Mar 4

When Electronic Arts launched The Sims on Feb. 4, 2000, nobody knew if it would sell. But on its tenth anniversary, The Sims has become a blockbuster franchise in video games, with more than 125 million copies sold worldwide. It has had a profound influence on game design, broadened the definition of a game, and become embedded in pop culture.

To date, the franchise has grossed more than $2.5 billion in revenue, putting it on par with blockbuster films The Matrix trilogy ($1.4 billion), and Titanic ($1.8 billion). The Sims 3, which launched last summer, has sold more than 4.5 million copies and it was the best-selling PC game of 2009.

“At first, no one believed that a video game about people and social interaction, without shooting, driving or what passes for action, could be published successfully,” said John Riccitiello, chief executive of EA. “The Sims has incredible appeal among teens and young adults, and, especially among female players, has broken all the old established rules about video games.”

Today, Redwood City, Calif.-based EA released a bunch of impressive facts about The Sims, which was conceived as a secret project by SimCity game designer Will Wright at Maxis and which took about seven years to complete.

The original Sims was the bestselling PC game of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 until it was dethroned in 2004 by The Sims 2. EA has milked the franchise for all it’s worth, launching a total of 45 different games across the PC, console and mobile platforms. It has been translated into 22 different languages, is available in 60 countries, and is the No. 1 PC game franchise of all time.

One of the hallmarks of the Sims is the ability to customize your character’s appearance, belongings, house and tastes. To date, fans have downloaded more than 100 million items of content created by players for the Sims 3. The most popular downloaded content on The Sims 3 official community site is hair, which has been downloaded 670,000 times. The site gets 6 million visitors a month and there are 300 content downloads every minute.

Fans can upload their own movies of their Sims. About 1.7 million uploads have been made to date, which adds up to about 20 movie uploads every hour. The Sims 3 YouTube channel is the second most-subscribed to channel of all time with 55,000 subscribers and 26 million video views.

The cultural impact has been huge. The Sims was the only game franchise to grace the cover of Newsweek (it’s hit the covers of four dozen magazines to date). In 2008, nearly 1,000 H&M stores featured a garment designed by a player of The Sims for anyone to purchase. That same year, furniture retailer IKEA added its own real-world furniture designs to the catalog of digital items that Sims players could use.

The simulated people in the game speak a language dubbed Simlish. In developing it, the development team experimented with Ukrainian and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines. Rockstars like The Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry and the Pussycat Dolls have record their top songs in Simlish. The French loved the game so much they created a postage stamp honoring the game.

Wright once introduced a mysterious virus in The Sims. As the infection spread, players figured out that the source of the illness was the pet guinea pigs that they purchased. In 2004, EA’s European division, EA Benelux, created a real glass house where a family lived out their life for all to watch in The Sims style.

Wright is a college dropout, but he’s one of the most erudite game designers. He modeled the behavior of The Sims after Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs and consulted numerous books on architecture as he was designing the game.
Please check out our GamesBeat@GDC conference on March 10 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

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existing franchises for sale , franchises for sale

Eric Alterman: Think Again: On TV News, "Right" Makes Right

o ABC News apparently thinks it's appropriate to invite former political advisor to George W. Bush, Matthew Dowd, to guest host ABC's "This Week" next week. Dowd found himself on the outs with Bush when he joined ABC in 2007, …

at-Largely: Fox News puts the lives of seven lawyers in danger…

This is frankly one of the most negligent things Fox News has done. Riffing off the terra-terra hysteria from a bet-wetting far right, led by a fear-peddling and likely criminal Cheney family, Fox News has made public the identities of …

Stocks in the News: Wal-Mart, Pier 1, Ciena – DailyFinance

The following is a round-up of news likely to affect stock prices today: Ciena (CIEN) shares skidded over 8% in premarket trading after reporting a first-quarter loss of 12 cents a share, bigger than the 6 cents a share loss that …

Mar 2

how to budget personal finances

bijan:

The term “fiscal conservatives” is back with a vengeance.

The phrase is often delivered by the Republican party although many “centrist” Democrats sing the song as well and know the lyrics by heart.

Here’s Mayor Bloomberg’s definition of the label (via wikipedia):

To me, fiscal conservatism means balancing budgets – not running deficits that the next generation can’t afford. It means improving the efficiency of delivering services by finding innovative ways to do more with less. It means cutting taxes when possible and prudent to do so, raising them overall only when necessary to balance the budget, and only in combination with spending cuts. It means when you run a surplus, you save it; you don’t squander it

The idea is noble – don’t spend more than we make and save any surplus for a rainy day.

That’s how I was taught to deal with my personal finances. The government should do the same, right?

But I’ve got a big beef with the term “fiscal conservatives”.

