How to Generate a million $ Business Idea

1. Think Like A Boss: Generate a boss’s attitude and think that you are the soul of your business. You have the responsibility to take your business a step further. You own a business because you have the capability for it and therefore you can also run your business with an excellent quality idea. So you are the boss & boss always has a good idea ready to be applied, you just need to fine tune your mind and there you are with a brilliant idea.

2. Interact With Other Successful Businessmen: When you interact with a few successful businessmen and talk about how they carry out their business and what kind of problems do they face and how do they tackle them. You will surely end up with some points to think over and this could just churn out a few interesting business ideas.
3. Move Out and Communicate: If you feel that just by sitting at home, cutting yourself from the world & thinking hard to get a worthy business idea is going to help you, then you are definitely wrong. You need to step out, meet people, and understand their problems and requirements. Search for the gap in the market where you can set up your business and there you are with a worthy business idea.

4. Internet Interaction: If you are at home and still would like to connect to the world sitting at your home, then INTERNET is the answer. You can meet millions of people right from the comforts of your home. Business chat rooms, Social networking sites, Business community forums are the right places for you to meet people who think like you. You can discuss various business issues and when two heads work together the results is always overwhelming, so imagine the results of many heads working together. By the end of discussion you learn new things & teach new things, thus you widen your horizon of knowledge and this will be very useful for you to come up with a genuine business idea.

5. Attend Seminars: Listening to tips regarding business from renowned businessmen or well-known business gurus is like listening from the horse’s mouth. You can come across various aspects in carrying out a successful business which you might have not known earlier. You can take down such points and later reflect upon them and while doing so, you may get a business idea.

6. Clear All Your Doubts: You need to know exactly and completely about the general ways to carry out a business. If you are unclear about the basics of business, how do you expect to get an idea to start a business? When you know something very deeply, that thing is there in your mind all the time and only then you can think of things to improve it. To clear all your queries about business ask a knowledgeable person in that field & openly and clearly without any hesitation get your doubts cleared.

7. Attend Trade Shows: This will get your mind in thinking mode. You will come across various facts. You’ll get to learn of valuable tips to carry out businesses and you never know a good businesses idea may just strike you.

8. Read Read Read!!!: Books, magazines, e-books, encyclopedias, newspapers all these are the conventional sources of getting ideas for your business, but mind you they are one of the most effective ones too. Collect such reading materials written by few well known, authors and go through everyone’s views and opinions on business. This would fuel your need to generate a business idea.

9. Listen To audio books: If you are among those busy people who hardly find time to even look at themselves then relax, you too have a solution. You can listen to the audio books while traveling, while eating, while getting ready for work. Paucity of time shouldn’t deter your will to get a business idea, apply it and lead a life of luxury and leisure.

10. Watch Business News Or Listen to Business Radio Stations: Watching T.V. can also help you out to hit across an idea. Watch business news channels and stay up to date of what’s going around all over the world, you get to know of how business is carried out all over the world. You can also update your facts about various businesses. This can encourage you to come across a business idea.

11. Read Motivating Success Stories: When you read someone’s success story, you surely get that feeling of ‘ I should have thought of something like that.’ You may feel that what could have made that person think of something as profitable as that. Your guess could in a way be close to if not the same as what the person would have thought. Sometimes other ideas can give rise to or make way for new ideas too.

12. Write Down Your Thoughts: Whenever you absorb someone’s thoughts, which is completely new to you, pen them down, add your own opinion to it and keep it ready for any reference. Sometimes writing down your thought process sharpens the way you think and puts light on points you would have otherwise overlooked. This could sometimes give rise to a business idea worth applying.

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Jobless claims down 2,000 last week

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell 2,000 last week, government data on Thursday showed, while the number of people still collecting benefits rose to its highest since April.

Initial filings for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to 322,000 for the week ended August 18 from an upwardly revised 324,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. Analysts on Wall Street had expected claims to measure 320,000 last week.

The four-week moving average of claims, which irons out weekly volatility to provide a better sense of underlying job-market trends, rose for the third straight week, climbing to 317,750 last week from 313,000.

U.S. government debt prices were little changed by the data.

The number of unemployed people still on the benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid rose to its highest level since mid-April.

