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Well-located Forms processing services

Forms processing outsourcing services from our company offering complete forms processing services, form design to mailing and database management. Provide the online form processing services to clients worldwide at lowest rates and 100% accuracy.

 

outsourcing services

Manual data entry is not only time strong and expensive but also level to errors and a less competent method. To overcome this problem, automatic forms processing system was adopted. An organization’s forms and data can now be fed on to a computer and processed. Our huge experience in expediting and automating the processing cycle means our clients get the information they need when they need it, quickly and easily.

Forms processing consists of applying for a preferred service or benefit, whether it be an appreciation card application or insurance coverage. Our solutions provide information in real-time to providers, physicians, pharmacists, customers, companies, and governments. Cover Forms Processing in large volumes, while maintaining high levels of safety and strict time frames. With our experienced project managers and staff we can handle all of your insurance forms processing needs.

Form processing involves extracting information form structured or customized forms, faxes and scanned images and updating in on ranges of outputs. Form Processing for Insurance, banking and medical forms which need to be replicated electronically.

On Web helps customers to convert stacks of paper records of Insurance, banking, medical forms and any other forms that have to be replicated electronically into electronic files that are convenient, legal, and quickly accessible. Compared to paper files, our Form processing services will save you space, time and personnel. Our process integrates scanning; image processing, and ( http://www.dataentryindia.com/data_processing/data_cleansing.php” target="_blank- data processing ), document indexing into a single package. Security restrictions on viewing and other applications can be put in place. It allows you to protect your files on a user-by-user password basis.

Form processing is a leading provider of forms processing solutions and offers the services with a professional feel. We are able to handle more than thousands of forms per day by utilizing the service of our well experienced service personnel. Our primary focus is on data accuracy and quality. We do not compromise on quality at any level.

Forms processing outsourcing services from our company offering complete forms processing services.

No Call List Complaints – Are You Covered On Purchased Leads?

If you’re an insurance agent buying leads from a company, you should ensure you’re purchasing names and numbers from a company that protects you if you’re sold and call the number of someone whose telephone is registered with the National Do Not Call Registry.
National Do Not Call Registry

Starting on January 1, 2005, people who register their phone numbers with the National Do Not Call Registry may not be called by telemarketers and certain other businesses 31 days after the listing of the phone number. The registry was created in response to consumer complaints regarding unsolicited telemarketing calls. In order to stop calls, a consumer must list their telephone with the registry. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is the country’s consumer protection agency, along with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state law enforcement are in charge of making sure businesses are in compliance with the law governing the no call list.

Personal phone numbers, including cell phones, may be registered. Phone numbers remain in the registry for 5 years. After that time, they may be re-registered. Calls from charities, from or on the behalf of political organizations and those from telephone surveyors are not restricted under this law. Additionally, if a consumer already has a business relationship with a company, that entity may call and solicit the consumer. A person may also give written permission for specific companies to call them to solicit business. The registry is only for personal phone numbers and business phones may not be put on the no-call list.

The list is updated every month and telemarketing companies are responsible for recording any new numbers every 31 days and deleting those phone numbers from their call lists. Law enforcement officials have access to the registry in order to confirm that businesses are in compliance with the law. Telemarketers and other businesses can face high fines (up to $11,000 per complaint) if found in violation of the regulation.

If you are purchasing insurance leads from a company, the service providing the names and numbers should guarantee that they are not on the no call list. If you do phone a number that’s in the registry, the business from which you bought the lead should agree to pay any fines connected with the violation. A responsible lead provider will have a written policy concerning the law.

There will, of course, be certain criteria used by the lead supplier to evaluate whether or not your call falls under their guarantee. A company will protect you if the number is on the no call list on condition that:

  • The number that you called was the correct number supplied by the lead provider.
  • The person you contacted then requests that you refrain from calling again and you follow their instructions.
  • You call between the legally determined hours for telemarketing calls (from 8 am to 9 pm).
  • You identify yourself in the proper manner to the lead.
  • You are professional and courteous when calling the potential customer.
  •  The person filing the complaint is the contact person on the lead or appropriately related to the contact person.

 

Additionally, you will have to allow the company that sold you the lead to manage the objection, letting them properly defend the complaint. The lead generating business will also require that your account is current and in good standing and that you’ve acted in good faith and abided by all contractual commitments.

