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The background to this argument, which is a modified and expanded version of a New York Times op-ed that appears on Wednesday, is detailed in a new book, Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists (Ecco/HarperCollins).

On successive days last week the world's major news outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post, reported NATO-abetted talks with the Taliban elite and the routing of the Taliban from their main stronghold in Kandahar. All seemed to be going according to the U.S. plan: Allow for "preliminary" talks to end the war through a broad-based "reconciliation" process, but only after beefed-up coalition forces "gained the initiative" on the battlefield. But despite assertions by senior NATO officials that military pressure will start the Taliban thinking about alternatives to fighting, and statements by commanding General Petraeus and others that they can still beat the Taliban with enough money and men, in fact the surge appears only to have expanded Taliban activity and entrenched resolve to fight on until America tires and leaves.

The real pressure is on the U.S., not the Taliban, to show that there is "light at the end of the tunnel," which is why talks with the Taliban are only now coming to light although they have been going on for years. Some senior Taliban leaders are playing along, not so much because they fear the Americans, but because they fear that their own mid-level commanders are getting out of control.

U.S. goals officially remain those stated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: To strengthen Afghan army forces and "reintegrate moderate Taliban," that is, Taliban who consent to lay down arms and respect the Afghan constitution, including Western-inspired provisions to respect human rights and equality of women in the public sphere. Yet, in nine years of war, not a single significant group of Taliban has opted for reintegration (though a few individuals have come in, only to return to the Taliban when it is in their interest). Moreover, coalition military personnel will tell you that there isn't a single Afghan army brigade that can hold its own against the Taliban.

Although we are ten months into the new U.S. push in Afghanistan, 2010 is the bloodiest year yet of fighting. Insurgent attacks are up 60 percent compared to last year (and up 40 percent yearly for the last several years), with an attack coming about every half hour. The estimated number of Taliban has increased some tenfold since they were routed by coalition forces in 2001, even as Western forces were doubling and redoubling their size. Now, Taliban now roam over large swaths of territory in the north and other areas beyond the traditional Pashtun southern provinces.

The U.S. claims to have killed thousands of Taliban in recent months, mostly foot soldiers and mid-level commanders. But the 25-year-old foot soldiers are being replaced by teenage fighters, and the 35-year-old mid-level commanders by 20-something students straight out madrassahs (madrassahs have little role in global jihad but madrassahs that cater to the rural poor in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for whom government provides no education, help sustain the Taliban movement). These new mid-level commanders and their fiercely loyal fighters are increasingly removed from the dense networks of tribal kinship and patronage (qawm), and especially of friendship born of common life experiences (andiwali), that bind together the Taliban leaders of the Quetta Shura, the Haqqani network, and other insurgent groups. Indeed, it is primarily through andiwali -- overlapping bonds of family, schooling, years together in camps, former comrades in war, business partners, neighbors -- that talks between adversaries, including representatives of Mr. Karzai and Mullah Omar, have continued over the years.

These new Taliban warriors are increasingly independent, ruthless, and unwilling to compromise with foreign infidels and their associates. They yearn to fight, and describe battle as "going on vacation" from the long, boring interludes of training and waiting between engagements. They claim they will fight to death as long as any foreign soldiers remain, even if only in military bases. As with older Taliban, their ideology -- a peculiar blend of pan-Islam sharia law and local pashtunwali custom -- is "not for sale," as former Taliban leader Abdul Salam Zaeff puts it. But now it is they, and not the senior leaders, who increasingly decide what these beliefs imply on the ground; recently in Paktia province, the Quetta Shura is reported as having sent a Muslem scholar (alim) to chastise a group of youthful commanders who were not following Quetta's directives, and the commanders killed the cleric.

Hardly anyone who calls himself "Taliban" (an umbrella term for fractious Pashtun tribesmen who collectively hate the "foreign invader" enough to turn even traditional enemies into friends) considers U.S. conditions of reintegration anything but comical, much less negotiable. To get the tribesmen to lay down arms that have sustained them for ages against a host of powerful invaders, and for a flag that many do not even know represents the country, is about as far-fetched as getting the National Rifle Association to support a constitutional repeal of Americans' right to bear arms. The separation of men and women in the public sphere is considered the very foundation of Pashtun tribal life and pashtunwali, along with the duty to protect guests and those who seek sanctuary.

There is, however, some hope that the Taliban can be persuaded to cut ties with Al Qaeda and offer some sort of guarantee that Afghan President Hamid Karzai won't be left hanging from a lamppost when the Americans leave (as former Afghan President Najibullah was, after the Soviets left). Reminiscing on his June 2001 meeting with Mullah Omar, veteran correspondent Arnaud de Bourchgrave told me he was "stunned by the hostility that Mullah Omar expressed towards Bin Laden." In fact, Mullah Omar had previously confiscated Bin Laden's cellphone, put him under house arrest, and forbade him to issue fatwas. But then, as the Taliban were deliberating about how to "disinvite" their troublesome guest after 9/11, the U.S. began its assault on the Taliban and bombed them into togetherness with Al Qaeda.

According to one former top official in the Bush administration: "We knew that Karzai and Jalaluddin Haqqani (leader of an insurgent network with close ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda) were in direct contact, but it didn't go anywhere because Haqqani refused to show goodwill and give up some Al Qaeda people." Asked what the U.S. might have done had Haqqani thus betrayed his own tribal code of honor and turn on a guest who sought sanctuary, the Bush official replied, "we might have withdrawn a brigade as our show of goodwill." Of course, such requests for goodwill were more dictates of a victor upon the vanquished; for a truly comparable act by the U.S. would have been to slit Karzai's throat in exchange for, say, a ten percent reduction in attacks by Haqqani forces.

During the Soviet-Afghan War, Haqqani, who then-National Security Adviser Zibignew Brzezinski and Congressman Charlie Wilson identified as "goodness personified," was a principal conduit of funds between Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence and the Afghan mujahideen, and remains a key link between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. Although Jalaluddin's son, Serajuddin, and other Haqqani leaders now professes loyalty to Mullah Omar and probably continue to harbor members of Al Qaeda, these ties are more in keeping with the Afghan and Arab tribal dictum "the enemy of my enemy is my fiend" than out of love or common ideology. Moreover, the Haqqani have many longstanding andiwali ties with Mr. Karzai's tribe, the Popalzai, which can provide avenues of sanctuary and security for both sides. Indeed, Mullah Baradar, a Taliban leader with close ties to the Haqqani, who is currently detained in Pakistan but whose possible involvement in the ongoing talks is being leaked to the press by ISI and others, is himself a member of the Popalzei who saved Mr. Karzai's life when Mr. Karzai first reentered Afghanistan to forge his anti-Taliban alliance.

Current thinking among the U.S. military is to wait until a few months after President Obama's declared June 2011 date for beginning to draw down troops in Afghanistan, to show the Taliban that there is still the force and will to beat them if they don't come to the table. But this isn't likely to impress any Taliban, who say that whether the U.S. leaves in 2011, or 2014 when the planned withdrawal should be complete, they will survive and thrive. But there is reason to consider turning the current shadow play about talks into serious negotiations now. Older Taliban leaders might well drop support for Bin Laden if we were no longer there to unite them, and instead were to keep the focus on hitting a greatly weakened Al Qaeda from afar. The Haqqanis and most of Afghan Taliban leaders are exclusively interested in their homeland, not global jihad, and will discard anyone who interferes in their lives. No Haqqani ever joined Al Qaeda before 9/11 because they couldn't stand Arabs telling them how to pray and make jihad. And it is doubtful they would tolerate a meddling Al Qaeda that also continued to bring them trouble from outside. The problem now, for Taliban leaders as for us, is that the chief "success" of the recent surge -- killing thousands of Taliban foot soldiers and mid-level commanders -- may be reaping a whirlwind that no one will control.

Scott Atran, an American and French anthropologist, is author of Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists.

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) could chair the House Natural Resources Committee.The midterm elections aren't until next week, but Big Energy lobbyists have been in high gear for awhile now. They've been out there winning friends and influencing the people who can help them the most if the Republicans win the House. Like Doc Hastings.

That's what friends are for: Hastings is a Republican representative from Washington state and, if Republicans take over, the likely next chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Big Oil already loves the guy -- he was railing against the deep water drilling moratorium in the Gulf even before BP's oil stopped gushing. And he did all he could to slow Democratic efforts to impose new safety standards on offshore drillers. In short, Doc Hastings loves offshore drilling.

To make sure that he knows that the people who do the offshore drilling love him back, oil and gas interests have dropped $70,000 into his campaign coffers this election cycle compared to $10,000 last time around. 

See, some things still work in Washington. [The New York Times]

And in other green news:

Gloom with a view: Republicans just got another piece of ammo in their upcoming campaign to reign in the EPA. The North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) released a report warning that if the EPA is too aggressive in regulating pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions and closes power plants, it could "significantly impact" the power grid. NERC is funded by the energy industry, but it carries weight for its role in setting grid-reliability standards. The EPA says it's more industry doom and gloom and scare tactics. [The Hill]

Tales from the dark side: Before you start to buy into the notion that BP is a changed company, refresh your memory about how reckless the oil giant had been before the explosion in the Gulf last spring. A new ProPublica investigation paints the ugly picture:

The investigation found that as BP transformed itself into the world's third largest private oil company it methodically emphasized a culture of austerity in pursuit of corporate efficiency, lean budgets, and shareholder profits. It acquired large companies that it could not integrate smoothly. Current and former workers and executives said the company repeatedly cut corners, let alarm and safety systems languish, and skipped essential maintenance that could have prevented a number of explosions and spills. Internal BP documents support these claims.