“Continued claims continue to edge up,” said Christopher Low, chief economist for FTN Financial in New York. “It’s an indication of net hiring; the pace of hiring has slowed in recent weeks given the turmoil in the credit market.”

“There are about 12,000 layoffs in the mortgage industry in the last 10 days, some of which showed up in this report. But it hasn’t had a material impact,” Low said.

The number of so-called continued claims rose 16,000 to 2.57 million in the week ended August 11, the latest period for which these figures are available. It had been expected to come in at 2.56 million.

Discounts hiding in your wallet

If you belong to a professional organization or a discount club, if you support public radio or TV, or if you’ve reached a certain age, you may be entitled to a discount.

I like to think of myself as a frugal person, but researching this particular column has made me realize I’ve wasted hundreds of dollars in recent years.

What’s worse is that saving the money would have been easy. All I had to do was use the membership cards already in my wallet.

The discounts I missed out on range from a few bucks at our favorite local restaurants to 10% off online purchases at Target to more than $100 on the auto sound system for my husband’s car.

I would have continued on in blissful ignorance had I not reviewed an upcoming book, “Spending Smart,” by Gregory Karp, a money columnist for the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call. (Karp’s book will be published in February 2008.)

Karp mentioned some of the often-overlooked discounts associated with membership in organizations including AAA, AARP and warehouse stores like Costco. It didn’t take too much digging to find others.

Best deals in town
Here are some deals you may not know you can get:

AAA. The auto club is one of the biggest associations in North America, with 49 million members in the U.S. and Canada. Its roadside assistance, travel discounts and insurance plans are well known, but AAA’s affiliated regional clubs also negotiate a host of breaks on retail and service purchases as well. Among them:

* 10% off Circuit City purchases over $199

* 6% off Dell computers

* Up to 30% off purchases at LensCrafters and PearleVision

* 10% off at Target.com

* 15% off at Joann.com

* 10% off at Supercuts

* 20% off Geek Squad in-home, phone or Web services

My local association, the Auto Club of Southern California, also offers 15% off products at Al & Ed’s Autosound, where I got hubby’s car sound system.

Some of these discounts are available by presenting your AAA card at the participating retailer. Others require a coupon you can get from your regional club’s Web site (type in your ZIP code at the AAA site to find it) or require you to start your shopping from that site.

Warehouse clubs. Yes, you can buy a year’s supply of toilet paper at Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Warehouse. But these warehouse retailers have branched out considerably in recent years and now offer retirement plans, home-equity loans, vacations and caskets.

With all warehouse purchases, you shouldn’t assume you’re necessarily getting the best deal. (Even toilet paper can be purchased for less elsewhere with the right coupon and grocery-store sale.) But the clubs’ size and market clout often allow them to come up with some pretty good discounts, so they’re worth checking out if you’re a member.

All three clubs offer pharmacies and car-buying services. Other deals vary by club.

If you’re buying at retail stores you’re wasting money. Follow Donna Freedman as she explores a local thrift store in search of bargains.

Costco, for example, offers:

* Small business 401(k) plans

* Home-equity financing

* Funeral supplies, including caskets and urns

* Theme park and movie tickets

Sam’s Club has:

* Health insurance plans

* Pet insurance

* Auto financing

* Rotating “once in a lifetime” deals, such as the current offer of a trip to Tuscany for eight people for $54,000

BJ’s Wholesale Club offers:

* Vacation and cruise packages

* Health-care discounts

* A network of home improvement contractors

* Home heating oil

Continued: AARP, NRA and union savings

AARP. Like the auto club, the lobbying and educational association for folks 50 and older is well known for its insurance programs and travel discounts. But AARP offers some retail discounts as well, including:

* 35% off AARP titles at Barnes & Noble, including “Scam Proof Your Life,” “AARP Crash Course in Estate Planning” and “Caring for Your Parents: The Complete AARP Guide.”

* 20% off purchases at Reebok and Rockport outlet stores

* 4% off Home Depot gift cards

AARP also added an online marketplace that offers discounts of up to 35% off retail prices on a revolving list of products, including flat-screen TVs and navigation systems.

National Rifle Association. The primary lobby for gun enthusiasts offers members discounts on insurance, banking services and travel. NRA members also receive breaks on more unusual offerings, including:

* Log cabins

* Laser vision correction

* Holiday cards

* Prescription-drug plans

Public broadcasters. Donations to public radio or television stations often secure membership cards that offer 2-for-1 dining deals at local restaurants and discount admissions to area museums. But some of the cards offer a lot more.