If you and your insurance company abide by the following guidelines, the business that provided the lead should agree to hold you, your employees and company harmless regarding all fines, expenses to defend the complaint and other fees associated with the case.

To determine if a lead generating company is reliable in terms of the contact information it supplies insurers:

  • Make sure they have a written no call list policy.
  • Call the attorney general’s office to see if any complaints have been filed against the company.
  • Work with a company that specializes in insurance lead generation and that has a track record.
  • Buy leads from a company that only supplies the names and numbers of people who have requested an insurance quote.
  • Purchase leads that are from a database of verified phone numbers.
  • Work with a supplier that is a member of the Better Business Bureau or the Better Business Bureau OnLine.

 

Although no lead you purchase can guarantee a sale, all leads should be guaranteed against complaints in relationship to the National Do Not Call Registry. Leads that are not certified in this manner may be less expensive, but in the long run that money you save may cost you more in legal fees and fines.

How Long Can I Expect My Virtual Assistant To Stay With Me?

That’s the number one question I’m asked by clients, future clients, and interviewers.  So how long can we expect virtual assistants to stick?  My answer is always the same:  “it depends”.  It depends on many things.  But first we need to realign our thinking a little bit and better understand today’s workforce.

Virtual Assistant

As a small or home-based business owner, are you basing your perception of how long a worker stays in a position on your own work history?  Yeah, me too.  Big mistake.  Personally, when I take on a position I intend to stay with it – I don’t give up.  I’ve enjoyed lengthy tenures at my places of employment throughout my career.  All except one and that’s a story for later.

What we need to remember though is that everyone is not like us.  Especially the current workforce.  I mentioned in a previous article (http://www.teamdoubleclick.com/news/free_articles/workingwithnewgeneration.html) that the days of staying in your job for the rest of your life are long gone.  As business owners, we tend to forget that and we are frustrated by it.

Let me say it again in this article:  A recent study said that the average tenure in a job for Generation Y is 18 months.  That’s realistically the max you can expect someone – anyone, bricks-and-mortar or virtual, to stick with a job.  Let’s leave that thought to stew for a while and talk about the “that depends” I mentioned earlier.

Depends on what?

•      Things change in people’s lives – everyone’s lives.  Mine and yours and your virtual assistant’s.

Think back to the reasons you have changed jobs in the past.  What things in your past have caused a need for job changes?  Pregnancy, sudden depression, death in the family, shift in financial obligations, relocation, change of career goals, a decision to go back to college, ill parents, ill children, ill spouse?  Of course, and there are many more.  Your virtual assistant is a human being too and they’re also subject to all of these normal human occurrences.  Any one of these or many more reasons are cause for a virtual assistant to move on elsewhere or even stop working altogether.

•      Job likeability.  You’ve got to like your job.  I hope we can all agree on that.  If you don’t like what you’re doing you’re not going to do your best and you’re always going to be shopping for a better job or better opportunity.  Virtual assistants, as with bricks-and-mortar assistants, are not immune.  I’m not talking about being a virtual assistant in general – though that happens too – where a virtual assistant decides she can’t handle the isolation and hangs up her computer.  I’m talking about all of the tasks a virtual assistant does on a daily basis.  For one client she may answer phones, for another she may do data entry, and for yet another she may be asked to cold call.  If she doesn’t like those duties she’s not going to like the job and will ask for reassignment or quit entirely.

•      Boss likeability.  For me, the only one I didn’t stick with for a good length of time was one where I was treated like a prisoner in a concentration camp, neck breathed down and so on.  I left one day for lunch and never looked back.  Have you ever had a boss you just couldn’t stand?  How about one with whom you just couldn’t see eye-to-eye.  Or maybe there was the one you always thought was creepy or shifty.  Would you stick with a boss that gave you those feelings?  Certainly not!  Yet we expect our virtual assistants to do that and we can’t.  With 6.6 billion people in the world every one of them is not going to like each and every one of us.  And you’re not going to like every one of them either.

