
How to achieve an early win for the department of government efficiencyNone
Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title when he hit a major league-best .366 for the Atlanta Braves, has died. He was 85. Major League Baseball , the players' association and the Braves paid tribute to Carty on social media on Sunday. No further details on Carty's death were provided.
The column by Paula Gibbs McKenney on Tuesday, Nov. 12, needs a reply. What troubles me most about McKenney’s letter is the amount of misinformation in it and her angry tone based on this misinformation. I voted for Harris because I believe in the Democrats’ general use of government in the life of our country: regulation of harmful economic practices by private enterprise; support for unions; attempts to mitigate the effects of global warming; support for public education; creation of local, state and national public parks; ensuring people of all races and religions are treated fairly. You get the drift. Democrats aren’t good at all the things they try, but they try. I too care more about a candidate’s policies and abilities over their personality and would agree that Harris was not prepared to run on a cohesive and well-thought-out platform. I am angry at Joe and Jill Biden for not deciding much earlier to withdraw so a traditional campaign for a Democratic candidate could be run. However, Mr. Trump’s policies and abilities and personality as a president are well known and none of them cause me to support him. Much of the media may be somewhat to the left, but primarily they are moderates and appear farther left only in comparison to how far right the current Republican Party has gone. The Steele Dossier is not a fantasy, was not drummed up by the Democrats and was written by a top member of Britain’s intelligence service. Its release was criticized by the Washington Post for being unverified. I disagree with McKenney’s comment suggesting that the current Supreme Court is following the law rather than “their own political agendas.” To think that Mr. Trump is not now a criminal means that one believes that juries and judges have been tampered with. I don’t believe such is true. I am not in favor of girls and boys competing together in sports, and how to treat transgendered kids in public schools befuddles me. I want our borders secure, but I don’t want families torn apart leaving children alone in a type of jail without parents. It seems as if McKenney is OK with that. Public money to pay off student loans is questionable but based on need. I don’t want states to control abortion access. We have seen already the results of such policies. I believe that employees in the FBI and Secret Service probably are more conservative than left-wing. It is Mr. Trump that is threatening to make the DOJ follow a political agenda. Many people say that the country is becoming “socialistic” without knowing the definition of socialism. Regulation of private enterprise is not socialism. I worked in a school system for 22 years. Neither the federal government, the states nor local school boards are very good at it. It sounds as if Ms. McKenney would support our policies in Ukraine against the Russians. I support that also. I don’t want our speech to be controlled either. I agree that price controls are not effective. I, too, want effective, competent people to be hired. Effective people of color, religion and other “irrelevant qualifiers” have been systematically excluded from jobs, so when I see people with “irrelevant qualifiers” in jobs, I assume that they are qualified. I, too, have been disturbed by the name calling done by Democratic presidents and Democratic candidates and others on the left. College professors may be somewhat on the left, but they do not brainwash their students. If that were their method of teaching, they wouldn’t last long. Defunding the police was a stupid idea, expressed in the heat of the moment. Trump was the target of an angry person who was expressing himself in a manner that was not effective nor well thought out and he was using a weapon unnecessary for civilians to posess. To believe that it was a plot by Democrats is not based on fact, even if Trump’s followers say that it is. Brian Hirst is a Harpswell resident. Comments are not available on this story. Send questions/comments to the editors. « PreviousWest Yellowstone announces death of police officer
A federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld a law Friday that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short weeks, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued ran afoul of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, though it’s unclear whether the court will take up the case. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement. Though the case is squarely in the court system, it’s also possible the two companies might be thrown some sort of a lifeline by President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term but said during the presidential campaign that he is now against such action. The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a yearslong saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China. The U.S. says it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect. TikTok, which sued the government over the law in May, has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the U.S. hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the U.S."Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" Thanks for your interest in Kalkine Media's content! To continue reading, please log in to your account or create your free account with us.‘Gladiator II’ review: Are you not moderately entertained?