Contribute to Texas Public Radio, for example, and you can get discounts at a wide variety of businesses, including free or discounted sessions with local dentists, doctors, lawyers and therapists.

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, a “Fringe Benefits” membership card from radio station KCRW wins discounts at over 800 restaurants, retailers, museums and other venues. These range from 10% off at local independent bookstores to 20% off yoga classes.

Professional associations and unions. A membership card for the National Association of Women Business Owners offers discounts at more than 100,000 businesses nationwide, including breaks on movie tickets, travel and dining. The National Education Association provides discounts on books, insurance and tax preparation, among other things. USAA, which started as an insurer for active-duty military and their families, has expanded into low-cost banking and financial services.

Hobbies. Membership in the American Quarter Horse Association brings discounts on FedEx shipping, John Deere tractors, even a $500 rebate on a Ford. Notre Dame alumni can get 37% off the price of a ThinkPad PC.

Treasure hunting in thrift stores
If you’re buying at retail stores you’re wasting money. Follow Donna Freedman as she explores a local thrift store in search of bargains.
Cashing in
These are just a start. With all membership discounts, you should keep in mind the following:

* You’ve got to keep up. Consider bookmarking your associations’ Web sites and checking in every few months, or before a major purchase, for updates. If the association sends out brochures describing their discounts, leaf through those as well.

* Don’t stop shopping. Your association’s deal might not be the best available. A good haggler, for example, is likely to get a better price than a car-buying service; financial services and insurance can be less expensive through nonaffiliated companies. You should check with competitors and use MSN Shopping or other consumer search engines to compare prices for products you’re thinking of buying.

* It doesn’t hurt to ask. Before you ask for your check at a restaurant or hand over your credit card to a clerk, ask what discounts are available. You may learn of some, like senior-citizen breaks or military discounts, that don’t require a specific membership. In any case, you’ll want to keep your membership cards in your wallet to make it easy for you to cash in.

Labor Shortages: Myth and Reality

With higher pay, there are plenty of U.S. workers to fill jobs, some economists say

This story is the first in a series examining the state of the U.S. labor market.

How tight is the U.S. labor market? At 4.6% of the workforce, the official unemployment rate is certainly low by historical standards. In industries from agriculture to construction, to health care and high tech, employers complain that there aren’t enough workers to fill positions (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/9/07, “Where Are All the Workers?”).

Many fear it’ll get worse in the wake of the Bush Administration’s decision to crack down on undocumented workers. Construction companies say offices and highways may not get built. Farmers talk of crops rotting in the fields, as illegal immigrants flee and Americans refuse to take up the plow. “Who will be there to put meat and vegetables on American dinner tables?” says Craig Regelbrugge, co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform and spokesman for the American Nursery & Landscape Assn. “The only unaffected group will be Americans who do not eat.” (See BusinessWeek.com, 8/14/07, “Immigration Rules: An Economic Disaster?”).
Exaggerated Worries?

David Rosenberg isn’t buying it. A North American economist at Merrill Lynch (MER), he is one of a number of economists who say the concerns about too few workers are vastly overblown. Rosenberg recently studied the issue and put out a report entitled Is There a Labor Shortage? If employers are having trouble filling jobs, “perhaps they’re not looking hard enough,” he says.

The issue may not be the number of workers, but rather the level of pay. Economists like Rosenberg argue that in a market economy, there’s really no such thing as a true shortage. If you want more of something, you can pay more and have it. When employers say that there’s a worker shortage, what they really mean is they can’t get enough workers at the price they want to pay, the argument goes. “While it makes for nice cocktail conversation, the data aren’t saying there is an acute labor shortage in this country,” Rosenberg says.

Consider the numbers. Even as the unemployment rate has declined in recent years, millions of Americans have left the workforce and stopped looking for jobs. The government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has a dedicated category for “discouraged” workers who believe no positions are available to them. If the percentage of Americans participating in the workforce were the same now as it was in 2000, the number officially counted as unemployed would be 9.1 million, rather than 7.1 million. The unemployment rate would be 5.8%, instead of 4.6%.
What the Price of Labor Says

Rosenberg argues the simplest way to gauge whether there’s a worker shortage is to look at the price of labor. According to the basic laws of economics, the tighter the supply of labor, the more it should cost. So if the economy were operating with full or near-full employment, we would be seeing an “explosion in labor compensation,” he says.

