Friday, January 7, 2011

Making Money Program




The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:




HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)



The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.



...



Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 



Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.




This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 



"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.



Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:







See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:







So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.



Jesus’s birthday is coming up. And you know what he wants for his birthday? Nothing more than for you lose weight and become more attractive. As C.S. Lovett helpfully explains in his 1979 book, Help Lord … The Devil Wants Me Fat!, there’s a simple way to not be so fat: stop eating. Just completely stop. See, it’s not hunger that causes you to eat delicious holiday treats, it’s Satan.


Maybe that seems extreme to you. What about clean, natural, whole foods in their purest forms? you might ask. I eat a raw, macrobiotic, vegan diet, and I feel fantastic, you say. Yap, yap, yap. All I hear is Satan telling filthy lies.



Not convinced? People who own the book and have followed the instructed fast simply rave about it!


This book has to be one of the greatest books written concerning weight loss and how to tear down strongholds that the enemy has built in one's mind by causing one to overeat. By putting thoughts in one's mind to eat when one is not really hungry, the devil deceives unsuspecting Christians by the bondage caused by overeating and not being able to serve the Lord, as one would if he was in better shape. (I didn't word that right but you will understand what I mean if you will buy the book.) … [A]fter reading the book I fasted for 11 complete days and there was nothing to it.

—Ndubusi, on Amazon


Some readers feel so passionately about how this book has changed their lives that they even blog about it on SparkPeople.


Most do not think of overeating as a sin but it's the devil's way of getting control of otherwise good Christians who would never think of sinning in other ways, to destroy themselves, bite by bite. It really doesn't matter whether we are bound by drugs, sex or money, the chains still chain us. In reality it wouldn't matter if we were bound by rope, iron or real chains, if we're bound, we're bound…When you look at it as a battle with Satan, it perks up your soul and helps you to determine not to let him win anymore.


Lovett and his wife, Linda, who did the book’s illustrations, encourage you to win your battle with the devil by thinking of your brain (soul?) as a computer that you can program with visualization. Like this:



Like any war with dark forces, this one will require constant vigilance. Much like Santa Claus, Lucifer sees you and what you eat not just when you are awake, but even when you are sleeping.



So now our plan is in place. Let’s make Jesus happy and stick to our inevitable New Year’s resolutions. Just remember, if you break this diet, there's more at stake than skinny jeans and self esteem. There is your immortal soul.


Merry Christmas!


Previously: Looking Pretty for the Holidays.



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<b>News</b> - See Natalie Portman&#39;s Dazzling Engagement Ring! - Style <b>...</b>

Check out her rock, plus get new details on how her pregnancy was "a shock"

This week&#39;s travel <b>news</b> - Travel - Macleans.ca

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Obama Calls Drop in Unemployment Rate &#39;Positive <b>News</b>,&#39; Fills Out <b>...</b>

President Obama today called the job numbers released this morning “positive news” but said there still is work to be done on the economy. The numbers showed a drop in the nation's unemployment rate to 9.4 percent in December.


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Making Money Web


The Music Industry and the Web – Time to kiss and make up?


I was reading about the making of Brian Eno’s “Another Green World” earlier I found myself wondering whether it would be possible to record and release such an ambitious album in these times, where record labels are acting like frightened animals, cautiously guarding their IP and making easy moves – no doubt fearful of any further financial hemorrhaging.


Another Green World was made in 1975 in a top London studio that Eno, following a stint in Roxy Music and two well received solo albums, had booked – along with a group of the top musicians of time – without actually having planned much out first. This kind of thing went on a lot in the seventies, where after two decades of lucrative rock ‘n’ roll the money was there to make anything possible and confidence in artists (and not just their managers) was at a peak.


It’s a widely held view that we’re living in a kind of polar opposite to this these days and that the web, with its core principles of openness providing an easy sea for music pirates to sail on, is somehow to blame for this. It doesn’t stop there either – social media advocates that have tried to introduce the need for interaction with audiences to musicians, managers and labels have recently been met with waves of negativity and a sad yearning for “the good old days” when all that was needed to sell thousands of records was a few interviews and some decent radio coverage.


As you’d expect from massive corporate entities, major labels themselves have always been slow to embrace technology and therefore often highly suspicious of it – for instance the delays that have beset the launch of Spotify in the US have apparently been caused by a lack of confidence in potential revenues for the service. This is despite its success in Europe and the fact that these labels own forays into selling music via the web have been massive failures – not to mention the current alternative of continuing to release music only for it to be sold once and then endlessly pirated.