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel's “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel. The rare public dispute drew accusations from prominent aid and human-rights figures that the work of the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning System Network , meant to reflect the opinion of unbiased international experts, has been tainted by politics. A declaration of famine would be a great embarrassment for Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month war in Gaza is aimed against the Hamas militant group and not against its civilian population. U.S. ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew earlier this week called the warning by the internationally recognized group inaccurate and “irresponsible ." Lew and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the monitoring group, both said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing circumstances in north Gaza. Humanitarian and human rights officials expressed fear of U.S. political interference in the world's monitoring system for famines. The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined comment. FEWS officials did not respond to questions. “We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew said Tuesday. USAID confirmed to the AP that it had asked the famine-monitoring organization to withdraw its stepped-up warning issued in a report dated Monday. The report did not appear among the top updates on the group's website Thursday, but the link to it remained active . The dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza. Thousands in recent weeks have fled an intensified Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed delivery of only a dozen trucks of food and water since roughly October. FEWS Net said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. FEWS was created by the U.S. development agency in the 1980s and is still funded by it. But it is intended to provide independent, neutral and data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide decisions on aid by the U.S. and other governments and agencies around the world. A spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, Oren Marmorstein, welcomed the U.S. ambassador's public challenge of the famine warning. “FEWS NET - Stop spreading these lies!” Marmorstein said on X . In challenging the findings publicly, the U.S. ambassador "leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” said Scott Paul, a senior manager at the Oxfam America humanitarian nonprofit. Paul stressed that he was not weighing in on the accuracy of the data or methodology of the report. “The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor in international affairs at Princeton University . “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations -- the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy -- to interfere." Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border. North Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel’s restrictions on aid throughout its war with Hamas militants. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have warned repeatedly of the imminent risk of malnutrition and deaths from starvation hitting famine levels. International officials say Israel last summer increased the amount of aid it was admitting there, under U.S. pressure. The U.S. and U.N. have said Gaza’s people as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks a day of food and other vital needs. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has again blocked almost all aid to that part of Gaza. Cindy McCain , the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, previously called for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians there. Israel says it places no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and that hundreds of truckloads of goods are piled up at Gaza’s crossings and accused international aid agencies of failing to deliver the supplies. The U.N. and other aid groups say ongoing combat, looting and insufficient security by Israeli troops make it impossible to deliver aid effectively. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, said the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000-75,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said in its report that its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain. USAID in its statement to AP said it had reviewed the report before it became public, and noted “discrepancies” in population estimates and some other data. The U.S. agency had asked the famine warning group to address those uncertainties and be clear in its final report to reflect how those uncertainties affected its predictions of famine, it said. “This was relayed before Ambassador Lew’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “FEWS NET did not resolve any of these concerns and published in spite of these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement before publication. As such, USAID asked to retract the report.” Roth criticized the U.S. challenge of the report in light of the gravity of the crisis there. “This quibbling over the number of people desperate for food seems a politicized diversion from the fact that the Israeli government is blocking virtually all food from getting in,” he said, adding that “the Biden administration seems to be closing its eyes to that reality, but putting its head in the sand won’t feed anyone.” The U.S., Israel’s main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel’s war in Gaza is politically charged in the U.S., with Republicans and some Democrats staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration’s reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month’s elections. Sam Mednick and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title with the Atlanta Braves, has died
