Calif. prison psychologist accused of faking rape

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities allege a woman was so determined to convince her husband of a need to move to a safer neighborhood that she faked being raped.

She split her own lip with a pin, scraped her knuckles with sandpaper, had her friend punch her in the face, and even wet her pants to give the appearance she had been knocked unconscious,authorities said Friday.

Charges filed by the Sacramento County district attorney allegeLaurie Ann Martinez, a prison psychologist, conspired with the friend to create the appearance that she was beaten, robbed and raped by a stranger in April in her Sacramento home.

Police detectives and crime scene investigators spent hundreds of hours on the case, until one of Martinez's prison co-workers came forward to say Martinez had been talking at work about faking a crime at her home to persuade her husband to move, Sacramento police Sgt. Andrew Pettit said Friday.

Martinez, her friend and two co-workers eventually told police the whole thing was a setup to convince Martinez's husband that they needed to move from a blighted, high-crime area three miles north of the state Capitol.

It didn't work. Instead, the couple filed for divorce six weeks after the April 10 incident, according to court records.

"If all you wanted to do is move, there's other ways than staging a burglary and rape," Pettit said. "She went to great lengths to make this appear real."

Martinez, 36, a psychologist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reported she had come home that day to find a stranger in her kitchen, authorities said.

"As she tried to run away, the suspect grabbed her and hit her in the face," court records say in describing what she told police. "She lost consciousness and then when she awoke she found her pants and underwear pulled down to her ankles."

Missing from her home were two laptop computers, Martinez's purse, an Xbox video game console, a camera and numerous credit cards that Martinez said the stranger had stolen.

In reality, the items were all at the home of her friend, Nicole April Snyder, authorities allege. Investigators say Martinez had Snyder punch her in the face with boxing gloves they bought for that purpose.

Martinez began crying hysterically when police arrived, according to court papers.

Martinez's two lawyers in the family court actions, Russell Carlson and Ben Ramsey, did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment. Her husband's attorneys in the family law case declined to comment.

Martinez was arrested Monday and freed on $50,000 bond. There is no record that she has a criminal attorney before her arraignment set for Monday.

Snyder, 33, is charged with the same conspiracy counts, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest. Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said she had no indication that Snyder has retained an attorney.

If convicted of conspiracy, each woman faces up to three years in prison, Orio said.

Martinez had been a psychologist overseeing other mental health workers treating inmates atCalifornia State Prison, Sacramento, said department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. The prison 20 miles east of Sacramento was the scene this week of a fight among more than 150 inmates that sent 11 inmates to outside hospitals.

Thornton said Martinez was redirected to the department's headquarters in May, when the investigation began, and has had no contact with inmates since then. Thornton said the department also is conducting its own investigation.

Martinez did not immediately return an emailed request for comment left with Thornton.

Robert Kahane, executive officer of the California Board of Psychology, said Martinez's license currently is valid. However, "we are working diligently to ensure immediate and continued consumer protection as quickly as possible," he said.

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Why You Shouldn’t Care About Small Business Pessimism

At first glance, today’s small business optimism index released by the National Federation of Independent Businesses might make you a little depressed: More than a quarter of small businesses indicated that sales were lower this month than last, and borrowing activity is at a 38-year low. And the index, pegged at 90.2, is only a few measly points higher than it was in January 2009, when the economy bottomed out.

And if you’re expecting Uncle Sam to swoop in and save the day, NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg says don’t hold your breath.

“As for help from Washington, the Federal Reserve is “out of bullets” and Congress is completely ineffective,” Dunkelberg said in a statement. “Fiscal policy is in disarray and all that is proposed is higher spending and more regulations and higher taxes to support it. Not the type of incentives that help stimulate economic growth.”

So, feeling good yet? You should.

Sales may have flatlined in recent months, but the future may not be so bleak. The National Retail Federation is expecting a 2.8 percent increase in holiday sales this year, while trade associations like ShopperTrak and IBIS World predicted a 3 percent increase. A recent Purdue University survey sees that number jumping to 4 percent.

If sales numbers don’t sway you, just take a look at the recent job numbers as a marker of optimism. In October, about half of all job gains reported by ADP—pegged at about 110,000—came from small businesses, while larger firms, on the other hand, have consistently scaled back on their payrolls. The NFIB also found that a net of 3 percent of small business owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months—”the strongest reading for 2011 to date.” And a study released last week from researchhers at Pepperdine University found that though confidence among small business owners had dipped significantly since last Spring, almost half of the surveyed businesses said they plan to hire more employees in the next six months.

And SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard, which measures payroll data of 35,000 small businesses across the country, found its own confidence index surge 20 percentage points in October—one of the biggest raises in recent memory.