This might be a good time then, if they want to actually be around in ten years time, for labels to begin investing in emerging music technology themselves – rather than be at the mercy of smarter, web-savvy companies that will control their future interaction with audiences, and perhaps even one day seek to usurp them. A wise place to start would be to look into future formats, since MP3 is unlikely to be around forever and has proven to be a medium which suits audiences far, far more than it does the labels. Also, with licensing and IP issues no doubt being a major headache for them in terms of time and resources, perhaps harnessing technology as a means of dealing with these would be wise – although I can see a few people in the legal system resisting this one.


A forward thinking view with regards to the data around their music and artists would benefit them too. You only have to look at LastFm, whose API provides artist and song data to range of popular sites or The Echo Nest, which has recently struck deals around their music data services with two broadcasting giants in the form of BBC and MTV to see that this has a real value in terms of the kind of mobile apps and web services they can provide their audiences in the future.This is certainly something worth thinking about if these begin to replace traditional formats like singles and albums as a means of experiencing music, something that some are starting to believe is very likely. Bearing in mind that this new type of media might allow labels the chance to once again exert some control over the way audiences purchase and interact with music it would be unwise to ignore this trend in the way they ignored the rise of the mp3 fifteen years ago.


As much as I can see that record labels have been overly defensive and almost comically foolish when it comes to the Internet, few things would bring me greater pleasure than to see them recover the confidence to allow them to start investing in artists again and I honestly believe that it’s technology that holds the key to this. Let’s hope we start to see this in the coming years – who knows, maybe one day soon we might get to hear a musical endeavor as glorious as “Another Green World”.



Mollie Vandor is the product manager for Ranker.com where she likes to make lists about reading, eating and bad-TV-watching. She’s also the media director for Girls in Tech LA. You can find her on Twitter @Mollierosev and on her blog.

Whether you’re looking to make a big change, or just tweak a few little things, the new year gives you the perfect opportunity to reflect on your behavior and resolve to do better going forward.

Of course, it’s one thing to say you want to tackle a typical resolution like get in better physical shape, get in better financial shape or — like many of us who work on the web — get your social media presence in order. It’s another thing to actually accomplish those big, broad goals.

So this year, instead of making your goals big and broad, why not take a page from the web world and use analytics to pinpoint the specific stuff you want to change? And, by that same token, why not use data tracking to hold yourself accountable for keeping all those resolutions too?

Read on for some tips on how to use social media to corral your New Year’s resolutions. Let us know in the comments below what tips worked for you, or share your own resolution advice.

Let’s Get Physical/>

There’s the freshman 15 everyone gains from collegiate pizza and beer, and then there’s the startup 15 many of us tech geeks gain from sodas and office snacks. Between the time spent sitting in front of a computer screen and the time spent networking over drinks and dinners, it’s easy to put on pounds when you work on the web. Of course, you can always try the startup diet, but that’s not necessarily going to work for everyone.

Keeping a food and exercise log might sound like a daunting task, but it turns out you may already be tracking some of that data without even knowing it. Foursquareclass="blippr-nobr">foursquare actually lets you see your entire checkin history and, if you do a quick search, you can find it so you can easily see whether you’ve really been going to the gym or frequenting your fast food runs.

Similarly, the Foursquare stats page lets you see your own checkin trends in handy graphs and lists. There’s even a site called weeplaces that lets you turn your Foursquare, Facebook Places and class='blippr-nobr'>Gowallaclass="blippr-nobr">Gowalla checkins into graphic visualizations. And, weeplaces will let you filter those visualizations by food-related checkins and parks and recreation checkins, so you can really get a handle on your history.

class='blippr-nobr'>Google Mapsclass="blippr-nobr">Google Maps also lets you search your own history, so can get a visual reminder of the places you’ve been searching for, and start picking up on trends in your own behavior. You just have to enable it. And, of course, there’s the age-old pedometer, made a lot easier and more fashionable via a host of iPhoneclass="blippr-nobr">iPhone and Androidclass="blippr-nobr">Android apps that let you easily track how much you’re walking without having to do anything more than a quick download.

Of course, once you establish the things you want to change about your eating and exercising habits, you still have to make those changes stick. class='blippr-nobr'>Appsclass="blippr-nobr">Apps like LoseIt, Weight Watchers and LiveStrong let you log calories you eat and calories you burn via your smartphone. Fitango prescribes personalized plans to help you get in shape, and gives you a forum for sharing milestones you meet with your friends. Similarly, Phitter is like a fitness-focused class='blippr-nobr'>Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter stream where people share weight loss trials, tribulations and tips to help keep each other going.

Or, you can try something like the Social Workout Challenge, which gives you fitness goals to meet and a community of people to keep you accountable for meeting them. If you really want to take your weight tracking to the next level, there’s even a scale that automatically tweets your weight to the world. While you’re at it, FixNixer and QuitMeter also give you similar tools for tracking your way out of a smoking habit, another great way to get yourself in better physical shape in the new year.