PEAK6 to Relocate Global Headquarters to Austin, TexasLANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Austin Ekeler was concussed in the final minute of the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and taken to a hospital for further evaluation. Coach Dan Quinn said he and general manager Adam Peters got to visit with Ekeler before he went to the hospital. A team spokesperson said the decision to transport Ekeler was made out of an abundance of caution. Ekeler, 29, was injured when he was tackled by Damone Clark and Nick Vigil on a kickoff return with 9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Ekeler remained down on the field for some time being attended to by medical personnel, and players from each team knelt around him with their helmets off. Lineman Andrew Wylie was also concussed and fellow running back Brian Robinson Jr. sprained an ankle in Washington’s third consecutive defeat. Ekeler is in his first season with the Commanders after spending his first nine years in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflPhilip Windham named CEO of growing HVAC/R platform LOS ANGELES , Dec. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Platinum Equity announced today a significant investment in Global, the Source ("Global"), a leading master distributor of HVAC/R components, and its subsidiary AmRad Manufacturing LLC. The transaction marks Platinum Equity's second investment in the HVAC/R industry this year. In July, the firm invested in Motors & Armatures Inc. (MARS). Global and MARS, which have a longstanding history, will now join forces, helping strengthen the product and service offerings for both companies. Founded in 1982 and based in Universal City, Texas , Global is a leading master distributor of HVAC/R components such as capacitors, relays, transformers, contactors, disconnects, whips, and more. Global serves HVAC/R wholesalers throughout the United States. The company has vertically integrated design and manufacturing operations, including via its AmRad Manufacturing LLC subsidiary located in Palm Coast, Florida , which proudly manufactures USA -made capacitors and Turbo 200® products. MARS, based in Hauppauge, New York , is a leading distribution platform for HVAC/R parts, supplies and equipment in North America , and has been the exclusive sub-distributor for select Global products since 2012. "The partnership between MARS and Global is a natural one as both companies have worked together for decades," said Global Owner and President Dickie Sirotiak. "The investment from Platinum will allow us to introduce more products to market while continuing to maintain the outstanding service levels that both MARS and Global customers demand." In connection with the Global investment, Platinum Equity announced an integrated leadership structure for the combined platform: Sirotiak will remain president of Global and will continue to oversee operations in Texas and Florida . He and his family will also remain shareholders in the business. Philip Windham has been named CEO, overseeing MARS and Global. Windham joins from Nortek Global HVAC, where he served as President and CEO since 2016. Eddie Chernoff, who has served as president and CEO of MARS since 1982, will be transitioning to Executive Chairman, serving in an ongoing advisory capacity. "We are thrilled to welcome Global to our growing platform," said Chernoff. "This move brings together two great family-owned businesses and will strengthen our position as a category leader in electronic components for the HVAC/R aftermarket." Chernoff praised Windham as a great fit to lead the combined platform. "Philip brings 25 years of industry experience to the job," said Chernoff. "He is passionate about developing people and building high-performance teams. He has a customer-centric mindset and I'm confident he's the right leader to guide these businesses into their next phase of growth." Windham said he's excited about the new role. "Both the Sirotiak and Chernoff families have built impressive businesses over the past several decades, becoming true leaders in the HVAC/R industry," said Windham. "I am honored to continue their legacies and work with both teams to expand our reach within the industry." Platinum Equity expects to continue pursuing additional opportunities to invest in the industry. "We are optimistic about the prospects for growth in the sector and will work with MARS and Global to add more value for their customers," said Platinum Equity Co-President Jacob Kotzubei and Managing Director Dan Krasner in a joint statement. "We will partner with the leadership team to identify and pursue additional opportunities to diversify and increase scale, both organically and through strategic M&A." Financial terms of the Global investment were not disclosed. O'Melveny & Myers served as legal counsel to Platinum Equity and MARS. About Platinum Equity Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores , Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with more than $48 billion of assets under management and a portfolio of approximately 60 operating companies that serve customers around the world. Platinum Equity specializes in mergers, acquisitions and operations – a trademarked strategy it calls M&A&O ® – acquiring and operating companies in a broad range of business markets, including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology, telecommunications and other industries. Over the past 28 years Platinum Equity has completed more than 450 acquisitions. Contact : Dan Whelan Platinum Equity dwhelan@platinumequity.com View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/platinum-equity-invests-in-hvacr-distributor-global-the-source-302325210.html SOURCE Platinum Equity
Baker Mayfield mocks Tommy DeVito's celebration as the Bucs embarrass the Giants 30-7AMES, Iowa (AP) — Audi Crooks scored the winning shot as time expired and a season-high 33 points as No. 8 Iowa State survived with an 80-78 win over Drake on Sunday afternoon. Addy Brown added 13 points and eight rebounds, Emily Ryan scored 11 points with 12 assists and Kenzie Hare had 10 points as the Cyclones (5-1) avoided a second consecutive loss. The Bulldogs (2-3) were led by guard Katie Dinnebier, who scored 39 points on 13-of-16 shooting and went 8 of 10 from 3-point range. Dinnebier went 5 of 6 from the charity stripe. Anna Miller added 18 points in Drake's attempt to dethrone Iowa State, and Abbie Aalsma scored 11 off the bench. Drake: The Bulldogs, who were picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason, tied a season high with 19 turnovers. Iowa State scored 24 points from those turnovers. Iowa State: The Cyclones found a way to bounce back after losing to Northern Iowa on Wednesday night. A 10-0 run in the first quarter was the difference in a close Cyclone win. The Cyclones were outrebounded 42-31 by the Bulldogs, marking the first time Iowa State was outrebounded this season. Iowa State heads to Florida to play No. 1 South Carolina on Thursday in the Women's Fort Myers Tip-Off, the same day Drake plays Wyoming in the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
