Inside Job... The Movie, Takes a closer look at what brought about the financial meltdown. a must see film...

 

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'Inside Job' provides a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, the film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia. It was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China. Written by Anonymous

Google Glass goes after prescription eyewear market

Erica Pang swipes the touch bar on her Google Glass device. (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)
SALVADOR RODRIGUEZ
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Google Glass has an image problem.
Since its debut two years ago, the perception of the wraparound eye-level device has devolved from interesting futuristic gizmo to invasive spywear tool, despised by privacy advocates and banned in numerous bars and casinos. Google Inc. even had to post online tips to help customers observe proper etiquette.

Now Google is scoping out a market segment that could boost sales while creating a more mainstream image: prescription eyeglass wearers. Google recently teamed up with three eye-care providers — including two in Southern California — to sell its Glass wearable device directly to the public.

Stanford Court hotel is offering guests a package that includes the use of Google Glass. (Stanford Court)

TERRY GARDNER

Wink Optometry in Calabasas and Optometrix in Brentwood are letting their customers try out Google Glass, and if they like what they see, have it mounted on traditional-looking prescription frames.

Google is betting on customers who already wear glasses to upgrade their spectacles to modern-day smart glasses. The pilot program tests a distribution channel that is likely to grow dramatically: Nearly 183 million American adults already use some form of vision correction, according to a December report by the Vision Council.

Google last month inked a deal with Italian eyewear powerhouse Luxottica Group to "design, develop, and distribute" fashion frames for Google Glass, as it does for brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Frames for the prescription glasses, shown at Wink Optometry in Calabasas, are included in the $1,500 price tag. Lens costs are separate. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

And on Thursday, Google named Ivy Ross, former president of Calvin Klein's men's accessories business and executive vice president of marketing for Gap, as the new head of its Glass team.

"If you're already wearing glasses, it's not a decision you have to make — whether you're going to wear glasses or not," said Insiya Lokhandwala, a member of Google's Glass business development team. "The revolutionary part really is in the fact that now these are smart glasses that let you do more than just correct your vision."

That's what concerns privacy advocates. Although traditional frames might make Google Glass wearers less obvious, they won't directly affect the privacy issue. The bars, restaurants and casinos that ban Google Glass say they're protecting customer privacy. Whether traditional frames will make it easier for Glass wearers to sneak past bouncers has yet to be seen."With a cellphone camera it's pretty obvious if someone is holding up their camera and recording you," said Jeremy Gillula, a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumer digital rights group. "If something like Google Glass becomes popular, it's impossible to tell if someone is recording. Potentially, we'll have everyone recording everything everyone else does in public all the time."

Frames for the prescription glasses are included in the $1,500 price tag. Lens costs are separate. Major eye-care insurer VSP Vision Care says it will cover part of the cost, depending on a customer's benefit plan.

Matthew Alpert, optometrist and the owner of Wink Optometry, says interest in Glass has been "huge."

"People are excited about it," Alpert said. "People don't understand it, but you just run through a demo with them and it clicks really quick."

JR Curley, 42, of Manhattan Beach, said he's been using Glass for seven months, and got the special frames and lenses for the device a few weeks ago. Curley said he wears Glass all the time.

Google has limited distribution of the device, but this week it announced that a beta version is available to the general public online."They're an extension of my day-to-day now. They're so easy to use," said Curley, who uses the device that is wirelessly connected to his smartphone to take pictures, send and receive text messages and check his email.

Curley sees huge potential for Google Glass for those with poor eyesight.

"What an interesting way to marry a wearable device, a wearable computer, onto something that millions of people across the U.S. physically have anyway." Curley said. "In essence, what you're doing is piggybacking on something that's existing, which to me made perfect sense, especially as someone who does wear glasses every day."

salvador.rodriguez@latimes.com

Twitter: @sal19

Elvis In Concert 1977 CBS Television Special

State subpoenas second firm in pyramid scheme probe

The offices of Wings Network in Framingham.

Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office has issued subpoenas to another multilevel marketing firm doing business in Massachusetts, following his office’s recent lawsuit charging TelexFree Inc. with running a pyramid scheme.

The second company, Wings Network , appears to be based in Portugal and says it sells cloud-based Internet storage plans, according to its website and Facebook pages. Wings Network came to the attention of Galvin’s Securities Division because its sales strategy appears to be similar to TelexFree’s.

In Facebook posts, both companies tout the chance to earn riches by recruiting others to join. And they hold large sales conferences — which are more like rallies — to encourage participants.

D.J. Poyfair, an attorney for Wings Network in Denver, confirmed the company had received subpoenas from Galvin and that lawyers for the company met last week with the Securities Division. The regulators want to meet with company executives next week.“We attended one of their events,’’ Galvin said. “We had heard from some investors who, in light of TelexFree, had become concerned — and we’re concerned.’’ No charges have been brought against Wings Network.

