About Me 0072

Monday, January 10, 2011

Making Money Your

Two years into the Obama presidency and the economic data is still looking grim. Don't be fooled by the gyrations of the stock market, where optimism is mostly a reflection of the ability of financial corporations -- thanks to massive government largesse -- to survive the mess they created. The basics are dismal: unemployment is unacceptably high, the December consumer confidence index is down, and housing prices have fallen for four months in a row. The number of Americans living in poverty has never been higher, and a majority in a Washington Post poll said they were worried about making their next mortgage or rent payment.

In a parallel universe lives Peter Orszag, President Barack Obama's former budget director and key adviser, who even faster than his mentor, Robert Rubin, has passed through that revolving platinum door linking the White House with Wall Street. The goal is to use your government position to advance the interests of your future employer, and Orszag and Rubin's actions in the government and then at Citigroup provide stunning examples of the synergy between big government and high finance.

As Bill Clinton's treasury secretary, Rubin presided over the dismantling of Glass-Steagall, the New Deal legislation that would have prohibited the creation of the too-big-to-fail Citigroup. He was rewarded with a $15-million-a-year job at Citigroup, where he became a leader in the bank's aggressive move into high-risk ventures. An SEC report in September claimed that Rubin as Citigroup chairman was aware that the bank failed to disclose $40 billion it held in subprime mortgages before the collapse.

During those years at Citigroup, Rubin financed the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project, an economic policy program, and named Orszag, a Clinton economic adviser, as its director. The Hamilton Project continued to celebrate Rubin's deregulation philosophy up to the point of utter embarrassment. Clearly, Orszag is not easily embarrassed, for upon taking his new job recently he boasted "I am pleased to be joining Citi, with its unmatched global platform and dedication to providing clients with service and advice."

The most damning comment on this corrupt syndrome was offered by former Citigroup co-chief executive John Reed, who had worked with Rubin to get Glass-Steagall reversed and now is a sharp critic of the result. "We continue to listen to the same people whose errors in judgment were central to the problem," Reed told Bloomberg News. "I'm astounded because we basically dropped the world's biggest economy because of an error in bank management." Reed estimated that the financial deregulation proposals contained in the Dodd-Frank bill and other reforms of the Obama administration represent only 25 percent of the change needed.

The failure to provide serious regulation of the financial industry to avoid future downturns is documented in devastating detail in that Dec. 28 Bloomberg report, written by Christine Harper:

"The U.S. government, promising to make the system safer, buckled under many of the financial industry's protests. Lawmakers spurned changes that would wall off deposit-taking banks from riskier trading. They declined to limit the size of lenders or ban any form of derivatives."

The reason for that failure is obvious from the president's choice of advisers featuring Rubin acolytes from the Clinton years. Harper writes: "While Obama vowed to change the system, he filled his economic team with people who helped create it," referring to, among others, Timothy F. Geithner, who had gone from the Clinton Treasury Department to head the New York Fed, where he presided over the salvaging of Citigroup and AIG. As Obama's treasury secretary he was quick to appoint a Goldman Sachs lobbyist as his chief of staff. Geithner's subservience to Wall Street was reinforced by White House top economic adviser Lawrence Summers, Rubin's deputy and then replacement in the Clinton administration who pushed through the repeal of Glass Steagall and fought against the regulation of derivatives.

And with the decisive assistance from both a Republican and Democratic president, all has worked out just as planned for the banks. Harper reports: "The last two years have been the best ever for combined investment-banking and trading revenue at Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Morgan Stanley, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."

It's all wonderfully bipartisan. Recently it was announced that Carlos Gutierrez, commerce secretary under George W. Bush, had been named to a high position at Citigroup. For President Obama, there's no cause for worry about the loss of indispensable talent from his administration. Orszag's replacement as head of the Office of Management and Budget, Jacob J. Lew, was both a member of Rubin's Hamilton Project and a former Citigroup executive -- thus insuring that government of the banks, by the banks, for the banks shall not perish from the earth.

Bobo in the New Yorker this week (you can thank me for not excerpting the weird sexual second paragraph):

After the boom and bust, the mania and the meltdown, the Composure Class rose once again. Its members didn’t make their money through hedge-fund wizardry or by some big financial score. Theirs was a statelier ascent. They got good grades in school, established solid social connections, joined fine companies, medical practices, and law firms. Wealth settled down upon them gradually, like a gentle snow.
[....]
A few times a year, members of this class head to a mountain resort, carrying only a Council on Foreign Relations tote bag (when you have your own plane, you don’t need luggage that actually closes).