You will run and you will like it: The Germans have finally made a splash in the electric car business. The makers of an Audi electric car say they've set a new world record by having it run 375 miles without recharging the battery. [Space Daily]

No days in the park: California's national parks could take a beating from climate change, from stunted redwoods to the disappearance of Joshua trees and Yosemite's waterfall. [San Francisco Chronicle]

That old black magic: Much is being made of China's big high-profile push into renewable energy. But is this a country that really believes it can get the coal monkey off its back? [Scientific American]

Going to shell: Scientists at the University of Calcutta have found that egg shells can absorb up to seven times their weight in carbon dioxide. And that's making them wonder if they can play some kind of role in capturing carbon. [E! Science News]

Bottle fatigue: No more bottled water at Seattle University -- not in cafeterias, not in concession stands, not in vending machines. Instead students are selling stainless steel water bottles with the goal of raising $2,000 to install a water-treatment system at a medical clinic in Haiti. [Seattle Times]  And while we're on campus, students can now rent from UCLA's "Bike Library" a fully-equipped, eight-speed bike for only $35 a quarter. [Southern California Public Radio]

BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: James Cameron&#39;s Next Films Are &#39;Avatar 2′ &amp; &#39;3′ For <b>...</b>

BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films Are 'Avatar 2' & '3' BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films … TV Pitch Season Coming To An End � Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In Center Of Pic Auction Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets

Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,

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bench craft company complaints

BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: James Cameron&#39;s Next Films Are &#39;Avatar 2′ &amp; &#39;3′ For <b>...</b>

BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films Are 'Avatar 2' & '3' BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films … TV Pitch Season Coming To An End � Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In Center Of Pic Auction Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets

Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,

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The background to this argument, which is a modified and expanded version of a New York Times op-ed that appears on Wednesday, is detailed in a new book, Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists (Ecco/HarperCollins).

On successive days last week the world's major news outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post, reported NATO-abetted talks with the Taliban elite and the routing of the Taliban from their main stronghold in Kandahar. All seemed to be going according to the U.S. plan: Allow for "preliminary" talks to end the war through a broad-based "reconciliation" process, but only after beefed-up coalition forces "gained the initiative" on the battlefield. But despite assertions by senior NATO officials that military pressure will start the Taliban thinking about alternatives to fighting, and statements by commanding General Petraeus and others that they can still beat the Taliban with enough money and men, in fact the surge appears only to have expanded Taliban activity and entrenched resolve to fight on until America tires and leaves.

The real pressure is on the U.S., not the Taliban, to show that there is "light at the end of the tunnel," which is why talks with the Taliban are only now coming to light although they have been going on for years. Some senior Taliban leaders are playing along, not so much because they fear the Americans, but because they fear that their own mid-level commanders are getting out of control.

U.S. goals officially remain those stated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: To strengthen Afghan army forces and "reintegrate moderate Taliban," that is, Taliban who consent to lay down arms and respect the Afghan constitution, including Western-inspired provisions to respect human rights and equality of women in the public sphere. Yet, in nine years of war, not a single significant group of Taliban has opted for reintegration (though a few individuals have come in, only to return to the Taliban when it is in their interest). Moreover, coalition military personnel will tell you that there isn't a single Afghan army brigade that can hold its own against the Taliban.

Although we are ten months into the new U.S. push in Afghanistan, 2010 is the bloodiest year yet of fighting. Insurgent attacks are up 60 percent compared to last year (and up 40 percent yearly for the last several years), with an attack coming about every half hour. The estimated number of Taliban has increased some tenfold since they were routed by coalition forces in 2001, even as Western forces were doubling and redoubling their size. Now, Taliban now roam over large swaths of territory in the north and other areas beyond the traditional Pashtun southern provinces.

The U.S. claims to have killed thousands of Taliban in recent months, mostly foot soldiers and mid-level commanders. But the 25-year-old foot soldiers are being replaced by teenage fighters, and the 35-year-old mid-level commanders by 20-something students straight out madrassahs (madrassahs have little role in global jihad but madrassahs that cater to the rural poor in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for whom government provides no education, help sustain the Taliban movement). These new mid-level commanders and their fiercely loyal fighters are increasingly removed from the dense networks of tribal kinship and patronage (qawm), and especially of friendship born of common life experiences (andiwali), that bind together the Taliban leaders of the Quetta Shura, the Haqqani network, and other insurgent groups. Indeed, it is primarily through andiwali -- overlapping bonds of family, schooling, years together in camps, former comrades in war, business partners, neighbors -- that talks between adversaries, including representatives of Mr. Karzai and Mullah Omar, have continued over the years.

These new Taliban warriors are increasingly independent, ruthless, and unwilling to compromise with foreign infidels and their associates. They yearn to fight, and describe battle as "going on vacation" from the long, boring interludes of training and waiting between engagements. They claim they will fight to death as long as any foreign soldiers remain, even if only in military bases. As with older Taliban, their ideology -- a peculiar blend of pan-Islam sharia law and local pashtunwali custom -- is "not for sale," as former Taliban leader Abdul Salam Zaeff puts it. But now it is they, and not the senior leaders, who increasingly decide what these beliefs imply on the ground; recently in Paktia province, the Quetta Shura is reported as having sent a Muslem scholar (alim) to chastise a group of youthful commanders who were not following Quetta's directives, and the commanders killed the cleric.

Hardly anyone who calls himself "Taliban" (an umbrella term for fractious Pashtun tribesmen who collectively hate the "foreign invader" enough to turn even traditional enemies into friends) considers U.S. conditions of reintegration anything but comical, much less negotiable. To get the tribesmen to lay down arms that have sustained them for ages against a host of powerful invaders, and for a flag that many do not even know represents the country, is about as far-fetched as getting the National Rifle Association to support a constitutional repeal of Americans' right to bear arms. The separation of men and women in the public sphere is considered the very foundation of Pashtun tribal life and pashtunwali, along with the duty to protect guests and those who seek sanctuary.

There is, however, some hope that the Taliban can be persuaded to cut ties with Al Qaeda and offer some sort of guarantee that Afghan President Hamid Karzai won't be left hanging from a lamppost when the Americans leave (as former Afghan President Najibullah was, after the Soviets left). Reminiscing on his June 2001 meeting with Mullah Omar, veteran correspondent Arnaud de Bourchgrave told me he was "stunned by the hostility that Mullah Omar expressed towards Bin Laden." In fact, Mullah Omar had previously confiscated Bin Laden's cellphone, put him under house arrest, and forbade him to issue fatwas. But then, as the Taliban were deliberating about how to "disinvite" their troublesome guest after 9/11, the U.S. began its assault on the Taliban and bombed them into togetherness with Al Qaeda.

According to one former top official in the Bush administration: "We knew that Karzai and Jalaluddin Haqqani (leader of an insurgent network with close ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda) were in direct contact, but it didn't go anywhere because Haqqani refused to show goodwill and give up some Al Qaeda people." Asked what the U.S. might have done had Haqqani thus betrayed his own tribal code of honor and turn on a guest who sought sanctuary, the Bush official replied, "we might have withdrawn a brigade as our show of goodwill." Of course, such requests for goodwill were more dictates of a victor upon the vanquished; for a truly comparable act by the U.S. would have been to slit Karzai's throat in exchange for, say, a ten percent reduction in attacks by Haqqani forces.

During the Soviet-Afghan War, Haqqani, who then-National Security Adviser Zibignew Brzezinski and Congressman Charlie Wilson identified as "goodness personified," was a principal conduit of funds between Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence and the Afghan mujahideen, and remains a key link between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. Although Jalaluddin's son, Serajuddin, and other Haqqani leaders now professes loyalty to Mullah Omar and probably continue to harbor members of Al Qaeda, these ties are more in keeping with the Afghan and Arab tribal dictum "the enemy of my enemy is my fiend" than out of love or common ideology. Moreover, the Haqqani have many longstanding andiwali ties with Mr. Karzai's tribe, the Popalzai, which can provide avenues of sanctuary and security for both sides. Indeed, Mullah Baradar, a Taliban leader with close ties to the Haqqani, who is currently detained in Pakistan but whose possible involvement in the ongoing talks is being leaked to the press by ISI and others, is himself a member of the Popalzei who saved Mr. Karzai's life when Mr. Karzai first reentered Afghanistan to forge his anti-Taliban alliance.