“Typically entrepreneurs don’t let the so-called “state of the union” hold them down,” says Michael Alter, the president of SurePayroll. ”When things get tough, they knuckle down and find a way to turn the negatives in their favor. They’re in it for the long haul and they know that the long haul sometimes requires faith and a fight.”

And it isn’t just American entrepreneurs that are feeling more confident these days, either. Our northern neighbors in Canada are starting to see the light as well.

“More business owners are saying their recent performance has been better than at any time since the recession began,” says Ted Mallett, the chief of economist of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), in a statement. In fact, the CFIB saw its own index jump a few percentage points in October. “After falling back significantly in August and September, amid economic uncertainty, business owners seem to have restored at least some of their capital spending plans,” he added.

Speaking of capital spending, it’s also worth adding that small businesses are starting to view financing as a relatively insignificant barrier to entry. According to the NFIB report, just 4 percent of business owners grieved over finding access to capital, and the amount of small businesses that plan to increase capital outlays rose a whopping 21 percent since September.

And, contrary to Dunkelberg’s dire assertion, Washington may yet assist small business owners with access to capital. There are currently four bills entering Congress in the coming weeks that are meant to make it easier for small business to get cash. They include the Private Company Flexibility and Growth Act, the Access to Capital for Job Creators Act, the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, and H.R. 1965, which seeks to de-regulate small banks’ ability to lend.

So while the NFIB reported just a ‘minor uptick’ in confidence, the big picture results are hardly glum. We’re curious how you feel, though. Let us know in the comments section below how confident you are these days, and what you would like to see happen in Washington that might make you see the glass half full.

Small Business Lending Fund: Where Did the Missing $2 Billion Go?

When the Small Business Lending Fund closed its teller window this fall, no one shed any tears. Banks complained the program was slow, arbitrary, and stingy. Of the $30 billion that the Treasury was authorized to lend to small banks at favorable rates, only $4 billion was ever handed over. Of the 933 community banks that applied for money, only 36 percent were approved.

But at least that was 300-odd banks that could lend $4 billion to small businesses, right? Well, not exactly. That’s because more than half of the $4 billion the feds gave to the SBLF this year never found its way to small businesses.

Instead, the banks used the money to pay off their TARP loans.

Okay, so the banks who did this were small banks which are, of course, small businesses. So it has to be admitted the SBLF helped them. It helped them act like big banks.

No one has ever been all that crazy about the TARP (Toxic Asset Relief Program). Taxpayers don’t like it because they see it as a bank bailout program, which it is. Bankers don’t like it because taking TARP money makes it look like they’ve got a lot of bad mortgages on their books, which they do. (Their dislike has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it limits how much top executives can be paid. Absolutely nothing. You got that?)

The big banks got out from under this horrible burden by paying off their loans quickly. While the Treasury Department had hoped this is what would happen, it had hoped it would happen because those assets would be worth something. Instead the big banks were able to repay the loans with money they borrowed from the Federal Reserve at a lower interest rate than they were being charged for TARP.

The Fed had lowered the interest rates to encourage banks to loan money to people and companies. This, in turn, was supposed to spur economic growth. Instead it just cost taxpayers’ money by saving money for the big banks.

While this might appear unfair to the average U.S. citizen – which it is – taxpayers weren’t the only ones harmed. So were the small banks. The small banks were unfairly stuck paying back their TARP loans with their own money. That’s because the small banks couldn’t just call up the Fed and get loans at about close to 0 percent. You have to be a big bank in order to do that.

So when the government started passing out money at low-interest rates via the SBLF you can understand how the small banks saw this as an opportunity to keep up with the Goldmans and the Sachs. Indeed, Jason Tepperman, the director for the Small Business Loan program for the Treasury Department, suggested that the community banks do just that. This was good for their fiscal well being and in no way whatsoever had anything to do with any limits to any bank executives’ pay checks. Absolutely nothing.

Wahooly: Publicize Your Startup, Pay with Equity

Need help getting the word out about your start-up and its products or services? A start-up called Wahooly thinks it can help.

The Minneapolis-based company’s plan is to hook up start-ups with active users who give feedback in exchange for becoming shareholders in the company. The testers Wahooly delivers will promote your company on their social networks because it’s in their interest: They’ll get a bigger share of your company. If they do absolutely nothing, their share is diluted. (Wahooly will negotiate a percentage of equity based on the number of users it will deliver plus other factors, such as stage status, co-founder Dana Severson said.)