•      Then of course there’s Big Bad Team Double-ClickSM.  At Team Double-ClickSM our job, as we see it is this:  to help you determine your needs in a virtual assistant; to locate the best virtual assistant for you, our client, based on your personality needs as well as your skills needs; to locate problem virtual assistants and send them packing before they do damage to you; to nurture the relationship between you and your virtual assistant; alert you to potential problems with a virtual assistant; to stand by what we do and what we offer; and locate a new virtual assistant for you should things not work out.  Now, sometimes the virtual assistants we contract don’t like this.  This is when we become “Big Bad Team Double-ClickSM”.  You see, we’re the good guys when we’re offering work to virtual assistants.  However, when we have to take that work away or ask a virtual assistant for reimbursement for a client due to negligence in their actions, we’re no longer popular with that virtual assistant.  This quite often causes a virtual assistant to quit.  In order to protect you, our client, sometimes we have to tick people off to do it.

•      Theft.  Yes, theft.  Team Double-ClickSM is a virtual staffing agency – we’re the middleman.  We work hard to do the best by our clients and locate quality virtual assistants for them.  And theft does happen – even from virtual assistants who’ve shown no signs of being anything but above board.  If finances get tough, the first thing most people want to do is cut out the middleman.  Why?  Usually to make more money of course!  While we do our best to prevent it from happening it does from time to time happen that a virtual assistant will attempt to steal a client – to make more money.  I’m sure you can see how this opens a whole can of worms here and can easily mess things up for other clients.  My question to you:  would you want to directly hire a person with that kind of track record?  Could you really trust they wouldn’t try to steal something from you later on down the road?  I wouldn’t.  In fact, this brings me to an interesting story.  A virtual assistant (let’s call her Jane) recently successfully stole a client (let’s call him Dick) from Team Double-ClickSM.  In this instance, rather than enter into a lengthy legal battle with Dick and Jane, we let it go.  We of course discussed with Dick the potential for Jane the Thief to repeat her history again in the future.  Three months later Dick came back and said “Gayle, Jane just stole from me – she embezzled my funds in fact.”  While I felt badly for Dick we predicted that this could happen which is why we’d warned him.  Dick chose not to listen to our years of experience and the information we had available.

•      Popularity.  Team Double-Click‘s virtual assistants are contracted – not employed – by Team Double-ClickSM.  As with most contractors (think home builders, highway builders, and other competitive bidders) we too impose restrictions, benchmarks, and even penalties on our contractors for lack of performance.  Again, this sometimes makes us unpopular and can cause a virtual assistant to quit.  Would you want us to do anything less in the name of protecting our clients?

Knowing what causes people to leave should help you better understand how long a virtual assistant may stay in a position.  About 25% of our virtual assistants have been with us and the same clients for well over a year and many more approaching the one year mark.  In fact, earlier this year one of our virtual assistants retired from Team Double-ClickSM and the client she was assigned, after being with him for more than three years.

So when asked “how long can I expect my virtual assistant to stay with me”.  I always say “It depends.  As long as nothing goes wrong and there is no reason for the virtual assistant to leave, she will most likely stay.”  As one of my daughter’s teachers used to say, “It’s all about cause and effect.

This article’s goal was to give you a better perspective of what to expect in this day and age of hiring and some insight into what can go wrong.  I hope I’ve accomplished that.  And with a better understanding maybe we’ll all be less shocked and better prepared when one of our workers – bricks-and-mortar or virtual - departs.

The Basics Of Starting An Online Business (Part 2)

There is much more to starting an online business than just having a product to sell and setting up a website. In order to turn this into a profitable business, you have to reach the customers. This means that you have to rank high in the search engines - at least in the top 20. If you are wondering why this is so, just think of the many times you searched for something on the Internet. How often did you continue pages the first two screens of results? If you are like most searchers, if you don't find what you are looking for in the first two pages, you try another search term.

Online Business

The words you write have a direct impact on how successful your online business will be. You have to be aware of keyword search optimization so that the major search engines will pick up your site. You can submit to the search engines for free, but the words you write will determine your ranking.

When you have an online business, you can make money while you sleep. Your store is open 24 hours a day with customers from all over the world visiting and making purchases. Therefore, you need to have a secure way of paying for the products so that customers can use their credit cards and feel safe about doing so. Buying by credit card is the only way to be sure of getting your money online. If you sell products, ship them to the customers and wait to get your money by check or money order, you are running the risk of not getting paid at all or of receiving fraudulent checks. There are may businesses online that will process the credit card payments for a low monthly fee, which means you don't have to set up a merchant account of your own. PayPal and CCNow are two examples of these sites.