Current thinking among the U.S. military is to wait until a few months after President Obama's declared June 2011 date for beginning to draw down troops in Afghanistan, to show the Taliban that there is still the force and will to beat them if they don't come to the table. But this isn't likely to impress any Taliban, who say that whether the U.S. leaves in 2011, or 2014 when the planned withdrawal should be complete, they will survive and thrive. But there is reason to consider turning the current shadow play about talks into serious negotiations now. Older Taliban leaders might well drop support for Bin Laden if we were no longer there to unite them, and instead were to keep the focus on hitting a greatly weakened Al Qaeda from afar. The Haqqanis and most of Afghan Taliban leaders are exclusively interested in their homeland, not global jihad, and will discard anyone who interferes in their lives. No Haqqani ever joined Al Qaeda before 9/11 because they couldn't stand Arabs telling them how to pray and make jihad. And it is doubtful they would tolerate a meddling Al Qaeda that also continued to bring them trouble from outside. The problem now, for Taliban leaders as for us, is that the chief "success" of the recent surge -- killing thousands of Taliban foot soldiers and mid-level commanders -- may be reaping a whirlwind that no one will control.

Scott Atran, an American and French anthropologist, is author of Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists.

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) could chair the House Natural Resources Committee.The midterm elections aren't until next week, but Big Energy lobbyists have been in high gear for awhile now. They've been out there winning friends and influencing the people who can help them the most if the Republicans win the House. Like Doc Hastings.

That's what friends are for: Hastings is a Republican representative from Washington state and, if Republicans take over, the likely next chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Big Oil already loves the guy -- he was railing against the deep water drilling moratorium in the Gulf even before BP's oil stopped gushing. And he did all he could to slow Democratic efforts to impose new safety standards on offshore drillers. In short, Doc Hastings loves offshore drilling.

To make sure that he knows that the people who do the offshore drilling love him back, oil and gas interests have dropped $70,000 into his campaign coffers this election cycle compared to $10,000 last time around. 

See, some things still work in Washington. [The New York Times]

And in other green news:

Gloom with a view: Republicans just got another piece of ammo in their upcoming campaign to reign in the EPA. The North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) released a report warning that if the EPA is too aggressive in regulating pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions and closes power plants, it could "significantly impact" the power grid. NERC is funded by the energy industry, but it carries weight for its role in setting grid-reliability standards. The EPA says it's more industry doom and gloom and scare tactics. [The Hill]

Tales from the dark side: Before you start to buy into the notion that BP is a changed company, refresh your memory about how reckless the oil giant had been before the explosion in the Gulf last spring. A new ProPublica investigation paints the ugly picture:

The investigation found that as BP transformed itself into the world's third largest private oil company it methodically emphasized a culture of austerity in pursuit of corporate efficiency, lean budgets, and shareholder profits. It acquired large companies that it could not integrate smoothly. Current and former workers and executives said the company repeatedly cut corners, let alarm and safety systems languish, and skipped essential maintenance that could have prevented a number of explosions and spills. Internal BP documents support these claims.

You will run and you will like it: The Germans have finally made a splash in the electric car business. The makers of an Audi electric car say they've set a new world record by having it run 375 miles without recharging the battery. [Space Daily]

No days in the park: California's national parks could take a beating from climate change, from stunted redwoods to the disappearance of Joshua trees and Yosemite's waterfall. [San Francisco Chronicle]

That old black magic: Much is being made of China's big high-profile push into renewable energy. But is this a country that really believes it can get the coal monkey off its back? [Scientific American]

Going to shell: Scientists at the University of Calcutta have found that egg shells can absorb up to seven times their weight in carbon dioxide. And that's making them wonder if they can play some kind of role in capturing carbon. [E! Science News]

Bottle fatigue: No more bottled water at Seattle University -- not in cafeterias, not in concession stands, not in vending machines. Instead students are selling stainless steel water bottles with the goal of raising $2,000 to install a water-treatment system at a medical clinic in Haiti. [Seattle Times]  And while we're on campus, students can now rent from UCLA's "Bike Library" a fully-equipped, eight-speed bike for only $35 a quarter. [Southern California Public Radio]

bench craft company complaints

BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: James Cameron&#39;s Next Films Are &#39;Avatar 2′ &amp; &#39;3′ For <b>...</b>

BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films Are 'Avatar 2' & '3' BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films … TV Pitch Season Coming To An End � Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In Center Of Pic Auction Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets

Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: James Cameron&#39;s Next Films Are &#39;Avatar 2′ &amp; &#39;3′ For <b>...</b>

BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films Are 'Avatar 2' & '3' BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films … TV Pitch Season Coming To An End � Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In Center Of Pic Auction Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets

Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

BREAKING <b>NEWS</b>: James Cameron&#39;s Next Films Are &#39;Avatar 2′ &amp; &#39;3′ For <b>...</b>

BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films Are 'Avatar 2' & '3' BREAKING NEWS: James Cameron's Next Films … TV Pitch Season Coming To An End � Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In Center Of Pic Auction Michael Jackson Song 'Thriller' In ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Social Media Secrets

Pssst. We've got something important to tell you about a new tool that can totally transform your business. In terms of upfront investment, there is no cost,

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managing your personal finance

Having a hard time managing credit card debt problems? Try using Creditable, a web app that can help you tackle your debt head-on by tracking your progress, generating suggested achievable goals based on your situation, and by allowing you to interact with other people that can help you.

The best part about Creditable is that it is free and anonymous, thus it can still generate your personalized goals even without submitting a credit report.

Creditable requires users to sign up before being able to use it, but the registration only requires an email address so you don’t have to divulge your identity. You do not have to be worried about security issues when using the site since you won’t have to reveal any personal information.

Creditable will also produce goals that are particular for your situation which can serve as your guide that can help you out of your current credit issues.

Creditable also fosters an online community where people can ask about credit related issues and receive advice from other people, who may have gone through your current situation. In addition, you can easily find other users that have the same goals as yours, for more social support.

Features:

• Manage your credits without revealing your identity.
• Track the progress of your credit, works with multiple accounts.
• Suggests achievable goals based on your particular situation.
• Connects you with other people that have similar credit issues.
• Provides personalized credit card suggestions when re-establishing credit.
• Similar Tools: Mint, Paystr, Accpal, TripLittle.

Check out Creditable @ http://getcreditable.com

Your Money: The Missing Manual

Cool Tools at 12:25 PM Monday, Oct 4, 2010 

This is the best user-guide to personal finance I've found, and I've probably read them all. It is certainly the sanest and most level-headed. There are no get rich quick schemes here, just plenty of ways to get rich slowly. Indeed, Get Rich Slowly was the name of author's very popular personal finance blog, which led to this book. J.D. Roth takes the great investing advice of Andrew Tobias in The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, and he summarizes the life-earning wisdom in the previously reviewed (and still recommended) book Five Rituals of Wealth and he includes the needed crystalization of priorities found in Your Money or Your Life, and financial motivations from Suze Orman and the Millionaire Next Door and then adds key insights and tips from hundreds of other lesser-known money gurus.

Basically, Roth has read every book and blog on money managing, investing, saving, and earning and digests and integrates all this hard-won knowledge into an amazing selection of smart, practical ideas for today. I could hardly turn a page without learning a solid investing tip or two, or a clever way to save a few hundred dollars, or an example of something I already knew, but was looking for a vivid way to teach my kids. I like the fact that Roth emphasizes the value of sharing whatever wealth you have, and keeps returning to the long view.

I would not call this an inspirational book (plenty of those on the shelves), nor even a memorable book like the ones mentioned above. Rather it is what is advertised: a day-to-day operating manual for your money. Specific details, sources, methods, tricks. Dip into it when you are stuck, check it before trying something new, re-read it when you think you know it all. I've done pretty well financially, and if you were to ask me my practical advice -- like what to do tomorrow -- I would simply give you this book. It's slow, but true.

"Your Money: The Missing Manual," by J.D. Roth (2010, 336 pages)

$15 from Amazon.

Read excerpts and comment on this at Cool Tools. Submit a tool.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

Timothy Karr: Fox <b>News</b> Tries to Foreclose on Sesame Street

Every time PBS and NPR have come under attack, the American public has risen up in protest to defend -- not defund -- it. Whatever the rationale, Fox News' ongoing witch hunt tactic is a proven loser.

&quot;Xbox 2&quot; game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...

bench craft company complaints
bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

Timothy Karr: Fox <b>News</b> Tries to Foreclose on Sesame Street

Every time PBS and NPR have come under attack, the American public has risen up in protest to defend -- not defund -- it. Whatever the rationale, Fox News' ongoing witch hunt tactic is a proven loser.

&quot;Xbox 2&quot; game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Having a hard time managing credit card debt problems? Try using Creditable, a web app that can help you tackle your debt head-on by tracking your progress, generating suggested achievable goals based on your situation, and by allowing you to interact with other people that can help you.

The best part about Creditable is that it is free and anonymous, thus it can still generate your personalized goals even without submitting a credit report.

Creditable requires users to sign up before being able to use it, but the registration only requires an email address so you don’t have to divulge your identity. You do not have to be worried about security issues when using the site since you won’t have to reveal any personal information.

Creditable will also produce goals that are particular for your situation which can serve as your guide that can help you out of your current credit issues.

Creditable also fosters an online community where people can ask about credit related issues and receive advice from other people, who may have gone through your current situation. In addition, you can easily find other users that have the same goals as yours, for more social support.

Features:

• Manage your credits without revealing your identity.
• Track the progress of your credit, works with multiple accounts.
• Suggests achievable goals based on your particular situation.
• Connects you with other people that have similar credit issues.
• Provides personalized credit card suggestions when re-establishing credit.
• Similar Tools: Mint, Paystr, Accpal, TripLittle.

