Methamphetine abuse

The Web site and radio show, Reporting-Ethics.com was originally designed as a way to educate the audiences on different issues. The topics I am making reference to are the titles of each of the site's pages All are being backed up with the latest newspaper articles and links on these subjects.

A recent example was on a five part series of articles on the abuse of Methamphetamine. These were reports that appeared in The Sunday Oregonian. Each going into detail on the different aspects of the delima.

Governor Kulongoski noted in the article "Kulongoski urges board to OK rules against meth", in The Oregonian newspaper. He said, "Oregon ranks No. 1 in the nation in its rate of residents in methamphetamine-treatment programs. More than 500 meth labs have been found in Oregon this year, and meth use contributes to up to 85 percent of property and identity theft in the state". (The Oregonian, Oct 12, 04)

This campaign is over to restrict the buying and selling of two key ingredience used in Pseudoephedrine-based cold medicine. Where the two chemicals are used or cooked into the projuction of Meth. With home labs contributing an estimated 20% of the US production. While the rest is made by Super labs in California. These are then run by organized crime on a Mexican-based drug cartel, with chemicals bought by the bulk internationally or on the US whole sale market.

Then when the narcotics make it to the streets, they are marked up several times by the dealers. Getting the users hooked and creating some return business.

In order for these addicts to continue get what they are after, they usually result to different crimes. The two crimes that are primarily fueled by this abuse are fraud and forgeries.

Both of these are subjects the Web site www.reporting-ethics.com is a dressing. Some of these areas are terrorism, corporate scandals, the IRS, tax avoidance, intelligence, id theft, national debt, economics, most wanted and etc.

To combat this growing problem, there has been a number of states try different things. One in which has stumbled upon a good example is Oklahoma. This can be seen in an article found in The Sunday Oregonian dated 10/10/04, "Oklahoma Sees Positive Results of the Law Limiting the Sales of Cold Medicines." Where their state passed a bill making it a law which regulates the sales in Oklahoma of the key meth ingredient Pseudoephedrine.

The law reads: "it requires that retailers keep cold pills containing the decongestant behind the counter. It also limits the amount of cold pills a person can buy in a month and makes purchasers show a drive's license and sign a log. The law does not restrict liquid or gel cap forms of the cold medicine containing Pseudoephedine." (The Sunday Oregonian, 10/10/04)

The true effects of the bill only had a very small impact, shutting down small labs. But in the process, it has saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was in the form of shutting down the small labs and clearing up the pollution problems.

To Reporting-Ethics.com, this is an area in which this site or service is going to address. Accept we are doing it by keeping our audiences on top of the different issues on-line and on the radio. It was this and probably all of the other drugs that are abused that this issue is arisen. Effecting directly or indirectly the different topics of this site. Some of these are terrorism, corporate scandals, the IRS, tax avoidance, fraud, the federal page, business, intelligence, id theft, national debt, economics, most wanted and etc.

I understand www.reporting-ethics.com is a very small service. But with the combination of the site and radio show it might help make a difference. Even if initially it only makes a dent in the problem, then it is a success.

www.Reporting-Ethics.com

I started creating this Web site www.reporting-ethics.com back in early 2000. I did it in response to a challenge I received from my IRS manager.

At the IRS, my job was to answer incoming tax phone calls, figure out the customer's specific question and direct it appropriately to be answered ASAP. The topics of their questions dealt with all types of tax questions. These ranged from the simple income tax questions to the more advanced capital gains or death tax questions.

In a conversation I had with my manager, she challenged me to figure out a way to turn this free and necessary service performed by the IRS and turn it into a profitable venture. She made the suggestions to air the conversations with the customers and the contact representatives on a radio show. Then to have create a Web site to back up these conversations.

With these suggestions and other assistance I received from the IRS, I have created this Web site. It consists of 20+ pages of different issues effecting the taxpayers. On each of these pages there are links to recent articles and other sites covering these topics. Their goal is to keep my audiences up to date on the latest news concerning each of these issues.

The contents of the radio show will primarily be the conversations aired between the Contact Representative of the IRS and the customers. This way there will be more who will gain from the information consulted than just the person on the phone.

The rest of the time will consist of interviews with different federal professionals who's jobs this site and show are going to be made easier. In the process providing my audiences with another way to learn what to do and not to do concerning the IRS policies and procedures. This is while they can learn from reading and listening to other's successes and failures.

I have created this blog in the hopes of gaining some additional feedback. This is why I am asking for any comments good or bad about my site. My e-mail address is lemay17@hotmail.com or there is another link at the bottom you can click to add any additional comments. This way I can learn from it and improve my site.

In future entries I will cover different issues effecting the NW Portland and are of concern of Reporting-Ethics. A good example is the series of articles in the The Oregonian concerning Meth use and abuse. In those, it covered a number of issues which Reporting-Ethics was written. Some of these topics are ID Theft, Most Wanted, tax avoidance, IRS, Fraud, and etc.

Living in the NW

I have lived here in the NW Portland around 20th and 22nd, off and on for ten years. During my stay I have seen many different changes. From the rail yards in the Pearl District being torn up and replaced with condos, the street car line being put in and the "piggy park" being renovated into an upgraded facility.
All of these changes were good and definitely made living that much better. Of course in the process, property values have increased forcing some business to closed down and/or move to a better location.
But with all of this going on, the North West Portland area still seems the same. Where by walking on the avenues to a coffee shop, I often see some of the same people. Each of them are on their way to work or school.
In the parts of the northwest that I live, there are still the same group of people. Where the former hippy generation is aging and the yuppy are moving into the West Hills or the Pearl District. But this area I am talking out still has it's own character and I would not change it for the world.
Even like in any other growing or evolving neighborhoods, old businesses or apartment buildings are being forced out of service and replaced with better facilities. In this case they are usually more condo buildings.
Ones in which the cost to live in a 600sq ft unit would cost a half million dollars. While to rent that same size space in an apartment building would cost $500-700 a month. But in that case it is like throwing money out of the window. You do not really gain anything from making that monthly expense.
Who knows, maybe someday I might be in the correct tax bracket that I can make this jump. But until this happens, I will be a month to month renter. A place in which all people have started at out. Even guys like myself, trying to make a small business a success.