The price of labor, however, is hardly surging. In fact, key indicators of employee costs show they are tracking or trailing inflation. Average hourly earnings are running at 3.9% year over year, and the employment cost index is at 3.5% year over year.

Most Americans certainly aren’t finding their incomes exploding. The wages of 80% of the U.S. workforce—made up of nonsupervisory workers—have been stagnating since the late-1990s boom ended. On Aug. 20, the government released data that showed the average household income increased 4.1% in 2005, to $55,238. But that’s still below the average household income in 2000.

To be sure, there are plenty of economists who agree with employers that there is a serious labor shortage. “We are physically out of bodies,” says Edward Yardeni, president and chief strategist for investment firm Yardeni Research. “We’ve run out of homegrown labor, and become more and more dependent on immigration, legal and illegal.”

Employee costs are not an accurate yardstick, Yardeni says. He says workers are currently paid according to how productive they are, and it would be destructive to raise wages “willy-nilly” to attract more workers. That is, employers can only afford to pay workers in keeping with their value, and not solely to fill positions. “In a competitive global marketplace, the only way you’re going to pay workers more and manage to stay in business is to tie compensation to productivity,” says Yardeni.
Just Pay More?

But some economists and worker advocates argue the concept of a labor shortage is simply being used to keep wages down. “Employers are very quick to raise the specter of a labor shortage, but often it’s another way of saying they can’t find the workers they want at the price they’re paying,” says Jared Bernstein, senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington. “They are unwilling to meet the price signal the market is sending, so they seek help in the form of a spigot like immigration.”

Many employers look to workers from abroad when they’re having trouble hiring. In agriculture, an estimated 70% of the workers are undocumented immigrants. In construction, foreign workers play a key role. And technology companies such as Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Oracle (ORCL), and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) have been active participants in visa programs like H-1B, hiring foreign workers for computer programming and project management positions in the U.S. They’ve even joined together in lobby groups like Compete America to advocate for more foreign workers, both temporary and permanent.

Such moves infuriate American workers in engineering and computer science. “We don’t believe that there is a labor shortage,” says Kim Berry, president of the Programmers Guild. “There is perhaps a shortage of people willing to work at the salary being offered because those rates are now being set by visa programs like H-1B. But you’ll attract the best and brightest [U.S. workers] if the price is right,” (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/6/07, “Skilled Workers Deserve True Visa Reform”).

The truth may involve shades of gray. “There is not a general labor shortage in the U.S.,” says David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s, which, like BusinessWeek, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Cos. (MHP). “There is a shortage of people willing to do grunt work for low wages—the kind of shortage you want—and a shortage in high-skilled jobs like scientists and engineers.”

Still, Rosenberg, Bernstein, and other skeptics remain wary of proclamations that workers simply can’t be found. “I’m a trained economist,” says Bernstein. “I can’t sign on to the idea that there are jobs people won’t do at any price.”

Way Too Good for Facebook or MySpace?

For the rich and well-connected who don’t want to rub elbows with those who aren’t, exclusive social networks pledge to keep out the riff-raff

Roger Allen Conner Jr. has little use for the common folk who frequent MySpace (NWS) and Facebook—you know, the clubs anyone can join. “A lot of social-networking sites are very low-quality,” says Conner, the 22-year-old founder of a North Carolina consulting firm named SiloIQ. “The type of individuals that are on these social-networking sites are generally not well-networked themselves.”

Not even a business-oriented network like LinkedIn will do. To put it bluntly, Conner wants powerful friends: the kind of people who board private jets after cutting business deals. People who don’t get stopped by the bouncer at New York’s Bungalow 8 nightclub. People with connections who can open doors and get his company noticed. People with log-ins to aSmallWorld.

Better known as “aSW” to its members, aSmallWorld is one of a handful of private online social networks where big is bad.
Online Country Clubs

Membership in these networks, not unlike the exclusive country clubs where the rich and powerful hobnob, is carefully guarded. At aSW, only a subset of established members have the power to invite new users to join. In developing the site, founder Erik Wachtmeister rejected the prevailing Web 2.0 business model of attracting large audiences so you can sell ads to big brands. Instead, he confines membership to the relatively small group of people who travel in the same elite, often moneyed, social circles. “The site is not very valuable if it is polluted by people you don’t know,” says Wachtmeister. His goal was “to create a private place where people could be much more forthcoming with information.”

