Category Archives: Blogging For Seniors

Brazil’s Carwash Task Force wins Transparency International Anti-Corruption Award

Transparency International today proudly announces that the Carwash Task Force (Força-Tarefa Lava Jato) of Brazil has been selected as the winner of the 2016 Anti-Corruption Award. Superior best car wash products starts at home! If there is one car detailing activity that adds huge benefits to your car’s appearance, it’s regular car washing.

The Carwash Operation (Operação Lava Jato) began as a local money laundering investigation and has grown into the largest investigation to date uncovering cases of state capture and corruption in Brazil.

The state prosecutors from the Carwash Task Force have been on the front line of investigations in Brazil since April 2014. Dealing with one of the world’s biggest corruption scandals, the Petrobras case, they have investigated, prosecuted, and obtained heavy sentences against some of the most powerful members of Brazil’s economic and political elites. To date, there have been more than 240 criminal charges and 118 convictions totalling 1,256 years of jail time, including high-level politicians and businesspeople previously considered untouchable.

With their national campaign “10 Measures against Corruption”, they pushed for legislative reforms to enhance the capacity of public administrators to prevent and detect corruption, and law enforcers to investigate, prosecute and sanction it.

On 30 November, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies voted for a weakened version of the law. The lawmakers took out essential features on whistleblower protection and illegal campaign financing and introduced an amendment that opens the door to prosecute judges and prosecutors for liability offence. In extreme cases, carrying out their normal functions could be interpreted as being unlawful according to subjective criteria. The new version risks the independence of judges and prosecutors.

The Senate has yet to vote on the legislation and already protests have started to reverse the changes made to the original 10 Measures against Corruption.

“Billions of dollars have been lost to corruption in Brazil, and Brazilians have had enough of the corruption that is ravaging their country. The Carwash Task Force is doing great work in ensuring the corrupt, no matter how powerful they are, are held to account and that justice is served,” said Mercedes de Freitas, Chair of Transparency’s International Anti-Corruption Award Committee. “We are pleased to award the Brazilian prosecutors behind the Carwash Task Force with the 2016 Anti-Corruption Award for their relentless efforts to end endemic corruption in Brazil.”

The Anti-Corruption Award honours remarkable individuals and organisations worldwide, journalists, prosecutors, government officials, and civil society leaders who expose and fight corruption.

The ongoing Carwash Operation has triggered additional criminal investigations and proceedings in other sectors and is recognised as a landmark for white-collar criminal prosecution and defence in Brazil. The investigations have gained traction and huge popular support on both national and international levels.

The prosecutors from the Carwash Task Force are the second Brazilian awardees since the launch of Transparency International’s awards in 2000 after the whistleblower Luis Roberto Mesquita who received an Integrity Award in 2002.

Transparency International received 580 nominations for 136 individuals for the 2016 Anti-Corruption Award, reinforcing our belief that there is a need to celebrate the many heroes of the fight against corruption. Nominations for this year’s award were submitted by the public and Transparency International chapters around the world. The jury for the award is a committee of 8 individuals from across the world who have been active in the anti-corruption movement for many years. Past winners include corruption fighting journalists, activists and government officials.

The Carwash Task Force will receive the award later today during the 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Panama City.

The Auto Repair Pointers That Can Make Life Easier

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling you get if your car breaks down on the highway.This kind of situation is dangerous and now you a lot of money. How can you going to find a quality mechanic? Use these tips to get proper auto repairs done quickly. You may well be offered ‘paint protection’ when you buy a new car, an extra coating that effectively seals the paintwork on the car, meaning that it won’t suffer from the light marks and fading that can damage untreated paintwork, Sydney car paint protection does this in Australia.

Ask many questions you have at the shop. Preventing issues can save money.

Keep car records on hand. You may want these with you when you go to get repairs done; a great place to store them is the glove compartment for easy access. The auto repair professionals will need to refer to these records. This can make the problem quicker and more smoothly.

Always keep records each time your car.If the car has other issues later, it may help the mechanic to see these notes.

Look at the reviews online for body shops in your area. This can inform you a good indication of how satisfied customers are with their experience. This can then be used to get with a shop that makes you eventually choose to do your car repair work.

Never leave anything in your car when it is getting repaired. Mechanics may need to take these items out to do the inside of your vehicle and they aren’t responsible if an item is damaged or missing. Remove everything from the trunk too.

Look for signs that should serve as a new auto repair company. If you’re receiving double-talk when you ask them a question, you should take your business elsewhere. You need to be able to trust the person doing your repairs, so don’t fear seeing someone else.

Just because it is winter does not mean you should avoid washing your vehicle. Winter can ruin the quality of your vehicle.Sand and salt is something that can cause rust and corrosion.

Check the car’s tire pressure whenever you fill your tank. Look at the tires and make sure nothing has become embedded in them. You don’t want to risk driving around with bad tires.

Take pictures of your vehicle prior to bringing it into any shop. Some shops might strip parts off your vehicle and resell them. You should document what the vehicle looks like in case your mechanic fails to fix them or makes things worse.

If you need your car fixed, but desperately need to repair your car, you may want to contact your local vocation institution to see if they have an auto repair department. You will pay a greatly reduced rate to have students fix your car while under the supervision of a licensed mechanic.

It may be a recall you didn’t know about. The manufacturer may even fix the problem at no cost to you.

A portion of good auto repair is consistency. Stick to a trusted mechanic whom you have used before instead of going around to various ones for repairs.Different mechanics may find different issues with your vehicle. They could charge different amounts that cause you more for repairs.