“Wings Network is committed to operating legally and ethically in all the countries in which it does business, including the United States,’’ Poyfair said. He said Wings is cooperating with the state’s investigation and is “conducting its own internal investigation and it intends to address quickly any problems that it discovers.’’

Poyfair said the company is looking into whether the local sales meetings were authorized by executives. If not, they may have been set up by opportunistic promoters as TelexFree appeared to be falling on hard times in March. The company filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

TelexFree and eight of its principals and promoters have been charged by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission with running an illegal pyramid scheme. The company allegedly recruited thousands of people to buy its Internet long-distance phone service and to open accounts that would pay them returns for helping post online ads for TelexFree. The apparent scheme may have cost Massachusetts investors $90 million.“If Wings Network discovers that significant issues exist, it would even be willing to suspend operations until the problems are properly addressed,’’ Poyfair said.

The SEC froze the assets of TelexFree and the eight individuals last month, days after the bankruptcy filing. Through press releases and in court, the company has denied wrongdoing.

A TelexFree promoter’s office in downtown Framingham was dark on two recent weekday visits.

On the same block, a Wings Network office also was empty on those visits, and no one responded to the phone number posted in large print on the windows.

The Wings Network’s website lists Carlos Barbosa as chief executive.

In a statement there, Barbosa says, “Information technology applicable to mobile solutions is today a fast growing market. A reality that moves millions of dollars daily with downloads of every sorts of apps.”

Dozens of people have e-mailed The Boston Globe, saying some people who participated in TelexFree are now shifting to Wings Network. Like TelexFree, it appears to be popular with Portuguese-speaking Brazilian immigrants.

Other companies involved in multilevel marketing — which entails recruiting large numbers of people to pitch products or services — have come under scrutiny recently.

The SEC in March froze the assets of World Capital Market Inc., or WCM777 Inc., in California, charging the group with raising $65 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme.

The group targeted Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans, according to the complaint, which was filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

Galvin signed a consent order with WCM777 back in November 2013, requiring the company to reimburse Massachusetts residents.

In the order, Galvin’s office said that 160 Massachusetts investors, primarily residents of the Brazilian community, had paid more than $300,000 for WCM777 packages.

The company agreed to the order but neither admitted nor denied the allegations.

The company could not be reached for comment.

Beth Healy can be reached at beth.healy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @HealyBeth.
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Swiss to vote on $25 an hour minimum wage

USA TODAY

GENEVA, Switzerland – A vote on Sunday to establish a minimum wage of $25 an hour would make mostly immigrants here in agriculture, housekeeping, and catering among the world's highest paid unskilled workforce. 

The vote comes after hundreds of fast-food workers walked off their jobs in many U.S. cities and in more than 30 countries on Thursday in a protest for higher wages. If the Swiss proposal passes, the country would have the highest minimum wage in the world.

But some who would be eligible for the higher wage worry that it may do more harm than good.

Luisa Almeida is an immigrant from Portugal who works in Switzerland as a housekeeper and nanny. Almeida's earnings of $3,250 a month are below the proposed minimum wage but still much more than she'd make in Portugal.

Since she is not a Swiss citizen, she cannot vote but if she could, "I would vote 'no'," she says.

"If my employer had to pay me more money, he wouldn't be able to keep me on and I'd lose the job."

Almeida's concern illustrates the dilemma that faces the movement to have governments and not the market decide how much people should be paid at a minimum.

Forcing employers to hike wages means they must cut expenses to accommodate the higher labor costs. That often means less hiring, or some firing.

But Patrick Belser, Senior Economist in the Wage Group of the International Labor Office in Geneva says the initiative could work.

"International experience has shown that minimum wages can prevent labor exploitation without any negative effect on the economy," he said.

Yet, Besler worries that a minimum wage of $4,500 a month "is probably a little too high.

"If it is accepted, the effects on employment would have to be carefully monitored, and a mechanism for social dialogue should be created to discuss its effects and possible future adjustments of the rate," he said.

Currently, Switzerland does not have a minimum wage law. Industry-specific pay scales are determined by employment contracts or collective bargaining agreements between employers and trade unions. However, 90% of Swiss workers earn well above the proposed minimum and are already among the highest paid in the world.

According to government statistics, the average household income in Switzerland is about $6,800 a month; in the USA, where the minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour, the average household monthly income is roughly $4,300, Census Bureau figures indicate.

Referendums are a unique feature of Switzerland's unique brand of social democracy, which gives citizens the power to shape policy over the government. Any individual or group can challenge existing legislation or force a vote on a new issue by collecting 100,000 signatures on a petition.