Money, Money, Money/>

For many people, the New Year is also a great time to get a fresh financial start. But again, it’s a lot easier to make changes going forward when you know how you’ve been behaving in the past. That’s where a site like Mint.com can be very handy. class='blippr-nobr'>Mintclass="blippr-nobr">Mint aggregates all of your various accounts, including credit cards, bank accounts and assets, and then turns your spending habits into easy-to-read charts and graphs that show you where you’re spending and where you could be saving. It even lets you compare your shopping and spending habits with other people in your area, so you can see how you stack up. Many credit cards, like American Express Blue and Visa Signature, also give you year-end spending summaries that show you how much you’ve spent, how much you’ve saved, how much interest you’ve accumulated and more.

Once you’ve nailed down how your money is going out the door, you can start figuring out ways to keep more of it in your wallet. Again, this is where tracking will be key to actually keeping those resolutions. First, you can establish your financial goals via an online calculator, which lets you figure out exactly how much to start saving. Once you’ve figured out your goals, there are more than 50 great, free mobile apps to help you track your spending. On Facebook, the BillMonk app will help you keep better track of those tricky situations where you’re sharing a bill with friends, and you need to make sure everyone knows what they owe. XPenser lets you record your expenses from any device, including via tweet and e-mail, and TweetWhatYouSpend gives you a forum for sharing your expenditures with everyone on Twitter, so your friends can help hold you accountable when you blow your budget shopping those post-holiday sales.

Get Your Social Media in Shape/>

Whether or not you work on the web, if you’re reading class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable, chances are you have a social media presence. And, just like your physical and financial identities, your social media self might be due for a little makeover in 2011 too. The good news is that the data is even easier to find when you’re talking about your personal tech habits. For example, you can use the Top Words app to figure out the topics you talk about most on class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook. Klout tells you which topics you talk about the most on Twitter, and all sorts of other stats that will help you pinpoint what it is about your social media presence that you may want to change.

Similarly, BackType analyzes your Twitter profile and tells you what percentage of your tweets are replies, retweets, links, etc. Like Klout, it also tells you who you’re influencing and who your influencers are. And, it shows you your most shared sites. All of these are great data points for determining things you’d like to change about your social media presence. Finally, ViralHeat gives you in-depth analysis of the sentiment around your various social network profiles, which really lets you hone in on how your social media behavior is being received by your followers on Facebook, Twitter and across the web.

Once you’ve established what you want to change, you can set up ViralHeat to send alerts and updates directly to your inbox so you can track the impact of those changes on the fly. Similarly, since Klout and BackType both update regularly now, you can see your statistics change as your behavior does, which is a great way to keep yourself motivated. And, of course, make sure you set up Google Alerts to track all the activity around your various accounts.

If your resolution involves blogging more often, there are plenty of apps to help you do that on the go, right from your phone. Another way to remind yourself of things you want to blog, tweet or post about is by using a service like TwittRemind, which lets you tweet yourself reminders to do things throughout the day.

To make the most of your many profiles, consider setting up a hub page via a service like about.meclass="blippr-nobr">about.me, which lets you showcase all your profiles in one place. Or, sign up for a social network aggregation service to make it easier to make changes on all your profiles at once. You also might want to consider setting up a targeted Twitter list of friends and followers who can help you hold yourself accountable and focus your social media efforts so you can minimize the number of relationships you’re managing and maximize the return you’re getting from all these changes.

New Year, New You/>

Whether your New Year’s resolutions involve getting yourself in better physical, financial or social media shape, the web can help you figure out exactly what you want to change and how you’re going to keep yourself accountable for changing it. 2011 is a brand new year and a completely fresh start, and, breaking your New Year’s resolutions is so 2010.

More Social Media Resources from Mashable:

- 10 More Creative Uses of the New Facebook Profile [PICS]/> - 10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks/> - 6 Reasons Why Social Games Are the Next Advertising Frontier/> - 3 Things Brands Must Do to Reach Millennials Online/> - How Social Media Can Help With Your Long Distance Job Search

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, DNY59

For more Social Media coverage:

    class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Mediaclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Media channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

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As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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Major Deal: Fashionista Readers Recieve 20% Off Chanel at <b>...</b>

More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


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surface encounters rock tops

Major Deal: Fashionista Readers Recieve 20% Off Chanel at <b>...</b>

More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


surface encounters macomb
surface encounters macomb mi

Major Deal: Fashionista Readers Recieve 20% Off Chanel at <b>...</b>

More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters noblesville

Major Deal: Fashionista Readers Recieve 20% Off Chanel at <b>...</b>

More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


surface encounters michigan
surface encounters michigan

Major Deal: Fashionista Readers Recieve 20% Off Chanel at <b>...</b>

More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


surface encounters noblesville
surface encounters

Major Deal: Fashionista Readers Recieve 20% Off Chanel at <b>...</b>

More good news: It works for the entire site, just in case you see something that isn't Chanel that you've got to have. And if that wasn't enough to tempt you, Decades2.1 is doing another Chanel event with flash sales site HauteLook ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