You have to consider how you will get the products to the customers. Shipping charges are quite expensive, so you can add more to the cost of the product and offer free shipping to entice more customers to buy. Another option is to have shipping charges added to the total cost that the customer has to pay, but you must have this printed right on your website. Customers need to know this right up front.

The Finding deals for Christmas shopping

So what do I even mean by that? Simple, they are special offers that shops and companies make more money during the holidays. Some people search the hall town to find a good deal on a Christmas present or gift for their friends and family relatives. After all who doesn’t want to save some money?

Haven’t done it before?

Why not? Ask yourself why you are throwing your money away if you could buy the same thing on a discount for 50%. So if you are buying a present for 100 euros, you could save up to 50$. And 50$ is quite some money. Think of it in this way. You are just giving it to some person whom you don’t know; you could even say you are throwing it out the window.

If you are buying a present for a friend or some far family relative, just try to get a discount price on the gift. They will say thanks if you spend 50$ or 500$ and you won’t have anything from it.

So you are too lazy to search the city for a discount price shop? That’s not a problem. Try searching the web for a bit. You could even bargain in some shops and save even more money. So if you can do it, why don’t you take advantage of it and maybe use that money to buy a new car in a couple of years. Just ask the employees for a discount price, the worst thing that they could do is, says NO. And don’t be embraced, you aren’t the only one who is asking and looking to save some money. And after all the employees are paid to be there and consult you for the best item to buy and for how much can they lower the price.

So what are you thinking to buy, a new computer, television, or even a small gift like jewelry? It’s doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that you search for a discount shop and start saving some money, which you could use in a better way in a few years than giving it to some shop owners wearing a tie and having a ton of hair gel.

Ever wondered how the really rich families are actually rich? Yea! You guessed it. They save even more money than the families that have really low pays. I mean think about it. That’s why they are rich. In society they are wearing “masks”, so you actually think that they can afford anything. But believe me. They are saving money on almost all of the items that they buy. Even if you live just once and you won’t be taking the money with you to the grave you should anyway consider being “economical”. Don’t try to save money on things like expensive food etc. Just get some Christmas deals.

So think about it and start saving some money. You could be living in style!

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Gun Control Is Not Constitutional

On October 18th [2000], a Texas jury found San Angelo physician Timothy Joe Emerson not guilty of aggravated assault and child endangerment. In August 1998 his wife, who became involved in an adulterous affair with another man, had filed for divorce and applied for a temporary restraining order barring Dr. Emerson from, among other things, threatening or attacking her during the divorce proceedings. A few days later at a hearing, Mrs. Emerson claimed that her husband had threatened during a telephone conversation to kill her boyfriend. Largely based on that allegation, a county district court judge, without showing or finding that Dr. Emerson actually posed a threat to his wife or their four-year-old daughter, issued a restraining order enjoining him from threatening or physically harming

either. The judge also neglected to advise Dr. Emerson that he could face federal prosecution if found with a firearm, due to an obscure provision of the 1994 Violent Crime Control Act that prohibits possession of a gun by anyone subject to such a restraining order.

Following a confrontation between the contentious couple at his office on November 16, 1998, Mrs. Emerson claimed that Dr. Emerson had threatened her and their daughter by brandishing a handgun. He was indicted on the state charges of which he was recently acquitted, and was also indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly violating the 1994 statute.

On March 30th of [1999], Judge Sam R. Cummings of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas dismissed the federal indictment, ruling that it violated Dr. Emerson's constitutional rights under the Second and Fifth Amendments. A key issue was whether or not the Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and bear arms, or was intended by the Founders to apply only to a collective entity such as the National Guard. Basing his opinion on cogent historical analysis and copious documentation, Judge Cummings held that "a textual analysis of the Second Amendment supports an individual right to bear arms" and that "the very inclusion of the right to keep and bear arms in the Bill of Rights shows that the framers of the Constitution considered it an individual right." After all, the Bill of Rights protects individual rights to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, etc.,

from government. Why would the Founding Fathers add to such a list a collective right of government to possess arms?