Check out Creditable @ http://getcreditable.com

Your Money: The Missing Manual

Cool Tools at 12:25 PM Monday, Oct 4, 2010 

This is the best user-guide to personal finance I've found, and I've probably read them all. It is certainly the sanest and most level-headed. There are no get rich quick schemes here, just plenty of ways to get rich slowly. Indeed, Get Rich Slowly was the name of author's very popular personal finance blog, which led to this book. J.D. Roth takes the great investing advice of Andrew Tobias in The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, and he summarizes the life-earning wisdom in the previously reviewed (and still recommended) book Five Rituals of Wealth and he includes the needed crystalization of priorities found in Your Money or Your Life, and financial motivations from Suze Orman and the Millionaire Next Door and then adds key insights and tips from hundreds of other lesser-known money gurus.

Basically, Roth has read every book and blog on money managing, investing, saving, and earning and digests and integrates all this hard-won knowledge into an amazing selection of smart, practical ideas for today. I could hardly turn a page without learning a solid investing tip or two, or a clever way to save a few hundred dollars, or an example of something I already knew, but was looking for a vivid way to teach my kids. I like the fact that Roth emphasizes the value of sharing whatever wealth you have, and keeps returning to the long view.

I would not call this an inspirational book (plenty of those on the shelves), nor even a memorable book like the ones mentioned above. Rather it is what is advertised: a day-to-day operating manual for your money. Specific details, sources, methods, tricks. Dip into it when you are stuck, check it before trying something new, re-read it when you think you know it all. I've done pretty well financially, and if you were to ask me my practical advice -- like what to do tomorrow -- I would simply give you this book. It's slow, but true.

"Your Money: The Missing Manual," by J.D. Roth (2010, 336 pages)

$15 from Amazon.

Read excerpts and comment on this at Cool Tools. Submit a tool.

bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

Timothy Karr: Fox <b>News</b> Tries to Foreclose on Sesame Street

Every time PBS and NPR have come under attack, the American public has risen up in protest to defend -- not defund -- it. Whatever the rationale, Fox News' ongoing witch hunt tactic is a proven loser.

&quot;Xbox 2&quot; game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

Timothy Karr: Fox <b>News</b> Tries to Foreclose on Sesame Street

Every time PBS and NPR have come under attack, the American public has risen up in protest to defend -- not defund -- it. Whatever the rationale, Fox News' ongoing witch hunt tactic is a proven loser.

&quot;Xbox 2&quot; game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

Timothy Karr: Fox <b>News</b> Tries to Foreclose on Sesame Street

Every time PBS and NPR have come under attack, the American public has risen up in protest to defend -- not defund -- it. Whatever the rationale, Fox News' ongoing witch hunt tactic is a proven loser.

&quot;Xbox 2&quot; game WarDevil canned Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of. ... "Xbox 2" game WarDevil canned Related content. Latest WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within screenshots; News WarDevil trailer set for Tokyo ; News Digi-Guys shows off gorgeous Xbox 2 war game ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Making Money Program

startups, Software, apparel

Where Bras Meet Software: Zyrra Raises Money From Jess McLear, Jean Hammond, & Local Angels For Its Bra Industry “Revolution”

Erin Kutz 10/19/10

Derek Ohly is known as the “bra guy,” both around the office at MassChallenge, the startup accelerator and entrepreneur competition, and throughout the Boston-area investor community, he says.

“I didn’t expect to end up in the world of bras, and here I am,” says Ohly, a graduate of Babson College’s MBA program (a likely story). “I have designed them, sewn them, fit them, and sourced them. As I like to put it, I have a PhD in bras.”

This isn’t just a weird hobby for Ohly. He’s CEO of Zyrra, a MassChallenge finalist company that’s using computer-aided-design (CAD) software, a patent-pending bra measurement system, and Tupperware-style parties to get custom-fit bras into the hands of women who just aren’t happy with how theirs currently fit.

“Bra guy” is a relatively new gig for Ohly, dating back to about 2004, when his MBA classmate and now Zyrra co-founder Christi Andersen mentioned that there was a pervasive problem with bra fit. So Ohly, who says he was overwhelmed by the number of women sharing Andersen’s gripes, set out in the bra business. He started by taking a sewing class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

“I said, ‘I’m here to learn how to make bras.’ It was a good moment,” he says, noting that he was the only guy in the class. The group of women responded, “Sign me up,” when he explained his aim to make better-fitting bras—early market validation for the company’s product, he says.

Zyrra incorporated in late 2004 and spent a few years designing, prototyping, and building the bra models and the sizing system to plug into the CAD platform in order to design them in a more individualized way, and came out with its first bra model around 2007. The startup worked out of office space in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood before moving to MassChallenge for the accelerator and business plan competition phase this summer.

Ohly and Andersen’s company isn’t just unique in that it’s applying software that’s typically been used for architecture and product development in the electronics, engineering, and furniture sectors to lingerie-making. The startup also has a different makeup of investors than most others in the tech space. The lead investor for its Series A financing, which is expected to close later this month in the range of $500,000 to $700,000, is angel investor Jess McLear, a member of angel group Golden Seeds and also a mentor at MassChallenge. Jean Hammond, another Golden Seeds member, has also backed the company.

“The angel community is about 90 percent men,” Ohly says. “We will have a slightly different breakdown.”

The company sells its bras (as well as matching underwear) through …Next Page »

Erin Kutz is an Assistant Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700.

GOP candidates are making a point of running against "bailouts" this year. Yet even as they rail about rescuing big banks, they're working on a plan that would slip those same banks an estimated $90 billion in taxpayer money ... and that's just in the first ten years.

"Fiscal conservatism," anyone?

It was always hypocritical to slam a bailout that they and their party initiated. But it turns out they were just warming up. Now they're trying to pull a fast one on the American public, tapping Tea Party rage about big government spending even as they prepare to slip the big bankers some big bucks. They're planning to siphon off $90 billion meant for America's college students and their families and give it to Wall Street.

Any Tea Partier who votes for these guys is being played for a sucker.

The Republican repeal plan wouldn't just put tens of billions of public dollars in bank coffers. It would also raise the maximum amount a graduate is forced to pay each year from 10% to 15% of income. And it would extend the length of time before their debt is forgiven from 20 to 25 years.

Your GOP: Sending billions in taxpayer money to rich bankers, and squeezing young people starting out in life. Call it the New Populism.

Small government? Less spending? The Republican Party's backdoor bailout of wealthy bankers is bigger than the auto industry bailout. It's bigger than the home loan program. It's bigger than the lending program for small businesses. And unlike those programs, it serves no social purpose at all.

This week two Republican Senatorial candidates were the latest to push this secret subsidy for Wall Street. Washington's Dino Rossi and Mark Kirk in Illinois were obviously working from the same playbook, since they made almost identical points while declaring their opposition to this year's student loan reform. "You know, part of the takeover of government has been part of the student loans," said Rossi. "I don't think that we should adopt legislation that the Congress has moved forward to have a complete government takeover of all student loans," said Kirk.

Kirk and Rossi are talking about this year's student loan reform. That program eliminated a cushy deal that gave private banks a percentage of government loan funds for "administering" loans (they weren't actually lending the money). They performed their administrative duties both inefficiently and unethically. What's more, the banks took a portion of their vig and spent it on lobbyists in order to keep the pot sweetened for themselves. It didn't work - but if the GOP has its way, it'll work next year.

You're not seeing a "populist" uprising on the Right. You're seeing lobbyist and billionaire money at work, channeling genuine frustration and anger into an electoral plan designed to help bankers get even richer.

The "government takeover" argument is ridiculous, of course. In this case they're talking about a government takeover ... of government. This is the public's money, and it's intended to be lent to students and their families so that the dream of an ever-more-expensive college education is available to more families. Taxpayers support this program so much that neither Kirk nor Rossi could afford to criticize it. But not too many of those taxpayers would support taking billions of their dollars and funneling it to Wall Street, as the GOP would do.

The "complete government takeover" statements are also absolutely false, since private students loans are still available. (See Pat Garafolo's excellent pieces on Rossi and Kirk for more detail.)

When private bankers managed the student loan process, it was filled with rampant corruption that included kickbacks to school administrators. Millions of dollars meant for students were also stuffed in the pockets of lobbyists and politicians. (Details here.) And as for that 'privatization' mantra we keep hearing from the GOP, consider this: The government created and funded Sallie Mae to help students get these government loans, and then privatized it. The result was a taxpayer-created and financed company that bought itself three private jets, paid bloated executive salaries, and threw government money at Washington pols (including a quarter of a million dollars for George W. Bush's inauguration).

(We've got more information on the loan program, and a rundown on the 'private' Sallie Mae Corporation that includes a photo of one of those jets and their ID numbers.)

Because of our current hard times - hard times brought about by the very same bankers who would get billions under the GOP plan - our student loan program is even more important than ever. Unemployment and under-employment for college graduates is soaring. The average college graduate's debt in 2009 was $24,000, up 6% from the year before, and that's before the full impact of the economic downturn. Diverting billions in Federal student loan money to Wall Street under these circumstances is nothing short of obscene.