The <b>News</b> from Norway : CJR

As the remaining Norwegian-American newspaper, we honor our predecessors by sharing the news of the vibrant Norwegian-American community with our 20000 readers every week. Posted by Christy on Thu 6 Jan 2011 at 01:15 AM ...


surface encounters michigan

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Making Money Uk

Fox News
reporter, Maxim Lott, takes a delightful little stroll down memory
lane to see how well eight selected environmentalist predictions of
various sorts of imminent doom have fared. A few are shared
below:



1. Within a few years "children just aren't going to
know what snow is." Snowfall will be "a very rare and exciting
event."
Dr. David Viner, senior research scientist at
the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,
interviewed by
the UK Independent, March 20, 2000.


Ten years later, in December 2009, London was hit by the
heaviest snowfall seen in 20 years. And just last week, a snowstorm
forced Heathrow airport to shut down, stranding thousands of
Christmas travelers.


A spokesman for the government-funded British Council, where
Viner now works as the lead
climate change expert, told FoxNews.com that climate science
had improved since the prediction was made.


2. "[By] 1995, the greenhouse effect would be desolating
the heartlands of North America and Eurasia with horrific drought,
causing crop failures and food riots…[By 1996] The Platte River of
Nebraska would be dry, while a continent-wide black blizzard of
prairie topsoil will stop traffic on interstates, strip paint from
houses and shut down computers."
Michael Oppenheimer,
published in
"Dead Heat," St. Martin's Press, 1990.


Oppenheimer told FoxNews.com that he was trying to illustrate
one possible outcome of failing to curb
emissions, not making a specific prediction. He added that the
gist of his story had in fact come true, even if the events had not
occurred in the U.S.


"On the whole I would stand by these predictions -- not
predictions, sorry, scenarios -- as having at least in a general
way actually come true," he said. "There's been extensive drought,
devastating drought, in significant parts of the world. The
fraction of the world that's in drought has increased over that
period."


That may be in doubt, however. Data from NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center shows that precipitation -- rain
and snow -- has increased slightly over the century.



As a special treat, Lott talks with the irrepressible doomster
Paul Ehrlich who, as far as I can tell, has never been right in any
of his forecasts of imminent catastrophe.



7. "By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a
small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million
hungry people ... If I were a gambler, I would take even money that
England will not exist in the year 2000."
Ehrlich,

Speech at British Institute For Biology, September
1971.


Ehrlich's prediction was taken seriously when he made it, and
New Scientist magazine underscored his speech in an editorial
titled "In Praise of Prophets."


"When you predict the future, you get things wrong," Ehrlich
admitted, but "how wrong is another question. I would have lost if
I had had taken the bet. However, if you look closely at England,
what can I tell you? They're having all kinds of problems, just
like everybody else."


8. "In ten years all important animal life in the sea
will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated
because of the stench of dead fish."
Ehrlich, speech
during Earth
Day, 1970


"Certainly the first part of that was very largely true -- only
off in time," Ehrlich told FoxNews.com. "The second part is, well
-- the fish haven't washed up, but there are very large dead zones
around the world, and they frequently produce considerable
stench."


"Again, not totally accurate, but I never claimed to predict the
future with full accuracy," he said



I have had the pleasure of covering this beat for two decades
now. For examples, see my 2000 article on Earth
Day, Then and Now and my testimony
at an oversight hearing before the House Subcommittee on Energy and
Mineral Resources.


I did make one prediction back in 2000 that I still stand firmly
behind:



One final prediction, of which I'm most absolutely certain:
There will be a disproportionately influential group of doomsters
predicting that the future--and the present--never looked so
bleak.



Lott's
whole article is well worth reading.


Hat tip to Manny Klausner.

First, Skype and Nimbuzz reported how well they are doing. Then there was the spectacular launch of Viber. And now fring is telling us that they are seeing their quarterly revenues grow at a rapid clip, thanks to the growing popularity of its Android app which is boosting demand for its fringOut service. It seems mobile VoIP is finally seeing its day under the sun.


“We have been bringing in $10,000 in daily revenues from Android phones,” says Jake Levant, vice president of marketing at London/Tel-Aviv-based fring, which makes a multi-platform app for video and voice calling over Wi-Fi and 3G networks. The company has seen a big burst in growth thanks to the expanding Android ecosystem. “We are on track to doubling our revenues in the first quarter of 2011,” Levant added. The company makes money by offering cheap calling plans, called fringOut, for folks who want to reach contacts outside of the fring network.