Judge Cummings' ruling is particularly significant since it is the first time a federal court invalidated a gun control statute on grounds of the Second Amendment. Prosecutors promptly appealed this ruling to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in June. A decision is expected by year's end, but regardless of the outcome, United States of America v. Timothy Joe Emerson is likely to eventually reach the Supreme Court. What began as a rather routine divorce squabble has metastasized into what could become the most important Second Amendment case in our nation's history. [In 2001, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's opinion. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.]

America's legacy of freedom

The historical record clearly supports Judge Cummings' analysis and opinion. The "collective" interpretation of the Second Amendment is a 20th century invention conjured up by anti-gun academics and pressure groups determined to disarm ordinary Americans and thereby grant government entities a firearms monopoly (gun control has never been about the elimination of guns, but about who will control them). The reference to the "Militia" in the Second Amendment is not a reference to the National Guard, which did not even exist at the time, but to the people themselves. As George Mason, the author of Virginia's Bill of Rights, explained, the militia consists "of the whole people, except a few public officers."

David E. Young, editor of The Origin of the Second Amendment: A Documentary History of the Bill of Rights in Commentaries on Liberty, Free Government & an Armed Populace 1787-1792 (1995) has noted, "There were NO comments by ANYONE that any of [James] Madison's proposals, or those in Congress, related to 'collective rights.'... In fact, the 'collective right' terminology so popular today among advocates of government gun control was never used during the Constitutional Era by anyone." The founding generation, Young continues, "did not interpret the Second Amendment and predecessor Bill of Rights language as related to the militia powers of government or the authority of the states, but rather as related ONLY to private rights to keep and bear arms."

America's legacy of freedom is heavily predicated on the right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms. Indeed, the Second Amendment is arguably the most important constitutionally protected right of all, since it serves to safeguard all others (free speech, freedom of the press, religious freedom, etc.). As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story explained in his authoritative Commentaries on the Constitution (1833): "The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms has justly been considered the palladium of the liberties of the republic, since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers, and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."

Keeping arms is a duty

The Revolutionary War itself was triggered when the British attempted to confiscate private arms stored by the American colonists in private homes at Concord. Before sunrise on April 18, 1775, scores of colonists armed with loaded muskets gathered on and near the Lexington green. When the British arrived, the officer in charge ordered the rebels to "disperse, you villains-lay down your arms," but they refused. The officer then gave the order to surround the rebels, and in the ensuing confusion shots were fired. Three British soldiers were wounded and eight militiamen were killed.

Following that initial skirmish, the British continued their march to Concord, but when they began tearing off planks of the bridge spanning a strategic river, American militiamen rallied to stop the destruction. Again, shots were fired by both sides, and British officers ordered a retreat during which, as described by historian Donzella Cross Boyle in Quest of a Hemisphere (1970), "the regulars were fired upon from behind walls and trees, houses and barns, by marksmen, who seemed 'to drop from the clouds.'" Thus began the long, bitter military struggle for American independence that could never have succeeded if the colonists had allowed themselves to be disarmed.

Fortunately, the colonists had refused to do so. In 1671, more than a century before Lexington and Concord, King Charles II imposed legislation to disarm Englishmen, while his royal governor for the colonies did the same to disarm Americans. Attorney Steven Halbrook, an authority on the Second Amendment, writes in That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitution Right (1984): "Thus, arms control laws in the English experience served not only to subjugate domestically the poor and middle classes and religious groups, but also to conquer and colonize the Scots, the Irish, the American Indians, and finally the English settlers in America." When the "embattled farmers stood" at Concord Bridge in 1775 and "fired the shot heard round the world," they did so with an unregistered and

unconfiscated gun.

Today's anti-gun hysteria is in sharp contrast to the attitude of early American colonists regarding firearms. A 1982 report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee recalled, for instance: In 1623, Virginia forbade its colonists to travel unless they were "well armed"; in 1631, it required colonists to engage in target practice on Sunday and to "bring their peeces [sic] to church." In 1658, it required every householder to have a functioning firearm within his house and in 1673 its laws provided that a citizen who claimed he was too poor to purchase a firearm would have one purchased for him by the government, which would then require him to pay a reasonable price when able to do so. In Massachusetts, the first session of the legislature ordered that not only freemen, but also indentured servants own firearms and, in 1644, it imposed a stern 6 shilling fine upon any citizen who was not armed.

