RICAD

Amadou Samba BA’s vast business empire has been attributed to his closeness to Gambia’s ruling class, especially the country’s presidency, now held by Yahya Jammeh. It is alleged that the president has used Amadou Samba BA and other prominent Gambian individuals as proxies in acquiring properties and siphoning taxpayers hard earned money. In particular, it is alleged that over 50 million Gambian Dalasis have been siphoned from the Gambia Social Security Fund and Housing Finance Corporation to finance the operations of various private Gambian companies almost considered as state corporations. Most of such companies are closely associated with Amadou Samba BA. He is both the owner and chair or holds majority shares in such companies.

Amadou Samba BA and the president are known to have a close business working relationship, forming and operating joint business ventures that are highly suspected to be funded by funds from the country’s Social Security Fund and Housing Finance Corporation unprocedurally. It is alleged that the siphoned funds were used to fund the operations of GAMCO, a local business outfit closely linked to Amadou Samba BA and which apart from buying groundnuts from local farmers, also undertakes other business activities in the country. The other project that the siphoned funds have been alleged to have been channeled into is the Amie’s Beach Hotel, renamed Ocean Bay Hotel after it abandoned by Babanding Sissoho, a Malian millionaire who used to own and operate the hotel. He abandoned the hotel after receiving reports that he was wanted by the state on unspecified allegations. It is alleged that the funds that were used in reconstructing the hotel were from the SSHFC.

Another project in which money siphoned from SSHFC is alleged to have been used is the acquisition of the Daily Observer, a local thriving daily newspaper publication. Although Amadou Samba BA is the main figure involved in the purchase, most Gambians believe that he was merely acting on behalf of President Yahya Jammeh. Another area in which it is believed that Amadou Samba BA acted on behalf of the president is in the oil industry. As Nigeria granted Gambia thousands of crude oil tones as a gift in 2004, a private account was opened at Gambia’s Central Bank. All the funds that accrued from the sale of the oil were channeled into this private account, never to be traced. It is believed that Amadou Samba BA together with another Gambian, Edrissa Jobe were responsible.

The privatization of Gambian state corporations is another area from where Amadou Samba BA and the president are suspected to be siphoning public funds. GAMTEL, Gambia’s major telecommunications company was secretly sold off to Lebanese investors without due process of the law having been followed. The Gambia Government’s Financial Transaction Act requires that any state corporation earmarked for sale has to be tendered for and only sold to the highest bidder. GAMTEL was sold without any tendering process and no stakeholders were ever informed of its sale. It is believed that Amadou Samba BA was the person responsible for negotiating with the Lebanese investors.

The 10 most popular software applications in healthcare all aim to help make healthcare services better and easier to manage. They can do all kinds of things and the ones that are best for any one healthcare provider will depend on the needs of that provider. But no matter the provider, these 10 software application in healthcare are the most popular.

FreeMED

FreeMED is an excellent software application for any type of medical practice. It can assist you with the basic tasks of running a medical practice like maintaining patient medical records.

OpenEMR

This software application does everything you need it to. It can help with keeping track of patient medical records as well as with prescription writing and billing tasks. It also possesses a calendar feature so that you will have no trouble creating an easily usable appointment calendar.

SmartCare

This software application has the goal of providing affordable health information management software to everyone. Through the use of electronic records, medical care services can be improved and that is exactly the purpose of this system. It aims to make sure everyone has a medical record that is accessible anytime through the system and that the medical record is always up-to-date.

ClearHealth

ClearHealth is meant to cover all aspects of medical practice management. It covers all the basic requirements of this type of software like patient registration, scheduling, electronic medical records, billing, and more.

Open Dental

This is more of a niche software application in that it clearly caters to dental practices. This application makes it so that it couldn’t be simpler to set up or change appointments. To the extent possible, patient records are automatically checked for errors. The system makes it easy to send out emails and letters to remind patients of appointments.

HOSxP

This software application is geared toward hospitals and finds itself in use in Thailand. This one is made to help facilitate the daily functions of medical facilities.

OpenMRS

This popular software application seeks to provide developing countries with the quality medical practice management software that they need. It is designed with the limited resources often found in developing countries in mind.

OSCAR McMaster

This is yet another option for the keeping of electronic medical records. It can hold all kinds of patient information including their history, various forms, and any progress notes that may be added to the record over time.