What’s helped: more incorporation of front facing cameras in new smartphones, which makes fring’s cross-platform video calling service possible. In addition to the iPhone, the HTC EVO and Samsung’s popular Galaxy phones and tablets have front facing cameras, for example. The availability of video calling makes folks install fring and later use it for outbound phone calls.


Even though fring started life on Nokia’s Symbian platform, its recent growth has come thanks to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-based smartphones. At present, Android accounts for a third of its total installed base and is growing at a rapid clip, especially in countries like South Korea. North America accounts for 40 percent of fring’s new downloads, making it one of the fastest growing regions for the company. The company says it has more than ten million users who have activated the service and the majority of its calls are destined for Canada, India, the UK and Australia.


The company is still waiting clearance from Apple to launch its fringOut service on the iPhone, however, so the majority of the fringOut revenues coming from North America are from Android phones. But the Android ecosystem has its own headaches with wild variances in device capabilities, different versions of Android available and customized user interfaces. As a result, fring has to modify its app for different handsets and different manufacturers. Nevertheless, that’s fine with Levant because Android is what is turbo-charging its business.


Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):



  • Research Note: What a Skype-Cisco Partnership Could Mean

  • Report: U.S. Mobile Venture Capital Investment, Q2 2010

  • Report: Google’s Voice Possibilities




free rental agreements forms

GREAT <b>NEWS</b>: Banks Cooking Up New Ways To Screw You

Internet Surpasses Television as Main News Source for Young Adults 29; Amazon's Disruptive Android App Store Now Open To Developers — Full Details 25; YouTube - Homeless man w/golden radio voice in Columbus, OH 18 ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Legal Brief

A big part of running a small business these days involves understanding legal issues, both those that could impact your business directly and those that could.

Teenage Cheerleader Disappears in Small Texas Town - AOL <b>News</b>

Police in a small town in Texas are looking for a 13-year-old cheerleader missing for more than a week, but state officials say the case doesn't meet the criteria for an Amber Alert.


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Making Money Now



Weekly Pulse: GOP Plays Chicken with the Debt Ceiling

By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is calling for a "big showdown" over the upcoming vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion from $13.9 trillion. The debt ceiling is simply the maximum amount the government can borrow.

Congress routinely raises the debt ceiling every year. It's common sense: Since the government has already pledged to increase spending, Congress must authorize additional borrowing. (Remember that the government is now forced to borrow billions of extra dollars to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, which Republicans insisted on.) If the ceiling isn't raised, the United States will be forced to default on its debts, with catastrophic consequences.

Why would default be catastrophic? The principle is the same for countries and consumers alike: If you have a good track record of paying your bills, lenders will lend you money at lower interest rates. If you don't pay your bills on time, or default on your obligations altogether, lenders will demand higher interest rates.

Congressional Republicans say they oppose raising the debt ceiling because they favor fiscal responsibility. This kind of rhetoric is the height of recklessness. The interest on our debts is a big part of government spending. Even idle talk about defaults could spook some creditors into raising interest rates on U.S. debt and cost taxpayers dearly.

Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly quotes Austan Goolsbee, chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, who says that congressional GOP members are flirting with the "the first default in history caused purely by insanity."

Making work pay (for real)

An astonishing 80% of full-time minimum wage workers can't afford the necessities of life, according to new research by labor economist Jeannette Wicks-Lim of the Political Economy Research Institute, featured on the Real News Network.

Wicks-Lim argues for a two-part solution to the crisis of working poverty in America: i) raising the federal minimum wage to $12.30/hr from $7.50/hr; ii) Increasing the earned income tax credit to 40% of income. She estimates that these two policy changes would raise the income of a minimum wage worker from $15,000 to about $36,000 at a manageable cost to employers and taxpayers.

Her proposal is a revamp of President Bill Clinton's attempt to "reform" welfare by cutting social service benefits and shifting government spending to tax credits. Currently, the Earned Income Tax Credit is a subsidy for the working poor that is designed to "make work pay"--i.e., if workers aren't making enough in wages to secure a decent standard of living, the government provides an income subsidy to reward them for working.

However, if a decent standard of living remains out of reach for 80% of full-time minimum wage workers, Wicks-Lim argues that the minimum wage is too low and the subsidies are too modest to achieve the stated goal of making work pay.

Colorado minimum wage inches up

Speaking of minimum wage issues, Scot Kersgaard of the Colorado Independent reports that the minimum wage in the state ticked up from $7.25 an hour to $7.36 on January 1. The modest increase represents the annual adjustment for inflation. Every bit counts, but Colorado families are falling further behind. According to a new report by the Denver-based Bell Policy Center, 8.3% of working families in Colorado live below the federal poverty line, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Fully one-fourth of Colorado families do not earn enough to meet their basic needs, which requires an income approximately twice the FPL, according to the report.