Writing in the Michigan Law Review for November 1983, attorney Don B. Kates further noted that "the duty to keep arms applied to every household, not just to those containing persons subject to militia service. Thus, the over-aged and seamen, who were exempt from militia service, were required to keep arms for law enforcement and for the defense of their homes from criminals or foreign enemies. In at least one colony a 1770 law actually required men to carry a rifle or pistol every time they attended church; church officials were empowered to search each parishioner no less than fourteen times per year to assure compliance."

The intent of the Founders

Our country's Founders, though at odds with each other about many other matters, were united in their belief that private citizens, armed with their own firearms, were vital to a free nation. Anti-Federalist icon Patrick Henry, in his famous "give me liberty or give me death" address to Virginia's Second Revolutionary Convention on March 23, 1775, underscored the importance of an armed citizenry when he declared: "They tell us ... that we are weak-unable to cope with so formidable an adversary [as the British]. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Three million people, armed in he holy cause of liberty ... are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us." The Census Bureau estimates that the population of the colonies in 1700 was 2.1 million, and that by 1780 it reached 2.9 million. Henry's reference in 1775 to "three million people, armed in the holy cause of liberty" clearly encompassed all competent citizens, not merely those qualified by age and gender for militia service.

Years later, when the Constitution was considered, Henry further expressed his unequivocal support of the individual right to keep and bear arms. During Virginia's ratification convention he objected to the omission of a clause in the proposed Constitution that would forbid the disarming of individual citizens (the Second Amendment was adopted to solve that problem). "The great object," he declared, "is that every man be armed.... Everyone who is able may have a gun."

Thomas Paine, who voiced the colonists' demands for freedom in his famous pamphlet Common Sense (1776), wrote in an earlier essay entitled "Thoughts on Defensive War" (1775): "The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property." And in The Federalist, No. 28, Alexander Hamilton stated: "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government." In essay 29 of The Federalist, Hamilton further observed that "little more can reasonably be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped," since "this will not only lessen the calls for military establishments, but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army an never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to hem in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens."

In a similar spirit, James Madison pointed out in The Federalist, No. 46, that "notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms," since, were the people armed and organized into militia, "the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it."

On June 18, 1789, 10 days after James Madison proposed the Bill of Rights in the House of Representatives, Tench Coxe, a Federalist and friend of Madison, published in Philadelphia's Federal Gazette (under the pen name "A Pennsylvanian") what Steven Halbrook describes as "probably the most complete exposition of the Bill of Rights to be published during its ratification period." Coxe's analysis included this comment: "As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed

by the next article in their right to keep and bear their private arms." "In short," Halbrook states, "what is now the Second Amendment was designed to guarantee the right of the people to have 'their private arms' to prevent tyranny and to overpower an abusive standing army or select militia [such as today's National Guard]."

It is worth noting that Coxe sent a copy of his article, with a cover letter, to Madison, and that the father of the Constitution expressed no objection to his comments. Rather than disagreeing that the proposed amendment protected the possession and use of "private arms," Madison stated in his reply that ratification of the entire package of amendments "will however be greatly favored by explanatory strictures of a healing tendency, and is therefore already indebted to the co-operation of your pen." Halbrook points out that a "search of the literature of the time reveals that no writer disputed or contradicted Coxe's analysis that what became the Second Amendment protected

A fundamental right

Federalist Noah Webster (of dictionary fame), in a pamphlet aimed at convincing Pennsylvania to ratify the Constitution, warned that "before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe." But he believed that the "supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States."

Thomas Jefferson also favored individual gun ownership. In the model state constitution he drafted for Virginia in 1776, he included the guarantee that "no free man shall be debarred the use of arms in his own hands." He had earlier copied into his Commonplace Book (the source for his ideas on government) these sentiments from On Crimes and Punishments (1764) by criminologist Cesare Beccaria:

False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils, except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm those only who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Can it be supposed that those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity, the most important of the code, will respect the less important and arbitrary ones, which can be violated with ease and impunity, and which, if so dear to the enlightened legislator-and subject innocent persons to all the vexations that the guilty alone ought to suffer? Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed

man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. They ought to be designated as laws not preventive but fearful of crimes, produced by the tumultuous impression of a few isolated facts, and not by thoughtful consideration of the inconveniences and advantages of a universal decree.

