books has shaped our understanding, although not always accurate, of AQ and UBL. As most Americans continue to rely on television for their information, a distorted understanding emerges. AQ’s tale is not one conducive to the thirty second sound bite favored by television. Let us put down our remote controls and delve into the true AQ. What do we know about AQ? What should we know? What can we learn by analyzing the gap between what we know and what we should know?

Examining the birth of AQ and their claimed “success” in the Soviet-Mujahideen conflict provides a template through which to view other AQ claims and pronouncements. While UBL has claimed a victory over the Soviets, it should be recalled that he was a low level financier responsible for housing and feeding non Afghan participants. Although he was minimally involved in a firefight, UBL was never a direct combatant. Given that the liberators of Afghanistan were the native Mujahideen backed by the latest in American weaponry and intelligence, UBL’s claim of AQ liberating the country is a lie that perpetuates itself to this day.

In trying to expand their ranks and influence, AQ allied themselves with other like- minded jihadis when they decreed the infamous fatwa ” The World Islamic Front” in February of 1998. The fatwa demanded jihad against the Jews, the Crusaders and their supporters. The fatwa, was an expansion of UBL’s first fatwa issued in 1996. That fatwa was issued without the support of Muslim clerics or scholars. As a reaction to the stinging rebuke from other Muslim leaders, UBL cosigned the 1998 fatwa with four others; Zawahiri, the emir of the Islamic Jihad in Egypt, Taha of the Egyptian Islamic Group, Hamzah, secretary of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan, and Rahman of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh. Immediately after issuing the fatwa UBL’s new coalition started to unravel after Taha, reacting to pressure from his organization, recanted his phoned in support by saying that he misunderstood the fatwa’s message. The net effect for the fatwa was a loss of twenty percent of the initial supporters. Ironically, if Zawahiri had not resisted the pressure from his organization to distance themselves from the fatwa, the new terror alliance may not have survived.

Although the aim of this article is not to review every action taken by UBL and AQ, any analysis would be incomplete without first reviewing the events of 9/11 (for a more in depth review of UBL and AQ see ” The Incompetency of the Jihad,” in the March issue of the NGIA Magazine). UBL claimed that 9/11 was the “tip of the spear” in the jihad against America. However, there have been no successful AQ attacks on America since that fateful day. AQ has made many attempts, but due to the diligence of our law enforcement, intelligence and military agencies, allies and concerned citizens we have remained safe.

This raises legitimate questions about the aspirations and capabilities of the jihadi group. Has there been a change of focus for AQ? Did they replace their far enemy approach with one that focuses on nearer targets? Is the United States and its citizens still the main enemy? Does AQ realistically possess the capability to carry out a major attack on American soil? Sure, all the experts agree that there will be another attack, but will it be conducted by AQ or merely a franchisee seeking the legitimacy granted by affiliating with the world’s most famous terrorist entity?

To help us answer the questions, let us examine the most famous of the franchisees, Al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI). The July 2007 National Intelligence Estimate states that the “al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI)…have expressed a desire to attack the Homeland.” AQI’s leader, Zarqawi, wanted to take the fight to the American mainland. Since Zarqawi’s death, AQI’s leadership, fronted by an imaginary emir, has laid claim to twelve Iraqi provinces in an attempt to establish a caliphate. This, combined with internecine attacks fomented by AQI, has turned the Sunni community against the AQ foreigners who are not looking to trade one tyrant for another.

Looking deeper one has to ask who was the most prominent figure in AQ after Zarqawi’s group adopted the AQ franchise? Zarqawi because he was actually fighting the infidels on a daily basis. Zarqawi was drawing all the resources from AQ led by UBL to Iraq. An examination of the headlines reveals that Zarqawi was featured very prominently in the media as focus stayed on Iraq and UBL became a disembodied voice that released an occasional tape. Zawahiri felt that Zarqawi had overstepped his boundaries by inciting the violence between the Sunnis and Shias in Iraq which led to Zawahiri rebuking him in a letter that was discovered in Iraq. So when we look at the fact that when Zarqawi was finally caught, the U.S. credited information from inside the AQ organization. Who could have the inside information about the whereabouts of Zarqawi with any certainty? With UBL and Zawahiri losing control of their organization, who would benefit the most from the death of Zarqawi?