Colorado is one of only 10 states that automatically adjust their minimum wages for inflation.

Wage theft epidemic

Unscrupulous employers are stealing untold millions of dollars from hardworking Americans, Dick Meister reports in AlterNet:

The cheating bosses don't take the money directly from their employees. No, nothing as obvious as that. The employers practice their thievery by underpaying workers, sometimes by paying them less than the legal minimum wage. Or they fail to pay employees extra for overtime work, or even force them to work for nothing before or after their regular work shifts or at other times. Some employers make illegal deductions from employee wages. And some withhold the final paycheck due employees who quit.

In New York City alone, an estimated $18 million worth of wages is stolen every week. Workers in the restaurant, construction, and retail sectors are at increased risk of wage theft. Wage thieves disproportionately target undocumented workers because they assume that these employees will be less likely to report the crime.

Debt collection from beyond the grave

The dead don't tell tales, but they have been known to sign debt collection papers, Andy Kroll reports in Mother Jones. Martha Kunkle died in 1995, but her printed name and signature appear on paperwork filed by the debt collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates as late as 2006 and 2007. The ruse was discovered and PRA, facing a fraud lawsuit, agreed in 2008 that the "Kunkle's" documents couldn't be used in court. That didn't stop the agency from trying to use them again in 2009.

The attorney general of Missouri has announced that he will investigate whether any of Kunkle's handiwork was used to support debt collection in his state. The attorney general of Minnesota is already investigating whether debt collectors have used fraudulent paperwork in court.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.









The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:




HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)



The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.



...



Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 



Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.




This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 



"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.



Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:







See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:







So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.



robert shumake

Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger.

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the &#39;Avatar&#39; Treatment <b>...</b>

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.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.


robert shumake detroit

Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger.

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the &#39;Avatar&#39; Treatment <b>...</b>

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.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.


robert shumake detroit


Weekly Pulse: GOP Plays Chicken with the Debt Ceiling

By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is calling for a "big showdown" over the upcoming vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion from $13.9 trillion. The debt ceiling is simply the maximum amount the government can borrow.

Congress routinely raises the debt ceiling every year. It's common sense: Since the government has already pledged to increase spending, Congress must authorize additional borrowing. (Remember that the government is now forced to borrow billions of extra dollars to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, which Republicans insisted on.) If the ceiling isn't raised, the United States will be forced to default on its debts, with catastrophic consequences.

Why would default be catastrophic? The principle is the same for countries and consumers alike: If you have a good track record of paying your bills, lenders will lend you money at lower interest rates. If you don't pay your bills on time, or default on your obligations altogether, lenders will demand higher interest rates.

Congressional Republicans say they oppose raising the debt ceiling because they favor fiscal responsibility. This kind of rhetoric is the height of recklessness. The interest on our debts is a big part of government spending. Even idle talk about defaults could spook some creditors into raising interest rates on U.S. debt and cost taxpayers dearly.

Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly quotes Austan Goolsbee, chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, who says that congressional GOP members are flirting with the "the first default in history caused purely by insanity."

Making work pay (for real)

An astonishing 80% of full-time minimum wage workers can't afford the necessities of life, according to new research by labor economist Jeannette Wicks-Lim of the Political Economy Research Institute, featured on the Real News Network.

Wicks-Lim argues for a two-part solution to the crisis of working poverty in America: i) raising the federal minimum wage to $12.30/hr from $7.50/hr; ii) Increasing the earned income tax credit to 40% of income. She estimates that these two policy changes would raise the income of a minimum wage worker from $15,000 to about $36,000 at a manageable cost to employers and taxpayers.

Her proposal is a revamp of President Bill Clinton's attempt to "reform" welfare by cutting social service benefits and shifting government spending to tax credits. Currently, the Earned Income Tax Credit is a subsidy for the working poor that is designed to "make work pay"--i.e., if workers aren't making enough in wages to secure a decent standard of living, the government provides an income subsidy to reward them for working.

However, if a decent standard of living remains out of reach for 80% of full-time minimum wage workers, Wicks-Lim argues that the minimum wage is too low and the subsidies are too modest to achieve the stated goal of making work pay.

Colorado minimum wage inches up

Speaking of minimum wage issues, Scot Kersgaard of the Colorado Independent reports that the minimum wage in the state ticked up from $7.25 an hour to $7.36 on January 1. The modest increase represents the annual adjustment for inflation. Every bit counts, but Colorado families are falling further behind. According to a new report by the Denver-based Bell Policy Center, 8.3% of working families in Colorado live below the federal poverty line, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Fully one-fourth of Colorado families do not earn enough to meet their basic needs, which requires an income approximately twice the FPL, according to the report.