How many doctors and lawyers got own-your-own-plane rich via the gentle snow of wealth? No, don’t give me “maybe he means a two-seater”, you know that’s not what he means, and, no, making it by representing OJ Simpson or via a biotech IPO doesn’t count as count as “gentle snow”.

I’m not sure why he’s doing it, maybe to reinforce the notion of the deserving rich.

Update. This is weird and unintentionally comedic, but it didn’t creep me out as much as the paragraph about male lower bodies and female upper bodies, so I’m sharing it:

The server came to their table and took their orders. The restaurant seemed to specialize in hard-to-eat salads. Erica, anticipating this, chose an appetizer that could be easily forked and a main dish that didn’t require cutlery expertise. But Harold went for a salad, composed of splayed green tentacles that could not be shoved into his mouth without brushing salad dressing on both of his cheeks. None of it mattered, because Harold and Erica clicked. Most emotional communication is nonverbal. Gestures are a language that we use not only to express our feelings but to constitute them. By making a gesture, people help produce an internal state. Harold and Erica licked their lips, leaned forward in their chairs, glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes, and performed all the other tricks of unconscious choreography that people do while flirting. Erica did the head cant women do to signal romantic interest, a slight tilt of the head that exposes the neck. Then, there was the hair flip: she raised her arms to adjust her hair and heaved her chest into view.

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Friday, January 7, 2011

Moms Making Money

The movie, Race to Nowhere, has brought new attention to education and student motivation. I hope that this film inspires dialogue about what school could become.

As Seth Godin says in his 2010 book, Linchpin, Are you Indispensible?, the sign outside school could read, “We teach people to take initiative and become remarkable artists, to question the status quo and to interact with transparency. And our graduates understand that consumption is not the answer to social problems.”

I want to work at a school like that! What child does not want to go to a school as Godin describes: “What they should teach in school: Only two things: 1. Solve interesting problems. 2. Lead.”

Kierkegaard once said, “We create ourselves by our choices.” Our children and our students are making choices based on our examples.

In Terry McMillan's 2010 sequel to Waiting to Exhale called Getting to Happy, 15 ½-year-old Sparrow tells her mom, “Most of the kids at my school get their meds from their parents’ and grandparents’ medicine cabinet."

We are aware that some children are doing homework until late in the night and taking pills to stay up. How big of a problem is it? Another character, 14-year-old Taylor says, “I looked in your side table and I saw your little pharmacy ....all of [my mom’s] scripts were on display in the medicine cabinet. This is where most of my friends get their stash to sell at school for spending money.”

Jason McDonald, an instructional designer, and academic researcher states that "for high school and college there is evidence that the race we've entered our kids in is damaging them in important ways."   For college student information, he recommends reading My Freshman Year, the report of an anthropologist who went "native" as a college freshman and recorded her experiences.

Continued on the next page

Amber Portwood mugshot, hitting Gary video below

MTV’s Teen Mom reality star Amber Portwood has been arrested and is in jail in Indiana.

She has been charged with three felonies after hitting Gary Shirley, her child’s father, during an episode of Teen Mom.

Amber Portwood, 20, was arrested and charged with two felony counts of domestic battery, one felony count of neglect of a dependent, and one misdemeanor count of domestic battery. [TMZ]

Recently Amber Portwood told the National Enquirer that MTV actually paid her to hit Gary Shirley.

From the National Enquirer:

But Amber insists the violence was all a ruse and that show execs gave her an extra $1,000 to “get physical” with her ex during filming because they “wanted more drama,” says an insider.

“Amber knows she needs a good defense, and reality show producers are known to stage scenes, so she thinks it’s believable.

“She says that the producers were concerned because they don’t get much drama from the other moms.

“They told her that she and Gary were the most popular couple on the show and that they would pay her extra to provoke a fight. Amber says Gary didn’t know about it because they wanted a ’spontaneous’ reaction from him.”

Amber Portwood has attacked Gary Shirley three separate times and MTV, whether they told her to do it or not, should be partially held responsible.