Critics are split into two camps: Some call aSW dreadfully elitist, while others say it’s not exclusive enough. Nonmembers have nicknamed the site “Snobster,” arguing that its invitation-only policy contradicts the premise of open communications upon which the Web was built. Then there are those on the inside who complain that, in an effort to become profitable, aSW is accepting less “valuable” members.

While there’s little argument that aSW is growing fast, what constitutes too fast is open to debate. In the three-and-a-half years since its launch, membership has grown from 500 users to about 260,000. But MySpace has grown to more than 100 million members over a similar timeframe, making it a major recipient of the $900 million that research firm eMarketer estimates will be spent on social-network advertising this year.

For now, aSW appears to be an online gateway to the upper echelons of the social stratosphere. Although Wachtmeister won’t name-drop when it comes to aSW users, a search of the site’s member lists reveals plenty of twenty- and thirtysomething investment bankers, fashion-industry types, CEOs, and recognizable last names: Firestone, Rockefeller, Forbes, Trump (see BusinessWeek, 8/20/07, “High-Net-Worth Networking”).
Cheating Discouraged

On InviteShare.com, a site where users seek invitations for Web services that are in testing or aren’t open to the public, there’s a 647-name waiting list for invites to aSW. Conner is among those hoping that an aSW member will invite them. Some would-be members would even be content to borrow a member’s log-in—an offense worthy of expulsion to Big World, a section of aSW where your privileges are sharply curtailed.

Luxury advertisers, many of which shun the mainstream social networks, see aSW as a place where they can reach wealthy consumers and promote their products without losing brand cachet. Notably, the site already features classified ads where people sell classic Jaguars, yachts, and Cartier watches. Advertisers include champagne producer Moët & Chandon (LVMH) and private-jet company Sentient.

Yet to make aSW a financial success, Wachtmeister has to balance demand for exclusivity against an advertiser’s hunger to reach more eyeballs. Wachtmeister says aSW, which has 35 employees, is nearing profitability. And he rejects any suggestion that standards are being lowered as it grows. “The new members we get today could be as good, if not better, than some of the members we got a year ago,” he says. “We can go a long way before we have to worry.”

Some aSW members disagree. They argue that the site has accepted people who don’t have much in common with the original group of 500, hand-selected by Wachtmeister, an investment banker and the son of a Swedish diplomat.
Disgruntled Jet Set

On one of the site’s discussion boards, a member lamented that a real-world party recently promoted on the site was attended by people whom he didn’t recognize as aSW members. In response, another member wrote: “I’ve been to a few aSW-only events that one would have thought were Facebook (or even MySpace) people.” Another complained: “Here in Spain, a great share of people becoming members nowadays do not match the original profile of 2004, 2005 [admitted members]. At all.”

Naturally, discontent among some aSW members has encouraged a handful of would-be competitors to launch social-networking and event sites pledging to be even more exclusive.

BeautifulPeople.net promises members the “most beautifully, exclusive little black book in the world.” The site asks potential members to submit photos and profile information for review by existing members. Members pay subscription fees.

DiamondLounge, which bills itself as a private members’ club for the rich, famous, and powerful, plans to launch Oct. 1. Arya Marafie, DiamondLounge’s managing director, says members will be accepted by invitation or by submitting a Web application. Rival sites, Marafie says, bill themselves as networks for “for millionaires and beautiful people, and then they let everyone in. DiamondLounge is a whole lot more exclusive.”

Rather than seek ad revenue, DiamondLounge will rely on subscription fees and extra charges for premium services, such as the use of online conferencing services. Marafie says the club will shoot for 5,000 to 20,000 members and plans to host members-only, “red carpet” events in the real world, perhaps with sponsorship from advertisers.
Mainstream in Disguise

Real-world events are a key attraction of aSmallWorld. Every day, happenings are listed for people in hot spots such as Beijing, Cannes, Dubai, Paris, New York City, and the Hamptons. Some events are intimate gatherings thrown by aSW members simply to connect with others in the network. One recent event, a Hudson River sailing expedition, brought together about 10 people who sipped white wine and socialized while cruising up and down the river. “If you are a member, it gives people the impression that you are vouched for,” says aSW member Dennis Lin, a 30-year-old project manager for a Manhattan financial-software company. “It allows people to let down their guard a little bit, and they are more open to going out.”

