Columns

Americans have forgotten about the Iraq war, which began 10 years ago this week, and the Afghan war, the longest in American history, but the U.S. government is still throwing its weight around in both countries.
 The Iraq war, the pretext for which was nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, officially ended in 2011 with the withdrawal of virtually all of America’s combat troops. But the havoc wreaked by the U.S. invasion and regime change goes on. Over a hundred thousand Iraqis were killed in the war itself, but many more died in the aftermath from sectarian violence and the obliterated infrastructure. (Iraq had never recovered from the destruction inflicted by the U.S. government in the 1991 Gulf War and in the decade of sanctions related to it.) Millions fled their homes.
 The U.S. occupation unleashed bitter sectarian violence, complete with U.S.-trained death squads, leading the numerically dominant Shiite Muslims (who are friendly to Iran) to cleanse the Sunnis from Baghdad. A Sunni insurgency against the occupation inflicted heavy casualties until American money managed to have the guns turned on the al-Qaeda affiliate, which was not in Iraq before the U.S. invasion.

Many Americans long to see where their talents as inventors or craftsmen or cooks can take them.
But businesses often struggle in their early years, and this makes some lenders wary of financing enterprises that don’t have an established track record.
After repeated rejections from potential funders, many entrepreneurs simply give up.
Organizations like Accion are one option for the aspiring entrepreneur who can’t secure a loan through a more traditional financial institution, such as a bank or credit union.
But getting a loan requires some groundwork, no matter where she looks.
The Five Cs
Traditional lenders evaluate loan requests on the basis of the client’s character, capital, collateral, capacity and conditions – the 5 C’s of credit.
The lender measures character by observing the client’s punctuality, organization and understanding of the size and purpose of the loan. They listen to what references say and what his credit history demonstrates about his commitment to pay off debts. They review the business plan to see how well it reflects the client’s experience, strategy and commitment.
Existing capital is a plus for an aspiring entrepreneur and a way for the lender to assess the borrower’s personal investment in the business.

Parents of special needs children have enough on their plates just tending to the health, educational and emotional needs of their kids — not to mention often having to cope with drastically lowered income because of reduced work hours or having to pay someone else for childcare.
So it’s not surprising that many of these parents haven’t had time to hatch a long-term financial plan in case their kids need care after they’re not around.
Fortunately, many government programs and community resources are available to help relieve the financial burden of parenting special needs children.
But eligibility criteria are complicated and the application process time-consuming. Plus, if you’re not careful, you or well-meaning relatives could inadvertently disqualify your kids for future benefits by not structuring their inheritances correctly.
Here’s a brief overview of key government assistance programs
The Social Security Administration provides two types of disability coverage: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI). Rules and eligibility requirements differ between the two programs — and benefits differ for children and adults.

When is a member of the state Legislature not a member of the state Legislature?
Have we a nonsense question here?
Perhaps, but it’s a conundrum with which the Legislature grappled late in the recent session, as it crafted a resolution defining which emails dispatched or received by a legislator should be subject to provisions of the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA).
Enacted in 1994, IPRA is a variation on the federal Freedom of Information Act, one of many such laws throughout the country designed to foster transparency and openness in the conduct of governmental affairs by permitting citizens access to public records.
Such laws have been pains in the butts for many elected officials who would rather not have their every action subject to public scrutiny.
Sarah Palin ran afoul of Alaska open records act while governor of that state when she used her private email to conduct “sensitive” public business and got slapped by her state’s Supreme Court for circumventing the law.
New Mexico’s Gov. Susana Martinez experienced similar grief after it was discovered that her administration was skirting the state’s IPRA by using private emails, whereupon the she announced that henceforth her staffers would conduct the public’s business via government email accounts.