Colorado is one of only 10 states that automatically adjust their minimum wages for inflation.

Wage theft epidemic

Unscrupulous employers are stealing untold millions of dollars from hardworking Americans, Dick Meister reports in AlterNet:

The cheating bosses don't take the money directly from their employees. No, nothing as obvious as that. The employers practice their thievery by underpaying workers, sometimes by paying them less than the legal minimum wage. Or they fail to pay employees extra for overtime work, or even force them to work for nothing before or after their regular work shifts or at other times. Some employers make illegal deductions from employee wages. And some withhold the final paycheck due employees who quit.

In New York City alone, an estimated $18 million worth of wages is stolen every week. Workers in the restaurant, construction, and retail sectors are at increased risk of wage theft. Wage thieves disproportionately target undocumented workers because they assume that these employees will be less likely to report the crime.

Debt collection from beyond the grave

The dead don't tell tales, but they have been known to sign debt collection papers, Andy Kroll reports in Mother Jones. Martha Kunkle died in 1995, but her printed name and signature appear on paperwork filed by the debt collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates as late as 2006 and 2007. The ruse was discovered and PRA, facing a fraud lawsuit, agreed in 2008 that the "Kunkle's" documents couldn't be used in court. That didn't stop the agency from trying to use them again in 2009.

The attorney general of Missouri has announced that he will investigate whether any of Kunkle's handiwork was used to support debt collection in his state. The attorney general of Minnesota is already investigating whether debt collectors have used fraudulent paperwork in court.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.









The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:




HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)



The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.



...



Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 



Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.




This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 



"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.



Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:







See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:







So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.



robert shumake

Freelance Riches :: Now ANYBODY Can Make Money Online! by thenyouwin


robert shumake

Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger.

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the &#39;Avatar&#39; Treatment <b>...</b>

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.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.


robert shumake

Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger.

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the &#39;Avatar&#39; Treatment <b>...</b>

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.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.


robert shumake detroit

If you're like me, you like to read and would love even more to get paid for time spent reading a good book. Well, there's good news! You can enjoy making money writing book reviews online!

You probably already know about Amazon.com where you can write book, movie, and music reviews. Unfortunately, you don't get paid for your reviews on this site. BUT, you can learn alot about how to write a book review by perusing the site and reading what other, more seasoned book reviewers have written. Some of them are quite good at what they do. After you've spent some time on the site, register and write a few book reviews of your own. This will be good practice in the art of writing a good book review. You can also build up a name for yourself in this way which can serve you well later.

If you'd like to get paid for writing your book reviews, consider www.reviewstream.com. At first I was quite excited about this site until I discovered, it can be quite difficult to get the maximum earnings for your review. They list a current pay rate for reviews on their home page. BUT, you only get paid that rate if you meet certain criteria established by them which aren't well defined. If their criteria aren't met, you get paid the "bulk" rate which is the regular rate divided by 5. Since the regular rate is currently $1.50, the bulk rate would be $0.30. Not exactly a strong motivator to write reviews for them. PLUS, you don't get paid until you reach their minimum payout criteria of $50.00. If you can somehow manage to write your reviews in such a way to meet all their criteria, this site might have some potential for making money. As it stands right now, it's a bit of a challenge.

A more promising site is a website called Shvoong at www.shvoong.com. It allows you to write abstracts of books, articles, websites, and more. In turn, you get paid 10% of the advertising revenues your abstracts generate.The minimum payout here is more reasonable at $10.00. Keep in mind it can take alot of abstracts to generate a significant amount of revenue from this site. The site requires each abstract to be from 300 to 900 words in length. if you happen to be able to read and write in another language, you can use your translation skills to earn even more money. Shvoong will pay you 5% of the advertising revenues generated from any abstract you translate into your target language.

Probably one of the more lucrative ways to get paid for writing book reviews is writing reviews for your own website or blog. You can generate revenue one of two ways:

1. By signing up with Google adsense. They give you code to place on your website or blog which will display Google ads targeted to the topic you're writing about. Each time an ad is clicked, you receive a portion of the revenue.

2. By signing up with Clickbank to receive commissions through marketing their affiliate programs. You can include links to specific products that relate to the product you're reviewing in your review. If someone clicks on that link and purchases the product, you receive a commission which can be 50% or higher on digital products.

If you're the kind of person who enjoys the challenge of doing a little more marketing a promoting, writing for your own website or blog may be the best option for you.

As you can see you have a variety of opportunities for making money writing book reviews. Give them a try and see which one works the best for you!