This situation is very closely related to another prominent Jihad death, the 1998 car bombing of Abdullah Azzam. To this day it remains a mystery as to who authorized and conducted the attack. After the Afghani war, Azzam was preparing to transfer the Mujahideen to Palestine to destroy the main post World War II enemy of Islam, Israel. However, it should be noted that after the death of Azzam, UBL took over the organization and changed the direction of the organization, so instead of focusing on the Palestinian plight, he advocated the near and far enemy doctrine. So would UBL have been able to conduct the 9/11 attack without the organization that he was now leading? Would UBL have become the most prominent Jihadi if not for the timely death of Azzam? Again who benefited the most from the death of Azzam? In his December 2007 speech UBL made an interesting comment about unifying the Afghan Mujahideen leaders after “removing all obstacles” according to a translation provided by the Mansfield Report.

The crux of 2007 message is that UBL is trying to unify all Muslims worldwide to follow him on his personal path to Jihad. At every turn his offer to unite has been rebuffed because other organizations have different goals in mind. In fact AQI has tried unsuccessfully to unite the diverse terrorist and insurgent groups in Iraq since Jan 2006. This is even after they tried renaming the organization to the Islamic State in Iraq, replacing Zarqawi as the leader of this umbrella organization. UBL even promises his Palestinian brothers that the Jihad will widen to include their cause. However, UBL informs the world that he is busy fighting the Crusaders and keeping them occupied. Although he does list the Palestinians first within the AQ operational areas, it is merely a marketing ploy to gain passive support. If UBL was really interested in the Palestinian then he should have carried out Azzam’s plan to move the Mujahideen; instead he used them to carry out his own visions.

So is there a change in the AQ philosophy on which enemy to attack? Now we find AQ changing the message and trying to inspire the Muslim Ummah to attack Pakistan. This is after the messages that were released last year that threatened Europe, the African Union concerning the situation in Sudan, the United Nations, the United States and Israel. Has AQ made any strides or any major attacks in any of these areas? When we ask the question about an attack, we are not talking about the lone gunmen or local self-radicalized groups that take up the franchise name of AQ. We are asking about the hardcore members of AQ. Where has AQ pulled off a major attack as threatened?

The political turmoil in Pakistan, provided a prime setting for AQ to pull off a major coup. AQ told the people of Pakistan to rise up against the Musharaf government and overthrow their enemy. Given the situation of Musharaf disbanding the supreme court, declaring martial law and declaring his candidacy legitimate. There were uprisings in the street as lawyers and students banded together to protest these changes. AQ put out a call to the people of Pakistan, a perfect opportunity in a land where it is claimed that UBL is a hero and has the support of the people. We should have expected an overthrow immediately after the AQ message. There was no mass uprising. Instead AQ sent a lone child suicide bomber to eliminate Bhutto. AQ’s attempt at destabilizing the government resulted in generating support for AQ’s foe, the Musharraf government.

So nearly 10 years after the fatwa, UBL is being criticized for his engagement with the Americans, losing Afghanistan as a base of operations, still pleading for unity and changing his message on which enemy to fight. The world’s most infamous terrorist organization has been relegated to sending a child to do its dirty work. It seems as if AQ is all over the map with affiliate organizations such as AQI conducting most of the operations and this is becoming increasingly difficult due to the Sunni participation in getting rid of AQI. UBL and his group love to take credit for many of the terrorist operations but one has to critically look to see how involved AQ actually is in these operations. The remaining questions for us is who is really behind the these operations and what is the current real threat?

SEO, search engine optimization

“We believe that the genuine identities of possibly hundreds of US citizens are being stolen or hijacked by criminal organizations and sold to illegal aliens in order to gain unlawful employment in this country,” said Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Customs Enforcement. She called it “a disturbing front in the war against illegal immigration.”

Behind many of the nation’s millions of undocumented workers is someone else’s sensitive information. To get a job, all the illegal immigrants need is a Social Security number, in which they often borrow or buy. Hundreds of thousands of Americans right now are sharing their identities with illegal immigrants and don’t even know it. The mere thought of having to pay taxes on income I never earned, for a company I never worked for, simply scares me to no end.

Every year, nearly 9 million people pay their taxes using the wrong Social Security number. The name used on W-2 tax forms used by the employer doesn’t match the name on file with the Social Security Administration. All it takes is a data entry typo, a woman getting married and forgetting to report her new last name (which happens more than not) or an illegal immigrant using someone else’s SSN to gain employment.