But the GOP has made it clear that they're in the bankers' back pockets. Sen. John Cornyn, head of the Republican Senate campaign committee, indicated they would immediately move to repeal the financial reform bill if they gained power. That would give their banker friends free reign to exploit consumers and take even greater risks with the economy. This $90 billion giveaway of government money - our money - is just part of a larger pattern.

While neither Kirk nor Rossi were originally Tea Party candidates, they've both made their peace with the movement. Unnamed "tea party activists" from the State of Washington issued a letter of support for Rossi, while the formerly centrist Mark Kirk has flip-flopped on multiple issues in the last few months in order to pass Tea Party muster. Both candidates are part of a larger GOP plan to use anti-spending, anti-bank rhetoric in order to spend billions on subsidizing banks.

Billions for bankers, benefit cuts for students. A "privatization" scheme that lets a few people get rich off government programs, promoted in the name of "less spending" and "less taxes." That's the system that these Republicans want to bring back and even expand. They want to use student loan money as a piggy bank for rich piggies, tapping taxpayer dollars to to enrich their pals.

So my question for the Tea Party rank and file is this: Are you going to let the big banks and their politician cronies play you like this? Are you going to be a sucker? They've got $90 billion that says you will.

______________

About the table: The Department of Education Arne Duncan estimates the bank subsidy was costing approximately $9 billion per year, including the interest banks were able to collect . Given the rapid and ingoing increases in college tuitions, it's not unreasonable to think that the total amount could be wind up being much more than either figure. I used the data compiled by the New York Times for the other figures. In every case, I used the highest possible figures for the final cost of each program, to make my estimates as conservative as possible. (I stayed away from TARP, even though we're told it's making a profit, because the total cost is still unknown.)

The result was clear: This GOP's planned Wall Street giveaway the biggest and costliest of all the programs listed.

This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project.

Scripting <b>News</b>: Rule 1 of local blogs

Recent stories. Twitter links. My 40 most-recent Twitter links, ranked by number of clicks. My bike. People are always asking about my bike. A picture named bikesmall.jpg. Here's a picture. AFP news pic. Calendar ...

Lindsay Lohan Photos &amp; Pics | BREAKING <b>NEWS</b> - Lindsay Lohan Avoids <b>...</b>

Lindsay Lohan appeared before Judge Elden Fox at the Beverly Hills Courthouse this morning for her latest probation violation hearing, and it appears as though spending the last month at the Betty Ford Center helped convince the judge ...

Surprise: Fox <b>News</b> signs Juan Williams to new $2 million deal <b>...</b>

Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. ...

eric seiger eric seiger

startups, Software, apparel

Where Bras Meet Software: Zyrra Raises Money From Jess McLear, Jean Hammond, & Local Angels For Its Bra Industry “Revolution”

Erin Kutz 10/19/10

Derek Ohly is known as the “bra guy,” both around the office at MassChallenge, the startup accelerator and entrepreneur competition, and throughout the Boston-area investor community, he says.

“I didn’t expect to end up in the world of bras, and here I am,” says Ohly, a graduate of Babson College’s MBA program (a likely story). “I have designed them, sewn them, fit them, and sourced them. As I like to put it, I have a PhD in bras.”

This isn’t just a weird hobby for Ohly. He’s CEO of Zyrra, a MassChallenge finalist company that’s using computer-aided-design (CAD) software, a patent-pending bra measurement system, and Tupperware-style parties to get custom-fit bras into the hands of women who just aren’t happy with how theirs currently fit.

“Bra guy” is a relatively new gig for Ohly, dating back to about 2004, when his MBA classmate and now Zyrra co-founder Christi Andersen mentioned that there was a pervasive problem with bra fit. So Ohly, who says he was overwhelmed by the number of women sharing Andersen’s gripes, set out in the bra business. He started by taking a sewing class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

“I said, ‘I’m here to learn how to make bras.’ It was a good moment,” he says, noting that he was the only guy in the class. The group of women responded, “Sign me up,” when he explained his aim to make better-fitting bras—early market validation for the company’s product, he says.

Zyrra incorporated in late 2004 and spent a few years designing, prototyping, and building the bra models and the sizing system to plug into the CAD platform in order to design them in a more individualized way, and came out with its first bra model around 2007. The startup worked out of office space in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood before moving to MassChallenge for the accelerator and business plan competition phase this summer.

Ohly and Andersen’s company isn’t just unique in that it’s applying software that’s typically been used for architecture and product development in the electronics, engineering, and furniture sectors to lingerie-making. The startup also has a different makeup of investors than most others in the tech space. The lead investor for its Series A financing, which is expected to close later this month in the range of $500,000 to $700,000, is angel investor Jess McLear, a member of angel group Golden Seeds and also a mentor at MassChallenge. Jean Hammond, another Golden Seeds member, has also backed the company.

“The angel community is about 90 percent men,” Ohly says. “We will have a slightly different breakdown.”

The company sells its bras (as well as matching underwear) through …Next Page »

Erin Kutz is an Assistant Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700.

GOP candidates are making a point of running against "bailouts" this year. Yet even as they rail about rescuing big banks, they're working on a plan that would slip those same banks an estimated $90 billion in taxpayer money ... and that's just in the first ten years.

"Fiscal conservatism," anyone?

It was always hypocritical to slam a bailout that they and their party initiated. But it turns out they were just warming up. Now they're trying to pull a fast one on the American public, tapping Tea Party rage about big government spending even as they prepare to slip the big bankers some big bucks. They're planning to siphon off $90 billion meant for America's college students and their families and give it to Wall Street.

Any Tea Partier who votes for these guys is being played for a sucker.

The Republican repeal plan wouldn't just put tens of billions of public dollars in bank coffers. It would also raise the maximum amount a graduate is forced to pay each year from 10% to 15% of income. And it would extend the length of time before their debt is forgiven from 20 to 25 years.

Your GOP: Sending billions in taxpayer money to rich bankers, and squeezing young people starting out in life. Call it the New Populism.

Small government? Less spending? The Republican Party's backdoor bailout of wealthy bankers is bigger than the auto industry bailout. It's bigger than the home loan program. It's bigger than the lending program for small businesses. And unlike those programs, it serves no social purpose at all.

This week two Republican Senatorial candidates were the latest to push this secret subsidy for Wall Street. Washington's Dino Rossi and Mark Kirk in Illinois were obviously working from the same playbook, since they made almost identical points while declaring their opposition to this year's student loan reform. "You know, part of the takeover of government has been part of the student loans," said Rossi. "I don't think that we should adopt legislation that the Congress has moved forward to have a complete government takeover of all student loans," said Kirk.

Kirk and Rossi are talking about this year's student loan reform. That program eliminated a cushy deal that gave private banks a percentage of government loan funds for "administering" loans (they weren't actually lending the money). They performed their administrative duties both inefficiently and unethically. What's more, the banks took a portion of their vig and spent it on lobbyists in order to keep the pot sweetened for themselves. It didn't work - but if the GOP has its way, it'll work next year.

You're not seeing a "populist" uprising on the Right. You're seeing lobbyist and billionaire money at work, channeling genuine frustration and anger into an electoral plan designed to help bankers get even richer.

The "government takeover" argument is ridiculous, of course. In this case they're talking about a government takeover ... of government. This is the public's money, and it's intended to be lent to students and their families so that the dream of an ever-more-expensive college education is available to more families. Taxpayers support this program so much that neither Kirk nor Rossi could afford to criticize it. But not too many of those taxpayers would support taking billions of their dollars and funneling it to Wall Street, as the GOP would do.

The "complete government takeover" statements are also absolutely false, since private students loans are still available. (See Pat Garafolo's excellent pieces on Rossi and Kirk for more detail.)

When private bankers managed the student loan process, it was filled with rampant corruption that included kickbacks to school administrators. Millions of dollars meant for students were also stuffed in the pockets of lobbyists and politicians. (Details here.) And as for that 'privatization' mantra we keep hearing from the GOP, consider this: The government created and funded Sallie Mae to help students get these government loans, and then privatized it. The result was a taxpayer-created and financed company that bought itself three private jets, paid bloated executive salaries, and threw government money at Washington pols (including a quarter of a million dollars for George W. Bush's inauguration).

(We've got more information on the loan program, and a rundown on the 'private' Sallie Mae Corporation that includes a photo of one of those jets and their ID numbers.)

Because of our current hard times - hard times brought about by the very same bankers who would get billions under the GOP plan - our student loan program is even more important than ever. Unemployment and under-employment for college graduates is soaring. The average college graduate's debt in 2009 was $24,000, up 6% from the year before, and that's before the full impact of the economic downturn. Diverting billions in Federal student loan money to Wall Street under these circumstances is nothing short of obscene.

But the GOP has made it clear that they're in the bankers' back pockets. Sen. John Cornyn, head of the Republican Senate campaign committee, indicated they would immediately move to repeal the financial reform bill if they gained power. That would give their banker friends free reign to exploit consumers and take even greater risks with the economy. This $90 billion giveaway of government money - our money - is just part of a larger pattern.