It costs a lot to use the mechanics at the car’s dealer, but it’s often the safest option. The dealer mechanics at the dealership are specialists concerning your type of vehicle you have. They can diagnose problems quickly and are well trained for your car’s make. They usually attend training session regularly.

If you want to know how to diagnose problems with your vehicle, you can’t recognize if something is going wrong. You might even consider taking a class on auto repair if you are unfamiliar with automobile basics. This is why it’s a good idea to look for problems and address them before they get serious so your car which will help it last longer.

Pay attention to any unusual sounds you hear when starting your car. Noise is something that can indicate a problem.

If you go to a auto body shop and they do good work, you should get back with them the next time your vehicle is having trouble. You might also receive a loyal customer.

This will help keep your carpet staining from things like slush and slush. These are a big help during winter and rainy seasons.

When washing the car, take the mats out and hose them down. Dirt particles are easily get inside the rubber surface and over time they will tear holes. Holes aren’t attractive and let dirt have a clear path to your carpet beneath.

Ask any questions you have about your car when you take it in. Any company worth its salt will be happy to answer your questions.

Knowing how to find the right mechanic for your auto repairs can be tricky. When you have proper information, doing it is a lot easier. You will have an advantage if you know the right questions to ask and what to look out for. Keep this information in mind, and use it whenever you experience car trouble.

Create The Perfect Blog With These Great Tips For Older Viewers

Blogging is the most obvious way to create an online presence. Blogging is a great way to find new opportunities for your business. Blogging can help a new business grow or even bring in a secondary income stream. Check out this article to learn more about blogging.

Try to continually be available for your readers. Make a habit of interacting with them. When you connect with your blog readers, they will expect that you will be around. When you feel like giving up your blog, try to remember that you will disappoint more than just yourself.

Comment on related blogs as a means of attracting new interest in yours. If you use Google Reader, try maintaining a separate folder within it to utilize for keeping up with other blogs that you want to follow. Visit those blogs daily and add your two cents, often.

Blog often. One of the biggest mistakes bloggers make is not updating the blog often enough. People who were interested in the blog at first will soon become bored, as they wait for updated content. A good rule is to make new posts and email updates at least once a week.

Be authentic and real. Don’t make it look like you are a ‘know-it-all’. Remain an open book. Keep this in mind all the time. A blog can be an outlet for your creativity and individuality. Don’t be a perfectionist; just strive for improving. If you make a mistake, don’t torture yourself about it. Ultimately, people will want to read your content because of the unique spin you put on it.

One way to increase viewership is to have guest bloggers who have already established a reputation write a blog on your site. This is a great way to increase the quality of your own blog and generate excellent content. You may also glean additional traffic when they let their readership know about their postings on your site. You can do this with several people to help you create a more content rich blog.

Use images in your posts. Have you heard people say that pictures sometimes can get your point across better than words? That is definitely true with a blog. Images can convey a wealth of information, especially that which words cannot adequately describe. As a result, it makes sense to incorporate pictures for online magazine publishing wherever possible.

You should allow guest posts to help increase blog traffic. This builds your relationship with other bloggers, creates backlinks to your website and gives your readers a new point of view to read. Good relationships can frequently work in your favor. You can ask for help, advice or even a shoulder to cry on.

Always keep up with the feedback that your blog receives, and respond back when it is appropriate. Never let yourself get overly emotional about this process. Regardless of the subject matter, someone is sure to offer criticism. Use the constructive comments to produce a better. Any that don’t offer something of value, you should reply to let them know you’ve read it and forget about it. You will appear to be the mature one, and that will only grow the number of readers of your blog.

Stay patient and eventually your readership will grow on its own. It takes a while, even years, to build to great success as people find your blog. Additionally, your readers will not be able to spend a lot of time on your blog until you have accumulated a good amount of content. It is natural for a blog which has been around a long time to attract the most visitors, so hang in there!

Don’t write content just for the sake of getting words on the pages. You want to make certain you are doing research and finding the right topics for your blog. You won’t succeed if you don’t have valid information. Keep in mind at all times that the way to be successful is through content.

Take advantage of the social media revolution to increase your blog’s readership. Social media is hot on the internet, so if you’re not utilizing it, you’re losing out on a lot of potential visitors. Announce when you post content on Facebook and Twitter to allow your readers to easily share it with their friends and followers, bringing you more traffic.

Create a new and different landing page for your blog. Many blogs stick with their standard template format that only shows your recent post listing, but you can add many other things to create more reader interaction. This will be helpful, as you will probably be found through search engines or links.

The links to your blog should always be designed with the purpose of sending visitors directly to the content they are interested in. You will find that this helps visitors move about the site and keeps them interested. You will reduce visitor frustration if your content is well designed.

Keep tabs on other bloggers who cover the same topics as you do, and be sure that you stay ahead of them. Since they are competing against you, it is good to know their actions. They will probably check up on your blog too.

Use a font that is a comfortable size for most readers when blogging. This is vital to your success. Since content is the most valuable aspect of any blog, you simply must know and use the best size font for your pages. If your text is too small, readers will strain their eyes and most likely not come back. Conversely, if your text is too large, it’ll distract readers and make it difficult to read the entire blog at once. Strive for a balance between large and small font sizes so that readers can comfortably read your blog.

After reading this article, you should understand how to blog and what the financial and promotional benefits of blogging are. Take the time to read these tips and figure out which ones you can apply to your blog. You may find that they help you in more ways than one.