­by Charles Augustine­

Rhina Alfaro (left) begs a Wells Fargo Bank official to give her another chance to modify her mortgage loan. (PHOTO BY SEBASTIAN MELO)

In an act of solidarity and protest, members of a consumer group calling itself, “Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment” (ACCE) marched into a Wells Fargo bank, here in San Francisco, Sept. 1, to plea with the financial institution to stay the eviction proceedings of Rhina Alfaro, one its borrowers.

At issue is, “interest only adjustable rate” loan-modification programs, whereby borrowers who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments can have their home loans “stretched out” for a longer period of time; hence making the monthly payments less.

To simplify it, this is how it works. Say you have a 15-year “fixed” loan and your payments are $1,500 a month, reflecting a 6.8 percent interest rate. You can’t make the $1,500 monthly note, so to bring it down you have the loan “modified” to a 30-year “adjustable” rate one.

Now your mortgage is $850 and everything’s okay.

A year later though interest rates go up to, say, 9.7 percent and your adjustable loan payment goes up to $1,050 a month; and you can’t pay it. Not only that, but you now owe the bank a lot more money.

And this is why Americans are losing their homes through foreclosures at such an alarming rate.

This is exactly what happened to Alfaro. She shared that Wells Fargo agreed to temporary adjust her payments for six months but later withdrew their offer to modify the loan. To the contrary, they foreclosed on her loan. This occurred in 2009.

So, she hired a lawyer, to the tune of several thousand dollars. The attorney took her money, did nothing and finally didn’t even bother to return her calls.

Alfaro also has difficulty speaking and understanding the English language and feels this too factored into her situation.

“I was steered into a terrible interest only adjustable rate mortgage. I tried to work with the bank. I was given a trial modification. I made ­the payments for six months and was then told I didn’t qualify for a permanent loan modification,” she shares.

So, out of desperation,Alfaro ended up paying out more than $11,000 to two foreclosure “scam” mortgage companies that promised to remedy the situation. “Instead, gave me faulty advice and took my money without helping me.”

On Sept. 1, Wells Fargo informed Alfaro, she had one week to pay up or? And they made good on their threat, because two weeks later, a deputy sheriff served her with the eviction notice.

“They took everything outside. They nailed it closed; they locked the door; they changed the lock in the front door…”

And with that she was out on the street.

With no where to turn, Alfaro turned to ACCE Home Defenders League, a group of California homeowners who have united to combat unfair bank practices, with emphasis on foreclosures.

Defenders League advises homeowners to “resist the ‘unlawful’ actions of banks.”

They advise people to, “Stay in your home!”

Defenders League is currently pushing for lending institutions to change their banking practices in regards to the way they handle situations where homeowners (borrowers) are “under water” (meaning struggling or unable to make their mortgage payments). To this end, they advocate that banks only utilize the foreclosure process when it has exhausted every other effort to attempt to work with homeowner to keep them in their homes.

Because Alfaro and the ACCE stood up to Wells Fargo, the bank jack down and allowed Alfaro to stay in her home.sre”.

by the Institute of Health Sciences Charles Street Baltimore

The lemon is a miracle product that kills cancer cells, it’s 10.000 more potent than chemotherapy. Why are we not aware of it?

Why are there organizations interested in finding a synthetic version, that will permit them to obtain fabulous profits. From now on you can help a friend in need. Let him know that it can drink lemon juice with bicarbonate to prevent this disease. Its flavor is pleasant and of course it does not produce the same effects of chemotherapy. If you have the possibility of planting a lemon tree in your front or backyard The whole tree is useful. Next time you want to drink a juice, ask for a natural lemonade without preservatives.

How many people have died while this secret has been closely guarded? To not put in risks the multy million utilities of big corporations.

As you well know, the lemon tree is short.

It does not need much room, it’s also known as lemon, lime, limolivo.

The fruit is citrus. That comes in different. Presentations on forms. It’s pulp can be eaten directly or normally is used on drinks, she­rbets, candys, etc.

That interest on this plant, is due to its strong anti cancerus effects and although it is attributed.

To many more properties, the most interesting part of it is the effect upon the cysts and tumors.

This plant is a proven cure cancer of all types. The bicarbonate changes the ph of your body. There are some that say that is useful in all forms of cancer.

It is also consider as an anti-microbial spectrum against bacterial and fungal infections that live in acidic places.

When adding bicarbonate to your lemonade, you are changing the ph in your organism.

Its effective against internal parasites and worms. It also regulates your high blood pressure and its an antidepressant, combat stress and nervous disorders.

The source of this information is fascinating it comes from one of the biggest drug manufactures in the world who say that after 20 laboratory tests conducted from 1970 extracts revealed that:

Destroy malignant cells in 12 types of cancer, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas.

The compounds of this tree showed 10.000 times better act by slowing the growth of cancer cells that the product Adriamycin, a chemotherapy drug, normally used in the world.

And what’s even more astonishing: this type of therapy, lemon extract and baking, just destroy malignant cancer cells and does not affect healthy cells.

­por Nohelia González

Previously, Nicaraguans possessing dual-citizenship, i.e., who had become citizens in other countries (say the United States), need only provide the Directorate of Immigration (headquartered in Managua) with a valid U.S. passport and Visa to visit and exist their former homeland. There was no time limit.

