http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBb0LlOIB6w
Departments of Labor and Justice launch initiative to cooperate on investigation and prosecution of workplace safety violations
From OSHA Quick Takes
January 4, 2016, Volume 15, Issue 1
The Department of Labor and the Department of Justice have established a new initiative to prevent and deter crimes that jeopardize the lives and health of workers. The initiative strengthens the ability of the two departments to investigate and prosecute employers who fail to provide a safe workplace for their employees. Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu joined Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in signing the agreement during a ceremony at the Dept. of Justice on Dec. 17.
The Memorandum of Understanding calls for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mine Safety and Health Administration, and Wage and Hour Division to investigate and prosecute worker endangerment violations. The worker safety statutes generally provide for only misdemeanor penalties, and the new initiative will encourage them to use the federal criminal and penal code and environmental offenses, which often occur in conjunction with worker safety crimes, to enhance penalties and increase deterrence.
Markets | Sun Jan 3, 2016 10:36pm EST
SAN FRANCISCO | By Jonathan Spicer and Ann Saphir
Reuters/Lucas Jackson
One of the Federal Reserve’s hawkish officials said on Sunday that while she prefers a slightly more aggressive approach, she is not opposed to her colleagues’ view that the U.S. central bank needs to raise interest rates only four times this year.
Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, told Reuters in an interview she does not need to see clear evidence of inflation to back more policy tightening after an initial rate hike in mid-December. The Fed could act at any policy meeting, including one later in January, she said.
After lifting rates for the first time in nearly a decade, the Fed said further moves would be gradual and dependent on how the world’s top economy performs. The central bank last month forecasted four rate hikes in 2016, based on the median projection of its 17 top officials.
“I’m pretty comfortable with the median path … I think that’s not a bad description,” Mester, who votes on U.S. monetary policy this year under a rotation, said on the sidelines of an American Economic Association meeting.
“I’m probably a little steeper than that in the near term, just because I have a higher growth forecast.”
Mester expects the U.S. economy to grow at a 2.5 percent to 2.75 percent pace this year, slightly stronger than the 2.4-percent rate median forecast of her colleagues. That optimism allows her to view more than four rate hikes as appropriate, she said.
The comments from Mester, one of 10 voters on policy, suggests that while she leans toward marginally tighter policy than Chair Janet Yellen and others at the Fed, she may not be compelled to dissent.
“I think it’s reasonable to move on a gradual path, and I’m going to look at the data that comes in between now and the next meeting,” she said.
Last month’s rate hike from near zero was much anticipated but could yet upset world financial markets as the Fed weighs when to make another move. Traders in futures markets are predicting only two or three hikes this year.
Like most Fed officials, Mester, who has run the Cleveland Fed for a year and a half, expects inflation to rebound as the effects of weak oil prices and the strong dollar wane.
“I don’t see anything in the data that has changed the dynamics of inflation,” she told Reuters.
Evidence of inflation is not necessary for her to back another rate hike as long as her forecasts hold, Mester said. “Right now my forecast is that we will gradually see inflation move back up to 2 percent.”
The Fed’s target for inflation, which has been below target for years, is also 2 percent.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Happy Holidays!
One of the pleasures of each Holiday season is the opportunity to say “Thank you” for your business and team work which has made Gallman Consulting a successful company. When GPS started 30 years ago, we did not envision that our company would be the organization it is today.
It has been 30 years of empowering individuals, developing a staff team and business partners of which we are proud to be associated, and most importantly, working together to make a difference in the lives of all the people that surround us and whom we associate with every day. We are all truly privileged to work in a job where we can make a difference in the lives of others every day.
Wishing you and your loved ones all the wonder and magic of Christmas only to lead you into a very prosperous 2016!!
Blessings,
Charlie Gallman & Gallman Consulting Staff
Show some kindness on World Kindness Day
13 November 2015
World Kindness Day
World Kindness Day – Kindness is universally appreciated so why not show some on 13 November 2015!
Mark Twain summarised kindness when he said it is “the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see”.
World Kindness Day has been recognised in many countries throughout the world for a number of years. Driven by The World Kindness Movement, the day involves people around the world showing that we can think about more than ourselves and make the world a better place because of it.
In June 2010 Louise Burfitt-Dons and David Jamilly, both members of the World Kindness Movement and humanitarians, launched a Kindness Day UK. Their aim is to highlight good deeds done across the country.
Everyone’s idea of kindness is different. Helping an elderly person cross the road, giving someone a compliment, volunteering at a local children’s charity, or distributing baked goodies in your workplace – it all counts.
You’ll also notice a wide range of people quoted on kindness on the official homepage. From comedian Jo Brand to Kay Boycott at Shelter they only reinforce the significant role of kindness in a person’s life no matter who they are.
I thought I’d need to hop on a plane and go do some humanitarian work in an African orphanage or something equally as significant. But it turns out I can make the world better by being kind to the people around me. Its so simple yet so true.
So, whether you hold your tongue and don’t voice mean thoughts or do something proactive to be kind to others, you can play your part in the day.
For half a minute on 13 November, you are asked to contemplate kindness and selfless acts that have had a lasting impact on you. Nothing huge, or shouting it from the rooftops – it’s a gesture as gentle as the notion itself.
Remember what Wordsworth said; “the best bits of a man’s life are the simple, random acts of kindness and love”.
It really doesn’t take much to show someone somewhere an act of kindness – so what will you do on 13 November?
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy
“On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free.” – Dan Lipinski
“Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day.” – Charles B. Rangel
“Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” – Billy Graham
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” —Maya Angelou
“The young patriots now returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide are joining the ranks of veterans to whom America owes an immense debt of gratitude.” – Steve Buyer
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” —Elmer Davis
“Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” —Winston Churchill
“My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place—police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces.” —Sidney Sheldon
“I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance.” – James A. Autry
“Our veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.” – Bill Shuster
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” – George Washington
“Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don’t have that problem.” – Ronald Reagan
“This year’s Veterans Day celebration is especially significant as our country remains committed to fighting the War on Terror and as brave men and women are heroically defending our homeland.” – John Doolittle
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. “ —Joseph Campbell
“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.” — Michel de Montaigne
“While we can never truly repay the debt we owe our heroes, the least we should do for our brave veterans is to ensure that the government takes a proactive approach to delivering the services and benefits they have earned, so they can access the care they need and so richly deserve.” – Kristen Gillibrand
“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”- Dwight D. Eisenhower
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