It’s disgusting what has become of so many reality shows. Hitting, attacking, bullying, and making people’s lives hell seems to bring up ratings, but at what cost? The really sad thing in this instance is that a child is involved. MTV may not have paid Amber Portwood to hit Gary, but even if they didn’t, they filmed it happening and aired the episode – all for ratings and profit. They reward her for the bad behavior and give her a paycheck for the “drama” they crave so badly. But that money will be gone soon (especially now that she could be fined $10,000 for her charges) and what’s left? A child who will one day see this footage which will definitely be damaging to her.

Congrats, MTV, after Jersey Shore I didn’t think you could sink any lower, but it looks like you have. It’s a shame considering the ground-breaking, edgy, rock n’ roll channel it used to be. Now it’s simply the Jerry Springer of networks.

Amber Portwood is facing 3-years in prison and may be fined upwards of $10,000. I hope that $1000 was worth it.

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Making Money Through

I recently watched the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop from well-known artist Banksy. I got a kick out of this film for multiple reasons having liked Banksy's artwork for years now.

What most amused me though is how well it goes about making you question what celebrity is and how much you can achieve by becoming famous. The key point for me is questioning whether you really need to be creative and innovative above and beyond being famous.

Then Mike Butcher over at Techcrunch went and posted something this morning about startup teams trumping celebrity tech entrepreneurs. In summary, he too is making the point that execution far outweighs celebrity.

Basically, what I'm getting at, is all the parallels you're starting to see between the startup world and the movie business. I am definitely not an expert on the movie business and can only imagine what it's truly like from afar. Yet, we've all seen enough of it to realize a bit how things work in Hollywood. You basically have a couple large companies or studios as they're usually called. There you have management at the top who are the power-brokers in the industry. They back films which are used as vehicles to market actors who either succeed or not. If they do succeed, they are cast in further films and a ton of marketing is thrown at these films, regardless of whether these actors have talent or not.

Ultimately, the goal is to make as much money as possible and if you're the one making all this money, keep other people out so you can continue to make as much money as possible. Sure, there are some stand-out actors, managers and studios who go against the grain but basically it's an industry optimized to make money. Simplified by me immensely but I believe you understand what I am saying.

Now let's switch over to the startup world. It's no longer Hollywood and we're now a bit north in Silicon Valley. You have a couple firms who call all the shots and are known as Tier 1 VC's (with some major players like Google, Apple, and Facebook thrown in for good measure).

These VC's fund firms instead of films run by entrepreneurs instead of actors. Some of these entrepreneurs are successful and some are not. Those who are get funded further by these Tier 1 firms. Lots of companies are started and sold since these power brokers in the Valley sit on each other's boards and pass deals back and forth. The power brokers continue to make money and those entrepreneurs who don't lead to successful exits get weeded out (where's the reality TV version of "out to pasture" for entrepreneurs?)

Ultimately, as in the movie business, you make as much money as possible and keep out the riff-raff who would keep you from making tons of money as long as possible.

Now don't get me wrong. I am in no way arguing about whether the movie or startup business is right or wrong or skewed in someone's favor or not. I'm also probably simplifying it too much as well. But the point I am making is that we are in a world where it's about making money. Sure, you can get your touchy-feely on and say you're changing the world but ultimately you wouldn't "work" if it wasn't about making some money.

Hence, my advice to any entrepreneur is to take advantage of whatever you have if you ultimately want to be successful. If you are naturally good looking, get your face out there. Be on TV and in the press. If it helps you make money, go for it.

At the same time, if media attention doesn't help you make more money, don't focus on it. Get your pretty head down to business and execute like hell to innovate, optimize and sell your product. Or have the best of both worlds. Be a CEO focussed on getting your brand or product out there and have a number two (great blog post by Ben Horowitz) who takes care of business. What you need to focus on is making money and being the scrappy entrepreneur that you are, you'll optimize wherever you can to achieve your goal.

In the end it's never about who was most popular that determines success. Just think back to all those football players and cheerleaders in high school. (I've seen some of them from my high school....thank you Facebook.....and had a good laugh!) So often there are people you never hear about making tons of cash since they don't need to focus on media.

On the other hand, if Twitter/Foursquare/Zynga/Groupon hadn't received so much media attention, you think they'd be where they are now? I highly doubt it and I guarantee you that they had a clear strategy in place to use media (and position their founders) from the start. Hence, don't waste time focussed on the wrong things. If you're a celebrity entrepreneur who's counting his millions hats off to you. If you've become a media darling and are broke, well tough luck kid. Try something new.

