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Murray Alper (1904–1984)

Alper, a wonderful movie presence, played in numerous films as a cabbie, bookie, cop or GI. Although he never achieved star rating, he appeared with some of the screens biggest names. One of his last screen appearances was as a judo instructor in "The Nutty Professor" with Jerry Lewis. See full bio »

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Known For

Hide Hide Show Show Actor (245 credits)
 1969 Hook, Line and Sinker
Member - Board of Inquiry (uncredited)
 1966-1968 Get Smart (TV Series)
Owner of Diner / Contact Man
- Don't Look Back (1968) ... Owner of Diner
- Ship of Spies: Part 1 (1966) ... Contact Man
 1966-1968 Gomer Pyle: USMC (TV Series)
Doorman / Bartender
- Gomer and the Queen of Burlesque (1968) ... Doorman
- It Takes Two to Tangle (1966) ... Bartender
 1967 Green Acres (TV Series)
Bartender / Louie
- Das Lumpen (1967) ... Bartender
 1967 The Big Mouth
Ed - Motorcycle Officer (uncredited)
 1967 Occasional Wife (TV Series)
House Detective
- An Affair to Forget (1967) ... House Detective
 1967 The Wild Wild West (TV Series)
- The Night of the Bogus Bandits (1967) ... Bartender
 1967 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin
Police Officer (uncredited)
 1967 CBS Playhouse (TV Series)
- The Final War of Olly Winter (1967) ... Landlord
 1966 Gidget (TV Series)
Cab Driver
- One More for the Road (1966) ... Cab Driver
 1966 Hazel (TV Series)
- Harold's Gift Horses (1966) ... Bill
 1965 Petticoat Junction (TV Series)
Mr. Lindley
- A Borderline Story (1965) ... Mr. Lindley
 1965 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series)
The Cabbie
- The Trap (1965) ... The Cabbie
 1965 Kraft Suspense Theatre (TV Series)
The Conductor
- Four into Zero (1965) ... The Conductor
 1965 The Beverly Hillbillies (TV Series)
Studio Driver
- Dash Riprock, You Cad (1965) ... Studio Driver
 1964 The Disorderly Orderly
Patient (uncredited)
 1964 The Munsters (TV Series)
The Second Man
- Tin Can Man (1964) ... The Second Man
 1964 Wagon Train (TV Series)
- The Race Town Story (1964) ... Pitchman
 1964 The Patsy
Bowler (uncredited)
 1964 Channing (TV Series)
The Conductor
- The Face in the Sun (1964) ... The Conductor
 1963 Arrest and Trial (TV Series)
- Some Weeks Are All Mondays (1963) ... Bassett
 1963 The Nutty Professor
Gym Attendant (uncredited)
 1963 Papa's Delicate Condition
Gambler (uncredited)
 1963 Dennis the Menace (TV Series)
- Wilson's Allergy (1963) ... Harv (uncredited)
 1961-1963 77 Sunset Strip (TV Series)
Charley West / Cab Driver
- Crashout! (1963) ... Charley West
- Caper in E Flat (1961) ... Cab Driver
 1961-1962 Cheyenne (TV Series)
Creech / Mike / Bartender
- Vengeance Is Mine (1962) ... Mike
- Incident at Dawson Flats (1961) ... Bartender (uncredited)
 1962 It's Only Money
2nd Cop on Pier (uncredited)
 1962 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Projectionist (uncredited)
 1962 Hawaiian Eye (TV Series)
- A Scent of Whales (1962) ... Crawford
 1962 Walk on the Wild Side
Diner in Teresina's Cafe (uncredited)
 1961 Adventures in Paradise (TV Series)
- The Trial of Adam Troy (1961) ... Delaney
 1961 The Bob Cummings Show (TV Series)
 1961 The Ladies Man
Butcher (scenes deleted)
 1961 Checkmate (TV Series)
- Tight as a Drum (1961) ... Sid
 1961 The Case of the Dangerous Robin (TV Series)
- Key Man (1961)
 1960 Thriller (TV Series)
Older Bartender
- Knock Three-One-Two (1960) ... Older Bartender
 1960 Maverick (TV Series)
- Hadley's Hunters (1960) ... Gus
 1960 Ocean's 11
Deputy (uncredited)
 1960 Bachelor Father (TV Series)
Diner Counterman
- Bentley's Birthday Gift (1960) ... Diner Counterman
 1960 The Leech Woman
Drunk (uncredited)
 1960 Lassie (TV Series)
- Champ (1960) ... Al
 1955-1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series)
Ship Passenger / Lloyd
- Not the Running Type (1960) ... Ship Passenger
- Breakdown (1955) ... Lloyd
 1960 Johnny Midnight (TV Series)
- One Over Par (1960) ... Bunkey
 1959 Johnny Staccato (TV Series)
- Tempted (1959) ... Policeman
 1959 Markham (TV Series)
Hymie Kramer
- The Long Haul (1959) ... Hymie Kramer
 1959 Say One for Me
Otto (uncredited)
 1959 The Young Philadelphians
Diner Counterman (uncredited)
 1958 The Bob Cummings Show (TV Series)
- Grandpa Moves West (1958) ... Cabbie
 1958 The Donna Reed Show (TV Series)
- A Very Merry Christmas (1958) ... Joe
 1958 The Geisha Boy
GI in Korea (uncredited)
 1958 December Bride (TV Series)
- Contour Chair (1958)
 1957 Baby Face Nelson
Alex - Bank Guard
 1957 The Thin Man (TV Series)
- The Duke of Sing Sing (1957) ... Trimmer
 1957 Calypso Joe
Transfer Man
 1957 Hey, Jeannie! (TV Series)
- Jeannie the Policewoman (1957) ... Steve
 1957 Hold That Hypnotist
 1957 Chain of Evidence
Charlie (uncredited)
 1956 Crossroads (TV Series)
- The Comeback (1956) ... Medic
 1956 Slightly Scarlet
Hood (uncredited)
 1955-1956 Damon Runyon Theater (TV Series)
Pockets Brogan / Arne
- Miracle Jones (1956) ... Pockets Brogan
- Dancing Dan's Christmas (1955) ... Arne
 1956 It's a Great Life (TV Series)
Bus Driver
- The Elusive Dime (1956) ... Bus Driver
 1955 The Loretta Young Show (TV Series)
Marty Simmons
- Man in the Ring (1955) ... Marty Simmons
 1955 The McConnell Story
Sergeant (uncredited)
 1955 Jail Busters
 1955 Las Vegas Shakedown
House Manager
 1955 The Big Tip Off
Dan Curry - Gambler
 1955 Women's Prison
Mae's Boyfriend (uncredited)
 1951-1954 Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (TV Series)
Pete Vernon / Ace Parker / Kirby / ...
- The Kid from Red Butte (1954) ... Pete Vernon
- Mexican Gun Running Story (1952) ... Ace Parker
- Border City (1951) ... Kirby
- Behind Southern Lines (1951) ... Army Sergeant
 1954 Adventures of the Falcon (TV Series)
Andy Curtis
- False Faces (1954) ... Andy Curtis
 1954 Jungle Gents
Fats Lomax (uncredited)
 1954 Security Risk
 1954 Tanganyika
Paul Duffy (uncredited)
 1954 The Ford Television Theatre (TV Series)
- For the Love of Kitty (1954) ... Chauffeur
 1954 Adventures of Superman (TV Series)
- The Golden Vulture (1954) ... Sanders
 1954 Highway Dragnet
Ice Cream Truck Driver
 1953 Four Star Playhouse (TV Series)
- For Art's Sake (1953)
 1953 Three Sailors and a Girl
Marine (uncredited)
 1953 Devil's Canyon
Driver-Guard (uncredited)
 1953 Vice Squad
Cop (uncredited)
 1953 Arena
Medic (uncredited)
 1953 Murder Without Tears
Jim, the Bartender
 1953 Tricky Dicks (Short)
The Thrill Killer
 1953 Spies and Guys (Short)
 1953 Trouble Along the Way
Bus Driver (uncredited)
 1953 General Electric Theater (TV Series)
 1953 Jalopy
Red Baker
 1953 Hollywood Opening Night (TV Series)
- Legal Affair (1953)
 1952 The Jazz Singer
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1952 Chevron Theatre (TV Series)
 1952 No Holds Barred
 1952 Sky King (TV Series)
- The Giant Eagle (1952) ... Nat
 1952 Army Bound
Military Police Sergeant
 1952 Because You're Mine
Supply Sergeant (uncredited)
 1952 Here Come the Marines