While neither Kirk nor Rossi were originally Tea Party candidates, they've both made their peace with the movement. Unnamed "tea party activists" from the State of Washington issued a letter of support for Rossi, while the formerly centrist Mark Kirk has flip-flopped on multiple issues in the last few months in order to pass Tea Party muster. Both candidates are part of a larger GOP plan to use anti-spending, anti-bank rhetoric in order to spend billions on subsidizing banks.

Billions for bankers, benefit cuts for students. A "privatization" scheme that lets a few people get rich off government programs, promoted in the name of "less spending" and "less taxes." That's the system that these Republicans want to bring back and even expand. They want to use student loan money as a piggy bank for rich piggies, tapping taxpayer dollars to to enrich their pals.

So my question for the Tea Party rank and file is this: Are you going to let the big banks and their politician cronies play you like this? Are you going to be a sucker? They've got $90 billion that says you will.

______________

About the table: The Department of Education Arne Duncan estimates the bank subsidy was costing approximately $9 billion per year, including the interest banks were able to collect . Given the rapid and ingoing increases in college tuitions, it's not unreasonable to think that the total amount could be wind up being much more than either figure. I used the data compiled by the New York Times for the other figures. In every case, I used the highest possible figures for the final cost of each program, to make my estimates as conservative as possible. (I stayed away from TARP, even though we're told it's making a profit, because the total cost is still unknown.)

The result was clear: This GOP's planned Wall Street giveaway the biggest and costliest of all the programs listed.

This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project.

Scripting <b>News</b>: Rule 1 of local blogs

Recent stories. Twitter links. My 40 most-recent Twitter links, ranked by number of clicks. My bike. People are always asking about my bike. A picture named bikesmall.jpg. Here's a picture. AFP news pic. Calendar ...

Lindsay Lohan Photos &amp; Pics | BREAKING <b>NEWS</b> - Lindsay Lohan Avoids <b>...</b>

Lindsay Lohan appeared before Judge Elden Fox at the Beverly Hills Courthouse this morning for her latest probation violation hearing, and it appears as though spending the last month at the Betty Ford Center helped convince the judge ...

Surprise: Fox <b>News</b> signs Juan Williams to new $2 million deal <b>...</b>

Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. ...

eric seiger eric seiger

Making Money Scam

For the first time, this year’s Knight News Challenge will be requesting entries in three specific categories: mobile, revenue models, and reputation/credibility. The contest judges won’t be seeking a certain quota of finalists in each category: “It’s much more of a signal to the population at large: These are the areas that need your attention,” Knight consultant Jennifer 8. Lee said on Monday, at a San Francisco information session sponsored by Hacks/Hackers.

Up to now, Lee said the Knight Foundation’s attitude towards the contest has been “we don’t know what news innovation is — you tell us.” But over the past four years, trends have emerged among the contest entries that mirror the broader development of the news business. 2010 was the year of mapping and data visualization projects, Lee said. In 2011, Knight sees innovations in credibility determination, mobile technology, and revenue model generation as key areas of development.

[Update: Lee has clarified some elements of the new News Challenge in a comment here — check it out for more details. Also, since this post was published, the News Challenge has officially announced the details for this year's contest, which includes an additional category, Community; you can see those here. —Josh]

Credibility in the news business used to be based on the brand reputation of large media outlets. But in a world in which anyone can report, and in which, in Lee’s words, rumors can explode and die within a day on Twitter, there’s a need for new ways to measure and establish credibility. For example, Lee said, “How do you know that this person is more serious reporting out of Tehran, or Iran, than that person?” In the world of online media, rumors can gain momentum more quickly and easily than in the traditional media ecosystem. What kinds of tools and filters could be used to combat hoaxes and determine the trustworthiness of online information? That third category is “the one that’s the most vague — and purposefully so,” Lee said.

The mobile and revenue models categories are more straightforward. Last year, the Chicago news site Windy Citizen won $250,000 to develop a software interface to creates “real-time ads” which constantly update with the most recent information from a business’ Twitter feed or Facebook page. Lee said this was a good example of a revenue model project.

The Knight News Challenge is also increasingly open to awarding funding to for-profit companies who want to build open-source projects. Last cycle, one of the grantees was Stamen Design, a top data visualization firm whose founder and employees had a proven commitment to making open source tools in their free time. Knight provided them with $400,000 to dedicate staff hours to projects that they would previously have done on weekends. There are many different ways of making Knight funding viable for for-profit companies, Lee said, so long as the companies can carefully document how the foundation funding is being applied to open-source work. “You can create the open-sourcey version of your project. That part becomes open source, and the other one doesnt,” Lee said.

Last year, out of 2,300 initial applications, the Knight Foundation ultimately made 12 grants totaling about $3 million. After hearing the KNC discussed at the meeting, here are some of the elements I took away as key to building the perfect News Challenge application — and some of the potential pitfalls that could lead to an early rejection.

— A working prototype is great. When the creators of Davis Wiki (which the Lab has been following for a while) applied for grant funding to expand their project, they weren’t just pitching a concept. They could point judges to a thriving local website which collects community insight and serves as an open forum for residents to deal with everything from scam artists to lost kittens.

As LocalWiki’s Philip Neustrom explained, one in seven people in Davis, Calif., have contributed material to Davis Wiki, and in a week “basically half” of the city’s residents visit the site. This June, Davis Wiki made The New York Times when residents used the site to assemble information about a local scam artist, the “Crying Girl.”

Neustrom and Mike Ivanov co-founded Davis Wiki in 2004. So by the time they were applying for a 2010 KNC grant, they already had a mature, well-developed site to demonstrate the viability of what they were planning to do.

— Your project should be sustainable. Knight doesn’t want the projects they fund to wither away as soon as the grant money runs out. In the case of LocalWiki, what may be the best proof of their sustainability was actually made after they won Knight funding. Their recent Kickstarter campaign, which closed last month, raised $26,324 for outreach and education work, and 98 percent of that came from Davis community members, Neustrom said. Davis residents helped raise money by organizing a dance party, a silent auction, and fundraising nights at a bar — evidence that future LocalWiki sites will be able to build grassroots support.

— Your project should be catalytic. As a project reviewer, Lee said she looks for ideas that will catalyze development in a larger area. That means not just having a proven concept, but having one that’s scalable and that brings innovation to an area that needs attention.

Out of 2,300 applicants last year, only 500 were asked to provide a full proposal, and 50 of those became finalists. In the final round, Lee said, there was a lot of consensus between the judges about what projects were ultimately promising. The judges were allowed to apportion their votes between different projects, and 28 of the 50 got no votes, Lee said. Among the common problems with proposals:

— Don’t ask Knight to fund content. Lee said the KNC receives many proposals for, say, money to start a hyperlocal blog in North Carolina. But while the idea of a hyperlocal blog was innovative five or six years ago, Lee said, “at this point, it’s no longer cutting edge. The point of the Knight News Challenge is to encourage innovation, creativity.”

— Don’t apply with projects that don’t fit Knight’s mission. As with any contest, some projects try to shoehorn themselves into an inappropriate category for the sake of funding. A grant to do a project using SMS to provide health information in Africa, for example, would be “too specific to be interesting to the Knight News Challenge,” Lee said.

— Don’t be vague. For example: applying to create “a news aggregator.”

— Avoid generic citizen journalism projects. Say a group wanted to take Flip cams and give them to inner city kids as an experiment in citizen journalism. “We’re not totally into the citizen journalism thing anymore,” Lee said. “It has been given its chance to do its thing and kind of didn’t do its thing that well.”

— Have the credibility to make the project work. An applicant may have a good idea for an innovative project, but he or she also has to have the experience and credibility to actually pull it off. One tip-off that credibility is lacking? If he or she asks for an amount of grant funding that’s disproportional to the realistic needs of the project.

[Disclosure: Both Knight Foundation and Lee have been financial supporters of the Lab.]

An online marketer who lured consumers into a bogus work-at-home scheme that charged them hidden fees by masquerading as a Google company has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.



Under a settlement agreement with the FTC, the defendants, which did business under names such as "Google Money Tree," "Google Pro," and "Google Treasure Chest," are barred from making misleading or unsupported claims while marketing or selling any product or service, and have been forced to surrender cash and other assets exceeding $3.5 million.



The defendants also are forbidden from marketing products via "negative option" transactions ­– a classic marketing scheme in which companies use fine print to trick victims into unwittingly agreeing to pay for a product or service for which they are billed on a regular basis until they cancel.



The FTC first took action against the defendants, Infusion Media, Inc., West Coast Internet Media, Inc., Two Warnings, LLC and Two Part Investments, LLC, in July 2009 as part of "Operation Short Change," an ongoing crackdown against scammers taking advantage of the recession to prey upon vulnerable consumers.



By using Google's household name and logo and falsely promising consumers could earn $100,000 in six months, the defendants lured consumers into providing their financial information to pay a small shipping fee for a work-at-home kit, according to the complaint.



What consumers didn't realize, thanks to the fine print, was that purchasing the useless work-at-home kit automatically triggered monthly charges of $72.21 for another product which continued until they took steps to cancel.



The complaint charged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by failing to adequately disclose that consumers would be subjected to monthly charges; by making false or unsupported claims that consumers were likely to earn substantial income; and by falsely claiming they were affiliated with Google Inc.



The defendants also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E by debiting consumers' bank accounts on a recurring basis without obtaining written authorization, the FTC charged.