By the way, here's what Exit Through the Gift Shop is about cut and pasted from Wikipedia. Think what you will about whether it's a real story or not but reast assured the dollars earned by "Mr Brainwash" were real!!

Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film is a Gonzo Documentary which tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. It is presented as a documentary, but reviewers have questioned its factuality. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every moment on film, to his chance contact with his cousin, the artist Invader, and his documenting of a host of street artists with focus on Shepard Fairey, and also Banksy though the latter's face is never shown, and his voice is distorted to preserve his anonymity

In 1968, 1,300 sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to support them. That was where he lost his life. Eventually Memphis heard the grievances of its sanitation workers. And in subsequent years millions of public employees across the nation have benefited from the job protections they've earned.

But now the right is going after public employees.

Public servants are convenient scapegoats. Republicans would rather deflect attention from corporate executive pay that continues to rise as corporate profits soar, even as corporations refuse to hire more workers. They don't want stories about Wall Street bonuses, now higher than before taxpayers bailed out the Street. And they'd like to avoid a spotlight on the billions raked in by hedge-fund and private-equity managers whose income is treated as capital gains and subject to only a 15 percent tax, due to a loophole in the tax laws designed specifically for them.

It's far more convenient to go after people who are doing the public's work -- sanitation workers, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, social workers, federal employees -- to call them "faceless bureaucrats" and portray them as hooligans who are making off with your money and crippling federal and state budgets. The story fits better with the Republican's Big Lie that our problems are due to a government that's too big.

Above all, Republicans don't want to have to justify continued tax cuts for the rich. As quietly as possible, they want to make them permanent.

But the right's argument is shot-through with bad data, twisted evidence, and unsupported assertions.

They say public employees earn far more than private-sector workers. That's untrue when you take account of level of education. Matched by education, public sector workers actually earn less than their private-sector counterparts.

The Republican trick is to compare apples with oranges -- the average wage of public employees with the average wage of all private-sector employees. But only 23 percent of private-sector employees have college degrees; 48 percent of government workers do. Teachers, social workers, public lawyers who bring companies to justice, government accountants who try to make sure money is spent as it should be -- all need at least four years of college.

Compare apples to apples and and you'd see that over the last fifteen years the pay of public sector workers has dropped relative to private-sector employees with the same level of education. Public sector workers now earn 11 percent less than comparable workers in the private sector, and local workers 12 percent less. (Even if you include health and retirement benefits, government employees still earn less than their private-sector counterparts with similar educations.)

Here's another whopper. Republicans say public-sector pensions are crippling the nation. They say politicians have given in to the demands of public unions who want only to fatten their members' retirement benefits without the public noticing. They charge that public-employee pensions obligations are out of control.

Some reforms do need to be made. Loopholes that allow public sector workers to "spike" their final salaries in order to get higher annuities must be closed. And no retired public employee should be allowed to "double dip," collecting more than one public pension.

But these are the exceptions. Most public employees don't have generous pensions. After a career with annual pay averaging less than $45,000, the typical newly-retired public employee receives a pension of $19,000 a year. Few would call that overly generous.

And most of that $19,000 isn't even on taxpayers' shoulders. While they're working, most public employees contribute a portion of their salaries into their pension plans. Taxpayers are directly responsible for only about 14 percent of public retirement benefits. Remember also that many public workers aren't covered by Social Security, so the government isn't contributing 6.25 of their pay into the Social Security fund as private employers would.

Yes, there's cause for concern about unfunded pension liabilities in future years. They're way too big. But it's much the same in the private sector. The main reason for underfunded pensions in both public and private sectors is investment losses that occurred during the Great Recession. Before then, public pension funds had an average of 86 percent of all the assets they needed to pay future benefits -- better than many private pension plans.

The solution is no less to slash public pensions than it is to slash private ones. It's for all employers to fully fund their pension plans.

The final Republican canard is that bargaining rights for public employees have caused state deficits to explode. In fact there's no relationship between states whose employees have bargaining rights and states with big deficits. Some states that deny their employees bargaining rights -- Nevada, North Carolina, and Arizona, for example, are running giant deficits of over 30 percent of spending. Many that give employees bargaining rights -- Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Montana -- have small deficits of less than 10 percent.

Public employees should have the right to bargain for better wages and working conditions, just like all employees do. They shouldn't have the right to strike if striking would imperil the public, but they should at least have a voice. They often know more about whether public programs are working, or how to make them work better, than political appointees who hold their offices for only a few years.