Cpl. Stacy
 1952 The Steel Fist
 1951 Lost Continent
Air Police Sergeant
 1951 Let's Go Navy!
Sailor with Nuramo tattoo
 1951 Strangers on a Train
Boatman (uncredited)
 1951 Fighting Coast Guard
Medic / Interne (uncredited)
 1951 Appointment with Danger
Goddard's Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1951 Lullaby of Broadway
Joe the Bartender (uncredited)
 1951 Navy Bound
Seaman 'Warthog' Novak
 1951 Gasoline Alley
Giffin, Salesman / Con Man (uncredited)
 1950 David Harding, Counterspy
Customer (uncredited)
 1950 The Gunfighter
Townsman at Funeral (uncredited)
 1950 Kill the Umpire
Fireman (uncredited)
 1950 Blonde Dynamite
John Zero 'Dynamite' Bacchuss
 1950 Backfire
Fight Referee (uncredited)
 1949 On the Town
Cab Company Owner (uncredited)
 1949 Free for All
 1949 Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
Joe, Reporter (uncredited)
 1949 Any Number Can Play
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1949 Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Zalinka (uncredited)
 1948 Force of Evil
Comptroller (uncredited)
 1948 Blondie's Secret
 1948 Let's Live a Little
2nd Cabbie (uncredited)
 1948 The Return of October
Little Max (uncredited)
 1948 Sleep, My Love
Drunk (uncredited)
 1948 Slippy McGee
 1948 Public Prosecutor (TV Series)
 1947 The Gangster
Eddie (uncredited)
 1947 Wife to Spare (Short)
Louie Jackson
 1947 The Long Night
Mac the Bartender (uncredited)
 1946 Gallant Bess
 1946 Angel on My Shoulder
Jim - Taxicab Driver (uncredited)
 1946 The Phantom Thief
Eddie Alexander, Chauffeur
 1946 Up Goes Maisie
Mitch O'Hara
 1945 They Were Expendable
'Slug' Mahan T.M. 1c
 1945 Honeymoon Ahead
 1945 The Horn Blows at Midnight
Tony - the Hotel Bell Captain (uncredited)
 1945 The Power of the Whistler
Joe Blainey, Elite Bakery Truck Driver (uncredited)
 1945 God Is My Co-Pilot
Sgt. Altonen (uncredited)
 1944 Army Wives
 1944 Something for the Boys
Army Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
 1944 Moonlight and Cactus
 1944 Wing and a Prayer
Benjamin K. 'Benny 'O'Neill
 1944 Roger Touhy, Gangster
Ralph Burke (uncredited)
 1944 The Eve of St. Mark
Sgt. Kriven
 1944 Once Upon a Time
Soldier Leaving Theater (uncredited)
 1944 Lady in the Dark
Taxicab Driver (uncredited)
 1943 Swing Fever
Burly Attentant (uncredited)
 1943 Corvette K-225
 1943 Larceny with Music
Cab Driver
 1943 The Good Fellows
Cummings (uncredited)
 1943 This Is the Army
Soldier (uncredited)
 1943 Hers to Hold
Smiley, the Foreman
 1943 Bombardier
Little Boy - Spy (uncredited)
 1943 Good Morning, Judge
Charlie Martin (uncredited)
 1943 The Hard Way
Joe Duglatz (uncredited)
 1943 Air Force
Butch - Demolition Squad Corporal (uncredited)
 1943 Lady Bodyguard
Attendant (uncredited)
 1943 No Time for Love
Moran (uncredited)
 1942 Mug Town
 1942 Divide and Conquer (Short)
Neighbor (uncredited)
 1942 The Gay Sisters
Elevator Operator (uncredited)
 1942 Escape from Crime
Fingerprint Man's Assistant (uncredited)
 1942 The Big Shot
Quinto, a Convict
 1942 Powder Town
Joe, Cab Driver (uncredited)
 1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy
Wiseguy (uncredited)
 1942 My Favorite Spy
Kay's 1st Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1942 The Lady Is Willing
Joe Quig
 1942 Obliging Young Lady
Pickup Driver with Red (uncredited)
 1942 Call Out the Marines
Military Policeman (uncredited)
 1941 You're in the Army Now
Supply Man: Hats (uncredited)
 1941 Dangerously They Live
Miller, Psychopathic Ward Guard (uncredited)
 1941 Married Bachelor
 1941 Down Mexico Way
 1941 Navy Blues
Sailor in Storeroom (uncredited)
 1941 Manpower
Lineman (uncredited)
 1941 My Life with Caroline
 1941 Bullets for O'Hara
Singing Messenger (uncredited)
 1941 Sergeant York
But! Boy (uncredited)
 1941 Caught in the Draft
Make-Up Man (uncredited)
 1941 Out of the Fog
Drug Store Soda Jerk (uncredited)
 1941 Affectionately Yours
 1941 Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Harold - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1940 Street of Memories
Taxicab Driver (uncredited)
 1940 East of the River
Dink Rogers, Blackjack Player (uncredited)
 1940 City for Conquest
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1940 The Bride Wore Crutches
Izzy (uncredited)
 1940 Lucky Partners
Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
 1940 Blondie Has Servant Trouble
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1940 Manhattan Heartbeat
 1940 Sailor's Lady
Sailor (uncredited)
 1940 Turnabout
 1940 My Favorite Wife
Yosemite Bartender (uncredited)
 1940 Double Alibi
Joe - Counterman (uncredited)
 1940 Black Friday
 1940 The Lone Wolf Strikes
Pete (uncredited)
 1939 The Big Guy
 1939 The Night of Nights
 1939 Another Thin Man
Larry - a Father (uncredited)
 1939 The Roaring Twenties
Fletcher's Mechanic (uncredited)
 1939 Stop, Look and Love
Pete (uncredited)
 1939 Bachelor Mother
Dance Floor Gatekeeper at 'The Pink Slipper' (uncredited)
 1939 It's a Wonderful World
Newspaper Man at Ferry Landing (uncredited)
 1939 Rose of Washington Square
Eddie - Candy Butcher (uncredited)
 1939 Twelve Crowded Hours
Louie Allen
 1939 Tail Spin
Albuquerque Mechanic (uncredited)
 1939 The Great Man Votes
Tri-County Distribution Truck Driver (uncredited)
 1939 King of the Underworld
 1938 Road Demon
Hap Flynn
 1938 Next Time I Marry
 1938 The Cowboy and the Lady
Cowboy at Ranch (uncredited)
 1938 Submarine Patrol
Orderly in Maitland's Office (uncredited)
 1938 The Arkansas Traveler
Hobo, Frogeyes (uncredited)
 1938 Young Dr. Kildare
Blue Swan Waiter (uncredited)
 1938/II Keep Smiling
Projectionist 'Shorty' (uncredited)
 1938 Passport Husband
Baggage Man (uncredited)
 1938 Gold Diggers in Paris
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1938 Cocoanut Grove
Concessionaire (uncredited)
 1938 Island in the Sky
Blackie - Doyle's Henchman (uncredited)
 1938 Change of Heart
Plumber (uncredited)
 1937 Big Town Girl
 1937 That's My Story!
 1937 Escape by Night
Horace 'Red' Graham
 1937 The Singing Marine
Marine (uncredited)
 1937 Riding on Air
Gunner in Mob Plane (uncredited)
 1937 You Can't Buy Luck
Chauffeur Spike Connors
 1937 23 1/2 Hours Leave
Sgt. Schultz
 1937 Sea Devils
Seaman Brown
 1937 When's Your Birthday?
Dustin's Trainer (uncredited)
 1937 Torture Money (Short)
Little Davie Barkell (uncredited)
 1936 After the Thin Man
The Kid (uncredited)
 1936 Winterset
Louie (uncredited)
 1936 The Big Broadcast of 1937
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1936 Lady Be Careful
 1936 High Tension
 1936 Murder on a Bridle Path
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
 1936 Panic on the Air
Marvin Danker
 1936 Two in Revolt
 1935 Seven Keys to Baldpate
Max the Monk
 1935 Hands Across the Table
Cabbie (uncredited)
 1935 The Public Menace
 1935 Navy Wife
Sam (uncredited)
 1935 Little Big Shot
Doré's Henchman
 1931 The Girl Habit
Show Show Soundtrack (4 credits)
Show Show Miscellaneous Crew (2 credits)
Show Show Archive footage (4 credits)