But some events listed on aSW are just mainstream events in disguise, posted by publicists who have gained access to the site’s message boards. These soirees, like a recent one held at a large New York lounge called the Forum, can be indistinguishable from any other event. Most people at the Forum that night—including the bouncer—had never heard of aSmallWorld. They had simply heard that the sponsor was giving away rum-based drinks for the first hour.

While some aSW members are peeved, there are plenty who like the idea of aSmallWorld that’s large. Some are eagerly awaiting the day they might get invite privileges so they can move over their Facebook contacts. “What’s wrong with meeting new people?” wrote one member. “What did you use to do before the Internet when you had to rub shoulders with all the common riff-raff? Don’t be such a snob.”

Immigration Rules: An Economic Disaster?

Homeland Security’s plan to crack down on employers will gut industries of workers and drive more immigrants underground, say opponents

Employers and immigrant rights groups are speaking out against rules announced Aug. 10 by the Bush Administration requiring employers to fire workers without valid Social Security numbers. Opponents argue that the regulations, effective in one month, will create a disastrous ripple effect in the U.S. economy and disrupt the lives of an estimated 12 million undocumented people in the U.S.

“Throwing this rock in the pond will have devastating consequences,” says Craig Regelbrugge, co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform and spokesman for the American Nursery & Landscape Assn. “The anti-immigrant crowd hasn’t thought through what would happen if this entire workforce went away. Who will be there to put meat and vegetables on American dinner tables? The only unaffected group will be Americans who do not eat.”

Industries that employ large numbers of undocumented workers, such as agriculture, construction, cleaning, and maintenance, will be disproportionately affected by the rules. Regelbrugge estimates, for example, that fully 70% of all U.S. agricultural jobs are now occupied by undocumented immigrants. “There’s panic right now in the agricultural sector,” says Regelbrugge. “[The policy] will force employers to either fire experienced, trained workers or put their head down and hope law doesn’t catch up with them.”
Clear Guidelines

The rules, released following Congress’ failure in June to pass comprehensive immigration reform, mandate that employers get rid of workers whose names do not match up with their reported Social Security numbers. Companies have 90 days after the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out a “no-match” letter—detailing when a number submitted to the SSA isn’t consistent with the name on file—to resolve the discrepancy or fire the worker. The regulations were announced by Homeland Security Dept. Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez during a press conference last week.

Employers who fail to comply will face fines of up to $11,000 per worker and up to six months’ jail time. Administration officials also announced that they would speed up construction of fences along the Mexican border, hire more border patrol agents, and detain more undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border.

Until now, the government did not issue clear guidelines for employers to follow upon receipt of “no-match” letters from the SSA. Under a 1986 law, employers must ask job applicants for documents to verify they are U.S. citizens or authorized to work in the U.S. Many undocumented workers obtain false identification papers in order to work. It is estimated that 75% of the undocumented population is currently working with false Social Security numbers, with the remaining quarter in the cash economy.
Strong Reactions

Asked about employers’ reaction to the announcement, Homeland Security Dept. Spokesman Russ Knocke says he expects compliance, and the department will aggressively pursue those who fail to do so. “Everyone understands we have a job to do, and we’re very serious about getting that job done,” says Knocke. “Now there is an opportunity to do the right thing or the wrong thing. And if employers do the wrong thing, they’re really going to regret it.”

But critics say the changes are damaging and a far cry from the even-handed immigration reform many had hoped for. “This isn’t so much reform as it is a power grab from the Department of Homeland Security to do through regulation what failed in legislation,” says Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, like many business groups, has favored a guest worker program.

“The bottom line is that this punishes employers for the lack of action by our legislature,” says Mark Gould, president of Gould Construction, a heavy construction and highway contractor based in Glenwood Springs, Colo. “One month ago, Bush said he was for a guest worker program, and now he says, ‘Go and fire them all.’ The dots aren’t connecting for me.” Gould says his workforce of 125 are legal immigrants, but argues that businesses need more workers to have a legal path to employment in the U.S. to solve a labor shortage. His firm has 10 open positions he cannot fill.