Don't get me wrong. When times are tough, public employees should have to make the same sacrifices as everyone else. And they are right now. Pay has been frozen for federal workers, and for many state workers across the country as well.

But isn't it curious that when it comes to sacrifice, Republicans don't include the richest people in America? To the contrary, they insist the rich should sacrifice even less, enjoying even larger tax cuts that expand public-sector deficits. That means fewer public services, and even more pressure on the wages and benefits of public employees.

It's only average workers -- both in the public and the private sectors -- who are being called upon to sacrifice.

This is what the current Republican attack on public-sector workers is really all about. Their version of class warfare is to pit private-sector workers against public servants. They'd rather set average working people against one another -- comparing one group's modest incomes and benefits with another group's modest incomes and benefits -- than have Americans see that the top 1 percent is now raking in a bigger share of national income than at any time since 1928, and paying at a lower tax rate. And Republicans would rather you didn't know they want to cut taxes on the rich even more.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.

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Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

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Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

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Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

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Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters
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Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters noblesville

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

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surface encounters macomb mi

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters macomb
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters noblesville

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters michigan
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters macomb
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters noblesville
surface encounters michigan

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Helen Thomas Joins Falls Church News-Press | ARLnow.com

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to write a column for the Falls Church News-Press. Thomas was a.

surface encounters macomb mi

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

personal finance manager

CNN’s highly visual new iPad app hit the App Store on Tuesday morning, bringing many of the media company’s best-known products — including all of its articles and videos from CNN.com, as well as live breaking news video coverage and hourly radio updates — to the iPad for free.

Unlike the iPad apps of most other publications, CNN’s app [iTunes link] replicates neither the format of its website nor a newspaper layout. Instead, users are drawn to headlines laid upon enlarged thumbnails to explore different kinds of content — sports is juxtaposed against tech, which is sandwiched between stories on finance and government policy — although they also have the option to browse by section and headline in a text-only format as well.

“We’ve really worked to make this thing feel like it was meant for the iPad,” said KC Estenson, SVP and general manager of CNN.com. “It looks unlike any other thing that we’ve built. We wanted to know what sort of design and user interface would make [the content come] alive on the iPad.”

The app is also more social than any of those released by other major media properties. Comments are given prominent placement alongside articles, which are frequently refreshed. Users can also join the conversation directly from the app, and sign in to Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook and Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter to share and comment upon stories with their respective networks (e-mail is also, of course, a sharing option). Unfortunately text from the articles is not selectable, so sharing favorite clips or quotes can be a bit laborious.

Users can toggle between U.S. and international news, as well as save articles for later offline viewing. Breaking news alerts will appear as a notifications while the app is closed, which can be turned off in settings.

CNN’s app is, in my opinion, the best app from a single news source to date. The combination of access to live streaming video of breaking news and full commenting functionality ensure it will become my personal go-to resource for general world news on the iPad.

In addition to the iPad app, CNN’s iPhone app [iTunes link] has also been made free, part of the company’s decision to make their apps “available on as many devices as possible,” Estenson said. class='blippr-nobr'>Appsclass="blippr-nobr">Apps for class='blippr-nobr'>Androidclass="blippr-nobr">Android and other platforms are in the works, although no release dates have yet been named. CNN’s average monthly mobile audience is up 23% this year to 14.5 million, compared to last year’s monthly average of 11.7 million.

Screenshots

style="display:none" class="gallery_id">499 style="display:none" class="post_id">469215 style="display:none" class="gallery_type">photo class="ytm-view-type">View As One Page »

Intuit-owned Mint.com is beginning its international expansion today with the launch of its personal finance platform in Canada.

Canadians can access Mint at Mint.com/Canada. The main difference between the Canadian version of Mint.com is that it connects to both Canadian banking financial institutions and U.S. banks and credit unions. Canadian users will still be able to aggregate financial accounts and transaction information, categorize spending, access personal financial data and more. Mint.com’s mobile apps for iPhone and Android will also be available on the iTunes Canada app store and Android Market.

The main barrier to Mint.com’s international expansion is bringing non-U.S. financial institutions onto the platform. But once Intuit does this, I’m fairly certain Mint.com will be able to see a significant growth in the number of users outside the U.S. Currently, Mint.com has 4.5 million users and connects to 16,000 financial institutions.

As Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit Personal Finance and founder of Mint states, “Our Canadian launch is just the beginning of Mint.com’s global expansion.”

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News - Racing Post

MONET'S GARDEN the popular chasing veteran who took his third Old Roan Chase this season has been retired and is battling for his life due to an infection in his hoof.

Climate News Snooze? - NYTimes.com

Coverage of human-driven climate change implodes. And so?

Green Giant Planned for Portland « Liveshots

Portland, Oregon prides itself on being an eco-friendly city claiming to have the second most green.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

foreclosure search

Exclusive: Huckabee Working With Scam Artist Notorious For Targeting Foreclosure Victims

Fox News personality and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) recently began appearing in television commercials calling for viewers to dial a 1-800 number to sign a repeal petition against health reform called “Repeal It Now.” The ad, a “project of Restore America’s Voice” (RAV), a political action committee run by Huckabee’s friend Ken Hoagland, also directs viewers to a website that solicits donations. “Well now, we’ll do our spanking on the Congress,” says a cheerful Huckabee before claiming that Americans will “rule” again if the petitioned is signed.

Huckabee, who has a history of using his ubiquitous media presence to fundraise for political groups benefiting himself and his family, is again associating with a shady political venture. ThinkProgress has learned that Huckabee is working with a firm notorious for defrauding families facing foreclosure with false promises and predatory fees.

According to disclosures filed with the FEC, RAV’s campaign is managed by a firm called the 949 Media Group. 949 has been paid tens of thousands of dollars to set up RAV’s website and Google search optimization, and receives a regular commission of $10,000 for related media work from RAV. ThinkProgress spoke to a representative from RAV, who told us that 949 is run by an individual named Derek Oberholtzer. According to the representative, Oberholtzer has worked with RAV since the PAC formed in October.

Oberholtzer is well known as a scam artist who has used a myriad of tricks to defraud people out of their money. In addition to 949 Media Group, he started a number of companies, including “Apply 2 Save” (A2S) and Giant Media Works. Consumer report websites are rife with complaints about Oberholtzer’s odious business practices. In one scheme, Oberholtzer paid for radio and other advertisements telling distressed homeowners to contact his company A2S to pay a flat $595 fee to receive assistance in renegotiating their loans or to block a bank foreclosure. The Federal Trade Commission has prosecuted Oberholtzer for deceptive practices. In numerous cases, Oberholtzer took the $595 payment, and never did anything to stop a foreclosure or even contact the mortgage company in question. In many instances he continued billing his customers further fees totaling nearly $1,000 without lifting a finger to actually renegotiate their mortgage or halt a foreclosure, as his “Apply 2 Save” company promised.

On message boards discussing mortgage fraud, story after story details A2S’s trickery. There are heartbreaking tales of families spending their last savings on a lifeline promised by Oberholtzer’s company — only to be defrauded and forced out of their homes.

After receiving over 150 complaints about Oberholtzer’s companies charging up-front fees of over $1,500 without delivering on any foreclosure assistance, the Idaho attorney general banned Oberholtzer from engaging in the home loan business in his state. “Apply 2 Save operated for less than a year, signed up hundreds of clients, and took in millions of dollars,” said Lawrence Wasden, Idaho’s attorney general. “Yet few consumers ever received the mortgage modification services they purchased.” After a successful lawsuit, Wasden was able to win $45,000 from A2S to distribute to Oberholtzer’s victims. In Maryland, Oberholtzer has been served an order to cease and desist after the state commissioner of financial regulation received multiple complaints about Apply 2 Save’s fraudulent scheme. Eventually, A2S was forced into bankruptcy and a wave of legal action in Idaho spurred Oberholtzer to move to California. Oberholtzer also agreed to pay $4 million to settle a civil suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission.

Once he was driven out of the business of defrauding already desperate people facing foreclosure, Oberholtzer became active in Republican politics. The “Repeal It Now” campaign set up by Restore America’s Voice and 949 Media Group claims endorsements from Huckabee, Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher, and somehow from deceased president Ronald Reagan. Olberholtzer also owns inactive domains called electmichele.org (presumably for Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), repeality.biz, electme2012.com, and ravpac.info. The “Repeal It Now” campaign Huckabee stars in does nothing to accurately discuss health reform or address the health care crisis. It only exists to rake in donations and spread right-wing hysteria.