The settlement includes a $29.5 million penalty against defendants Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media, Inc.; West Coast Internet Media, Inc.; Two Warnings, LLC; Two Part Investments, LLC; and Platinum Teleservices, Inc. A fourth defendant, Stephanie Burnside, is subject to a $741,900 fine.



The defendants have relinquished cash and other assets including two cars, a boat and a gun collection totaling approximately $3.5 million. The remaining $26 million has been suspended due to the defendants' inability to pay, but the full $29.5 million will be due if it's found the defendants lied about their finances.
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<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

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For the first time, this year’s Knight News Challenge will be requesting entries in three specific categories: mobile, revenue models, and reputation/credibility. The contest judges won’t be seeking a certain quota of finalists in each category: “It’s much more of a signal to the population at large: These are the areas that need your attention,” Knight consultant Jennifer 8. Lee said on Monday, at a San Francisco information session sponsored by Hacks/Hackers.

Up to now, Lee said the Knight Foundation’s attitude towards the contest has been “we don’t know what news innovation is — you tell us.” But over the past four years, trends have emerged among the contest entries that mirror the broader development of the news business. 2010 was the year of mapping and data visualization projects, Lee said. In 2011, Knight sees innovations in credibility determination, mobile technology, and revenue model generation as key areas of development.

[Update: Lee has clarified some elements of the new News Challenge in a comment here — check it out for more details. Also, since this post was published, the News Challenge has officially announced the details for this year's contest, which includes an additional category, Community; you can see those here. —Josh]

Credibility in the news business used to be based on the brand reputation of large media outlets. But in a world in which anyone can report, and in which, in Lee’s words, rumors can explode and die within a day on Twitter, there’s a need for new ways to measure and establish credibility. For example, Lee said, “How do you know that this person is more serious reporting out of Tehran, or Iran, than that person?” In the world of online media, rumors can gain momentum more quickly and easily than in the traditional media ecosystem. What kinds of tools and filters could be used to combat hoaxes and determine the trustworthiness of online information? That third category is “the one that’s the most vague — and purposefully so,” Lee said.

The mobile and revenue models categories are more straightforward. Last year, the Chicago news site Windy Citizen won $250,000 to develop a software interface to creates “real-time ads” which constantly update with the most recent information from a business’ Twitter feed or Facebook page. Lee said this was a good example of a revenue model project.

The Knight News Challenge is also increasingly open to awarding funding to for-profit companies who want to build open-source projects. Last cycle, one of the grantees was Stamen Design, a top data visualization firm whose founder and employees had a proven commitment to making open source tools in their free time. Knight provided them with $400,000 to dedicate staff hours to projects that they would previously have done on weekends. There are many different ways of making Knight funding viable for for-profit companies, Lee said, so long as the companies can carefully document how the foundation funding is being applied to open-source work. “You can create the open-sourcey version of your project. That part becomes open source, and the other one doesnt,” Lee said.

Last year, out of 2,300 initial applications, the Knight Foundation ultimately made 12 grants totaling about $3 million. After hearing the KNC discussed at the meeting, here are some of the elements I took away as key to building the perfect News Challenge application — and some of the potential pitfalls that could lead to an early rejection.

— A working prototype is great. When the creators of Davis Wiki (which the Lab has been following for a while) applied for grant funding to expand their project, they weren’t just pitching a concept. They could point judges to a thriving local website which collects community insight and serves as an open forum for residents to deal with everything from scam artists to lost kittens.

As LocalWiki’s Philip Neustrom explained, one in seven people in Davis, Calif., have contributed material to Davis Wiki, and in a week “basically half” of the city’s residents visit the site. This June, Davis Wiki made The New York Times when residents used the site to assemble information about a local scam artist, the “Crying Girl.”

Neustrom and Mike Ivanov co-founded Davis Wiki in 2004. So by the time they were applying for a 2010 KNC grant, they already had a mature, well-developed site to demonstrate the viability of what they were planning to do.

— Your project should be sustainable. Knight doesn’t want the projects they fund to wither away as soon as the grant money runs out. In the case of LocalWiki, what may be the best proof of their sustainability was actually made after they won Knight funding. Their recent Kickstarter campaign, which closed last month, raised $26,324 for outreach and education work, and 98 percent of that came from Davis community members, Neustrom said. Davis residents helped raise money by organizing a dance party, a silent auction, and fundraising nights at a bar — evidence that future LocalWiki sites will be able to build grassroots support.

— Your project should be catalytic. As a project reviewer, Lee said she looks for ideas that will catalyze development in a larger area. That means not just having a proven concept, but having one that’s scalable and that brings innovation to an area that needs attention.

Out of 2,300 applicants last year, only 500 were asked to provide a full proposal, and 50 of those became finalists. In the final round, Lee said, there was a lot of consensus between the judges about what projects were ultimately promising. The judges were allowed to apportion their votes between different projects, and 28 of the 50 got no votes, Lee said. Among the common problems with proposals:

— Don’t ask Knight to fund content. Lee said the KNC receives many proposals for, say, money to start a hyperlocal blog in North Carolina. But while the idea of a hyperlocal blog was innovative five or six years ago, Lee said, “at this point, it’s no longer cutting edge. The point of the Knight News Challenge is to encourage innovation, creativity.”

— Don’t apply with projects that don’t fit Knight’s mission. As with any contest, some projects try to shoehorn themselves into an inappropriate category for the sake of funding. A grant to do a project using SMS to provide health information in Africa, for example, would be “too specific to be interesting to the Knight News Challenge,” Lee said.

— Don’t be vague. For example: applying to create “a news aggregator.”

— Avoid generic citizen journalism projects. Say a group wanted to take Flip cams and give them to inner city kids as an experiment in citizen journalism. “We’re not totally into the citizen journalism thing anymore,” Lee said. “It has been given its chance to do its thing and kind of didn’t do its thing that well.”

— Have the credibility to make the project work. An applicant may have a good idea for an innovative project, but he or she also has to have the experience and credibility to actually pull it off. One tip-off that credibility is lacking? If he or she asks for an amount of grant funding that’s disproportional to the realistic needs of the project.

[Disclosure: Both Knight Foundation and Lee have been financial supporters of the Lab.]

An online marketer who lured consumers into a bogus work-at-home scheme that charged them hidden fees by masquerading as a Google company has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.



Under a settlement agreement with the FTC, the defendants, which did business under names such as "Google Money Tree," "Google Pro," and "Google Treasure Chest," are barred from making misleading or unsupported claims while marketing or selling any product or service, and have been forced to surrender cash and other assets exceeding $3.5 million.



The defendants also are forbidden from marketing products via "negative option" transactions ­– a classic marketing scheme in which companies use fine print to trick victims into unwittingly agreeing to pay for a product or service for which they are billed on a regular basis until they cancel.



The FTC first took action against the defendants, Infusion Media, Inc., West Coast Internet Media, Inc., Two Warnings, LLC and Two Part Investments, LLC, in July 2009 as part of "Operation Short Change," an ongoing crackdown against scammers taking advantage of the recession to prey upon vulnerable consumers.



By using Google's household name and logo and falsely promising consumers could earn $100,000 in six months, the defendants lured consumers into providing their financial information to pay a small shipping fee for a work-at-home kit, according to the complaint.



What consumers didn't realize, thanks to the fine print, was that purchasing the useless work-at-home kit automatically triggered monthly charges of $72.21 for another product which continued until they took steps to cancel.



The complaint charged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by failing to adequately disclose that consumers would be subjected to monthly charges; by making false or unsupported claims that consumers were likely to earn substantial income; and by falsely claiming they were affiliated with Google Inc.



The defendants also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E by debiting consumers' bank accounts on a recurring basis without obtaining written authorization, the FTC charged.



The settlement includes a $29.5 million penalty against defendants Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media, Inc.; West Coast Internet Media, Inc.; Two Warnings, LLC; Two Part Investments, LLC; and Platinum Teleservices, Inc. A fourth defendant, Stephanie Burnside, is subject to a $741,900 fine.



The defendants have relinquished cash and other assets including two cars, a boat and a gun collection totaling approximately $3.5 million. The remaining $26 million has been suspended due to the defendants' inability to pay, but the full $29.5 million will be due if it's found the defendants lied about their finances.
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<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake twitter

robert shumake detroit

robert shumake detroit

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake twitter

For the first time, this year’s Knight News Challenge will be requesting entries in three specific categories: mobile, revenue models, and reputation/credibility. The contest judges won’t be seeking a certain quota of finalists in each category: “It’s much more of a signal to the population at large: These are the areas that need your attention,” Knight consultant Jennifer 8. Lee said on Monday, at a San Francisco information session sponsored by Hacks/Hackers.

Up to now, Lee said the Knight Foundation’s attitude towards the contest has been “we don’t know what news innovation is — you tell us.” But over the past four years, trends have emerged among the contest entries that mirror the broader development of the news business. 2010 was the year of mapping and data visualization projects, Lee said. In 2011, Knight sees innovations in credibility determination, mobile technology, and revenue model generation as key areas of development.