You might ask who all of these people are that are using the wrong SSN? Neither Social Security nor the IRS has ever really studied this particular issue too much; however there are clear indications that many, if not most, of the 9 million mismatches are illegal immigrants using a SSN that does not belong to them-which is not comforting one single bit.

One disturbing theory: health-care employees with access to children’s files are working for organized gangs that trade in illegal documents and are willing to pay richly for the data. What, now we shouldn’t trust the sweet lady behind the desk of our pediatricians office? “We have a major problem with workers in medical offices stealing patients’ identities, selling them and making a direct profit,” Sergeant James Bracke of the Phoenix Police Department told authors of the Arizona report. Brackle then goes on to say that, “the gangs can afford these bribes because identity theft has become such a big business. In Phoenix, “coyotes,” the smugglers who lead illegal immigrants over our borders, have created a network of phony-document producers and safe houses where undocumented workers can wait until they get their fraudulent papers.” If anyone doesn’t think this is a serious issue now, I believe we have an enormous problem with denial.

Americans who have their identity stolen by these gangs are in for disasterous of a mess. Among the complaints filed with the FTC is that of a man arrested for a crime committed by an illegal alien who had stolen his identity. The IRS has given a woman, who was a stay-at-home mother, a $1 million back-tax bill. (This is what I was talking about earlier when I said it scared me half to death paying taxes on income I never made) And of course, an investigation later found that 218 illegal aliens were using her Social Security number. A Los Angeles police detective-who, ironically, worked in the department’s fraud bureau-was unable to buy a home because of bills piled up by an illegal immigrant who stole his Social Security number to gain employment at a processing plant. Then the IRS served the cop with a bill for $40,000 in back taxes; when he protested, the agency threatened to send his case to collection. Seriously, can you even imagine? If you think your credit is messed up now, how about adding the $40K debt to it.

Not every mismatched SSN belongs to a real living person, and in fact, it appears many are chosen at random. Some belong to the deceased; others are entirely fictitious. One study showed thousands of entries using obvious fakes, such as 123-45-6789 or 999-99-9999. This baffles me as to how the crime isn’t caught right there on the spot? Are people just not paying attention or do they just not care? Car dealerships and bank employees say they’ve witnessed numerous examples of customers who apply for accounts and have multiple names connected to their Social Security numbers. Privacy rules prevent the employee from warning the customer. Talk about an issue of morale. I would not want to be in the shoes of those employees, especially if I, or a loved one had been a victim of identity theft, knowing the turmoil it caused them.

The FTC’s latest statistics report that the top five states in terms of reported identity theft in 2007 all have large immigrant populations-the border states of Arizona, California, Texas, Florida and Nevada. People who steal legitimate identities in these states are much more likely to use them to gain employment unlawfully, opposed to other regions of the country.

Victims often don’t have any idea they’re sharing their identity with an illegal immigrant, because there’s really no way to find out. Victims only find out when they receive a statement for unpaid taxes or bills or are being harassed by debt collectors. Social Security won’t tell you if someone else is using your SSN. (You would think you would be entitled to know that) The extra earnings don’t end up on your annual Social Security statement, because they are designated to the Earnings Suspense File instead. The misuse isn’t revealed in personal credit reports either. If somebody uses your SSN to get a credit card or car loan, the nation’s credit bureaus create a new credit file instead of alerting you to the misuse. This just makes me furious and questions why laws aren’t put in place for situations like these already.

I believe we need to take Arizona’s lead with fighting back against identity theft. A new law of the state makes it a felony to use the identity of another person to obtain a job. (Shouldn’t this punishment exist in all states?) I have been to “community shred-a-thons” which gives people a chance to destroy outdated financial records and other documents that might provide information to identity thieves. I do know that the BBB holds these “shred-a-thons” from time to time; however, having each particular business or corporation particpate in order to protect their employees is genius in my eyes, not only does it show that they actually care about their people, but that they realize the seriousness of identity theft.

As Alan Wolfe wrote in One Nation, After All, the difference between legal and illegal immigrants “is one of the most tenaciously held distinctions in middle-class America; the people with whom we spoke overwhelmingly support legal immigration and express disgust with the illegal variety.” Among all of the other issues with illegal aliens, I am most certain that the growth of identity theft that is connected to illegal immigrants has something to do with this very mind set that Wolfe is speaking of.