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Personal Details

Other Works:

Stage Play: The Royal Family. Comedy. Written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Directed by David Burton. Selwyn Theatre: 28 Dec 1927- Oct 1928 (closing date unknown/345 performances). Cast: Murray Alper (as "McDermott"), Ann Andrews (as "Julie Cavendish, Fanny's daughter"), Hubert Courtney (as "Gunga"), Orlando Daly (as "Herbert Dean,... See more »

Alternate Names:

Murray Apler

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Did You Know?

Appeared in eight Bowery Boys comedies for Monogram in the 1940's and 50's.

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M (1931) - Plot Summary Poster

Plot Summary

  • In Germany, Hans Beckert is an unknown killer of girls. He whistles Edvard Grieg's 'In The Hall of the Mountain King', from the 'Peer Gynt' Suite I Op. 46 while attracting the little girls for death. The police force pressed by the Minister give its best effort trying unsuccessfully to arrest the serial killer. The organized crime has great losses due to the intense search and siege of the police and decides to chase the murderer, with the support of the beggars association. They catch Hans and briefly judge him.

    - Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • There have been a rash of child abductions and murders in Berlin. The murderer lures the children into his confidence by candy and other such child friendly items. Everyone is on edge because the murderer has not been caught. The most substantial pieces of evidence the police have are hand written letters by the murderer which he sent to the newspaper for publication. Unknown even to himself, a blind beggar, who sold the murderer a balloon for one of the child victims, may have key information as to the murderer's identity. The murder squad's work is made even more difficult with the large number of tips they receive from the paranoid public, who are quick to accuse anyone of suspicious activity solely for their own piece of mind that someone - anyone - is apprehended for the heinous crimes. Conversely, many want to take the case into their own hands, including the town's leading criminals since the increased police presence has placed a strain on their ability to conduct criminal activity. Although they both have the same end goal of capturing the murderer, the police and the criminals seem to be working at cross purposes, which may provide an edge to the murderer in getting away.

    - Written by Huggo
  • In Berlin in the early 1930's, children are being lured to their death by a psychopathic killer. In the space of a year, 8 children have been murdered. The police have redoubled their efforts to find the guilty man but have yet to find him and citizens are beginning to dispense their own justice on otherwise innocent people. The heads of the city's criminal element are paying a high price due to the increased police presence and decide to find the psychopath on their own. They approach the beggars union to have their members blanket the city with spies. They're successful in finding the killer and put him on trial in their own special court but the police make progress and have their own views on how justice should be administered.

    - Written by garykmcd
  • A psychotic child murderer stalks a city, and despite an exhaustive investigation fueled by public hysteria and outcry, the police have been unable to find him. But the police crackdown does have one side-affect, it makes it nearly impossible for the organized criminal underground to operate. So they decide that the only way to get the police off their backs is to catch the murderer themselves. Besides, he is giving them a bad name.

    - Written by Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net>
  • When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.

    - Written by Anonymous

It's noon. Concerned parents are lined up outside the schools waiting to escort their kids home for lunch...

See full synopsis » (Warning: contains spoilers!)

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Taglines | Synopsis | Plot Keywords | Parents Guide

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Up 7,148 this week

The Eighth Day (1996)
"Le huitième jour" (original title)

 |  Comedy, Drama  |  7 March 1997 (USA)
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 6,474 users
Reviews: 34 user | 15 critic

An unusual and wonderful friendship develops between a busy but unhappy salesman and a resident of a mental asylum.

0Check in

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Title: The Eighth Day (1996)

The Eighth Day (1996) on IMDb 7.6/10

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Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast overview, first billed only:
Pascal Duquenne ...
Henri Garcin ...
Le directeur de la banque
Isabelle Sadoyan ...
la mère de Georges
Michele Maes ...
Nathalie (as Michèle Maes)
Fabienne Loriaux ...
la soeur de Georges - Fabienne
Alice van Dormael ...
Juliette Van Dormael ...
Marie-Pierre Meinzel ...
La vendeuse du magasin du chaussures
Sabrina Leurquin ...
La serveuse du snack
Laszlo Harmati ...
Luis Mariano
Alain Bougnet
Magali Cote
Jean Désert

Georges has Down's syndrome, living at a mental-institution. Harry is a busy businessman, giving lectures for young aspiring salesmen. He is successful in his business life, but his social life is a disaster since his wife left him and took their two children with her. This weekend his children came by train to meet him, but Harry, working as always, forgot to pick them up. Neither his wife nor his children want to see him again and he is driving around on the country roads, anguished and angry. He almost runs over Georges, on the run from the institution since everybody else went home with their parents except him, whose mother is dead. Harry tries to get rid of Georges but he won't leave his new friend. Eventually a special friendship forms between the two of them, a friendship which makes Harry a different person. Written by Mattias Thuresson

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Comedy | Drama

See all certifications »

| |

Release Date:

7 March 1997 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The Eighth Day  »

Box Office

FRF 25,000,000 (estimated)

$328,452 (USA)

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »

Did You Know?

Pascal Duquenne has Down syndrome, like his character Georges. See more »

Harry: [fed up with Georges] Get out! Go find some other sucker to help you out!
[leaves Georges in the rain. He eventually comes back]
Harry: Put this on, you'll get soaked and chill.
[puts his coat on Georges]
Georges: [overjoyed] You like me!
See more »

Referenced in Pumpkin (2002) See more »

(from operette "Le chanteur de Mexico")
Music by Francis Lopez (as Francis López)
Lyrics by Raymond Vincy
Performed by Luis Mariano
See more »

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User Reviews

One of My Favorite Movies!
17 February 2007 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

I saw this film first on my way home from Paris to Newark aboard Air France in August 1996. The film itself I believe is quite a masterpiece. It's the kind of film that people should be making. I still think Daniel Auteuil is one of the sexiest actors around. In this French film, he plays a divorced father and businessman who has lost his zest for life until he across a Down Syndrome man who lives in an institution with other Down Syndrome patients. The actors including the actor who actually has Down Syndrome create a believable friendship and relationship between these two unlikely men. Daniel's life and ours changes forever with the Down Syndrome man. He realizes that life is not just work and not play but for the living and loving and that's what life should be all about. The ending is kind of silly though but I still think it's one of my favorite movies. It's enough to bring a tear to your eye.

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IMDb > "Born Free" (1998)

"Born Free" (1998) More at IMDbPro »TV series 1998-

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Release Date:
31 March 2001 (Hungary) See more »

 (Series Cast Summary - 4 of 11)

Laura Johnson ... Kate McQueen (25 episodes, 1998-1999)

Benjamin Burdick ... Dylan McQueen (25 episodes, 1998)

John Novak ... Travis McQueen (25 episodes, 1998)
Doron Bell ... Kobie (20 episodes, 1998)

Series Directed by
Timothy Scott Bogart (5 episodes, 1998)
Rick Hill (5 episodes, 1998)
Wayne Ewing (2 episodes, 1998)
Michael McGreevey (2 episodes, 1998)
Series Writing credits
Joy Adamson (25 episodes, 1998)
Jeff Franklin (10 episodes, 1998)
Steve Waterman (10 episodes, 1998)
Chris Baena (6 episodes, 1998)
Rhonda Smiley (5 episodes, 1998)
James Hereth (2 episodes, 1998)

Series Produced by
Keenan Robinson .... line producer (25 episodes, 1998)
Cary Glieberman .... supervising producer (13 episodes, 1998)
Rhonda Smiley .... co-producer (13 episodes, 1998)
Len Kaufman .... consulting producer (12 episodes, 1998)
George Sweney .... associate producer (12 episodes, 1998)
Jeff Franklin .... executive producer (10 episodes, 1998)
Michael McGreevey .... co-executive producer (10 episodes, 1998)
Steve Waterman .... executive producer (10 episodes, 1998)

Susan J. Spohr .... staff associate producer (unknown episodes)
Series Original Music by
Steve Kaplan (1 episode, 1998)
Series Cinematography by
Daniel Yarussi (12 episodes, 1998)
Series Film Editing by
Tony Miller (7 episodes, 1998)
Martin Apelbaum (4 episodes, 1998)
Series Casting by
Linda Berger (unknown episodes)
Series Production Design by
George Costello (unknown episodes)
Series Art Direction by
Maria Caso (3 episodes, 1998)
Series Set Decoration by
Sarah Sprawls (unknown episodes)
Series Costume Design by
Gini Kramer (unknown episodes)
Series Makeup Department
Debra-Lee Davidson .... makeup department head (18 episodes, 1998)
Series Production Management
Cindy Carroll .... post-production supervisor (unknown episodes)
Mark Phillips .... executive in charge of production (unknown episodes)
Felice Schachter .... unit production manager (unknown episodes)
Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
J.B. Tyson .... second assistant director (12 episodes, 1998)
Dana Champion .... second assistant director: second unit (10 episodes, 1998)
Michelle LeDoux .... first assistant director (6 episodes, 1998)
Joel Jeffrey Nishimine .... first assistant director (6 episodes, 1998)
Patrick Marsh .... first assistant director: second unit (3 episodes, 1998)
Series Art Department
David Des Marais .... assistant art director (unknown episodes)
Eduardo H. Esparza .... construction coordinator (unknown episodes)
Rodney Kerns .... property master (unknown episodes)
Linda L. Rebman .... art department coordinator (unknown episodes)
Stephen Reece .... set designer (unknown episodes)
Series Sound Department
Steven Toepell .... dialogue editor: sound effects editor (10 episodes, 1998)