[Update: Lee has clarified some elements of the new News Challenge in a comment here — check it out for more details. Also, since this post was published, the News Challenge has officially announced the details for this year's contest, which includes an additional category, Community; you can see those here. —Josh]

Credibility in the news business used to be based on the brand reputation of large media outlets. But in a world in which anyone can report, and in which, in Lee’s words, rumors can explode and die within a day on Twitter, there’s a need for new ways to measure and establish credibility. For example, Lee said, “How do you know that this person is more serious reporting out of Tehran, or Iran, than that person?” In the world of online media, rumors can gain momentum more quickly and easily than in the traditional media ecosystem. What kinds of tools and filters could be used to combat hoaxes and determine the trustworthiness of online information? That third category is “the one that’s the most vague — and purposefully so,” Lee said.

The mobile and revenue models categories are more straightforward. Last year, the Chicago news site Windy Citizen won $250,000 to develop a software interface to creates “real-time ads” which constantly update with the most recent information from a business’ Twitter feed or Facebook page. Lee said this was a good example of a revenue model project.

The Knight News Challenge is also increasingly open to awarding funding to for-profit companies who want to build open-source projects. Last cycle, one of the grantees was Stamen Design, a top data visualization firm whose founder and employees had a proven commitment to making open source tools in their free time. Knight provided them with $400,000 to dedicate staff hours to projects that they would previously have done on weekends. There are many different ways of making Knight funding viable for for-profit companies, Lee said, so long as the companies can carefully document how the foundation funding is being applied to open-source work. “You can create the open-sourcey version of your project. That part becomes open source, and the other one doesnt,” Lee said.

Last year, out of 2,300 initial applications, the Knight Foundation ultimately made 12 grants totaling about $3 million. After hearing the KNC discussed at the meeting, here are some of the elements I took away as key to building the perfect News Challenge application — and some of the potential pitfalls that could lead to an early rejection.

— A working prototype is great. When the creators of Davis Wiki (which the Lab has been following for a while) applied for grant funding to expand their project, they weren’t just pitching a concept. They could point judges to a thriving local website which collects community insight and serves as an open forum for residents to deal with everything from scam artists to lost kittens.

As LocalWiki’s Philip Neustrom explained, one in seven people in Davis, Calif., have contributed material to Davis Wiki, and in a week “basically half” of the city’s residents visit the site. This June, Davis Wiki made The New York Times when residents used the site to assemble information about a local scam artist, the “Crying Girl.”

Neustrom and Mike Ivanov co-founded Davis Wiki in 2004. So by the time they were applying for a 2010 KNC grant, they already had a mature, well-developed site to demonstrate the viability of what they were planning to do.

— Your project should be sustainable. Knight doesn’t want the projects they fund to wither away as soon as the grant money runs out. In the case of LocalWiki, what may be the best proof of their sustainability was actually made after they won Knight funding. Their recent Kickstarter campaign, which closed last month, raised $26,324 for outreach and education work, and 98 percent of that came from Davis community members, Neustrom said. Davis residents helped raise money by organizing a dance party, a silent auction, and fundraising nights at a bar — evidence that future LocalWiki sites will be able to build grassroots support.

— Your project should be catalytic. As a project reviewer, Lee said she looks for ideas that will catalyze development in a larger area. That means not just having a proven concept, but having one that’s scalable and that brings innovation to an area that needs attention.

Out of 2,300 applicants last year, only 500 were asked to provide a full proposal, and 50 of those became finalists. In the final round, Lee said, there was a lot of consensus between the judges about what projects were ultimately promising. The judges were allowed to apportion their votes between different projects, and 28 of the 50 got no votes, Lee said. Among the common problems with proposals:

— Don’t ask Knight to fund content. Lee said the KNC receives many proposals for, say, money to start a hyperlocal blog in North Carolina. But while the idea of a hyperlocal blog was innovative five or six years ago, Lee said, “at this point, it’s no longer cutting edge. The point of the Knight News Challenge is to encourage innovation, creativity.”

— Don’t apply with projects that don’t fit Knight’s mission. As with any contest, some projects try to shoehorn themselves into an inappropriate category for the sake of funding. A grant to do a project using SMS to provide health information in Africa, for example, would be “too specific to be interesting to the Knight News Challenge,” Lee said.

— Don’t be vague. For example: applying to create “a news aggregator.”

— Avoid generic citizen journalism projects. Say a group wanted to take Flip cams and give them to inner city kids as an experiment in citizen journalism. “We’re not totally into the citizen journalism thing anymore,” Lee said. “It has been given its chance to do its thing and kind of didn’t do its thing that well.”

— Have the credibility to make the project work. An applicant may have a good idea for an innovative project, but he or she also has to have the experience and credibility to actually pull it off. One tip-off that credibility is lacking? If he or she asks for an amount of grant funding that’s disproportional to the realistic needs of the project.

[Disclosure: Both Knight Foundation and Lee have been financial supporters of the Lab.]

An online marketer who lured consumers into a bogus work-at-home scheme that charged them hidden fees by masquerading as a Google company has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.



Under a settlement agreement with the FTC, the defendants, which did business under names such as "Google Money Tree," "Google Pro," and "Google Treasure Chest," are barred from making misleading or unsupported claims while marketing or selling any product or service, and have been forced to surrender cash and other assets exceeding $3.5 million.



The defendants also are forbidden from marketing products via "negative option" transactions ­– a classic marketing scheme in which companies use fine print to trick victims into unwittingly agreeing to pay for a product or service for which they are billed on a regular basis until they cancel.



The FTC first took action against the defendants, Infusion Media, Inc., West Coast Internet Media, Inc., Two Warnings, LLC and Two Part Investments, LLC, in July 2009 as part of "Operation Short Change," an ongoing crackdown against scammers taking advantage of the recession to prey upon vulnerable consumers.



By using Google's household name and logo and falsely promising consumers could earn $100,000 in six months, the defendants lured consumers into providing their financial information to pay a small shipping fee for a work-at-home kit, according to the complaint.



What consumers didn't realize, thanks to the fine print, was that purchasing the useless work-at-home kit automatically triggered monthly charges of $72.21 for another product which continued until they took steps to cancel.



The complaint charged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by failing to adequately disclose that consumers would be subjected to monthly charges; by making false or unsupported claims that consumers were likely to earn substantial income; and by falsely claiming they were affiliated with Google Inc.



The defendants also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E by debiting consumers' bank accounts on a recurring basis without obtaining written authorization, the FTC charged.



The settlement includes a $29.5 million penalty against defendants Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media, Inc.; West Coast Internet Media, Inc.; Two Warnings, LLC; Two Part Investments, LLC; and Platinum Teleservices, Inc. A fourth defendant, Stephanie Burnside, is subject to a $741,900 fine.



The defendants have relinquished cash and other assets including two cars, a boat and a gun collection totaling approximately $3.5 million. The remaining $26 million has been suspended due to the defendants' inability to pay, but the full $29.5 million will be due if it's found the defendants lied about their finances.
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robert shumake detroit

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake hall of shame

robert shumake hall of shame

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake detroit

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake detroit

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

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robert shumake hall of shame

robert shumake hall of shame
robert shumake twitter

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake hall of shame

Throughout my life I have wanted a get rich scheme, and a quick route to success. This however seemed difficult to obtain after searching through scam after scam on the internet. It seemed as if I could never find a good source of money using the internet as a base. After hours of weeding out the scams, I came up with a list of websites that I know from experience will pay out, even though it may not be as much of a copious amount as I would like.

1. Associated Content: This is by far my favorite site for making money online. It basically pays you to write about anything, whether it be a review or a short story. Although the pay is good, what really makes the site is the community. They are very helpful and seem passionate about writing. AC is also a create place to showcase your work if you are an aspiring author and want a place where an audience can review and enjoy your work.

2. Vindale Research: As I searched for money making schemes on the web, I came across this site, which enables anyone to make money for simply filling out surveys. My only complaint is that some of the surveys require you to use your credit card for free trials. This can be a problem if you forget that you subscribed and a month later find a $30 charge on your credit card. Believe me, I speak from experience.

3. Moola: Moola is a great concept. It enables someone to start with a penny and double it and then double it again by playing games online. This may seem like a petty amount at first, but when you think about the fact that a penny doubled 30 times is over a million dollars, your preconceptions go out the window. My only complaint is that it is too addicting.

4. Make a Blog!: Blogs are not only surprisingly fun and entertaining, but they are also a create form of of income if your blog becomes popular enough. I have heard many stories of people who were surprised by the number of views their blog got and even more surprised when they initiated a pay per click ad to make thousands.

5. Google Adwords: Google Adwords is a great advertising program. Anyone who has used google has probably seen these ads on the side of the search page. This is a great way to advertise anything from a blog to a new company. The program, to my surprise was actually quite user friendly. Leave it to Google to take something complex and make it simple.

Stay tuned, more to come


robert shumake hall of shame

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

robert shumake hall of shame

<b>News</b> - Source: Beyonce Is Pregnant! - Moms &amp; Babies - UsMagazine.com

She and Jay-Z will welcome their first child next spring, the new Us Weekly reports.

Crowd gets raucous at Oberstar-Cravaack debate | Duluth <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack didn't just face each other this morning at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium, they faced angry mobs of their opponent's supporters.

Loopt adds Facebook Places integration | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Loopt adds Facebook Places integration. Find more iPhone news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.