According to a nephew, Jefferson was given a gun at age 10 and believed that every boy should receive one at that age. In a letter to another nephew, Jefferson wrote: "A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the Body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."

Throughout our history, young Americans have used firearms responsibly for recreation, hunting, and defense of their homes, families, and nation. For examples, see "Young Patriots at Arms" in the July 31, 2000 issue of The New American.

The Second Amendment is absolute

It is important to note that the Second Amendment is absolute in its wording. While some inherent rights are protected by the Bill of Rights in rather vague, general terms (such as the Fourth Amendment's ban of only "unreasonable" searches and seizures), the Second Amendment unambiguously prohibits any interference (the right to keep and bear arms "shall not" be infringed). Halbrook suggests that since the Second Amendment "is written in a universal form," it "provides protection against both federal and state infringement. In contrast to the language of the

First Amendment, which states only that 'Congress shall make no law,' the Second Amendment provides generally that the right 'shall not be infringed.'... Thus, there is strong support for the proposition that the absolute and universal language of the Second Amendment precludes any federal or state infringement whatever."

Adding further weight to that conclusion, Attorney Don B. Kates points out in his Michigan Law Review article that "a state would directly infringe the congressional prerogative [to call forth an armed citizenry when necessary to execute the laws, suppress rebellion, or repel invasion] if it prohibits firearms possession by the constitutional militia, i.e., the military-age male populace." And in Presser v. Illinois (1886), the Supreme Court held that "it is undoubtedly true that all citizens capable of bearing arms constitute the reserved military force or reserve militia of the United States as well as of the States, and, in view of this prerogative of the general government, as well as of its general power, the States cannot, even laying the constitutional provision in question [i.e., the Second Amendment] out of view, prohibit the people from keeping and bearing arms, so as to deprive the United States of their rightful resource

for maintaining the public security and disable the people from performing their duty to the general government."

Steven Halbrook perceptively points out that if, for the sake of argument, we accept the modern anti-gun view that the Second Amendment's reference to "the people" means only a select militia such as the National Guard, and that its reference to "arms" means only militia-type arms, then "the Ninth amendment's guarantee of all preexisting unenumerated rights would encompass the natural and common-law rights of the individual to keep and carry arms for such purposes as self-defense and hunting." In other words, either the inherent right of peaceful individuals to keep and bear arms is secured by the Second Amendment, or it falls under purview of the Ninth Amendment, which

reads: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Yet make no mistake about it, Halbrook maintains, "the intent of the state conventions that requested adoption of a bill of rights and of the framers in Congress ... was that the Second Amendment recognized the absolute individual right to keep arms in the home and to carry them in public."

The lessons of history

History is replete with examples of would-be tyrants who have sought to disarm the people they intended to enslave. Julius Caesar, in his account of the Gallic wars, recognized the difficulty of conquering an armed people, as indicated by such observations as "all arms were collected from the town" and "there could be no terms of surrender save on delivery of arms," and his claim that he had "cut off the hands of all who had borne arms" and had slain "a great number of them and stripped all of their arms."

During the 20th century, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes have used gun registration records and other means to confiscate firearms from those who might otherwise jeopardize their rule. Stringent gun laws established by the anti-Communist Cuban government of Fulgencio Batista, for instance, enabled Communist despot Fidel Castro to solidify his control after toppling Batista. Under Batista, gun owners had to register their firearms with the police, which made it a simple matter for Castro's agents to locate and collect the guns.

In Nazi Germany, as documented in "Gun Control": Gateway to Tyranny by Jay Simkin and Aaron Zelman (1992), a pre-Nazi law of 1928 required the registration of anyone having anything to do with firearms or ammunition. When the Nazis assumed power, they simply declined to renew the relevant permits, thereby justifying the confiscation of firearms and ammunition and clearly demonstrating how registration paves the way for confiscation. In 1938, the Nazis' own draconian gun control legislation further deterred effective opposition to their increasingly oppressive rule. It included a provision under which Jews were "prohibited from acquiring, possessing, and carrying firearms and ammunition, as well as truncheons or stabbing weapons."