As in America, the issue of minimum income is controversial in Switzerland, too, pitting employers against trade unions and left-wing parties, which sponsored the proposal. And many of the "pro" and "con" arguments are similar as well.

Opponents of the initiative say a law regulating minimum wages would be detrimental to Switzerland's thriving economy because businesses might cut existing jobs or not hire new employees. At 3.2%, Switzerland's unemployment rate is among the lowest globally.

"This measure would eliminate a big number of low-skill jobs performed by the very workers the legislation is supposed to help," former trade union economist Beat Kappeler says. "It would be damaging in quantitative and qualitative ways."

"A minimum wage of 4,000 francs could lead to job cuts and even threaten the existence of smaller companies, notably in retail, catering, agriculture and housekeeping." Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann told the local media recently. "If jobs are being cut, the weakest suffer most."

A recent poll by gfs.bern research institute shows that 64% of those surveyed are against the proposal. In past referendums on proposals from the left, the Swiss have been of two minds.

Last year Switzerland passed a measure to curb "excessive" bonuses for executive, but months later in another referendum the country voted down a proposal to reduce the income gap between lowest and highest salaries even though polls predicted the measure would pass.

Wife of TelexFree co-owner arrested at JFK Airport

AP/METROWEST DAILY NEWS, ALLAN JUNG/FILE

Authorities raided the headquarters of Marlborough-based TelexFree last month.

The wife of TelexFree Inc. co-owner Carlos Wanzeler was arrested at JFK International Airport on Wednesday night as she tried to board a flight to leave the country and join her husband in Brazil, according to the US attorney’s office.

Katia B. Wanzeler was arrested on a material witness warrant, said Christina Sterling, the US Attorney’s spokeswoman. She was scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., Thursday afternoon. Her husband has already fled to Brazil and is considered a fugitive by federal authorities.

An affidavit filed in court Thursday detailed a multi-day odyssey in which Carlos Wanzeler managed to leave the United States. On April 15, the day his Marlborough-based company’s office was raided by federal agents investigating an alleged $1 billion global fraud, Wanzeler and his daughter Lyvia drove to Canada in the family’s BMW. They crossed the border at 11 p.m. at Lacolle, Quebec.

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Wanzeler’s business partner, James Merrill, was arrested last week and is in custody, pending a detention hearing in Worcester on Friday.Two days later, the father and daughter boarded an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Wanzeler entered the country of his birth using a Brazilian passport. That same day, as federal agents executed a warrant to search Wanzeler’s Northborough home, Katia told them her husband was staying at a hotel on the advice his lawyer.

Katia Wanzeler’s name surfaced in the TelexFree fraud investigation after a check made out to her was seized by federal agents at the company’s local office. According to the affidavit, “significant sums of money were moved” from TelexFree bank accounts into a Wells Fargo account in the name of Katia Wanzeler.

On Feb. 28, two transfers to her account totaled $3.5 million, according to the affidavit. Subsequently, $1.5 million of that was moved into a Wells Fargo brokerage account bearing her name.

The Wanzelers’ daughter actually returned to the U.S. recently, before leaving again. On April 26, Lyvia Wanzeler flew to Boston on a round-trip ticket, using her father’s frequent flyer miles. She was scheduled to return to Brazil on June 4, but instead left on May 1 for Italy.In April, just days before TelexFree would file for federal bankruptcy protection, Katia Wanzeler allegedly traveled with her husband’s business partner, Merrill, to fetch more than $27 million in cashier’s checks from a Wells Fargo bank in Connecticut. Most of those checks were made payable to TelexFree entitities, but one of them -- for over $2 million -- was made out to Katia B. Wanzeler.

On May 13, investigators said in their affidavit, “someone in Brazil” bought Katia a one-way ticket there, paying in cash.

The BMW Carlos Wanzeler and his daughter drove to Canada had a license plate registered to Acceris Realty Estate, where Katia is the registered agent, according to the affidavit.

The Wanzelers’ lawyer, Paul V. Kelly, said in a statement, “Ms. Wanzeler has not been charged with any crime and there was no legal impediment to her traveling to Brazil, or anywhere else.’’ He said arresting her was “really unnecessary,’’ noting, “Had the government informed us that they considered Ms. Wanzeler a material witness, I am sure we could have worked something out to arrange her appearance.’’

TelexFree grew into a global concern with thousands of participants by touting its Internet phone service plans, according to regulators and prosecutors. But it allegedly generated nearly all of its money through a pyramid scheme, recruiting people around the world to invest, and promising them quick returns for helping the company post online internet ads, prosecutors allege.

The online ads, however, were a meaningless exercise, prosecutors allege, to hide the true activities of the company. State and federal securities regulators have filed civil fraud charges against the company and its principals. Both Carlos Wanzeler and Merrill also face a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each faces 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Beth Healy can be reached at beth.healy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @HealyBeth.