As ThinkProgress has reported, there are a number of right-wing consultants who appear to orchestrate campaigns simply to enrich themselves. For example, one of the well-paid leaders of the Tea Party Patriots made a career before the Tea Party movement concocting pyramid schemes with herbal nutrient products and the Tea Party Express is run by an infamous Republican consulting firm known for starting front groups to funnel donations back to themselves. Similarly, people like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich seem to be willing to say or do anything to earn a quick buck. However, Huckabee’s central role in legitimizing fraudsters like Oberholtzer might be a new low, even for the radical right.

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John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL News

South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.

Movie News Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the 'Avatar' Treatment ...

A leaked costume test from MGM's completed-but-shelved remake of 1984's 'Red Dawn' has found its way online. It's not much, but thanks to MGM's.

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John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL News

South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.

Movie News Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the 'Avatar' Treatment ...

A leaked costume test from MGM's completed-but-shelved remake of 1984's 'Red Dawn' has found its way online. It's not much, but thanks to MGM's.

robert shumake detroit

Exclusive: Huckabee Working With Scam Artist Notorious For Targeting Foreclosure Victims

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John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL News

South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.

Movie News Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the 'Avatar' Treatment ...

A leaked costume test from MGM's completed-but-shelved remake of 1984's 'Red Dawn' has found its way online. It's not much, but thanks to MGM's.

robert shumake

John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL News

South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.

Movie News Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the 'Avatar' Treatment ...

A leaked costume test from MGM's completed-but-shelved remake of 1984's 'Red Dawn' has found its way online. It's not much, but thanks to MGM's.

robert shumake

How to Market Your Foreclosure Cleanup Business to Real Estate Investors

Real estate investors can be a very lucrative part of your foreclosure cleaning business client base. Why would you want to market to this group?

For two reasons: (i) during this crisis, many of them are having a hard time moving properties; and (ii) once they use you, they are likely to use you over and over again (think long-term clients beyond the foreclosure crisis).

How to Find Real Estate Investors in Your Geographic Area

Practically every city has real estate investment groups. To find them, do the following:

I. Google: Google phrases like "real estate investing", "real estate investors" or "real estate investment groups" and "your city".

II. Go Through the Search Engine Results: Start going through the search engine results that pop up and copy/paste the contact info.

III. Contact Them Via Email or Mail: Compose an email message like the one below or send a letter using similar verbiage outlined below.

Sample Email Message or Snail Mail Letter to Real Estate Investors

Dear Ms./Mr. Jones:

Can't sell because your property is not "market" ready? Recently bought a property and need to ready it for tenants? Having trouble finding reliable contractors?

We can help you save time and money by getting your properties ready for sale or for new rental tenants.

We are Your Foreclosure Cleanup Company, a one-stop foreclosure and real estate cleanup shop. Fully LICENSED and INSURED, we offer the following INTERIOR and EXTERIOR services: trash and debris removal; painting; lawn maintenance; minor repairs; pressure washing; and more.

You can reach us at Your Phone Number or via email at Your Email Address.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Your Foreclosure Cleanup Company
Your Website Address

A simple contact letter like the one above, used effectively, can bring you a string of new, long-term foreclosure cleanup clients.

Networking with Real Estate Investors

Many times, you will see networking events listed for real estate investor groups. Go to some of these meetings, armed with your business cards and foreclosure cleanup marketing postcards, and introduce yourself and your company.

In turn, ask them about their business, and make sure you get their contact information so you can stay in touch. There's nothing like a face-to-face meeting to pick up some quick business, and consistent marketing to them thereafter to cement the newly formed relationship.

Once investors get to know you and the kind of work you do, you can almost guarantee that they will call you or refer you because you'll likely be one of the only types of companies that handle everything they need, under one roof, that they will have actually met in person.

Good luck with your foreclosure cleanup business.

Cassandra Black is the Author of How to Start a Foreclosure Cleanup Business: FREE Articles & Advice Blog, How to Start a Foreclosure Cleanup Business eBook, Pricing Guide for Foreclosure Cleaning Businesses eBook, and How to Market Your Foreclosure Cleanup Business eBook.

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John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL News

South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.

Movie News Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the 'Avatar' Treatment ...

A leaked costume test from MGM's completed-but-shelved remake of 1984's 'Red Dawn' has found its way online. It's not much, but thanks to MGM's.

robert shumake

robert shumake detroit

Exclusive: Huckabee Working With Scam Artist Notorious For Targeting Foreclosure Victims

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robert shumake detroit