The agricultural sector, which depends heavily on migrant labor, may be the hardest hit. “It’s going to be crazy,” says Eli Kantor, a Beverly Hills-based immigration attorney: “There will be major disruptions to the economy of Southern California, [which is] heavily dependent on immigrant labor. There will be crops rotting in the fields.” Kantor says he expects some of his clients to lay staff off, while he expects others will “take their chances.”
Degrees of Impact

Others warn of unintended consequences including job losses for immigrants and native-born Americans alike. “The consequences for the economy will ripple out far beyond the individual immigrants who lose or change their jobs,” says Douglas Rivlin, a spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington. “Businesses may close or move off-shore because of the loss of workers and the costs of compliance while downstream processing, shipping, and retailing businesses will also feel the impact. This will hurt many native-born workers who depend on these jobs—all so we can appear to be ‘getting tough.’”

Some companies say the stepped-up rules will not impact their businesses because they are in compliance with the law. “We already take action on no-match letters from the Social Security Administration,” said Libby Lawson, spokesperson for Tyson Foods (TSN) in an e-mail statement. “For years, it’s been our practice to actively respond when the government notifies us of a problem with a worker’s Social Security number.”

Labor unions, which in previous decades sought to restrict immigration, are now speaking out in support of undocumented workers, who are among their members. “This rule change is the wrong solution to the problem,” says Eliseo Medina, executive vice-president of the 1.4 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “It’s a knee-jerk reaction to the failure of immigration reform in the Senate. It will cause a whole lot of misery for workers, and huge problems for the economy.”
An Informal Economy?

Medina warns that apart from causing hardship for workers and severe labor shortages in some industries, the new rules could have the unintended consequence of expanding the underground economy. “It’s going to create a cat-and-mouse game,” says Medina. “Workers will be forced into an informal economy where employers pay cash and operate entirely off the books. This is dangerous for immigrants, and will only pull down wages and benefits for American workers. Bottom-feeding employers are going to have a field day with this.”

Medina says fear is spreading throughout the immigrant community, and that the SEIU is developing a program to inform workers of their legal rights. The SEIU is also in discussions with employers, cooperating at times to voice opposition to the new rules.

In the meantime, many employer and immigrant advocates say they don’t expect positive steps in immigration reform until Congress manages to pass legislation. “This thing will get worse until we figure out how to reform immigration laws,” says Medina. “I’m afraid we’re entering into a very difficult period.”

Penis enlargement effective and safe?

When thinking about penis enlargement one may consider many questions: Is it effective? Is it safe? Is it permanent? The answer to all these questions is very simple: it depends on the method used; there are effective and ineffective methods.

Among these last ones: pills, patches, vacuum pumps, weights and massages are considered miracle methods and are dangerous.

Penis Facts - The Real Truth On Penis Enlargement

The penis enlargement sector has been really run down by the numerous spam emails we all get in our email box everyday. But there are only two methods which through scientific have been proven to be effective: surgery and penile extenders by traction.

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The penis enlargement surgery is called Phalloplasty. In this procedure, the enlargement is achieved by cutting the basal penile ligament, revealing part of the penis shaft which is inside the pubis. It is a complex procedure and the results are not guaranteed. According to a recent study by St Peter’s Andrology Centre, two out of three patients who had penis enlargement surgery where not happy with the results, obtaining an average growth of only 0.51 inches.

The most effective method and the one that involves the least risks is the penile extender by traction. The only extender that guarantees its effectiveness with scientific studies explains: “with a penile extender the size of the penis can increase 1.2 to 1.6 inches in length and 0.4 inches in girth with a proven 97.5 percent rate of effectiveness. All is achieved without pain, without expensive surgery and what is most important, the inches gained are forever.”

Andropenis is not solely used for penis enlargement; it is used by urologist to correct curvatures and by surgeons for post-phalloplasty surgery treatment to avoid scar retraction. It should be worn between 6 and 9 hours per day for 6 to 8 months. The average monthly growth is approximately 0.2 inches.

Penile extenders apply tension through traction on the penile tissues. The principle of traction is also used in plastic surgery for tissue expansion. The regeneration of new tissue is used to cover coetaneous or skin defects, burns, and areas of hair loss.

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