DHIS

This software application is known for being a health information management system. It can maintain an impressive data warehouse that is necessary in healthcare practices.

Caisis

This final software application means to combine clinical tasks with research goals. It allows for research data collection and the regular management of a medical practice.

These are the 10 most popular software applications in healthcare. With all the options out there these have become the most popular. All seek to help improve the delivery of the healthcare services that people need. And of course it doesn’t matter which one works for a medical practice as long as it works.

Tom R. Rheinecker is happiest when writing about getting a masters in healthcare management.

Contemplating what may happen to your wife (or husband) and children if you die is not likely to be a thought you wish to contemplate. However, avoiding the issue may make life more difficult for your family after your death.

Life insurance looks set to make a comeback in the UK, after a period of neglect by consumers who were simply occupied with affording a home. The stabilising of the UK house market has made many consumers take a broader view to their personal finances.

LifeSearch (a life insurance broker), in the September issue of Money Observer, highlighted a few common mistakes people make when buying life insurance:

* Believing life insurance is relevant to everyone
Life insurance is only relevant to people who have financial dependents. If you have no financial dependents, it might be more appropriate to consider income protection or critical illness insurance.

* Paying too much for life insurance
According to Money Observer, research for Sainsbury’s Bank Life Insurance revealed that many people take life insurance policies from their mortgage providers and as a result could be paying too much.

* Opting to buy joint life insurance policies instead of single life insurance policies
The advice to married couples is to avoid taking out joint life insurance policies which pay out when the first spouse dies over the term of the policy, but not on the second. Single policies could provide additional cover by paying just an extra £3-4 a month.

* Missing out on a trust
The Tax Man can claim up to 40% of your life insurance payout as inheritance tax. According to Money Observer, those with assets totalling £275,000 or more (including a house) are especially prone to tax inspection. Writing your policy in trust is a way to avoid this and as a trust does not have to go through probate, beneficiaries of the policy will receive the payment without delay.

* Only insuring the main earner
Whilst it is important to cover the main breadwinner, by neglecting to additionally insure the housewife or househusband may result in extra child care costs. Family income benefit (FIB) may be an appropriate policy to put in place.

* Opting for a lump sum over income
If your dependents are likely to require an income, then buying a policy that pays out a lump sum is a mistake. Many people invest lump sums for an income, but when they invest it, they have to pay tax. Family income benefit provides a larger payout – tax free, though the majority of banks and building societies do not offer FIB, so ask an Independent Financial Advisor for recommendations.

* Not proving full medical records or detailing comprehensive medical history
Failure to disclose a complete picture of your health, no matter how trivial, could invalidate a claim later on.

There’s no excuse for not conducting your own homework, as there is an abundance of information available online. Sites such as moneynet, provide not only price comparison research on difference life insurance products, they also offer downloadable consumer product guides.

If you are struggling with money and debt here are some
things you can do to help. Admit to yourself that you have
to much debt. It is very easy to strugle on each month
robbing Peter to pay Paul without getting to grips with the
problem. If you are spending more than 10%-15% of your
income (excluding a mortgage) on debt repayments you are
probably financially stretched. List out how much you owe
on credit cards and loans etc. It will come as a shock so be
prepared! Also list out what the repayments are on each.
Check if your spending on debt servicing is higher than 10-
15 % of your income.

If it is, here are some options to sort out the problem. If
you can, increase your income. You may be eligible for
government money such as tax credits or help with council
tax or rent if you are on a low income. Alternatively you
may be able to get a part time job or rent out the spare
room.

If it is not possible to increase your income you need to
look at ways of reducing your spending. Are there things you
can cut down on? Start buying cheaper products at the
supermarket. It is amazing how much your grocery bill can be
reduced by buying “own brands”.

If increasing your income or reducing your expenditure is
not possible or insufficient then write to the people you
owe money to and explain the situation and ask them to
suspend the interest so that you can start to reduce what
you owe them. This is known as an informal arrangement.
More formally you can arrange for a legally binding
agreement with your creditors called an Individual Voluntary
Arrangement. This will often reduce the total amount you owe
by a considerable amount. The other main way of getting rid
of uncontrollable debts is bankruptcy, this has been made
easier and simpler of late. You should get some advice about
these options from the local Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

The main thing to do if your are struggling financially is
to do something about it, before it gets worse.