However, as of Sept 6, 2011 that changed because the Directorate now requires these Nicaraguans to purchase a Nicaraguan passport if they stay more than 90 days.

This understandable does not set well with Nicaraguans who visit the country for long periods of time as they feel it is just a way for the Nicaraguan government to make money off them.

The decision titled Article 62 of the General Law of Immigration was announced at a press conference last August.

In this sense, Nicaraguans must pay as stipulated in the Constitution and laws of the country, so if they do so by entering the travel document country of nationality obtained “may leave the country with the same document you typed in, provided that this departure made within 90 days is given at the time of entry. If their stay exceeds 90 days, must pass a national law “.

­Nicaraguans who have obtained another nationality and they do enter the country with travel document country of nationality obtained, may leave the country with the same document that was admitted, provided that he made his exit in the 90 days that it was gives the time of entry. If their stay exceeds 90 days, must pass a national law.

Law 761, General Law of Immigration, has as its foundation respect for human rights and the restoration of rights promoted by the Government of National Unity and Reconciliation.

by Rebecca Greenfield

“Imagine that President Obama could order the arrest of anyone who broke a promise on the Internet.” That’s what The Wall Street Journal’s Orin Kerr thinks the latest cyber-security legislation will lead to: An assault on checking Facebook at work. Today the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on proposed changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which would seek tougher sentences for digital offenses. As more of the world moves online, so has crime. And legislation needs to adapt. But, does the latest updates to the bill target the right cyber criminals?

No, regular folk are in danger. The way the law is worded, it makes violating a terms of service agreement a felony. “The problem is that a lot of routine computer use can exceed ‘authorized access,’” explains Kerr. That means that if your employer prohibits Facebooking on the job and you sneak a peak at a tagged photo, you could face penalties. Senators Patrick Patrick Leahy and Al Franken expressed similar concerns about the proposal, suggesting the administration may be expanding the definition too much, reports eWeek. “We want you to concentrate on the real cyber-crimes, and not the minor things.”

While you might think an employer would never charge an employee for a felony based on Internet wandering, it’s not unprecedented, as Kerr points out. “In 2009, the Justice Department prosecuted a woman for violating the ‘terms of service’ of the social networking site MySpace.com. The woman had been part of a group that set up a MySpace profile using a fake picture. The feds charged her with conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.” He also cites a case where a woman faced charges for using Ticketmaster. Abuse of the language of the legislation is a real possibility.

But, what about hackers? The legislation isn’t meant to target these petty insances, it’s to deal with the ever growing hacking threats that businesses and our government face. “Online criminals organize in networks, often with defined roles for participants, in order to manage and perpetuate ongoing criminal enterprises dedicated to stealing commercial data and selling it for profit,” Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Pablo Martinez said ­regarding the act, reports The Hill. The law is really meant to crack down on organized Internet crime, which is a real threat that most businesses and the government aren’t prepared for, as a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found, reports Bits Blog. When asked about cyber security precautions, most were unprepared. “It turned out that only 13 percent of those surveyed had actually done what the consulting firm considered to be adequate– meaning they had an overall security strategy, they had reviewed the effectiveness of their strategy and they knew precisely the types of breaches that had already hit them over the last 12 months.” Anyhow, the bill might not have that much enforcement power. Kerr overestimates the power of the act.

“The White House plan does not include any criminal or civil provisions for forcing companies to comply with Department of Homeland Security cyber security standards,” continues The Hill.

“The idea was to create a lighter touch … to build incentives into the system,” Associate Deputy Attorney General James Baker said. Meaning, many businesses wont bother to enforce–for better or worse.

­por el personal de El Reportero

Hotel workers and community allies rallied at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco to demand an end to Hyatt’s abuse of workers.  (PHOTO BY JULIA WONG)

Bay Area hotel workers rallied and marched last Labor Day to celebrate worker solidarity and protest abuse in San Francisco and Santa Clara. Hotel workers, members ­of Bay Area unions, religious leaders, and community allies highlighted the abuses of Hyatt Hotels.

Hyatt has distinguished itself as the worst employer in the hotel industry, garnering criticism for practices that include imposing dangerous workloads on room cleaners, firing career housekeepers to replace them with temporary, minimum wage workers, and turning heat lamps on striking workers in Chicago during a brutal heat wave. In Santa Clara, Hyatt workers are struggling to achieve a fair process to decide whether or not to form a union. In San Francisco, workers at the Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency are demanding the right to stand in solidarity with other Hyatt workers across the United States and protest Hyatt’s abuses, wherever they occur.

As convention season heats up, the disputes with Hyatt are escalating. Workers at the Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, and Hyatt Santa Clara have called for boycotts of their hotels, and workers at the Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency are preparing to go on strike again.

“I have chronic pain in my shoulders and elbows from cleaning 14 rooms a day,” says Antonia Cortez, a 35-year housekeeper at the Grand Hyatt. “In some cities, Hyatt makes housekeepers clean 30 rooms a day. We all work for the same company. I want the right to take action for Hyatt housekeepers no matter where they work.”

Other demonstrations took place in hotels during last years. In one of them, hotel workers rallied and marched to the San Francisco Hilton demanding a fair contract on Jan. 5. 2010. Over 100 protesters were then arrested for sitting in and blocking the doors. The action culminated in the launch of a boycott of the hotel, one of the city’s most luxurious.