Fighting Poverty Is Harder Than Fighting Gravity; Nelson’s 1977 Observation Still Resonates Today
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Austin Ekeler was concussed in the final minute of the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and taken to a hospital for further evaluation. Coach Dan Quinn said he and general manager Adam Peters got to visit with Ekeler before he went to the hospital. A team spokesperson said the decision to transport Ekeler was made out of an abundance of caution. Ekeler, 29, was injured when he was tackled by Damone Clark and Nick Vigil on a kickoff return with 9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Ekeler remained down on the field for some time being attended to by medical personnel, and players from each team knelt around him with their helmets off. Lineman Andrew Wylie was also concussed and fellow running back Brian Robinson Jr. sprained an ankle in Washington’s third consecutive defeat. Ekeler is in his first season with the Commanders after spending his first nine years in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflRico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title when he hit a major league-best .366 for the Atlanta Braves, has died. He was 85. Major League Baseball , the players' association and the Braves paid tribute to Carty on social media on Sunday. No further details on Carty's death were provided. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.The US says it pushed retraction of north Gaza famine warning
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A jury convicted two men on Friday of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who prosecutors say went by the alias "Dirty Harry," and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that has brought increasing numbers of Indians into the U.S., prosecutors said. They were each convicted on four counts related to human smuggling, including conspiracy to bring migrants into the country illegally. "This trial exposed the unthinkable cruelty of human smuggling and of those criminal organizations that value profit and greed over humanity," Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said. "To earn a few thousand dollars, these traffickers put men, women and children in extraordinary peril leading to the horrific and tragic deaths of an entire family. Because of this unimaginable greed, a father, a mother and two children froze to death in sub-zero temperatures on the Minnesota-Canadian border," Luger added. The most serious counts carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office told The Associated Press before the trial. But federal sentencing guidelines rely on complicated formulas. Luger said Friday that various factors will be considered in determining what sentences prosecutors will recommend. Federal prosecutors said 39-year-old Jagdish Patel; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik, froze to death Jan. 19, 2022, while trying to cross the border into Minnesota in a scheme Patel and Shand organized. Patel is a common Indian surname, and the victims were not related to Harshkumar Patel. The couple were schoolteachers, local news reports said. The family was fairly well off by local standards, living in a well-kept, two-story house with a front patio and a wide veranda. Experts say illegal immigration from India is driven by everything from political repression to a dysfunctional American immigration system that can take years, if not decades, to navigate legally. Much is rooted in economics and how even low-wage jobs in the West can ignite hopes for a better life. Before the jury's conviction on Friday, the federal trial in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, saw testimony from an alleged participant in the smuggling ring, a survivor of the treacherous journey across the northern border, border patrol agents and forensic experts. Defense attorneys were pitted against each other, with Shand's team arguing that he was unwittingly roped into the scheme by Patel. Patel's lawyers, The Canadian Press reported, said their client had been misidentified. They said "Dirty Hary," the alleged nickname for Patel found in Shand's phone, is a different person. Bank records and witness testimony from those who encountered Shand near the border didn't tie him to the crime, they added. Prosecutors said Patel coordinated the operation while Shand was a driver. Shand was to pick up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border, prosecutors said. Only seven survived the foot crossing. Canadian authorities found the Patel family later that morning, dead from the cold. The trial included an inside account of how the international smuggling ring allegedly works and who it targets. Rajinder Singh, 51, testified that he made over $400,000 smuggling over 500 people through the same network that included Patel and Shand. Singh said most of the people he smuggled came from Gujarat state. He said the migrants would often pay smugglers about $100,000 to get them from India to the U.S., where they would work to pay off their debts at low-wage jobs in cities around the country. Singh said the smugglers would run their finances through "hawala," an informal money transfer system that relies on trust. The pipeline of illegal immigration from India has long existed but has increased sharply along the U.S.