Adam Blantz .... sound mixer (unknown episodes)
Alan deGraaf .... sound re-recording mixer (unknown episodes)
Yuri Gorbachow .... supervising sound editor (unknown episodes)
Michael Liotta .... sound re-recording mixer (unknown episodes)
Matthew McKenzie .... sound re-recording mixer (unknown episodes)
Series Stunts
Steve Buckingham .... assistant stunt coordinator (unknown episodes)
Rex Reddick .... stunts (unknown episodes)
Ron Stein .... stunt coordinator (unknown episodes)
Series Camera and Electrical Department
David A. Santos .... key grip: second unit (19 episodes, 1998)
John Palato .... best boy grip: second unit (18 episodes, 1998)
John Linares .... best boy electric (10 episodes, 1998)
Rick Taylor .... first assistant camera (5 episodes, 1998)

Henry Coccetti .... chief lighting technician (unknown episodes)
Donna Fewell .... assistant camera (unknown episodes)
Rocky Ford .... dolly grip (unknown episodes)
Philip Hurn .... camera operator (unknown episodes)
Lon Magdich .... camera operator (unknown episodes)
Marc S. Saget .... key grip (unknown episodes)
Series Casting Department
Leah Stanko Mangum .... casting assistant (1 episode, 1998)

Janice Maiorana .... casting associate (unknown episodes)
Robin Rosenauer .... casting assistant (unknown episodes)
Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Suckow .... set costumer (unknown episodes)
Series Editorial Department
Robert B. Spitz .... assistant editor (3 episodes, 1998)

Brad Bogart .... post-production coordinator (unknown episodes)
Jan Popiden .... assistant editor (unknown episodes)
Series Music Department
John Barry .... composer: theme music (25 episodes, 1998)
Series Transportation Department
Robin Bishop .... driver (18 episodes, 1998)
Christian G. Ervin .... driver (9 episodes, 1998)

Michael Doggett .... transportation coordinator (unknown episodes)
Glenn Knowlton .... transportation captain (unknown episodes)
Jimmy Ray Pickens .... driver (unknown episodes)
Series Other crew
Debbie Kay .... production coordinator (19 episodes, 1998)
Dana Champion .... production assistant (7 episodes, 1998)

Jan Clark .... production accountant (unknown episodes)
Janice Clark .... production accountant (unknown episodes)
Alicia Corella .... script supervisor (unknown episodes)
Dulanie M. Ellis .... script supervisor (unknown episodes)
James Hereth .... story editor (unknown episodes)
Christy Ingram .... assistant head trainer (unknown episodes)
Jessica Jordan .... script supervisor (unknown episodes)
Bob Kronovet .... executive in charge of marketing and publicity (unknown episodes)
Elaine Murray .... representative: A.H.A. (unknown episodes)
Josh Overton .... script coordinator (unknown episodes)
Jeff Rubinstein .... location manager (unknown episodes)
Charlie Sammut .... coordinator / head trainer (unknown episodes)
Ray Sterling .... production accountant (unknown episodes)

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Fallen (I) (2015)

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A young girl finds herself in a reform school after therapy since she was blamed for the death of a young boy. At the school she finds herself drawn to a fellow student, unaware that he is an angel, and has loved her for thousands of years.

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France in the Global Economy: A Structural Approximate Dynamic Factor Model Analysis

WPIEA2007129 Image
Price:  $18.00

Author/Editor: Alain N. Kabundi, Francisco Nadal-De Simone
Release Date: © June, 2007
ISBN : 978-1-45186-693-3
Stock #: WPIEA2007129
Stock Status: On back-order

Languages and formats available

This study identifies the main shocks that cause fluctuations in French output and their channels of transmission. It uses a large-dimensional structural approximate dynamic factor model. There are three main findings. First, common shocks, especially demand shocks, which seem to originate from the U.S., play an important role in explaining French economic activity. While international trade, relative prices, and FDI flows are the main channels of transmission, the stock market, consumer confidence, and interest rates also matter. Second, France's integration with the rest of the world has increased over time. Third, there is some tentative evidence of regional components in explaining French output fluctuations; countryspecific components also contribute. The predominance of exogenous factors affecting French output, the asymmetry in the transmission of shocks, and France's participation in a currency area, argue for making French goods, services, and labor markets as flexible as possible.

Business cycles , Economic development

More publications in this series: Working Papers

More publications by: Alain N. Kabundi ; Francisco Nadal-De Simone


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Knowledge   Experience   Vigilance   Service

Island Meetings & Incentives (IMI), founded in 1988, is the Virgin Islands leading destination management company (DMC), whose sole focus is helping groups plan and deliver a flawless, memorable experience while visiting the islands. Combined, our team of professionals brings over 70 years of experience in the destination management, event planning and hospitality industries. With this high level of experience comes the knowledge of how to make things happen, the understanding of the importance of quality, and the ability to deliver above and beyond expectations.

For companies planning their top incentive event, or high level meeting, we are the destination specialists. Clients look to us to advise them on what activities, day and night, would best meet their group’s wants and desires. They look to us to help them plan every detail and book the very best suppliers that will deliver what is expected. From airport transfers, to a sailing adventure in the British Virgin Islands, from an elegant dinner at a private estate, to a golf tournament, we are here to organize and manage the entire program.  We work very closely with our hotel partners on the islands and our travel planner partners on the mainland to help ensure a smooth process from conception to delivery. It is our mutual goal to hear the guests say “this has been the best ever...” and to have our clients look forward to returning and work with us again.

We are very proud of our extensive list of satisfied and repeat clients. The list includes everything from fortune 10 companies, to small businesses holding their very first event; from all of the leading travel incentive companies, to individual travel planners. The many wonderful relationships we have built over the years have crossed over from a business relationship to true friendships.

Whether you are at the very earliest stage of thinking of bringing a group to the islands, or you have already selected your hotel and you are ready to begin planning all the details, we encourage you to contact us. You will find us to be very responsive, very knowledgeable, and very creative. In addition to sharing the knowledge we have in helping you plan your program, you may look to us to help you organize a site inspection. We’ll give you as much of our time as needed in showing everything the destination has to offer.


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The House-Senate conferees who crafted the final version of the economic stimulus legislation faced considerable pressure to include immigration-related measures that are long on rhetoric and short on results. Read the Immigration Policy Center's statement on the final provisions in the bill.

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Would your business do better if your employees could view the world from your customers' perspective? Yes? Then put them there with empathy training. Acadian Ambulance and Air Med Services, in partnership with SAA Consultants, developed an eight-hour experiential training program to sensitize its 1,100 employees to the physical and emotional needs of patients.

The $80 million medical services and transport company, based in Lafayette, La., begins sessions with a video in which older patients describe what they did in their early 20s. Staff, whose average age is 24, see that the elderly are like themselves but at a different life stage. Then employees are asked to "become" the people they serve. Some wear ear plugs to impair hearing, smear petroleum jelly on eyeglasses to impair vision, wear splints on arms or legs to simulate physical limitations, pull socks over their hands to immobilize them, and so on. With these impairments, medics perform everyday tasks ordinarily done without conscious effort, such as eating lunch. Training ends with a dialogue on how the experience relates to work and to their personal lives. Many of the paramedics became sensitized to the patients' need for emotional autonomy, which can be provided by letting patients dress themselves or have input in scheduling appointments.

"The number of complimentary letters received from patients has increased since we began empathy training five years ago," says Tommy Duhon, senior vice president of human resources. "Employees have more empathy for elderly patients and an increased appreciation for human dignity that benefits all customers."

Copyright 1997 G+J USA Publishing


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The on-line erotica industry is hot--in more ways than one. It may be the best model yet for commerce on the Internet

Trend watchers have been telling us for some time that the information superhighway is going to be the supermarket of the future, but when it comes to plunking down plastic, mainstream consumers still seem to prefer a trip to the mall over a spin through the Internet. You can build a Web site, and "they" may come, but that doesn't translate into brisk sales and a robust customer base. For all the hype over the commercial prospects of the on-line marketplace, most business sectors have well-established alternatives to computer shopping that seem more closely attuned to the comfort zone of their core customers.

That's why it may make sense to look with something more than prurient interest at the booming on-line erotica industry. Indeed, the virtual combat zone could prove to be the most viable model for businesses trying to tap the Net's commercial potential. The facts don't lie: adult material is the first fully developed sector in Internet commerce, the first market with large numbers of buyers and sellers. In April 1996, ActivMedia, a market-research firm, found 780 Web stores (up from 60 in April 1995) selling erotic goods, interactive services, or files. And the search engine Yahoo! lists dozens more erotica sites opening for business each week.