“We’re creating a collaborative effort where we only succeed if the startup succeeds,” said Severson, who describes his company as Klout meets Kickstarter meets Shark Tank. “From that standpoint, you might look at us as an alternative (or a nice addition) to an incubator program.”

Skeptical that who Wahooly can hand over is better than your best friend’s cousin’s sister’s Facebook friend or anyone else you can scare up on your own? Consider that last week the startup announced it had partnered with that arbiter of social influence Klout, and that those with Klout scores of 45 or more would be invited to join Wahooly.

The average Klout score is around 20, said spokeswoman Megan Berry. She would not say what percentage of users are 45 or above, though she said a score of 50 puts users in the 95th percentile. (Ashton Kutcher has a Klout score of 88; Justin Bieber’s is 100.)

Starting in January, users who’ve opted to join Wahooly (named for the Wahoo, the world’s fastest fish, which travels in schools) can choose from 200 startups in which they’d like to invest.

Want to be part of Wahooly’s initial pool of 200 start-ups? You’ll need to be internet-based and – at least for now – appealing to the mass consumer. Severson said they’re seeing everything from mobile applications to educational start-ups. They’ll start properly evaluating start-ups in December, but not every startup will be presented to members at once, so there is no actual deadline.

Severson, a serial entrepreneur, has a job history that included a year and a half where he interviewed start-ups every week. The problem he saw most had was a lack of users and momentum, plus a lack of funding, so they could not afford to mass promote.

“[Wahooly] is an easy solution,” he said. “In theory, everyone wins. Our users have a vested interest in seeing that startup succeed.”

Severson pointed to Google’s AdSense as the forerunner of Wahooly: Google “recognized that while, individually, bloggers may not have the ability to move the needle for companies, together the reach is infinite.” With AdSense, bloggers got paid for their reach and influence, and companies reaped the benefits.

“Any person, no matter what their chosen social network, can become an influential broadcaster,” Severson said.

Nissan Motor Company Ltd.

The core representative of globe famous Nissan group, Nissan Engine Firm Ltd can also be generally known as Nissan. Staying a person of the makers in the earth, whose mind quarters are located in Yokohama, it formerly accustomed to offer its vehicles, with Datsun as being a brand identify. Renault & Nissan entered into an agreement & they maintain 43.4% & 15% shares in each other’s corporation, respectively. Asia’s 3 car giants, Toyota, Nissan & Honda are at the moment dominating the U.S market, in spite of the presence of General Motors, Chrysler & Ford, who on their own usually are not un known to anybody within the entire world of Car industry. At present, Nissan has overtaken Honda & has turn into the 2nd biggest auto producer in its household nation, with Toyota even now ruling the car marketplace. Below the Nissan model title, there may be an additional business, whose goal is usually to cater the requirements of individuals individuals, that are searching with the luxury segment automobiles. This brand name has long been named as Infiniti.

Apart from the automobiles, Nissan’s VQ engine with V6 specifications has at all times secured a risk-free area within the list of Planet’s best ten engines.

DAT car was made From the Kwaishinsha Motor Car or truck Functions, which came into existence inside yr 1911. Very first the company was renamed to Kwaishinsha Engine Co. Ltd. & then to DAT Motorcar Co At that time because the desire, for customer automobiles, was negligible, so the corporate came in the business enterprise of vehicles, designed particularly for your militarily use. To raise the income, the corporate bought merged with 1 of your most successful truck makers, of Japan.

Nissan engine Co. Ltd. was formed in 1934, but on its formation, many people, who ended up being possessing share from the organization, were not pleased as at that time there was no scope of car inside Japanese marketplace. At first, Nissan engineers ended up being instructed to construct trucks, planes & other machinery to the navy goal, from its manufacturing plant, located in China. During the battle, it was captured because of the enemy forces. For some time frame the organization was also named because of the identify of Nissan Heavy Industries Corp.

Because the time progressed, the managers seated with the leading positions prepared to develop its base in different components of the world. Business employed the designers, engineers from other components in the earth & among those were, Mr. Gorham. Business at all times wanted to implement upcoming know-how & spread its wings within the U.S area, Gorham helped firm in achieving that dream. He brought most current designs, of that time, to Nissan. Nissan also received the license to manufacture vehicles in the U.S based mostly agency. The machinery, designs & engineering was imported to Nissan & the vehicles ended up being manufactured for the Nissan foundation. Right after entering into your U.S market, the following focus on was to enter from the European continent. Entering straight inside group of designed nations was not feasible, so Nissan partnered with Austin, of U.K, & began creating its vehicles, as for each the license. Nissan succeeded in the European marketplace in addition.

This offer, between Austin & Nissan, proved incredibly fruitful to each the car makers & they both earned large quantity of income from the regional likewise as worldwide markets.