Each fall, millions of moms and dads spend countless hours purchasing back-to-school necessities for their children. While some parents equip their child with the latest gizmo — a personal digital assistant (PDA) or cell phone, for example — most know that “the basics” like paper, pencils and folders are essential learning tools to secure their children’s future.

Unfortunately, many parents ignore a simple financial back-to-school basic. They often buy the latest gadget for their kids but then fail to carry a critical component for their family’s future and their children’s education — namely, adequate life insurance coverage.

“If a parent is worried about his or her child’s education, he or she should also worry about having the financial protection underpinning those plans that life insurance can offer,” says Todd Gillingham, JD, CLU, ChFC, a partner with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. “Without adequate insurance protection, every parent’s best laid education plans will fall apart under the financial burden left on their surviving children.”

Regardless of your income or assets, life insurance is the key to protecting the financial future of your loved ones and “should be the foundation on which other goals are built,” says Gillingham.

Surveys show that roughly one-third of American adults have no life insurance protection and, of those with coverage, nearly one-third have coverage that is less than one time their annual income — not nearly enough for long-term family protection. Four in 10 single parents have no life insurance coverage of any kind. Perhaps this is why the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education found that nearly half of Americans (48 percent) say they are worried that if they die tomorrow their loved ones would not be financially secure.

“Various funding vehicles such as 529 plans and Coverdell education accounts can often grab the headlines,” says Gillingham. “While these are important ways of saving, they can lead parents to mistakenly ignore their life insurance needs. Such an oversight can be financially devastating.”

Without the protection life insurance offers, financial security is often illusory. In the case of premature death, life insurance helps families pay for living expenses — including mortgage and education payments — when the income of a loved one is lost. Without this protection, the resulting financial stress frequently undermines all other goals.

Beyond daily expenses, life insurance protects against sharp reductions in future pension and social security payments by replacing assets cut short by premature death. For example, anticipated assets in an individual’s retirement plan may be reduced by 50 percent or more simply because the individual’s death interrupts the long-term growth of the assets within the individual’s plan. Business owners and those with significant assets also use life insurance to pass those assets to their children in a tax-efficient manner or as a vehicle for charitable gifts to nonprofit organizations. Without life insurance’s special tax privileges, many families would lose the family business or not be able to leave a lasting legacy to the cause or organization of their choosing.

“These benefits aside, the fundamental reason for life insurance remains the protection of your family and your financial programs,” says Thrivent Financial’s Gillingham. “Death often strikes when we don’t expect it, so goals that require continuing funding such as a child’s education are especially vulnerable to death’s effects.”

While shopping for school supplies this fall, remember this back-to-school lesson — the essentials come first. Says Gillingham, “adequate life insurance is one back-to-school basic parents should simply not live without.”

The decision to get married is a big one in anyone’s life. Nowadays, it is common for people, men and women alike, to secure themselves a career and a stable financial background. No one wants to be poor, and everyone wants to provide for their family. This method of thinking is very positive, producing quality families that are self-reliant and responsible.

With the responsibility of marriage comes the forethought to the marriage. No, I’m not talking about rings and wedding receptions, I’m talking about financial security for both the parties involved. If you are one of these forward thinking people who are entering into marriage only after having secured a good career with a solid income and a secure financial portfolio, then you need to consider the other securities about marriage.

Think of marriage as being similar to a contract you sign with your employer. You sign this contract promising to provide certain services, different levels of employment and responsibility, things you can do, things you can’t and won’t do. This is common in the workplace to sign these types of contracts. Marriage should be entered into in much the same fashion, with forethought and planning about who is responsible for what and when, where, how and why. If you enter into the contract with x-amount of assets, you should be entitled to leave with the same number that you came with, plus half of whatever you and your spouse accumulated together.

This may sound like you are splitting hairs with your spouse and you’re probably afraid that your spouse will think that you don’t trust them. It’s not about trust. It’s about responsibility for yourself, your actions and protecting yourself from the actions of others. Likewise for your spouse, a prenuptial agreement will cover their assets as well as yours. Everyone wins, no one loses what isn’t rightfully theirs and your marriage starts out with the boundaries set regarding these sticky financial issues.