Volume of business aside, the ways in which the erotica trade is adapting and developing its high-tech resources indicate how the large on-line marketplaces eventually will look and work. Erotica entrepreneurs are pushing the envelope in all major categories of multimedia information commerce: database access (graphic, audio, and video files), interactive services (keyboard chats, Internet telephony, videoconferencing), and real-time data feeds (continuous video broadcasts from the floor or stage of a nightclub). True, some aspects of this form of commerce are not, shall we say, readily fungible. Even so, the strategies that the on-line erotica industry is devising to cope with rapid technological change, increased customer sophistication, and intense competitive pressure almost surely hold valuable lessons for anyone who hopes to merchandise profitably on the Net.

The good news is that attracting raw traffic--the Internet equivalent of tire kickers and window-shoppers--doesn't seem to require deep pockets. In the real-time marketplace, new vendors in most sectors have to launch themselves with costly advertising and publicity campaigns. New vendors on-line usually don't need a strong promotional push in the traditional media to increase traffic at their site. When millions of potential customers are a couple of mouse clicks away, browsing takes on a whole new meaning, and even quite modest levels of promotion--a dozen one-time search-engine listings, for example, or an occasional news-group posting--can draw sizable traffic. "Not long ago I was developing an erotica site," says a worker at Web-site designer Digital Extreme, "and I put it on-line just to test it. I didn't advertise. I didn't list it with any of the search engines. But within a day I started to get file requests. They built up so fast, we couldn't get access to the site ourselves. Finally we had to take the site down and test it in-house."

Web sites often carry counters that show the number of "hits" on their home pages; those on erotica sites typically post in the tens and even hundreds of thousands. With access to those numbers of potential customers, many erotica sites restrict their promotion efforts to monitoring and maintaining their search-engine listings. Some also post sample images--visual promotions tagged with their corporate brand--to appropriate news groups. That low-budget marketing technique may eventually become standard practice for many on-line business sectors: tourist services, for example, often use the same approach, posting pictures and logos to their own news groups and mailing lists. It's true that a larger proportion of the current user base is in the market for erotica than for, say, a newsletter on mutual funds or a rare auto-parts catalog. But as the on-line population grows to hundreds of millions, even narrow niches (used seaplanes or antique agricultural machinery, for example) should attract a reasonable flow of drop-ins.

The real challenge is converting browsers into customers. On-line vendors in every sector report very low conversion rates, lower even than the average rate of direct-mail campaigns (about 2%). That holds true for the erotica trade as well. One vendor, Danny Johnson of Erotic Archives (a purveyor of live and archived entertainment on-line), reports that his research suggests a conversion rate in the range of 0.01%. In the opinion of many erotica vendors, that low rate can be traced to a phenomenon new to commerce: mass consumers with elite expectations. Because the on-line consumer can comparison shop far more quickly and conveniently than a shopper on the street or a customer with a stack of mail-order catalogs, that consumer can learn as much about product lines and pricing as a full-time buyer's agent in traditional commerce. And the wired consumer tends to demand faster service, speedier responses to questions, and a higher level of sophistication and innovation than the shopper of yesteryear.

Most on-line sectors have too few competing sites or are too new to have experienced the full effect of the shift in the balance of power between vendor and customer. Here again, however, the erotica industry is ahead of the curve. "It's a tough business," says the Web master of New World Erotica, a supplier of data images. "Naturally you have to keep building up your archives, but that's only one factor. All people want something they can't get anywhere else, so fresh product is a must. If you don't redesign the site regularly, people assume you don't have anything new. Speed is also a must. If you're slow or your server is overwhelmed, you get mass cancellations. Complaints or even suggestions have to be answered right away. If one person gets mad and slams you in the news groups, millions are going to read about it and be afraid of doing business with you."

According to the company's Web master, the New World Erotica site attracts between 200,000 and 300,000 hits a month. Handling the site is a full-time job for two people. Current expenses can be covered by 20 subscriptions a day to the site (about $15 each), but the biggest problem is finding economical ways of responding to the relentless pressure to increase the scale and complexity of the site. Recently, for example, because of customer demand, New World Erotica had to translate all 30,000 of its files into a new graphical format--a project that took the Web master about 24 hours to complete.

All of this suggests that the belief that the Internet is going to empower small business by lowering promotion and advertising costs is only partly right. It may not take a large initial investment to get a business up and running on-line, but the human and technical resources needed to serve a savvy and demanding customer base can easily eat up the savings gained on the marketing side of the ledger. To be fair, the energies and intelligence of a well-informed clientele can work to the advantage of an enterprise. Lee Noga, of Z Master Productions, a company that publishes CD-ROMs, agrees that on-line consumers are more critical than street buyers but says that their suggestions are more useful. She claims she's developed entire productions from E-mail input. And Karen Fritsche of the Stockroom (which sells sex aids and toys) says that customers have voluntarily posted the company's catalog on bulletin boards and have distributed links to its catalog archives.

Many conventional information vendors worry that the tremendous volume of free information on the Net could make it impossible to charge for information products and services. That may be true in some cases, yet erotica vendors exist by the hundreds even though the Net is awash in free erotic imagery. Vendors evidently succeed less through unique content than through innovative organization and the effective management of information. Erotica vendors were among the first to offer periodic E-mail delivery, now a routine way of packaging products (search-engine updates, for one). They were also quick to start carrying their archives in a variety of formats. (One format might allow shorter download times, for example; another, higher-resolution graphics.) And they blazed trails developing thumbnail graphics (miniature pictures that serve as graphical file names) to help users scan large image archives.

Actually, much of the free erotica content on-line is provided by the vendors themselves. Most offer unlimited access to peripheral libraries, short periods of free access to their main archives, and lists of links to sites offering free erotica. The freebies are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of their site design--its accessibility, its organizational clarity, its straightforward navigating cues, and its downloading speed. The tactic could work just as well for conventional businesses, like newspapers and magazines. The Boston Globe, for example, already gives away each day's news but sells access to the full text of the articles in its archives.

Another intriguing feature of the on-line erotica market is its resistance to the classic business-text precept that specialization is the best response to stepped-up competition. An informal survey of site developers reveals that nearly all of them are planning to add new categories of business rather than target narrower niches. Some of those sites function like small Internets, branching off more and more services behind the same set of interface tools. In addition to its image databases, for example, New World Erotica runs classified advertising and operates on-line movie theaters, chat rooms, videoconferences, and a "mall" that sells videos, CDs, and other physical goods.

All these developments reflect an emphasis on technology-driven consumer convenience. If the erotica sector can teach one overarching lesson to fledgling on-line businesses, it's that selling information, products, and services amid a flood of competing content means keeping up with the demand for ever-friendlier user interfaces and the latest generation of multimedia technology. Until recently, for example, videoconferencing over the slow connections used by home computers was a high art, requiring special software and direct connections (usually over 800 numbers) to the videoconferencing service's own computers. Expenses were high because the service used real people and advanced communications. This year, advances in videoconferencing software--all you need is a dial-up connection to the Net--have lowered the cost of videoconferencing services, opening up competition. The erotica sector was the first to commercialize videoconferencing over ordinary phone lines, a service that brings the industry the largest share of its revenues.

Erotica vendors were probably also the first to make marketable products out of on-line animation delivery, downloadable video clips, virtual-reality environments, interactive videos, real-time video feeds, and streaming video (video that runs while it's being downloaded). According to Paul Feith, technical manager of the new media department at Playboy Enterprises, the paid Playboy site that is expected to open this fall is a technological extravaganza, with virtual-reality tours of the Playboy mansion and live chats with Playmates. Film promoters, video artists, and animators are already using similar technologies, and other mainstream businesses (travel agencies, for example) are likely to follow close behind.

The downside of technological development is that the headlong pace of change combined with breakneck competition makes for a highly volatile business climate. George Izumi of A6, a CD-ROM publisher of interactive Asian erotica, observes that erotica sites tend to be short-lived; as the competition increases, revenues fall and the pressures intensify, leading many businesses--particularly small-scale, one- or two-person outfits--to burn out rapidly. And even among the survivors, the longevity of a sector's pricing structures is an ongoing concern. Francis Sharrak of Live Centerfold Girls and More estimates that a properly run erotic videoconferencing business (which usually bills at a rate of $5.99 a minute) should be able to gross $25,000 a week or more. However, he concedes that with the addition of several new listings for competing services every week, that lucrative return probably won't last the year.

In the near term many site developers are going to try to entrench themselves by using the micropayment plans (developed by companies like DigiCash and CyberCash) that are beginning to appear in the market. Unlike on-line credit-payment systems, micropayment plans use the digital equivalent of cash. It's like getting money from an ATM: buyers withdraw "E-cash" from their checking or savings accounts for per-item purchases. Converting to this kind of payment scheme may prompt extensive design changes for existing businesses. Whereas most current erotica sites attract subscribers through services like mass downloading, a site built around micropayment technology, which could allow not only per-image but even per-second pricing, would encourage impulse purchasing and could open up the market to people who don't want to use credit systems on the Net or who aren't interested in buying subscriptions.

