By CAROL HOPKINS Of The Oakland Press
No one is faring well in the current state shutdown mess, according to the people who answered The Oakland Press' online survey Friday. Most, like Daniel Mysla kowski of Lake Orion, sound fed up. "Our elected representatives had the whole year to address this budget mess, which they created in previous years," he said. Advertisement"So what gives? Why are we now days before the end of the state's fiscal year, and to the point of a shutdown of state services?
"A month ago, our elected reps were consumed in selfserving term-limit discussions instead of serious budget discussions.
"Where are the priorities and leadership?"
Both parties at fault
Steve Dobkowski of Dearborn saw the budget battle as "the Michigan Republican Party trying to overthrow Michigan's elected governor."
"While she is not perfect, she has been elected leader of Michigan state government by the voters," he said.
"Let the blood be on the hands of Republican legislative leaders for the damage done to Michigan families."
James Phelps of Rochester Hills disapproves of the governor's stance.
"It is time to stop her 'I'min-control' mentality," he said.
"Obviously, she is more interested in maintaining the appearance that it is her state rather than what makes sense."
Approve a continuation
Thomas Sweda of West Bloomfield Township favors a budget continuation.
"Why this governor chooses not to allow services to continue to function for 30 more days while a solution is being sought demonstrates her commitment to only political power and herself. The people of Michigan and the needs of our most vulnerable citizens obviously do not mean as much to her."
Maybe a shutdown is not so bad
Some people speculated a shutdown might prove advantageous.
"If the state government cannot figure out how to spend what they have and no more, maybe a shutdown to balance the budget is good," said James Hunt of Waterford Township.
"Unfortunately they will hold our children and society as hostages by cutting schools and police like always."
Shut it down, offered Denis Potzin of Waterford.
"There will be no difference at all if there is a shutdown. Let the people run things for awhile. We surely won't do any worse, and we will not get all the pay that (government officials) steal from us taxpayers. Let (politicians) get a real job where you get fired if you make the mess they have given us."
Live within your means
Richard Fifield of Oxford is looking at the crisis from his perspective - as a person on a fixed income.
"If I did this with my banking, it would have been closed (by the bank) long ago," he said.
"Get off your duffs and do your job or get out, and let someone who knows what they're doing take over."
State employee tired of sacrificing
M. Hill of South Lyon, a state employee, wrote to complain of being "sick and tired of (Michigan residents) not wanting to pay additional monies but wanting additional services from the state."
"I am tired of the individual egocentric nature of Americans who want something for nothing, don't want to be financially inconvenienced and don't care if others, through no fault of their own, suffer financially so the public can have egocentric wants met for free," he said.
"It is time that our state legislators and the public they represent pay up and quit punishing state employees arbitrarily. It has to stop here."
No more taxes
Many respondents stressed they did not want more taxes.
"This state is bleeding jobs, and all the Democratic leadership can think of is to increase the tax burden on the remaining state citizens to make up the difference in reduced revenues for the state," said J. McDonald of White Lake Township.
"We private sector workers have had to tighten our belts and/or seek work out of state. It is time for some accountability and for state and public education employees to share the pain."
Kevin Snyder of Waterford believes the governor and legislators "should make personal cutbacks like the rest of us have, including her husband and whatever his job may be."
"If you raise the taxes, more people will move out of state, thereby lowering the tax base," he wrote, "and those of us still here will carry the burden. If you raise liquor and tax other items, then people will bootleg out of Indiana or elsewhere, and again those of us left will carry the burden."
Brian King of Waterford has a long list of complaints for officials.
"Our real estate values have plummeted, our unemployment is the highest in the nation, we are No. 1 for people leaving their home state for jobs elsewhere - and our state representatives want to raise our taxes? I cannot think of any more nails to drive into the future economy of the Michigan coffin. Representative means representing the people's will. State reps, do your job and listen to your districts - we do not want more taxes."
Consider the unemployed
"Our economy and state is the worst of all 50 states," said Jeannie Robertson of Farmington Hills.