Inside residence city, Nissan merged with Prince Motor Corporation. With the passage of time, the brand of Prince Motor Company was overtaken by Nissan & now days and nights, the motor vehicles are bought less than the brand name name of Infiniti, a division of Nissan. Other subsidiaries are in a variety of markets, like in U.S from the name of Nissan Engine Corporation U.S.A., Nissan motor manufacturing (U.K) Ltd. & a joint venture in China, with Dongfeng Motor. Also Nissan is going to create its largest factory in China. Throughout some level of time, though carrying out the company, it had been also in contact using the Ford Motor Business. It entered into your Indian Current market in the year 2005, as a result of its subsidiary Nissan Motors India Pvt. Ltd. With India, Nissan also has strategies to cater the needs of European vehicle market & the vehicles to European industry might be exported from your Nissan’s Indian facility. Looking at the market of electric & hybrid vehicles, Nissan also has ideas to launch these kinds of environmental friendly cars.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in India.

A Japanese conglomerate firm, which has a lot of brands in various fields, working beneath it & carrying the exact same brand name identify & legacy. All of the businesses functioning under Mitsubishi manufacturer converse with each other making use of the corporate portal Mitsubishi.com. Peeking inside of the background, the corporate, established inside calendar year 1870 by Yataro Iwasaki, came up being a delivery organization. It absolutely was renamed as Mitsubishi Shokai in 1873. The corporate brand is normally termed as 3 diamonds. One particular from the firms, working below the hood of Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has its head quarters located in Tokyo, Japan & deals from the production, manufacturing of Automobiles. The company has become awarded the standing of becoming 17th largest in the vehicle sector from the Entire world, while fifth largest in Japan. Roots of this company are traced spine to one particular of the largest industrial group of Japan & the organization was formed by one particular of your divisions of that group, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

In 1917, Mitsubishi came up in the automobile sector, by launching Model A. On the other hand this, a sedan using the capacity to seat 7 men and women, vehicle was really soon withdrawn in the current market & the purpose stated was its large price as compared for the other models in the marketplace, specially those in the automobile current market of U.S & Europe. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which came into existence within the calendar year 1934, was formed by joining Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Mitsubishi Aircraft. It was the main corporation inside private sector of Japan & its core business was constructing heavy machinery like planes, ships, cars. It was the primary Business to create a 4-by-4 passenger auto. As the 2nd earth struggle ended, business which was previously engaged in building armed forces ships, cars & planes commenced developing the automobiles. But this organization was soon damaged along into 3 separate corporations, West-Japan, East-Japan & Central Japan Heavy Industries.

All these 3 companies carried out their operations in their fields & in their regions. They obtained contracts with several other vehicle makers to offer new automobiles for the Japanese people, whose wants ended up being transforming progressively. As the time handed, these three firms again collaborated & formed Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This occurred inside yr 1964. Later on on, top officials of MHI made a decision to generate a devoted division towards the automobile part & in 1970, Mitsubishi Engine Corporation was formed. This subsidiary of MHI was headed by Tomio Kubo, an engineer from your plane division. Within the overseas current market, Chrysler began promoting the MMC automobiles inside U.S, when it acquired 15% share inside corporation. As the company started finding beneficial response inside overseas marketplace, it straight obtained involved to the current market. Chrysler started off realizing that this Japanese organization is turning into a threat for the vehicle marketplace established by them.

In Australia, Japanese overtook Chrysler & as a result bought its production agency to MMC, which Japanese car or truck makers renamed to Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd. (MMAL). Because the company was to the appropriate monitor & was expanding step by step so MHI diminished its share, providing additional space to Chrysler. By huge amount of cash, which the company was finding from its sales, it overcame through the unsecured debt & also invested income in additional developments. By now the company acquired launched its SUV auto Pajero, which was bought in massive variety. Immediately after some time, Chrysler withdrew itself from Mitsubishi but their expert relation didn’t conclude more than here as both Chrysler & Mitsubishi ended up supporting the other person not just by exchanging technologies, automobile components but also by serving to each other in advertising and marketing their autos. Other alliances, of Mitsubishi, are with Volvo, Peugeot & Hyundai to brand a few. It has also supplied exclusive presents to clients, inside a bid to boost the sales, like 0% straight down, 0% attraction & no regular monthly quantity. It has also launched its electric automobiles & can be an active participator in Motor sports, like racing. Apart for Japan its manufacturing plants are located in international locations like U.S, Brazil & Thailand. The study & advancement give good results, with the business, is additionally carried out in various nations around the world. Mitsubishi is present in the vehicle market place of approximately 160 nations around the world.