Other challenges are in store as well: possible changes in copyright law; the introduction of digital watermarking and other copyright-protection technology; significant increases in bandwidth; the development of high-end applications like 3-D video, touch feedback, and large-scale interactive simulations; and the prospect of stiffer government regulation.

Today's on-line erotica industry may not foretell the age of fully developed on-line commerce in every respect. For example, not every market sector will be as beholden to technological innovation or subject to so volatile a competitive climate. Still, the very scale of the industry's on-line presence offers a preview of what businesses might expect on the new playing field. It seems safe to predict that when the world's banking and investment sectors, say, reach a comparable threshold of Internet representation, they will have to contend with many of the pressures and contingencies that currently affect the erotica market. There's a lot more to those racy pictures than meets the eye.

Fred Hapgood is a freelance writer based in Boston.

Adult Education

Seven Lessons from On-Line Erotica

  • Redesign your site regularly. If you don't, people assume you have nothing new to offer.
  • Continually upgrade to ever-friendlier user interfaces and the latest generation of multimedia technology.
  • Be your own access provider so that you can provide faster service. Speed is crucial.
  • Promote yourself in news groups that cater to your industry.
  • Distribute come-ons and giveaways to demonstrate the range of your retail services.
  • Be innovative. Unique content matters less than innovative site organization and good information management. Consider, for example, periodic E-mail delivery to advertise search-engine updates.
  • Design your site for the international market. Sites around the world are targeting your customers; you should be targeting theirs.


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One morning last January, a franchisee of Nurse Next Door in Edmonton, Alberta, sent an e-mail to company headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. John DeHart, Nurse Next Door's co-founder and co-CEO, clicked on a link in the message, which led to the website of Eldercare, a competing company based in Toronto. Like most other players in Canada's home health care industry, Eldercare was small, localized, and owned and run by trained nurses rather than business professionals. In fact, DeHart would soon learn, Eldercare's nursing pedigree was the point of its posting.

"Why choose Eldercare Home Health?" the posting asked, and then provided an answer: "Eldercare Home Health is not a franchise and we do not sell franchises. All our care comes from a registered nurse's perspective." Then the tone turned belligerent. "Many other companies," it went on, "are run by people with little, if any, formal health care training or credentials."

The posting continued in that vein, pointing out that, "at one company," the franchise owners came from careers in coffee shop and call center management, while another owner "specializes in entrepreneurship." The piece concluded by asking, "Are these really the people you want to entrust with the care of your loved ones?"

Though the text didn't mention the "other company" by name, its identity was unmistakable: Nurse Next Door is the largest franchised, nationwide home health care service in Canada. DeHart, a tech entrepreneur, and his partner, Ken Sim, a former investment banker, founded the company in 2001, shortly after each had moved to Vancouver. The idea was born when Sim's wife, pregnant with the couple's first child, was confined to bed rest. Sim called a home care nursing service for help. Chatting with the woman sent by the service, Sim learned that she had been employed by the company for only one day and had never met her bosses. Sim was appalled, but the entrepreneur in him sniffed an opening.

DeHart was enduring similar trials finding help for his grandmother, who suffered from dementia. The two young men decided to go into business in the Vancouver area, running a stable of handpicked home health care workers. The venture proved successful. After five years and mindful of an exploding population of senior citizens throughout North America, they decided to franchise their model across Canada. The franchisees would be responsible for hiring caregivers and marketing their services locally, while scheduling, billing, and all other customer service and logistics were handled back at the mother ship in Vancouver. This idea also took off, and the company is projecting revenue of $30 million for 2011.

The Eldercare posting, Sim recognized, showed that his company's success had seriously ruffled the feathers of its more traditional competitors. The implicit smears turned starkly explicit as Sim read on: The authors had pasted a photo of the distinctive pink car driven by Nurse Next Door caregivers nationwide, with the company's logo in clear view on the door. "As you might have guessed," the message concluded, "the focus of these companies may be on selling franchises."

This struck Sim, 40, as defamatory. The question was how to respond to it. "My first thought was to let it go. Here was this small company with an obscure website that was probably read by about a dozen people. Did we want to call attention to it?" But DeHart, 38, reacted more emotionally. "That posting hit me like a punch in the gut," he says. "I took it personally. We'd been building our brand for 10 years. Now here was this competitor questioning, in a cheap-shot manner, our integrity, our quality, and our decision to franchise."

The management team consulted an attorney, who said Nurse Next Door had a strong case. DeHart drafted a letter to Lisa Wiseman, the head of Eldercare (Wiseman did not respond to repeated e-mails and phone calls requesting comment for this article), warning that if the company didn't take down the posting or at least remove the photo of the car, Nurse Next Door might take legal action. But Sim and DeHart, along with Arif Abdulla, Nurse Next Door's marketing director, hesitated before sending the letter.

"From a tactical point of view, we thought we might be giving our competitor too much control," Abdulla says. "What if they took our letter and ran it on their own blog? They could portray us as being thin-skinned and vindictive—a Goliath threatening David. Also, something about the letter just didn't feel right. It wasn't quite consistent with how we go about our business."

For the next few days, a debate ensued at the company's headquarters, where the walls are emblazoned with the company's core values—Passionate about making a difference and Finding a better way—and where, in efficient yet exhaustive fashion, the management team weighs every decision. In this case, Sim came around to agreeing with DeHart: They couldn't just let the offense pass. Jamie Birch, the company's CFO, also felt that action was warranted but thought that the letter, backed by legal muscle, would be sufficient. Abdulla, for his part, sensed that the affront might actually be an opportunity in disguise. "We started thinking about the other tools at our disposal," Abdulla says, "and one was social media." That path appealed to the co-founders.

Nurse Next Door had been employing the standard social media tools—Facebook, Twitter, blogs—but with no clear digital marketing strategy. That was about to change. With Abdulla's help, DeHart drafted a response to be posted on his blog on the Nurse Next Door website. The aim was both specific (to persuade Eldercare to take down the offensive posting) and general (to open a conversation about franchised home health care). In the freewheeling, transparent spirit of the medium, DeHart opened his piece with a link to the Eldercare posting.

"When we realized how serious the implications were (the competitor actually questioned our trust!), we were definitely taken back," DeHart wrote below the link. "But it got me thinking about why we decided to franchise our concept in the first place: in order to provide consistent customer service; a centralized 24/7 call center; and a truly national brand. All we can do is stand by our systems and service and let our customers speak for themselves. We want to hear from you."

The Decision Another round of in-house debate ensued, during which Birch joined the consensus: Responding through a blog, rather than legal channels, would allow the company to take control of the narrative and, in effect, use the momentum of the aggressor to create its own fall. Three days after reading the Eldercare posting, the Nurse Next Door team set aside the conventional letter referring to possible legal action and posted the blog entry. "We didn't know if we'd hear from anybody," DeHart says. "I really had no idea who was reading my blog."

The posting didn't draw an enormous volume of responses—12 as of presstime—but the conversation was passionate and thoughtful. A reader named Sean Costello, for instance, who had no connection to either company, posted a response defending Nurse Next Door. "How the caregiver engages and treats others in their everyday life is more important for this role than any particular training," he wrote. Responding to Eldercare's denigration of Nurse Next Door franchise partners coming from backgrounds in coffee shops and call centers, Costello continued, "Ummm, is it just me, or does this not read like a dream team of customer service providers?"

The responses that proved most gratifying, though, and most beneficial to Nurse Next Door as it seeks to add franchises throughout Canada and enter the U.S. market this year, were the half a dozen notes posted by Nurse Next Door franchisees from around Canada: impassioned comments riffing on DeHart's principled defense of the company and its entrepreneurial model.

Eldercare declined to take part in the online conversation. The company did, however, take down the original blog posting and did so without Nurse Next Door resorting to legal steps (which would have cost tens of thousands of dollars, Sim estimates).

"When I sent my post out into the blogosphere, we learned that the nature of social media is that you can't control it," says DeHart. "The most pleasant surprise was how the posting served as a rally point for the people in our company. The conversation reminded us why we're in this business."

The Experts Weigh In

Stick to Business

I agree with the decision not to litigate, because that almost always costs a lot of time and money and usually accomplishes little. But at the same time, I don't see the point of fragmenting your attention, and taking on the angst, by calling attention to your competitor's behavior. We've had competitors say anything and everything about us, and we respond by sticking to business and continuing to grow.