She scolded the state for not working to keep jobs in Michigan.
"We Michigan citizens deserve to have a government fighting for our people, not sending our revenue and jobs to other countries and states," she said.
"There are too many people unemployed with children that can't even find a job."
Cut the budget
Dave Bridson of White Lake Township believes the governor is "playing games" and would be better off cutting budgets.
"The state is still bringing in revenue and can continue," he said. "There is still plenty of fat to cut from the government, yet she is lying on the ground throwing a temper tantrum to get a tax hike."
Creative solution
Pontiac resident Kevin Verhey suggested hitting politicians in the wallet.
"(State representatives) should be fined $2,500 a day after the deadline," he said. "If they don't get a budget passed by the deadline, then they all lose their jobs.
"You would see a budget passed long before the deadline."
Verhey pointed out politicians were "elected to do this as part of their job."
"If they can't do it, then they should be let go. That's how it works for the rest of us - why not them? 'We the people' are the ones who lose out, not them. They should be accountable."
Bad PR for Michigan
Rochester Hills residents John and Val Cassel believe the shutdown "is just going to send more people away."
"They have had long enough to solve this problem," the Cassels wrote. "The House, Senate and governor should take pay cuts along with the rest of us. They just keep getting raises, prices keep going up, but hard-working people's pay isn't increasing. The shutdown will put more people out of work and then what?
"Also, who do they think they are fooling with their $1.8 billion deficit if they think the people of this state cannot figure out that the budget is $3 billion larger in the first place?"
Charlie Cook of Oxford stressed that Michiganians already have endured increases in fees "across the board for every type of license and an accelerated property tax."
He said Granholm "should be ashamed to even suggest a tax hike when so many people in Michigan have no jobs."
"I cannot begin to count the number of people I know who have left the state in the last year because they lost their jobs - not because the company they worked for moved out of Michigan, but because their employer had to close their doors due to the lack of business," Cook said.
James Hall of West Bloomfield is concerned about the politicians' behavior in the crisis.
"I usually ground my children for a week for acting the way these yahoos are acting," he said. "It doesn't matter which party is responsible, come up with a solution.
"I cannot think of a single reason I should continue to pay any Michigan state income tax, when I'm receiving no services for my money.
"I used to be proud to say I'm from Michigan. Not so much anymore."
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Career Opportunities
Career Opportunities
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A SIDE-JOB?
Are you a motivated, professional person?
Do you want to make money?
Are you capable of working independently and consistently?
Then you just might be a great fit for our team of independent sales reps. Our products and services are in great demand so exceptionally skilled independent sales reps can achieve excellent success doing sales and meetings. It takes motivation, a passion for sales, and the ability to connect with people over the phone.
Advertising Sales Rep. needed: 20% commission.
Must have a proven track record at least experience in publication/ad sales.
Applicant must be a self starter and able to work from home. This position is a contract sales position.
Now Hiring In These States:
-Michigan
-Illinois
-Arizona
-Georgia
-New York
Email Us Your Resume
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A SIDE-JOB?
Are you a motivated, professional person?
Do you want to make money?
Are you capable of working independently and consistently?
Then you just might be a great fit for our team of independent sales reps. Our products and services are in great demand so exceptionally skilled independent sales reps can achieve excellent success doing sales and meetings. It takes motivation, a passion for sales, and the ability to connect with people over the phone.
Advertising Sales Rep. needed: 20% commission.
Must have a proven track record at least experience in publication/ad sales.
Applicant must be a self starter and able to work from home. This position is a contract sales position.
Now Hiring In These States:
-Michigan
-Illinois
-Arizona
-Georgia
-New York
Email Us Your Resume
Sunday, August 12, 2007
This guy is a true jobber
Odd Job: HE CLICKS WITH WEDDINGS
By JENNIFER RICH
Al Gordon is a wedding photographer, a recorder of memories, a family friend, a record keeper. Capturing people's weddings for posterity is his passion.