It’s ambiguous at best and misleading at worst. It sounds objective but its not.

What conservatives will tell you is that we have to cut government programs, reduce benefits (for those in our society that need it the most) and reduce the deficit.

At the same time they want to cut taxes and cut capital gains (keep in mind the poorest in our country don’t pay any capital gains tax). In essence we should spend less and decrease revenue at the same time. That’s pretty hard when you are in debt. That’s like a person with huge credit card bills and then gets their salary cut or a company with debt and then makes less revenue. Just spending less is better, we dont’ have to cut taxes as well. (i’m okay cutting taxes when we have a big honking surplus).

Anyway, the noble point is not the bad part. There is a ton of waste in this country and we need to fix that.

The bad part is when each “special interest” decides what is mandatory and what isn’t mandatory. When they try to define what we need.

There are many ways to balance the budget. I may choose to emphasize education, domestic infrastructure and healthcare. Others may emphasize military spending.

So, we hear things like “we can’t pay support healthcare for our poor because we don’t have the money”

But where is the money going? It’s going to a lot of places that are open for debate. Like wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When you do your personal budget you consider all of your annual expenses at once. You decide what is mandatory and what is optional and then you prioritize. The same is true for a startup or any company really.

But that’s not how our choices are presented. Washington DC decides what is mandatory and then they tell us they can’t afford things that most of us want.

This is backwards.

I don’t believe the label “fiscal conservatives” is objective.

It’s subjective because there are many ways to balance the budget. It all comes down to a philosophical difference of opinion about what’s most important for our country and our people.

And that’s my beef.

(thanks to my friends nabeel, dave and mo for reading this in advance.)

Well said, Bijan, and an even better response than mine to Dave’s question here.

Indulge in One Financial Vice to Keep Your Overall Spending in Check

If you want to be financially successful, it's important to clamp down on your spending. On the other hand, allowing yourself to budget money for a single regular indulgence might be an effective way to keep your overall spending on track.

Photo by John Weise.

Finance blogger Adam Baker says even though he's typically a frugal guy, he allows himself to sink part of his hard-earned cash into martial arts training, a hobby he really loves. Although the classes run him more than $160 a month, the benefits—good mental and physical health—far outweigh the pain to his pocketbook.

Sure, he doesn't need the classes in the same way he needs to pay his electric and phone bills. Baker's point, though, is that while financial advisors might suggest cutting back on his expensive hobbies, doing so might make him liable to burn out on saving money altogether. All work and no play… well, you know the rest.

If you're trying to decide whether an expense falls under the “financial vice” category, Baker says to ask yourself a series of quick questions to help you figure it out. Chief among them:

Is it consistent with our other goals? This is tough because many of these expenses will work against our financial goals by nature. However, we try to consider any ancillary benefits that are generated from the financial vice. Martial arts helps my fitness goals, provides me with a fun community of people, and helps me to stay mentally calm while under intense pressure (trust me).

Check out the post for more questions to ask yourself, and some ideas on limiting the amount of financial vices you indulge. What about you? Do you find that giving in to a spendy craving or two helps you stay on budget, or do you fold like a house of cards once you buy something not in your budget? Talk about it in the comments.

http://removeripoffreports.net

Mar 1

personal finances help

Remember the epic divorce settlement Heather Mills got from Paul McCartney? It was around $50 million dollars in cash, property and assets, plus an extremely generous monthly child support check. And remember how Heather made such a big deal about how she was giving so much money to charity and how she could support herself, et cetera? Yeah… not so much. The Daily Mail has an exhaustive report that starts out as a sort of editorial about why people hate Heather (she won’t shut up, she’s a narcissist, she’s a liar, she’s a famewh-re), and then it turned into some kind of hard-hitting expose on how Heather has run through more than half of her divorce settlement already, and how the charities Heather works with are in ruins. Here’s the whole article, and here are the highlights (it’s still pretty long, I apologize):

Heather’s divorce settlement gave her two homes and other assets worth £7.8million, a lump sum of £14 million and a further £35,000 a year to help bring up Bea, her daughter with Sir Paul. Surely this huge sum would be enough for the Tyneside-born former underwear model who was once so poor she stole food just to have enough to eat? Apparently not.

According to friends, Heather, 42, is already complaining that she is running out of money. And when it comes to her charities, astonishingly, she is also pleading poverty.

The charity Heather has always been most associated with is No More Landmines. It was her work with it which first led to her introduction to Sir Paul McCartney at a charity event, and he donated £1 million to it soon after they married.

But, I can reveal, No More Landmines folded eight months ago. The charity, which in 2007 held more than £200,000, reported an income of just £285 last year.