Larry Meigs
CEO | Visiting Angels
Havertown, Pennsylvania

Stay Neutral

I liked Nurse Next Door's thinking. It was almost like an op-ed piece in a newspaper. I also liked how DeHart led his blog posting with a link to the negative posting. He put the issue out in the front yard, rather than trying to spin or suppress any of the information. He built on the social capital he had developed with followers on his blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Chris Burdge
President | bWEST Interactive
Victoria, British Columbia

Fight Back

Nurse Next Door should have pursued legal action. The type of "Internet graffiti" that their competitor engaged in arguably rises to the level of criminal behavior: deliberately making false statements for pecuniary gain. How many potential customers read that malicious posting and decided to call another nursing provider? This is a serious issue that affects almost every small-business owner. Eventually, the regulatory agencies will have to step in, but, until then, if you have the resources, legal recourse is entirely justified.

George Nikolaou
Attorney | Nikolaou Law Offices
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania


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Thursday 28 May 2015

Bonny babies, bullocks with no teeth and large ducks - must be Tullamore

Published 11/08/2014 | 02:30

Brian Gleeson from Kilcormac Co Offaly with his children from left, Sinead (6), Aine (5) and Ellen (7) Gleeson at the Tullamore Show
Brian Gleeson from Kilcormac Co Offaly with his children from left, Sinead (6), Aine (5) and Ellen (7) Gleeson at the Tullamore Show
Aisling Crossan Thompson from Portlaoise with 'Freddie' the dog at the Tullamore Show .
Bonny baby show runner-up Sean Henry (11 months) and mum Alicia and bonny baby winner Caitlyn O’Riordan (six months) with mum Orla.
People shelter from the rain at Tullamore Show

PEDIGREE animals weren't merely strutting their stuff at the Tullamore Show, you could also go home with a new heifer if you so desired.

Mucky conditions and some torrential downpours failed to deter over 50,000 people from swarming to the Blueball estate in Co Offaly to sample the best in Irish farming.

The show was also the venue for Ireland's first ever online livestock auction leading to some excited bidding for the two Limousin beasts on offer.

Tullamore native Brendan Hannigan chose the event to launch Livestock Live, a new virtual mart he hopes will trade in some of the two million cattle that change hands in Ireland each year.

Bidding rose rapidly from just €1 to between €826 and €918 each for the heifers by close of business.

But it was still the prize cattle competing for the top honours at the AIB National Livestock Awards that drew the most admiring glances.

The finely-primped Angus, Charolais and Holstein-Friesians vying for the various Supreme Champion awards drew huge crowds to the show rings.

From "Best Bullock with No Permanent Teeth" to "Best Large Duck" or "Best Collection of Leaves", the show featured almost 1,000 separate competition classes in everything from cookery to flower arranging with a total prizefund of €165,000.

Despite changeable weather conditions which spelled good news for Wellington boot sellers, the show drew visitors from all corners of Ireland and beyond,

They included Canadian ambassador to Ireland Loyola Hearn on one of his last ever official outings in the job.

Mr Hearn who's been a repeat visitor said he wasn't aware of any such fair in Canada drawing such a huge crowd to showcase the agricultural industry.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney opened the event and was quick to point out his recent promotion to add to his farming and food portfolio.

"I have Defence as well in case anyone steps out of line," he said.

On a serious note, he made a special appeal to visitors to redouble their efforts to improve farm safety as more people have died on Irish farms already in 2014 than in the whole of 2013.

"Some people in this audience will have experienced the trauma and distress of losing a family member on the farm," he said.

A change of mindset was needed to prevent further needless tragedy as "it doesn't mater how fit or how strong or how capable you are", he said.

Following criticism from the Irish Farmers Association Mr Coveney said he was also aware of the difficulties facing Ireland's 100,000 beef farmers fuelled by low beef prices in Europe.

With 90pc of our beef exported, Ireland was vulnerable to a rising and falling market though he was doing everything he could to protect them.

He assured them he was working to set up producer organisers which would give farmers more bargaining power with the meat factories, while the reopening of exports to the US this autumn after a 16-year break would also help.

While local priests prayed for good weather at the show's official opening, it was not to be.

The heavens promptly responded with a spectacular deluge leading to anxious murmurs about how the hilly fields pressed into service as temporary carparks would cope.

Brilliant sunshine tantalised the crowds by returning - only to be chased again by more showers leading to an earlier than usual clear-out.

Attendance was estimated to be down around 12pc on last year to 50,000 as a result of poor weather, said show spokesman Christy Maye.

Now in its 23rd year the Tullamore Show combatted the fickle Irish summer by moving venue five years ago to its present location on a farm owned by Ann-Marie Butterfield and Stephen McQuaide which has proven able to weather wash-outs.

AIB national
livestock show
Tullamore results

Pedigree Jersey Champion

1st: Turlough Miss Daisy

Owner: J&M and N Collis. Turlough Manor Farm, Dromin McTurlough, Newcastle West, Limerick

2nd: Mullaghlands Pride Swiss

Owner: P Gaynor, Mullaghlands, Mullagh, Co Cavan

Dairy Shorthorn Champion

1st. Owner. Glenn Carter, Oldcastle, Clonakenny, Roscrea, Co Tipperary

2nd, Kenneth Smyth, Smyth Farm, St Margarets Village, Co Dublin

Salers Champion

1st. Owner; Bernard Hunt, Lisbaleely, Gorteen, Sligo

2nd. Owner: Seamus Maher, Slevinagee, Roscommon, Co Roscommon

Aubrac Champion

1st. Owner: Francis Donohoe, Johnstown, Collinstown, Mullingar, Co Westmeath

2nd. Owner: John Walsh, Ballintra, Donegal

Dunbia All Ireland Commercial Steer Champion

1st. Owners: Saoirse & Laoise Carry-Lynch, Hermitage Glenn, Keels, Co Meath

2nd Owners: Robert & Mark McGivern, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork

Charolais Champion

1st. Owner: John Farrell, Cloonakilla, Strokestown, Co Roscommon

2nd: Liam Conway, Caltra, Ballinasloe, Co Galway

Angus Champion

1st. Owner: Joe Moran, Powerstown, Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny

2nd. Owner: Albert de Cogan, Killamuckey, Castlemartyr, Cork

Irish Independent

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Thursday 28 May 2015

The bird who delivered a basket case

Is a Hugo Chavez-style 'new and radical society' on the way here?

Published 31/08/2014 | 02:30

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013, after a 14 year rule.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013, after a 14 year rule.

Next month, a memorial to Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President and despot who died last year, will be unveiled in Minsk in Hugo Chavez Park, no doubt by Belarus's dictator President Lukashenko, who keeps his country in miserable poverty. Along with the hereditary dictator President Raul Castro of Cuba and the lunatic Islamist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -then President of Iran - Lukashenko led the mourners in March last year when Chavez breathed his last.

I wondered at the time why our own President Higgins wasn't present, bearing in mind his affection for Latin American revolutionaries and his fulsome tribute on hearing of Chavez's death. He was "very sorry", he said. Chavez had "achieved a great deal during his term in office," he said, "particularly in the area of social development and poverty reduction," and his "thoughts and best wishes" were with the Venezuelans "as they come to terms with this sad news".

Perhaps the Taoiseach told him that now he was President he couldn't keep such dodgy company. After all, Venezuela was a basket case, with a fragile economy, rampant corruption, little press freedom, a cowed opposition, a timid legal system and one of the highest murder rates in the world.

None of that worried Gerry Adams, either. "He dedicated himself to building a new and radical society in Venezuela," he said. "His progressive social and economic changes took millions out of poverty. He extended free health care and education for all citizens and his re-election last year with a huge majority was testimony to his vision." It was also testimony to his ruthlessness in bribing voters whatever the consequences for the country.

And where is Venezuela now? Well, the cult of Chavez is still much in evidence, with vast images of him dangling from office blocks. Indeed, his successor, Nicolas Maduro, claims the lost leader occasionally visits him in the guise of a little bird.

It should be bringing food parcels, for Venezuelans are in bad trouble. The economy is shrinking, incomes can't keep up with 60pc inflation and the poverty rate has shot up. Chavez was obsessed with state planning, and a combination of an overvalued currency, price controls and subsidised products in state-owned stores have created huge opportunities for fraudsters. It's estimated that 40pc of subsidised food and around 100,000 barrels a day of oil are smuggled into Columbia and there are massive shortages of food, medical supplies and such basic goods as toilet paper and coffins.

Maduro's latest plan is to introduce a compulsory "biometric card" to control individuals' food purchases by using a finger scanner, but no one knows if or when this will happen.

Oh, yes, and China, which has bought up much of Africa, has now loaned Venezuela $1.3bn (€1bn), and Maduro seems unbothered by Chinese companies' record of wreaking environmental havoc on the countries which have allowed it to exploit natural resources.

I bring all this up because Sinn Fein hope to be in government north and south in 1916, and I sometimes fear our irresponsibility and sentimentality might allow that to happen. As David Quinn once brilliantly wrote, Ireland behaves like "a giant left-wing NGO . . . Basically, once you are deemed a revolutionary, a socialist, a champion of the people, we will forgive you anything." To my knowledge, no interviewer asked President Higgins or Gerry Adams why they were mourning an economically illiterate despot.