"It is just as important that people have a great experience doing it (wedding) as having good photos," he explained. "I'm passionate about capturing their story."
Gordon, who has operated Alfred Gordon Photography in Lakewood Business Park since 1992, had a rather unusual introduction into the world of wedding photography.
The trombone player went to college with the idea of being a band director. But when he bought a camera for his fraternity, he soon discovered he enjoyed the life behind the lens.
"I fell in love with the artistic end of it," said Gordon, who shot his first wedding - a friend's - in the early '80s. He's been shooting ever since and estimates he has now photographed about 1,000 weddings.
"Most photographers think of weddings as combat photography," he smiled. "But weddings are my favorite thing. To me every wedding is different, each has its own energy and intensity and I feed off of that."
He's taken pictures of brides on the beach, in fancy hotels and ornate churches and even in barns. The barn wedding was in East Manatee and the bride wanted a photo of herself lying among the hay.
Gordon is nonchalant about people's personal quirks when it comes to their wedding day. He's learned to take it all in stride, from the bride who almost passed out after taking a tranquilizer and drinking several glasses of champagne to the wedding cancellation the morning of the wedding.
He does everything from a four-hour wedding day shoot to a three-day event that includes parties leading up to the big day. His pricing ranges from $3,500 to more than $10,000.
"The pressure is off the charts for the photographer," Gordon admitted. "I always say, if you can photograph a wedding, you can do anything."
Gordon looks forward to each wedding, even after all these years, and he tries to capture the personality of the couple in his viewfinder.
"Most of what happens is funny," he said. "It is important that they have a great experience." One groom has enjoyed Gordon's craftsmanship so much he's had him shoot all three of his weddings.
Gordon travels extensively for wedding assignments with two upcoming events planned in Jamaica and Tennessee. He's taken pictures all over the Southeast.
When he started out as a photographer, the style for weddings was all posed shots. "Everything was posed, even throwing the bouquet," he said. Then in the early 2000s, the pendulum swung the other way and weddings were captured through spontaneous photos. "But brides realized they did want some family photos," Gordon said. "Now it's a good mix."
High school senior portraits and family portraits are also done at the studio, but Gordon's real love is at the altar.
"It's the greatest job in the world to me," he said. "I'm capturing people's memories." x Portrait photographer
By JENNIFER RICH
Al Gordon is a wedding photographer, a recorder of memories, a family friend, a record keeper. Capturing people's weddings for posterity is his passion.
"It is just as important that people have a great experience doing it (wedding) as having good photos," he explained. "I'm passionate about capturing their story."
Gordon, who has operated Alfred Gordon Photography in Lakewood Business Park since 1992, had a rather unusual introduction into the world of wedding photography.
The trombone player went to college with the idea of being a band director. But when he bought a camera for his fraternity, he soon discovered he enjoyed the life behind the lens.
"I fell in love with the artistic end of it," said Gordon, who shot his first wedding - a friend's - in the early '80s. He's been shooting ever since and estimates he has now photographed about 1,000 weddings.
"Most photographers think of weddings as combat photography," he smiled. "But weddings are my favorite thing. To me every wedding is different, each has its own energy and intensity and I feed off of that."
He's taken pictures of brides on the beach, in fancy hotels and ornate churches and even in barns. The barn wedding was in East Manatee and the bride wanted a photo of herself lying among the hay.
Gordon is nonchalant about people's personal quirks when it comes to their wedding day. He's learned to take it all in stride, from the bride who almost passed out after taking a tranquilizer and drinking several glasses of champagne to the wedding cancellation the morning of the wedding.
He does everything from a four-hour wedding day shoot to a three-day event that includes parties leading up to the big day. His pricing ranges from $3,500 to more than $10,000.
"The pressure is off the charts for the photographer," Gordon admitted. "I always say, if you can photograph a wedding, you can do anything."
Gordon looks forward to each wedding, even after all these years, and he tries to capture the personality of the couple in his viewfinder.
