Funding

WASHINGTON - They returned home to a politically traumatized nation that treated them with indifference and scorn. Now, veterans' advocates fear the country will again miss an opportunity to recognize the toil and torment of the 3 million service members sent to fight the Vietnam War. The Pentagon's plans to celebrate the veterans - five years in the making - are sputtering. This Memorial Day is supposed to be the curtain-raiser for a series of gatherings to mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of US involvement in the decade-plus war and to honor those who served.

Invest for the long term and keep daily news in perspective. It's easy to get sucked into a negative mindset, with troubles at Facebook and JPMorgan Chase in the headlines. The social network's botched IPO and the bank's recent $2 billion trading loss hardly instill confidence in the stock market. Yet they're likely to be short-term distractions for the vast majority of investors. Often, it's easy to miss news that may have a significant impact on long-term investment returns, but doesn't grab attention like the stories dominating the 24-hour news cycle.

In the final months of two mostly unmemorable terms in office, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri boasted about his little state's big splash - stealing former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his nascent video game company from Massachusetts. "This is a risk worth taking," said Carcieri, a Republican, announcing the 2010 deal that lured Schilling's company, 38 Studios, to Providence, and put Rhode Island taxpayers on the hook for up to $75 million in guaranteed loans to an athlete who liked video games but had never developed one. "I think the governor...

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent Although Quincy has approximately $300 million in unfunded pension liabilities, the Quincy Retirement Board says the city is on track to pay it off by 2040. According to Edward Masterson, the board's executive director, the city receives retirement contributions three ways — through employee contributions, investment returns of the portfolio, and an annual appropriation from the city. The difference between that total number and the number it would cost if every single employee in the system retired...

CAIRO - The USAID director in Egypt abruptly flew back to Washington yesterday after less than a year on the job, the first major casualty of a dispute between the two longtime allies over American funding for prodemocracy groups. Jim Bever left his post the day after President Obama's administration chastised Egypt's leaders for stoking anti-American sentiment during the country's rocky transition to democracy. In the rare public rebuke, the United States said it had noticed mounting attacks and criticism of US aid and motives.

I assumed I had seen it all with Liberty Mutual. Once you learn about the chief executive's $50 million-a-year compensation package, the fleet of corporate jets, the $90,000 flights to Hawaii, the tens of millions of dollars for senior managers, the board of directors that doesn't feel the need to utter one public word of explanation, what more can there be? But as we've seen, there's always more, a fact that was never more apparent than when I was flipping through a mound of permit applications, building records, and engineering drawings on file in...

Cash-strapped cities and towns across Massachusetts could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars if the state's highest court finds in favor of police officers who say they are entitled to the full amount of an education bonus program. The lawsuit, which goes before the Supreme Judicial Court tomorrow, was filed by Boston police officers. It centers on the Police Career Incentive Pay Program, also known as the Quinn Bill, which awards salary bonuses to officers who earn college degrees in criminal justice or law. Traditionally, the cost of the program was split equally...

CARACAS -- Laid-off Brazilian factory workers have their jobs back, Nicaraguan farmers are getting low-interest loans, and Bolivian mayors can afford new health clinics, all thanks to the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez. Bolstered by windfall oil profits, Chávez's government is now offering more direct state funding to Latin America and the Caribbean than that coming from the United States. A tally by the Associated Press shows Venezuela has pledged more than $8.8 billion in aid, financing, and energy funding so far this year.

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations yesterday criticized a bill proposed to the US Congress to withhold tens of millions of dollars in dues unless the world body reforms, calling it "counterproductive" to efforts now underway. The House International Relations Committee, headed by Representative Henry J. Hyde, Republican of Illinois, distributed an early version of the United Nations Reform Act of 2005' this week. It seeks to cut funding for programs seen as useless and to bar human-rights violators from serving on UN human-rights bodies.

LONDON — Britain’s Conservative-led government outlined a revised strategy yesterday to tackle home-grown terrorism, saying that tens of millions of dollars spent on anti-extremism projects have failed to steer young Muslims away from violence. Home Secretary Theresa May pledged the government will spend more time on actively identifying extremist threats — naming prisons, universities, and the health care system as possible areas of focus — to target individuals and areas most at risk of radicalization.

Auditor Adam Edelen is calling for improved oversight over the Quality and Charity Care Trust that disburses some $30 million a year in state and local indigent care money to University Hospital in Louisville. Edelen released a report Wednesday of an audit performed by his staffers that found shortcomings that Edelen said need to be addressed. But he said his staff found no evidence that public funds were being misused. The trust receives about $25 million a year from the state and about $7 million a year from the city of Louisville to cover University Hospital's cost of treating...

States have spent only about 3 percent of the billions they've received in tobacco taxes and legal settlements over the last decade to fund tobacco prevention programs, making it harder to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use, according to a report released Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 1998 and 2010, states have collected nearly $244 billion in cigarette taxes and settlement money, compared with only $8.1 billion earmarked for state tobacco control efforts.

NEW YORK — One of the nation's largest pension funds says it will vote its 5.3 million shares against all of Walmart's board nominees — including the company's current and former CEOs — at the retailer's annual meeting next week. The California State Teachers' Retirement System, known as Calsters, said Tuesday that it has lost faith in the board's independence amid allegations of bribery in Walmart's operations in Mexico. Along with chief executive Mike Duke and former chief executive Lee Scott, Walmart's nominees to the board include 15...

Seven Massachusetts hospitals that primarily serve low-income patients will receive up to $628 million over three years to change how they care for patients, with the goal of improving quality and cutting costs, state officials announced Tuesday. The Patrick administration is pushing hospitals to change so that they can focus on keeping patients healthy, rather than on the tests and treatments for which they are paid. But doing that requires investing in improved communication between providers and better monitoring the needs of large groups of patients.

Jessica Bartlett for the Boston Globe (Above) Katie Baxter explains why the fundraising campaign is so important. (Left) Mary Ellen Gaziano reveals the new slogan With a flourish, Scituate Town Library advocates removed the fabric over a poster set up in the basement of the library on Monday, revealing the new slogan for the capital campaign seeking to raise $5 million for a $12 million library renovation. "It's overdue, renew", the sign read, prompting viewers to visit the capital campaign website at SL-Renew.org ...

Subsidiaries of Verizon Communications Inc. have agreed to pay more than $317,000 to resolve allegations that they failed to pay their full unemployment contributions to the Commonwealth's unemployment trust fund, the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said Wednesday. The settlement follows an investigation by a unit of the state's Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, which was targeting employers that fail to pay their quarterly unemployment contributions.

WASHINGTON -- A judge dismissed a lawsuit yesterday that sought to block the No Child Left Behind law, President Bush's signature education policy. The National Education Association said it would appeal. The NEA and school districts in three states had argued that schools should not have to comply with requirements that were not funded by the federal government. Chief US District Judge Bernard A. Friedman, based in eastern Michigan, said, "Congress has appropriated significant funding" and has the power to require states to set educational standards in exchange for federal money.

Yottaa Inc. , a Boston-based company providing Web optimization services, said Tuesday that it has closed $9 million in Series B funding. All existing investors, including General Catalyst Partners, Stata Venture Partners, and Cambridge West Ventures, returned for this round and were joined by additional undisclosed investors, Yottaa said. Yottaa describes its offering as an "easy-to-use cloud service that brings speed, scale, and security" to a business customer's website.