The British government is determined to simplify and save on the bloated welfare system, get people off benefits and back to work and channel money toward those who need it most. Sinn Fein won't co-operate because of the electoral consequences in the south if it implements welfare cuts in the North, while the SDLP is following suit for electoral reasons at home.

The North already gets more money from the British treasury than any other part of the United Kingdom, but nationalists appear to be under the impression that if they refuse to implement these reforms, Westminster will say, "Oh, fair enough, lads. Here's some more."

The Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, is getting cross. "The outcome of welfare reform being blocked by the nationalist parties is that Northern Ireland is going to be spending money on a more expensive welfare system, leaving less to spend on other very important priorities like the NHS and the police . . . Northern Ireland can run its own welfare system if it wants to, but it needs to find the money itself to fund it."

Sinn Fein's refusal to face reality and govern in the interests of all may bring down Stormont.

In government in the south it might wreck the country. It would be little consolation that - like Chavez - they meant well.

Sunday Independent

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Thursday 28 May 2015

Winter Olympics 2014: Five lessons we learned from Sochi

Tom Peck

Published 23/02/2014 | 19:42

Children carry the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
Children carry the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
Performers take part in the closing ceremony for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games
Fireworks explode over the Fisht Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

The Sochi Games have charmed and mystified audiences in equal measure. So what have we learned

Violinists do not make good skiers

Type Vanessa Mae into Google and you’ll quickly find out she is a British-Singaporean violinist, which does little to explain quite why she has been slaloming down the Sochi mountains in the colours of Thailand. She also had to change her name to Vanakorn, that of her Thai father’s. She came last in the women’s downhill and by some margin. She was also, at 35, the oldest competitor, also by some margin. But she is no gallant Olympic failure, like the Jamaican bobsled team, or Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards. She trained for just six months, and her aim was to “not get lost”. She didn’t, alas, but had she done so, no one would have been getting their violins out.

Life’s still tough for girl bands

You turn up, you put on your luminous balaclava and start to sing. Then you get pepper sprayed and whipped by a cossack. It came as no surprise to see the newly unimprisoned Russian protest punk act Pussy Riot turn up at the Games with politics on their minds, but the pictures that emerged of two of their number being attacked by Russian security forces were still extremely shocking. Two of them were later arrested on suspicion of stealing a woman’s handbag. It’s as true as ever, that if you want to protest successfully at the Olympics, you’ve really got to win a medal first.

Russia CAN throw a party

Well, kind of. It certainly looks incredible on the television, the medal plaza packed at night in that central square surrounded by five stunning stadiums. But, whisper it, there’s not that many people around. Sochi is a town of 300,000 people, the Olympic Park isn’t even in the main part of it and it’s still a  two-hour flight from Moscow and three from St Petersburg.  Most of the volunteers were flown in and almost none of the events have been full. Those who are there are doing an impressive job of looking happy. The McDonald’s didn’t get built in time, leaving Olympic attendees with almost no dining options beyond the now infamous Sochi Hot Dog, which comes slathered in a cheese sauce so astringent it could replace soap and water as a punishment for vituperative children.

The hills are alive with the sound of woofing

In a tale of schmaltz that goes up to 11 and far beyond, when stories emerged in the days before the Games of a mass stray dog cull, a hero emerged, and he just so happened to be the coolest man on the planet. Gus Kenworthy, 22, an American wearer of back-to-front baseball caps, will not only be taking the silver medal for slopestyle skiing home with him, but no fewer than four stray puppies and their mother. He and his little doggies have become something of a social-media sensation. Now Slovenian ice-hockey players, American snowboarders and skaters are all getting in on the act. Forget Malawian babies, a Sochi stray is the new must-have animal accessory.

Not everyone’s feeling the love

If canine love is in the mountain air, it has its limits. “All you’ve got to do is walk in here, look a bit glum and it’s green-card city, Illinois,” is what the giant wolf that wandered into the athletes village must have been thinking. But it didn’t work. US luger Kate Hansen hid behind her door, terrified, and filmed the great beast wandering the corridors outside. Except, of course, she didn’t. The whole thing was a hoax by the US talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel. Privately, apparently, the International Olympic Committee blazerati are amused. President Vladimir Putin has yet to comment.

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Immigrants, Sweatshops, and Standards of Living

 Print reports that a few days ago, Mexican authorities found 513 people packed into two tractor-trailer trucks who had paid $7,000 to be smuggled into the United States illegally. Why would they be willing to pay that much, endure those kinds of conditions, and take that kind of risk just to come to the United States? What does this episode teach us about international economic policy?

It’s easy to be outraged, but outrage that isn’t tempered by careful economic analysis creates policies that, in a bit of cruel irony, oppress the very people they are alleged to help. Let’s explore this in the context of the global market for capital (sweatshops) and the global market for labor (immigration).

Consider sweatshops in developing countries. Sweatshop experts Benjamin Powell and David Skarbek have presented evidence suggesting that what we call “sweatshops” are the best of a lot of bad situations. In a 2006 paper, Powell and Skarbek showed that many sweatshops offered higher standards of living than many alternatives. In a 2006 paper that appeared in Human Rights Quarterly, Powell argued that a lot of anti-sweatshop initiatives are (perversely) likely to hurt workers in poor countries. In a paper that will appear in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Skarbek and a team of co-authors who share his last name report data from field interviews with sweatshop workers in El Salvador and conclude from these interviews that sweatshop jobs improve workers’ opportunities.

I borrow here from Professor Powell. Two factors combine to determine wages. On the supply side, wages are determined by workers’ other opportunities. Competition means employers have to pay more when workers have more and better opportunities. On the demand side, wages are determined by workers’ ability to produce revenue.

Wages emerge from supply and demand. Firms will hire up until the point that employing an additional hour of labor or an additional worker would add more cost than revenue. Workers will supply labor up until the point that supplying an additional hour of labor isn’t worth the income from doing so in the eyes of whoever might supply that last hour. If we make labor more expensive, firms will hire less of it.

Workplace safety mandates might also hurt workers. Compensation comprises a bundle of wages and working conditions. If we force employers to improve workplace safety, workers will then earn lower wages. There are all sorts of reasons a worker might prefer higher pay to a safer workplace. If we mandate safer workplaces, we make those workers worse off.

Be that as it may, one may be tempted to respond that “surely, gargantuan firms like Nike, Wal-Mart, and others can afford to pay more.” Actually, they can’t because they are competing in a globally competitive market for financial capital. If Nike decides to absorb the costs of paying higher-than-market wages and accept lower profits, they will have trouble raising capital because investors will ask “why should I accept a 4% annual return when I can get 5% by investing in Reebok?”

One might be tempted to claim that we should be ethical investors who invest in ways that will transfer wealth to the least of these among us and without concern for profitability. A business that does not maximize its profits creates a smaller pool of new resources out of which to invest in the future. Less capital means lower productivity and, therefore, lower wages. Firms can pay higher wages now, but only if they pay lower wages tomorrow.

Fortunately, we can do a lot for the world’s poor. First, we can make it easier for firms to invest in poor countries. This gives poor workers more options and raises wages. Second, we can open our borders to immigrants. Economist Lant Pritchett has argued convincingly that open immigration would raise the incomes of the world’s poor more than any other development idea being discussed. Further, it’s almost a free lunch for workers in developed countries because immigrants bring skills that are complements to rather than substitutes for the skills possessed by domestic workers. If we’re evaluating policies that are supposed to help the world’s poor, open immigration is advisable. If we’re going to make policy as if flesh-and-blood human beings matter, open immigration is imperative.

Thomas Sowell said it well: “I don’t have faith in the market; I have evidence.” The evidence on sweatshops and immigration is pretty clear. More capital invested in poor countries means higher incomes for workers in those countries. More immigrants in rich countries means higher incomes not only for the migrants, but also for native workers in those countries. If advocates for the world’s poor really want to do something that actually helps the world’s poor, they should quit protesting sweatshops and start working to eliminate barriers to free trade and free immigration.

Art Carden is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, and Assistant Professor of Economics at Samford University.
Full Biography and Recent Publications


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Toccoa-Stephens shelter nearing choice for director

The Toccoa-Stephens County Humane Shelter board is narrowing the field of candidates for its director's position.

Harold Andrews, chairman of the shelter's governing board, said the deadline for submitting applications for the open post passed recently. The board has worked with the human resources departments for the city of Toccoa and Stephens County to review those applications, Andrews said.

The board plans to conduct some interviews next week. The shelter's initial director, Bob Citrullo, resigned in March.

The organization also is postponing its annual Jailhouse Rock fundraiser. Officials said they still are working to set a new date.

The event had been set for June 29. Postponing it will provide more planning time, said Angie Garland, a member of the shelter board.


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