"Most of what happens is funny," he said. "It is important that they have a great experience." One groom has enjoyed Gordon's craftsmanship so much he's had him shoot all three of his weddings.
Gordon travels extensively for wedding assignments with two upcoming events planned in Jamaica and Tennessee. He's taken pictures all over the Southeast.
When he started out as a photographer, the style for weddings was all posed shots. "Everything was posed, even throwing the bouquet," he said. Then in the early 2000s, the pendulum swung the other way and weddings were captured through spontaneous photos. "But brides realized they did want some family photos," Gordon said. "Now it's a good mix."
High school senior portraits and family portraits are also done at the studio, but Gordon's real love is at the altar.
"It's the greatest job in the world to me," he said. "I'm capturing people's memories." x Portrait photographer
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Pepsi Bottling to combine units, cut some 700 jobs
NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it would combine some field operations in the United States and Canada and realign its work force to improve productivity, cutting up to 700 jobs.
The largest bottler of PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) drinks said these moves would lead it to record a pretax charge of $30 million to $40 million, or 9 cents to 12 cents per share, in the second half of the year, mostly for severance and other employee-related costs.
The company plans to spend $20 million to $25 million on the restructuring, and expects to reap about $30 million in annualized, pretax savings.
Morgan Stanley analyst William Pecoriello said the move would be a positive for earnings and valuation, since he assumed the savings would either aid earnings directly or be reinvested in the business.
Pepsi Bottling said there will now be six business units in the United States and Canada, instead of eight. The company will eliminate about 150 management positions and up to 550 hourly positions.
The company also said that due to changing customer and consumer demands, it is evaluating its vending machine business. That review could result in an additional non-cash charge in the second half of the year to retire some machines.
Excluding these items and a previously announced benefit, the bottler still expects earnings per share of $2.02 to $2.07 for the full year and operating free cash flow of $540 million to $550 million.
Pepsi Bottling shares were off 2 cents at $36.00 on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trade.
The largest bottler of PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) drinks said these moves would lead it to record a pretax charge of $30 million to $40 million, or 9 cents to 12 cents per share, in the second half of the year, mostly for severance and other employee-related costs.
The company plans to spend $20 million to $25 million on the restructuring, and expects to reap about $30 million in annualized, pretax savings.
Morgan Stanley analyst William Pecoriello said the move would be a positive for earnings and valuation, since he assumed the savings would either aid earnings directly or be reinvested in the business.
Pepsi Bottling said there will now be six business units in the United States and Canada, instead of eight. The company will eliminate about 150 management positions and up to 550 hourly positions.
The company also said that due to changing customer and consumer demands, it is evaluating its vending machine business. That review could result in an additional non-cash charge in the second half of the year to retire some machines.
Excluding these items and a previously announced benefit, the bottler still expects earnings per share of $2.02 to $2.07 for the full year and operating free cash flow of $540 million to $550 million.
Pepsi Bottling shares were off 2 cents at $36.00 on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trade.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Website helps job seekers
Man at work:
Website helps job seekers
Story written by Steve Stein
Looking to make extra money doing a side-job? Check out Jobberz.com, a free online classified advertising service started by Shawn Hanaee.
“That’s my side job,” said Hanaee, 32, who is employed full-time by Sprint/Nextel. He’s been an account executive based at the company’s corporate office in Farmington Hills for seven years and he’s been in the wireless industry for 13 years.
The Rochester Hills resident’s one-year-old website is called jobberz.com (www.jobberz.com). With over 2200 advertisers from across the United States are registered, most from Michigan. There also are numerous advertisers from California, New York, Illinois and Georgia.
Hanaee came up with the idea for the website in February 2004 when he decided to renovate his home without using a contractor. “I asked friends and family if they could recommend people who do certain home improvements,” he said. “I soon began to realize that it seems like everyone has connections to competent people who do side jobs.”
