Petition re: Austin Hamilton beads

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/872722428

"A request that Minek INC state in all their advertisements, auctions and sales listings the country of manufacture of the beads sold by Minek and all subsidiary companies such as Austin Hamilton."

This is to request that the company use "truth in advertising"-- that is, to identify the country of origin (China), rather than imply that they are made by small-studio artisans in Canada. Petition is to be sent to beading magazines that carry advertizing for the company.

ATTN: any US military vets/spouses of vets

http://www.firstgov.gov/veteransinfo.shtml

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently learned that an employee, a data analyst, took home electronic data from the VA, which he was not authorized to do. This behavior was in violation of VA policies. This data contained identifying information including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for up to 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. Importantly, the affected data did not include any of VA's electronic health records nor any financial information. The employee's home was burglarized and this data was stolen. The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Credit Card Scam: aka Indonesian Scam

A fellow beader and blogger gave permission to quote her; please go to her blog site to read the full report, especially if you do internet sales:

>>...In Indonesia, they are very sophisticated; one of the ways they get CC numbers is to run random computer-generated numbers with expiration dates until they get some that go through. They put through charges for tiny amounts that people won't bother to contest, and if the charge goes through, they know it's good. So do watch out for penny amounts showing up on your credit card bills....

Susan Midlarsky, Happy Artist
Aspiring Arts
http://www.aspiring-arts.com
Blog at http://www.aspiring-arts.com/blog/blog.html
http://www.cafepress.com/aspiringarts <<