In interviews to publicize herself, Heather says many of her charities have suffered because of her poor public image and the best she can do for them is dissociate herself. However, despite the fact No More Landmines has been wound down, it is still heavily plugged on her website as the charity she is most involved with.

Blaming negative media coverage on GMTV earlier this month, Heather – who bizarrely refers to herself in the plural – said: ‘Well, we were in a situation where our charity was virtually destroyed by all of that. We were the largest landmine-clearing prosthetic charity in the world and it got completely destroyed. I can only fund it so far with all of our other charity commitments. So I had to get out and say: “OK, let’s see how this goes.”‘ Not very well for No More Landmines, it seems.

She offered to provide $1million of vegan food to the charity which works in America’s most poverty stricken urban ghetto. Mills became involved with the New York community group when she befriended its founder Maryann Hedaa at a charity function. When she announced the donation, she was given an honorary congressional award. But the charity is still waiting for much of its money. ‘So far, I would say we have been given about $150,000 in cash and another $200,000 of food products,’ says Maryann. ‘I would say we have been given about a fifth of the money so far.’

But Maryann holds faith in Heather: ‘When she offered to help, everyone warned me not to get involved. They said she does not follow through. But I have to say that so far she has really rolled her sleeves up and got involved. She has been pretty amazing.’

But, by her own account, Heather has struggled to pay for what she has promised. Writing on Twitter in August, she said she was renting out her plush £2.5million New York apartment – where Nicole Kidman and Calvin Klein were neighbours -’to fund free café in the Bronx for kids’, adding ’sad to see it go’.

Heather’s divorce from Sir Paul also showed she had a history for not giving as much to charity as she claimed. During the bitter divorce proceedings, Heather claims she was a millionaire before she met Paul and had always donated 80 to 90 per cent of her earnings to charity. But Mr Justice Bennett, who accused her of being ‘less than candid’ in her evidence, said this appeared to be unlikely.

Heather had been unable to produce records of money sent by her to any charity between 1997 and 2000. He added: ‘Moreover, her tax returns disclose no charitable giving at all.’

His judgment revealed that, although she had promised that her £110,000 Dancing With The Stars fee would go to the animal rights charity Viva!, she actually gave them only £50,000. The reality is that Heather has found more interesting things to spend her money on than charity.

First, there are her homes. Heather got two houses in the divorce settlement. Her main home is a stunning six-bedroom house on Brighton’s millionaire’s row. It was bought for £750,000 in 2001, courtesy of a loan from Sir Paul. It is now worth more than twice as much. She also owns a £3.2 million seven-bedroom house near Paul’s home in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, which was, again, included in the settlement.

From her £14million lump sum, she bought her two-bedroom New York apartment and a £2.4million flat on one of London’s most exclusive roads, The Bishops Avenue, in North London. She recently put the three-bedroom flat back on the market for £3.75million.

Then there is her entourage. Many of Heather’s closest friends have fallen away over the years. All tell the same story – one Sir Paul may recognise. Invariably, Heather is utterly charming at first and her determination in the face of adversity is something to be admired. She is a pro at portraying herself as a do-gooder. But Heather is, undoubtedly, also a fantasist. She is seemingly unable to stop lying – and believing the lies that she tells.

[Meanwhile Heather’s] former hairdresser David Paul is . He started working with her in 2005 and, after she told him she was waiting for Sir Paul to give her a bigger income, David did her hair for free on the understanding that she would pay him when she could. But during the divorce proceedings it emerged she received £350,000 a year from Sir Paul. Plus, he paid all her bills.

David was shocked, as he tells me: ‘I was seduced by her charm. But she was lying to me. I was shocked when I discovered how much money she had coming in when she met me. She hardly paid me anything. What was disturbing to me was that she was pleading poverty at a time when my brother was dying of Aids – and she still lied to my face about not having any money. She has no conscience.’

Many of the friends Heather has left are on her payroll. After winning her divorce settlement, she took 20 of them on a £250,000 holiday to Richard Branson’s Necker Island. Heather’s sister Fiona is the director of many of her companies. Heather’s boyfriend, Jamie Walker, who was a holiday representative, appears to have no other source of income and works as her odd-job man.

She has got rid of her £3,000-a-week security guard, but sports trainer Ben Amigoni is still an almost daily visitor to her house and she has a personal assistant. Beauty therapists and hairdressers are constantly on hand.

Says one acquaintance: ‘Since the trip to Necker, Heather has not made any grand gestures. But there is a drip, drip frittering away of money. A lot goes on flights – she doesn’t get upgraded any more. Hotels are always five star, her houses are always filled with fresh flowers and she has a team of people to support her. I know it sounds ludicrous, but she has started complaining that she doesn’t have enough money – that it is running out. I think Heather thought she would make millions after the split – that she would be the new Larry King with her own chat show. But she is living in a dream world. Heather is a nobody. And that is why she is back in the UK.’