Most of the workers Hanaee hired to work on his home were employed full-time in another industry. For example, there was the carpenter who also was a car salesman and the electrician who also was an eighth-grade teacher. After the renovation was complete, Hanaee figured he spent about one-sixth the cost of hiring professionals.
When Hanaee did some home repair work last summer, it cost him just $200 to have his air conditioner fixed, and two toilets were repaired for $50 – all thanks to finding workers on jobberz.com.
It took several months for Hanaee to teach himself how to design and monitor his website before he got it up and running. He checks it daily for shady advertisers and he’s had to give a few the boot.
Jim Bartlett of Troy was one of the first advertisers to sign up with Jobberz.com, and he’s one of its biggest fan. “I was starting a computer service and repair business about a year ago, and I wanted to advertise online without spending tons of money,” Bartlett said. “Shawn’s website obviously is a good idea because it’s free, and I don’t need to pay for worldwide exposure. I only travel to do work in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula and northern Ohio.”
Bartlett said he’s been getting four or five jobs a month from his jobberz.com ad.
Hanaee said his biggest challenge is getting prospective advertisers to trust jobberz.com because so many internet businesses have come and gone. Once advertisers are on board, Hanaee feels it’s important to not intrude on their time.
“I do not send out bulletins or newsletters,” Hanaee said. “My advertisers only hear from me once a year when I wish them Happy Holidays.
Hanaee is trying to be patient even though his internet hosting cost have risen from $9.95 to $130.00 per month. He’s hoping to get enough people registered at jobberz.com to attract the attention of big Internet company like Google or Yahoo!
Website helps job seekers
Story written by Steve Stein
Looking to make extra money doing a side-job? Check out Jobberz.com, a free online classified advertising service started by Shawn Hanaee.
“That’s my side job,” said Hanaee, 32, who is employed full-time by Sprint/Nextel. He’s been an account executive based at the company’s corporate office in Farmington Hills for seven years and he’s been in the wireless industry for 13 years.
The Rochester Hills resident’s one-year-old website is called jobberz.com (www.jobberz.com). With over 2200 advertisers from across the United States are registered, most from Michigan. There also are numerous advertisers from California, New York, Illinois and Georgia.
Hanaee came up with the idea for the website in February 2004 when he decided to renovate his home without using a contractor. “I asked friends and family if they could recommend people who do certain home improvements,” he said. “I soon began to realize that it seems like everyone has connections to competent people who do side jobs.”
Most of the workers Hanaee hired to work on his home were employed full-time in another industry. For example, there was the carpenter who also was a car salesman and the electrician who also was an eighth-grade teacher. After the renovation was complete, Hanaee figured he spent about one-sixth the cost of hiring professionals.
When Hanaee did some home repair work last summer, it cost him just $200 to have his air conditioner fixed, and two toilets were repaired for $50 – all thanks to finding workers on jobberz.com.
It took several months for Hanaee to teach himself how to design and monitor his website before he got it up and running. He checks it daily for shady advertisers and he’s had to give a few the boot.
Jim Bartlett of Troy was one of the first advertisers to sign up with Jobberz.com, and he’s one of its biggest fan. “I was starting a computer service and repair business about a year ago, and I wanted to advertise online without spending tons of money,” Bartlett said. “Shawn’s website obviously is a good idea because it’s free, and I don’t need to pay for worldwide exposure. I only travel to do work in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula and northern Ohio.”
Bartlett said he’s been getting four or five jobs a month from his jobberz.com ad.
Hanaee said his biggest challenge is getting prospective advertisers to trust jobberz.com because so many internet businesses have come and gone. Once advertisers are on board, Hanaee feels it’s important to not intrude on their time.
“I do not send out bulletins or newsletters,” Hanaee said. “My advertisers only hear from me once a year when I wish them Happy Holidays.
Hanaee is trying to be patient even though his internet hosting cost have risen from $9.95 to $130.00 per month. He’s hoping to get enough people registered at jobberz.com to attract the attention of big Internet company like Google or Yahoo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