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Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

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Weekly Pulse: GOP Plays Chicken with the Debt Ceiling

By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is calling for a "big showdown" over the upcoming vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion from $13.9 trillion. The debt ceiling is simply the maximum amount the government can borrow.

Congress routinely raises the debt ceiling every year. It's common sense: Since the government has already pledged to increase spending, Congress must authorize additional borrowing. (Remember that the government is now forced to borrow billions of extra dollars to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, which Republicans insisted on.) If the ceiling isn't raised, the United States will be forced to default on its debts, with catastrophic consequences.

Why would default be catastrophic? The principle is the same for countries and consumers alike: If you have a good track record of paying your bills, lenders will lend you money at lower interest rates. If you don't pay your bills on time, or default on your obligations altogether, lenders will demand higher interest rates.

Congressional Republicans say they oppose raising the debt ceiling because they favor fiscal responsibility. This kind of rhetoric is the height of recklessness. The interest on our debts is a big part of government spending. Even idle talk about defaults could spook some creditors into raising interest rates on U.S. debt and cost taxpayers dearly.

Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly quotes Austan Goolsbee, chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, who says that congressional GOP members are flirting with the "the first default in history caused purely by insanity."

Making work pay (for real)

An astonishing 80% of full-time minimum wage workers can't afford the necessities of life, according to new research by labor economist Jeannette Wicks-Lim of the Political Economy Research Institute, featured on the Real News Network.

Wicks-Lim argues for a two-part solution to the crisis of working poverty in America: i) raising the federal minimum wage to $12.30/hr from $7.50/hr; ii) Increasing the earned income tax credit to 40% of income. She estimates that these two policy changes would raise the income of a minimum wage worker from $15,000 to about $36,000 at a manageable cost to employers and taxpayers.

Her proposal is a revamp of President Bill Clinton's attempt to "reform" welfare by cutting social service benefits and shifting government spending to tax credits. Currently, the Earned Income Tax Credit is a subsidy for the working poor that is designed to "make work pay"--i.e., if workers aren't making enough in wages to secure a decent standard of living, the government provides an income subsidy to reward them for working.

However, if a decent standard of living remains out of reach for 80% of full-time minimum wage workers, Wicks-Lim argues that the minimum wage is too low and the subsidies are too modest to achieve the stated goal of making work pay.

Colorado minimum wage inches up

Speaking of minimum wage issues, Scot Kersgaard of the Colorado Independent reports that the minimum wage in the state ticked up from $7.25 an hour to $7.36 on January 1. The modest increase represents the annual adjustment for inflation. Every bit counts, but Colorado families are falling further behind. According to a new report by the Denver-based Bell Policy Center, 8.3% of working families in Colorado live below the federal poverty line, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Fully one-fourth of Colorado families do not earn enough to meet their basic needs, which requires an income approximately twice the FPL, according to the report.

Colorado is one of only 10 states that automatically adjust their minimum wages for inflation.

Wage theft epidemic

Unscrupulous employers are stealing untold millions of dollars from hardworking Americans, Dick Meister reports in AlterNet:

The cheating bosses don't take the money directly from their employees. No, nothing as obvious as that. The employers practice their thievery by underpaying workers, sometimes by paying them less than the legal minimum wage. Or they fail to pay employees extra for overtime work, or even force them to work for nothing before or after their regular work shifts or at other times. Some employers make illegal deductions from employee wages. And some withhold the final paycheck due employees who quit.

In New York City alone, an estimated $18 million worth of wages is stolen every week. Workers in the restaurant, construction, and retail sectors are at increased risk of wage theft. Wage thieves disproportionately target undocumented workers because they assume that these employees will be less likely to report the crime.

Debt collection from beyond the grave

The dead don't tell tales, but they have been known to sign debt collection papers, Andy Kroll reports in Mother Jones. Martha Kunkle died in 1995, but her printed name and signature appear on paperwork filed by the debt collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates as late as 2006 and 2007. The ruse was discovered and PRA, facing a fraud lawsuit, agreed in 2008 that the "Kunkle's" documents couldn't be used in court. That didn't stop the agency from trying to use them again in 2009.

The attorney general of Missouri has announced that he will investigate whether any of Kunkle's handiwork was used to support debt collection in his state. The attorney general of Minnesota is already investigating whether debt collectors have used fraudulent paperwork in court.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.









The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:




HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)



The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.



...



Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 



Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.




This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 



"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.



Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:







See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:







So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.



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Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of Moore: EA not backing away from Tiger.

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Bigfoot to get the &#39;Avatar&#39; Treatment <b>...</b>

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.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.


robert shumake

Freelance Riches :: Now ANYBODY Can Make Money Online! by thenyouwin


robert shumake detroit