Hello, my name is Julie and I am an ID Theft Specialist for SOLUS Identity Theft Protection. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Please visit our website at http://www.solusid.com to learn more about Identity Theft and Identity Theft Protection. Check out our blog at http://www.oneidproblog.com to join the discussion. Knowledge is power!

The best Way to Get High Google Pagerank

One of the advantages of staying in a vacation rental is that you have all of the comforts of home at your fingertips throughout your Mammoth Lakes getaway. You can whip up a quick dinner in the fully-stocked kitchen if you simply do not have the energy to go out or kick back in the private media room without disturbing those who want to rest peacefully near the fire. With more space than a hotel room and more privacy than a mountaintop lodge, you can spend your time indoors in a manner that suits your style.

In addition to all of the space and little comforts that make traveling in a group a much simpler task, it also important to remember all of the amenities you have at your disposal to make your mornings and evenings a little easier. Spend each morning on the slopes with dry, clean clothes fresh out of the washer and dryer; catch up on all the previous day’s events on the wireless internet; and entertain the family in the evening in the gameroom or with the numerous TVs and DVD players. Whatever you need for an enjoyable, stress-free trip, your condo or home rental is there to meet your needs.

While the indoor comforts of your lodging are a noteworthy consideration, probably the most important criterion for choosing a condo rental is its proximity to Mammoth Mountain. Fortunately, there are many ski in/ski out rentals where a day of challenging runs and intimidating drops are just a short walk away. Simply grab your skis in the morning and stroll over to the nearby lift for an action-packed day of downhill excitement, and then slide down a lazy run that leads right to the front steps of your convenient accommodations when you need a break from the winter cold.

Many of the Mammoth Lakes home rentals are not only convenient to the ski and snowboarding opportunities of the mountain, but they are also located amidst some of the most breathtaking scenery in the area. A quick glance out the window shows you towering, powder-covered pines and gorgeous, snow-capped mountains that will draw you outwards on a recreational adventure. Head out the back door on a cross-country skiing or snowshoeing excursion on the nearby trails and examine firsthand all of the wondrous natural beauty that abounds in the High Sierra region.

Mammoth Lakes rentals are ideally situated near the fabulous skiing opportunities of Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain while providing all of the luxuries of home for a truly relaxing ski retreat. To realize a more entertaining and invigorating winter vacation than you ever though possible, begin your search for a Mammoth Lakes vacation rental that has all of the comforts you are used to in addition to those little extras that can make all the difference during a chilly winter getaway.

TripHomes.com has the most comprehensive selection of vacation rental homes on the Internet. For an alternative lodging option, consider Mammoth Lakes rentals for your next trip to California’s High Sierra region.

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2. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention, that the effects of NAFTA have backfired driving more than six million Mexican farmers off their land?

“The powerful have insisted on trade policies that allow capital to go wherever it will generate more profit. But there has not been a parallel change in the rules regulating the movement of labor. Circumstances force tens of millions to try to emigrate, but they are not allowed to do so legally. Having no choice, they do so anyway.”[1]

3. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“In one wealthy country after another, there has been an “anti-immigrant backlash”. Even European countries heretofore famous for their tolerance of outsiders have banged the door shut, or are talking about doing so. Anti-immigrant movements and organizations have arisen in all the wealthier countries. Spectacles of fascist skinheads beating up immigrants or torching homes thought to harbor foreign-born people have become commonplace. In the United States, the current anti-immigrant rampage comes from the same sources that support the Bush administration, and the initiation of the Iraq war. These same forces attack affirmative action, social welfare and democratic rights. This anti-immigrant movement cloaks itself in a suspect concern for the well being of US-born workers.”[2]

4. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“The anti-immigrant juggernaut has both ideological and practical dimensions. The ideological attack focuses on Mexican immigrants. Basing themselves on seemingly plausible statistics, anti-immigrant activists assert that immigrants compete for jobs with African Americans and other poor and minority sectors of the working class. Well-meaning people who are sympathetic to immigrants sometimes counter by saying that “immigrants only take jobs that Americans don’t want.” But this defense is limited. It is easily countered by the anti-immigrant response “well if immigrants were not so readily available and easily exploitable, those employers would have to make the jobs more attractive by cleaning up the workplace and offering better pay”.[3]

5. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“The fact is employers hire the undocumented precisely because they can pay them less, prevent them from unionizing, and get rid of them when better pay is demanded. However, the solution is not to try to deport immigrants (which will weaken their position even more), but to allow them to organize and fight for better wages and working conditions. If the eight to 12 million undocumented immigrants currently thought to be in the United States were all deported, what would one have accomplished? In the world of corporate globalization, “competition” from desperately poor workers in foreign countries is a much more powerful tool for dragging down wages than is “competition” from immigrants. If all undocumented immigrants from Mexico currently working in the US would be “rounded up” (A racist phrase if ever there was one) and “sent back,” it would cause a significant drop in wages in Mexico, which would make Mexico an even more attractive place for capitalists to move production.”[4]

6. Why is it no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“A novel twist in racist anti-immigrant propaganda is to portray immigrants as a threat to the environment. This refers not only to things like littering on desert pathways immigrants use to enter the United States, but to the issue of “overpopulation” as well. The littering on the border would not happen if there were an orderly mechanism of labor movement.”

7. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“The United States is not “overpopulated”. In fact, most of the countries that send immigrants are much more densely populated than is the United States. This has not prevented anti-immigrant agitators from trying to use sectors of the environmentalist movement, such as the Sierra Club, as mechanisms to promote their anti-foreign agenda.”[5]

“America has traditionally had one of the lowest proportions of immigrants in the developed world. Just 6 percent of people in the U.S. are foreign born, compared with, for instance, 8 percent in Britain and 11 percent in France.”[6]

The argument that the U.S. is over populated is a bogus one. America has 68 people per square mile. France has 256 and Britain over 600 per square mile.

AMERICA IS NOT OVER POPULATED!

8. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“Relatively new is the tendency to blame Mexican immigrants specifically for the crisis in health care and health insurance coverage in the United States. Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies points out, correctly, that a large portion of the uninsured working poor are immigrants, especially Mexicans and other Latinos. Why poor immigrant workers don’t have health insurance is no mystery: employers can get away with denying them on-the-job health coverage, and with paying them too little to afford to purchase family policies, because immigrant workers are vulnerable to employer reprisals when they demand better wages and benefits. However, Camarota gives the impression that these immigrants somehow brought “lack of health insurance” with them in their suitcases when they came from Mexico. If they were legalized and allowed to become citizens, they would be less vulnerable and more able to fight for better conditions both in the workplace and the community.”[7]

9. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“Particularly obscene is the notion that immigrants are polluting US culture and threatening the English language. This is the central thesis of Samuel P. Huntington’s book Who Are We: The Challenge to America’s National Identity. Huntington asserts that the United States was founded by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who imparted certain cultural values particular to their background to nation building. Latino immigrants can’t adapt and thus damage the United States. In his scholarly way, Huntington expresses the old know-nothing anti-foreign position. Most people who make this claim cannot specify just what these special white Anglo-Saxon Protestant cultural values are that are so essential to democracy and lacking in foreigners. But if it means an adherence to democracy and freedom, this characteristic is at a very high level in most immigrant populations. And while first generation immigrants may struggle with English, their children almost always speak it as fluently as do other English speaking Americans. So this argument boils down to simple nativist bigotry.”[8]

(This is one of the many irrational arguments that Mimuteman Guru Frosty Wooldridge makes in one of his “articles”. He claims ALL Mexicans “Legals or Illegals” are BRUTALIZING American student with Spanish.[9])

10. Why is it that no one seems to notice, much less ever mention that,

“So deep is the racism of the right-wing think tanks that they even go after erstwhile allies like Mexico is President Vicente Fox. Incredibly, immigration from Mexico is seen as a conspiracy headed by Fox to take back by stealth lands Mexico lost between 1836 and 1848. In 1836, Mexico lost Texas to an intrigue by pro-slavery US settlers. In 1846, the United States invaded Mexico without provocation and made off with Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada. In 1852, Mexico lost another piece of Arizona in the shady Gadsden Purchase. Thus in the 19th Century, Mexico lost more than 60 percent of its national territory to US aggression and pressure. While this is remembered in Mexico and generally not here, there is no serious political movement there that calls for the restoration of this territory.”[10]

[1] http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/995/1/90/

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] I’m a Stanger Here Myself; Bill Bryson; Broadway Press: page 107

[7] http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/995/1/90/

[8] Ibid

[9] http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty59.htm

[10] Ibid

THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO

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