And in his early years as Italy's Fascist ruler, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, in a speech delivered at the Italian Senate on June 8, 1923, asserted: "The measures adopted to restore public order are: First of all the elimination of the so-called subversive elements.... They were elements of disorder and subversion. On the morrow of each conflict I gave the categorical order to confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind. This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy, has given satisfactory results."

Government oppression thrives when a people are disarmed. But when the people are armed, exactly the opposite is the case. Which is why the Founding Fathers included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights.

Land and Real Estate in Arizona

Purchasing land in Arizona

Moving to Arizona has the ultimate choices from purchasing raw land to purchasing land in a more rural area to add a manufactured home to building a luxury custom home.  Finding land is easy; Finding land that is worth purchasing is a totally different story.

I can specifically tell you about Arizona although this might be prevalent in other areas also.  What to watch out for are Land fissures, Drinking water (how far you have to drill to install a pump), natural washes, and natural washes that become re-routed from other building and area growth, and most importantly flood plains.

If you purchase land on a hill or close to a mountain expect to have above average ground movement and more costs for the foundations. Also high speed internet may become an issue unless you can get used to using a high speed cell card.

If you are dreaming of a home with land to have horses and other friendly domestic animals you might check with city ordinances first.  For example if you purchase land that was recently annexed by Surprise AZ. You might be surprised by the no farm animal ordinances.  Even if homeowners nearby already have this type of animal living on the land they have owned for many years this can be a huge issue if that is what you were planning for your land.

Keep in mind that Arizona water is a very big topic here, being in a desert water conservation is very important.  Wells that are functioning now might have to be dug deeper in the future as the land around is developed.  Large subdivisions moving in around you can lower a water table pretty fast and cause you to have to make modifications to your well, the storage tank and also how deep your well is.

Keep Scott Schulte at www.scottschulte.com in mind when your looking for Arizona real state

Custom Web Design and Online Promotion Go Hand-in-Hand

Many new online business owners have misconceptions about custom web design. It's not only about getting your website up and running. It's about designing every aspect of your website - every "nook and cranny" - to lead your visitors to the ultimate end, a sale. Whether you plan to build a service-oriented website or offer many products, your site's design must have all the ingredients for success from the very start. Be sure the web designer you choose has an understanding of promotion as well as custom web design. Here are some features your site must have to survive among the Internet masses.

An Easily Recognized USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

When a visitor arrives at any of your web pages (not only the homepage), he/she should understand what your site is all about immediately. You only have a split second to grab their attention. Make sure each web page has a powerful keyword-rich headline that will keep the visitor reading.

Graphics that Complement without Dominating the Web Pages

Every website needs a few graphics here and there to make the web design pleasing to the eye, but be sure your graphic design and logo design do not dominate your pages. You want visitors to read your page, not look at your graphics. So, keep graphics to a minimum, and use them only when they help to create an even reading flow on the page. Many sites use a pleasant "newsletter" style when there is much to read on a page, sprinkling graphics or photos throughout the text in a wrap-around sense. For logo design, keep it small and simple. There's nothing more annoying than waiting on a page to load because its logo is too big!

Keyword Rich Content for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Be sure your designer understands about SEO and keywords. Every page of your site should be designed with search engine promotion in mind. This means gearing your meta tags, link text for pages or in menus, headlines, image "alt text" contents, etc. to attract search engine traffic for the long haul.

Easy-to-Use Navigation

Be sure the navigation on your web pages is easy to use. Many visitors will not take the time to "search" for hidden links or to browse through a confusing menu. If ordering custom web design from a professional, write out on paper how you would like your link system to flow from page to page. If you have content, place visible, colored links within the text to give visitors a chance to click while reading. Have menu bars or links in the usual places - sidebars and top/bottom of the web page.

Promote your Website

Some design firms will offer promotion bonuses with a custom web design package. This benefits you because it helps you to get a head start on building traffic. You can take advantage of the design firm's skills and knowledge about Web promotion and search engine optimization. Don't forget to promote your website in every way possible. Print your site address on business cards, newspaper ads, letterhead, etc. Also, promote your site online using only targeted advertising.

Custom web design techniques and promotion are so tightly knit together that it's impossible to separate the two. Be sure to include both in your custom web design plans so you can see positive results from the start!