-Canada border. The U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians on the Canadian border in the year ending Sept. 30, which amounted to 60% of all arrests along that border and more than 10 times the number two years ago. By 2022, the Pew Research Center estimates more than 725,000 Indians were living illegally in the U.S., behind only Mexicans and El Salvadorans. Jamie Holt, a Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said the case is a stark reminder of the realities victims of human smuggling face. "Human smuggling is a vile crime that preys on the most vulnerable, exploiting their desperation and dreams for a better life," Holt said. "The suffering endured by this family is unimaginable and it is our duty to ensure that such atrocities are met with the full force of the law." One juror Kevin Paul, of Clearwater, Minnesota, told reporters afterward that it was hard for the jurors to see the pictures of the family's bodies. He said he grew up in North Dakota and is familiar with the kind of conditions that led to their deaths. "It's pretty brutal," Paul said. "I couldn't imagine having to do what they had to do out there in the middle of nowhere."If you’re approaching retirement or have already stopped working, it may have occurred to you that saving for retirement was the easy part. Most likely, you had contributions to a 401(k) or other employer-provided retirement savings account automatically deducted from your paycheck. Target-date funds , which automatically adjust your investments as you approach retirement, have taken the guesswork (and hopefully the stress) out of investing those contributions. For investments outside of your workplace plan, many brokerage firms have harnessed digital tools to provide low-cost investment advice. (We've evaluated the online services that many major brokers provide .) But once you retire and need to start withdrawing from your nest egg, the task of managing your money becomes more difficult. Fewer than half of retirees say they’ve estimated how much they’ll need to withdraw from their savings and investments to cover their expenses, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey . Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Even if you’ve nailed down the amount of income you’ll need each month to retire comfortably, you’ll have to wrestle with a host of decisions that can’t be put on autopilot, such as which accounts you should tap first , how to lower taxes on your withdrawals and when you should sign up for Social Security . Add to the mix concerns about long-term care, estate planning and charitable giving, and you may start to feel as though managing your savings is a full-time job. With the stakes so high, you’re probably going to want some advice. For many retirees, that means hiring a financial planner . A qualified certified financial planner can manage your portfolio and provide advice on a range of other subjects, from withdrawal rates to legacy planning. To earn the CFP designation, an individual must complete a course of study, pass a rigorous exam, have 6,000 hours of experience related to financial planning and commit to continuing education. In addition, CFPs are required to act as fiduciaries , which means they must put their clients’ interests above their own. Many CFPs provide excellent advice, but their guidance doesn’t come cheap. Compensation structures vary, but a common one is an assets under management (AUM) model , in which the planner bases his or her fees on a percentage of your portfolio. For example, if you have a $1 million portfolio and your planner charges a 1% fee, you would pay the planner $10,000 a year. The percentage typically decreases as your portfolio grows. On average, advisers charge 1.12% per year for a portfolio of $100,000, 1.02% for a portfolio of $1 million and 0.98% for a portfolio of $2 million, according to a 2023 survey by Advisory HQ , a marketing organization. Supporters of this model, a longtime standard for the advisory business, say it gives advisers a strong incentive to perform well, because as your portfolio grows, so does their compensation. Increasingly, though, brokerage and financial services firms such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard are offering financial advice to retirees and preretirees at a lower cost. Depending on the amount you have invested, you may be able to get advice on account-withdrawal rates, taxes, estate planning and more, often from a dedicated financial planner, for a fee of 0.5% or less of assets under management. The firm may limit advisory services to assets it manages — so it may not include your former employer’s 401(k), for example, or a taxable brokerage account you inherited that’s with another brokerage firm. If you’ve accumulated a significant amount of assets with a particular financial services firm, you’ve likely already received promotions for its financial-planning services. Enrolling in one of these programs could give you the confidence to spend money you’ve worked so hard to save. That’s not easy for many retirees: A 2018 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that retirees with at least $500,000 or more in savings had spent down less than 12% over 20 years. Here are some questions to ask before signing up. How much do I need to have invested to qualify for advisory services? The amount required to be eligible for guidance from a dedicated adviser varies. For example, Schwab Wealth Advisory provides a dedicated financial adviser and personalized wealth-management strategy to clients with $500,000 or more in assets. Through Fidelity Wealth Management Services , you can get a dedicated financial adviser and portfolio management if you have at least $500,000 in assets. T. Rowe Price , a relative newcomer to wealth-advisory services, will provide a dedicated adviser to clients with at least $250,000 in assets. For customers with a minimum of $100,000 in assets, Ally Invest Personal Advice offers a personalized financial plan from a dedicated adviser using portfolios of exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ); Ally will also provide withdrawal strategies for retirement accounts, but it doesn’t offer tax advice. Some firms have expanded services for wealthier clients — typically those with $2 million or more. For example, Vanguard’s Wealth Management program, available to clients with $5 million or more in Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs, provides investment-advisory services, wealth and estate planning, tax strategies, and other services through a dedicated CFP. Fidelity’s Private Wealth Management Services , available to clients with investable assets of at least $10 million — with $2 million or more managed through Fidelity — provides investment management, trust and estate planning, and other