The real truth is that your spouse will likely be happy that you brought up the idea of a prenuptial agreement; chances are they are thinking of the same thing. It’s only fair to protect ‘what’s mine is mine’, especially when you have worked so hard to achieve these things.

As a fiscally responsible married couple, or couple about to be married, it’s only fair that you are both upfront and honest with each other about your full intentions before you say I do. These discussions do, at some point, have to include finances. Who exactly is going to be responsible for the payments on the mortgage? Are they to be made equally? Who is going to front the money for the down-payment? If only one person is fronting the money to purchase a house, is that money considered a ‘marital asset’ or does that money essentially belong to the spouse who originally fronted the money? This is only a very slight glimpse at the questions you and your spouse should answer before the ‘do you promise to honor and keep her…for richer or for poorer…until death do you part’ question comes up.

Notice that “for richer or poorer” is mentioned in wedding vows. When the person performing your wedding ceremony asks this question, you and your spouse can both honestly answer “I do” if you have a prenuptial agreement, because you have already talked about the tough stuff. You can now sit back and enjoy your marriage to it’s fullest without any of the worries that will have been washed away with your prenuptial agreement. Both of you can sleep easy, and live fully, by signing an agreed upon prenuptial agreement

For those outside of the ‘wide breadth of consumer and credit card debt knowledge’ inner circle, the debt negotiation truth is this: not even the best debt negotiation companies may be right for you.

For starters, debtors have differing situations – one may be falling behind on his monthly mortgage payments, while another debtor is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy after seven renters moved out of his eight-unit rental property. Deciding on fine debt negotiation companies depends on your situation.

Have Debt Negotiation Companies Meet Your Own Criteria

Selecting a proven debt negotiation company is a part of the selecting a debt negotiation company truth. Notice their track record and verify their credentials by phone and in person regarding the number of negotiation clients they´ve served, rather than through the Internet chockful of potential debtor related scams.

In addition to a solid debt negotiation plan, the Grade A debt negotiation companies also throw valuable literature at you educating you about the intricacies of the game. The true companies should also offer credit counseling as well – planting you on the right pivot foot presenting you with a myriad of ways to control and manage your finances by exploring ways to negotiate debt.

The most bona fide way to pinpoint a debt negotiation company´s effectiveness is by finding out its reputation. If the company has been featured in a host of debt publications and news channels, that is a plus.

Servicing a wide range of debtors nationwide (not limited to a couple of states) is also a criteria of the best companies. Find out the in & outs of all of the debt negotiation companies – and the truth shall come separating the scams from the real.

Do you need affordable term life insurance? This seems to be the million-dollar question. When you want to purchase life insurance you often do not know how much you need or if there is such a thing as having too much life insurance. What constitutes affordable life insurance and how much you need is totally dependant upon your own situation.

Don’t be fooled into determining the amount of insurance you should have to what your best friend or neighbour has. Remember, every situation is unique and your needs will be unique. Your need will be determined by what you wish to see happen in the event of your death. You do have to look at the life insurance cost of the premiums and decide how much you can afford from your monthly budget. There is affordable life insurance available at very low premiums and that will help your family out in the event of your death.

When considering what affordable life insurance is needed in a family situation, you need to do a life insurance comparison. This will help you get the most affordable rates and there are countless life insurance companies able to help you in this regard.

In order to determine how much life insurance you should have, a number of factors need to be considered. For a person with family needs, these may include such things as:
· Do you have dependents? If so, how long will they be dependent upon you?
· Do you have children? If so, how old are they?
· Do you want to insure your children have a post secondary education?
· Will your household income be greatly reduced upon your death? If so, how much income do you need to replace so your family maintains their standard of living?
· How long will you need to replace your household income?
· What taxes may be incurred upon your death?
· Do you need to cover debt obligations such as loans or a mortgage?

When you try to determine whether or not you can afford life insurance, think about whether or not your family can afford to be without affordable life insurance.

You can find affordable term life insurance, but you need to establish exactly what you need first.

Actually in our class there are only 5 boys and sad to say 3 of them spend most of their time on the most of the popular on-line games which was the casino online, they actually don’t eat lunch just to go to the computer shop and play their online gambling. I know what they feel because sometime I have been also an addict with those on-line games. Why? Because in those casinos you can also express your ideas, concepts, emotional stress, physically stress, and you can also show your talent. Like for example, those restaurant games, farm and pet games.