services. How much does the service cost? Fees range from 0.3% to more than 1% of assets, typically depending on the amount you have invested and the services provided. Vanguard’s Personal Advisor Select, which provides access to a financial adviser, a customized financial plan and ongoing investment advice to customers with at least $500,000 in Vanguard IRAs, brokerage accounts and trusts, charges 0.3% of assets, or $3,000 a year for an account with $1 million in assets. The fee for Schwab’s Wealth Advisory service starts at 0.8% of assets and decreases at higher asset levels. When considering costs, though, it’s also important to look at the expense ratios imposed by the underlying mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the firm’s recommended portfolio. Although index funds and ETFs typically have low fees, your adviser may recommend actively traded funds — emerging-markets funds , for example, or small-company stock funds. While these funds may offer the potential for higher returns, they tend to come with higher expense ratios than ETFs and index funds. When inquiring about advisory services, ask whether you’ll qualify for any breaks on fees. T. Rowe Price, for example, caps fees so that its combined investment-advisory service fee and fund expense ratio doesn’t exceed 1%, says Lindsay Theodore , a thought leadership manager at T. Rowe Price. For example, if the client’s portfolio has a weighted average expense ratio that exceeds 0.5%, the advisory service fee of 0.5% will be reduced. And depending on the amount of assets invested in Vanguard funds, participants in Vanguard’s advisory program may be eligible for Admiral class shares, which have an average expense ratio of 0.14%, or institutional shares, which have an average expense ratio of 0.08%. What’s available for free? Before you agree to pay a percentage of your assets, look into what’s offered at no cost. For example, Fidelity’s advisers will help clients create a financial plan that covers everything from withdrawal rates to Social Security claiming strategies for no extra charge, and clients can contact a member of Fidelity’s advisory team at any time to update the plan, says Ryan Viktorin , a CFP and financial consultant for Fidelity. The service is particularly valuable for clients who are retired or approaching retirement, she says. “It can be a mental shift when you get to retirement, and it’s scary for a lot of people,” she says. There’s no investment minimum for this service, but clients with a large amount of assets may qualify for a dedicated financial adviser at no cost, Viktorin says. If you want an adviser to manage your portfolio, however, you’ll have to use one of Fidelity’s paid services. For clients with at least $250,000 in assets, T. Rowe Price provides a complimentary financial plan that includes a recommended portfolio of investments, analysis of Social Security benefits, proposed spending adjustments and a score showing the likelihood they won’t outlive their savings. Schwab clients with at least $1 million in assets are automatically enrolled in Schwab Private Client Services , which provides them with a dedicated consultant who will direct them to resources at Schwab in areas such as income, tax and estate planning. This service is primarily designed for self-directed investors; clients who want ongoing investment management will need to enroll in Schwab’s Wealth Advisory service and pay the fee. In addition, most financial services firms provide a range of tools you can use to estimate income and expenses, analyze your Social Security benefits, determine whether you should convert to a Roth IRA and more. Even if you eventually decide to hire a financial planner, these tools will help you get a handle on your finances and figure out where you need help. Will the advice be comprehensive enough? One of the upsides of paying for advice from your financial services firm is that the firm already knows a lot about you — and you know a lot about it. If you’re comfortable with the company’s customer service and investment offerings, paying for a dedicated financial adviser and other features could make sense. But if the advice is limited to assets you own within the firm, the adviser — or team of advisers — may not have a complete picture of your financial health. Many retirees have multiple retirement, taxable and savings accounts with different banks and brokerage firms. Your net worth may also include life insurance, a pension and home equity, all of which will contribute to your retirement security. While some advisory services “are great for DIY investors who want a little bit of help, it’s not holistic financial advice or planning,” says Pam Krueger , chief executive officer and founder of Wealthramp , which connects investors with vetted, fee-only advisers. Most CFPs will provide a free consultation, which should give you an opportunity to ask about their skills, specializations and fees before you commit to what could be a long-term relationship. You can search for a CFP in your area at the Financial Planning Association’s website . Look for a fee-only planner. These individuals are compensated for giving advice, and they don’t earn commissions by recommending specific products or services. They’re also required to act as fiduciaries, which means they must put your interests above their own. Be wary of any adviser who declines to discuss their fee structures upfront. If you’re paying a percentage of assets under management, you should expect to receive, along with investment advice, help with estate planning, insurance and other aspects of your financial life. If you’re not comfortable paying a percentage of your assets, it’s easier than ever to find CFPs who use different — and possibly less expensive — compensation methods. Some Wealthramp advisers charge by the hour or work on retainer, Krueger says. Planners in the Garrett Planning Network are fee-only CFPs who charge by the hour, typically at hourly rates ranging from $100 to $300. Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here . Related content Get the Invest for Retirement series New to Investing? How to Tell Your CFPs From Your CFAs How to Change Financial Advisers How to Pick the Best Robo Advisor For You
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