Heather’s biggest expenditure has been her purchase of the successful vegan food company Redwood. Although details of the sale were never released, Redwood’s net worth was £3.1million at the time she bought into it last year. And she already has big expansion plans. At present, although Redwood has a £3million turnover, its profits are pretty modest – in the last accounts they stood at £309,000. Not really a yearly sum that can keep Heather at the rate she is spending.

[From The Daily Mail]

Heather is currently a contestant on Dancing on Ice in the UK, and apparently she’s already promised her winnings to various charities too. She’s also given multiple interviews claiming that she is not, in fact, a gold digging fantasist, but at this point, who believes her? I tend to think that there’s a lot of truth in this report, and I had been wondering who long it would take for Heather to run through her divorce settlement. I’ll tell you something else – money is wasted on Heather. Do you know what I would do with that kind of insane settlement? The mind boggles, for sure, but I would also think it’s really, really tough to spend that much money so fast. You really have to try to spend that money every damn day.

Heather outside the RTE studios in Dublin on January 29, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Reid on why we need a jobs bill: “Men, when they’re out of work, tend to become abusive”

posted at 8:51 pm on February 22, 2010 by Allahpundit

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Via Drudge and the Hill, no wonder they’re calling it a rescue package. For once, there’s actually some truth to one of this tool’s talking points. Some studies do show a link between rising unemployment and domestic violence, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Boston Globe:

Economic stresses often lead to more frequent abuse, more violent abuse, and more dangerous abuse when domestic violence already exists. Domestic violence programs report that victims experience an increase in abuse in part because out-of-work abusers have more opportunity to batter. Rhode Island, for example, has recently seen a 25 percent increase in felony-level domestic violence crimes. Victims end up with fewer opportunities to contact programs for help, attend support groups, or get away from the batterer.

Compounding the problem, domestic violence programs face a trio of economic factors – cuts in federal funding, increased demand for services, and decreased private donations as people lose their jobs or see a downturn in their personal finances. These budget constraints make it more difficult for local programs to meet the needs of their communities.

Anecdotal reports last year from shelters and crisis centers claim a surge in victims, and needless to say, the problem isn’t confined to America. Where Dingy goes off the rails is in his trademark rhetorical sloppiness: Some men “tend to become abusive” under the strain of job loss but “men” generally do not, as far as I know, unless he wants to show us data claiming that the number of batterers exceeds 50 percent. Also, while abusive men are more dangerous than women, I’m not sure he’s right that the former outnumber the latter. According to Cathy Young, “A review of hundreds of studies, published in 2000 by British psychologist John Archer of the University of Central Lancashire, found that women are as likely to initiate partner violence as men…” If recession-related stress and money woes are shortening men’s tempers, they’re probably shortening women’s too — which, ironically, only improves Reid’s argument about the jobs bill, although he’s too captive to identity politics to try to make that point.

But never mind all that; there’ll be plenty of time to discuss it further in the next few days as the inevitable round of angry op-eds and blog posts debating domestic violence stats gets going in full swing. Here’s the real question: If passing a jobs bill is needed to rescue women (and men) in distress, then why didn’t this moron and his caucus get to work on it earlier instead of focusing on ObamaCare to the exclusion of all else?

http://removeripoffreports.net

Feb 28

personal finance budgets

The US economy has to have a V-shaped recovery for the current valuations of equity, oil and commodity to hold. That will not happen for the following reasons. First, consumer income will increasingly be determined by wages, not fiscal handouts. Disposable income will fall as the handouts fade (Figure 2). Despite the manifest profligacy of the US authorities, they cannot repeat their generosity without completely blowing out the fiscal arithmetic and suffering a foreign buyers' strike for US treasuries. Household savings rates have risen only because government leverage has been transferred to households and used to heft consumer thrift. They will have to rise further and then they will become a net subtraction to consumption. The latest June figures for personal income and consumption showed the biggest fall in income in four years as government handouts fell out of the equation. The savings rate also declined.

Second, there is no need yet for corporations to invest because profits are still lousy and spare capacity is through the roof. Also, the rundown in inventories, to be followed by a restocking (which is supposed to spark an explosion in manufacturing output), will be much less powerful than anticipated because inventory to sales ratios are not lean (Figure 4). Most important, inventory cycles only spark generalised economic recoveries if they lead to job creation and increased corporate investment. Neither is likely because this is a cycle like no other.

Third, the credit machine is impaired and so is demand for credit. This is not only because there are piles of bad debts still to surface from consumers, commercial real estate and highly-leveraged corporate players. The other key reason is that the recent improvement in bank financing is down to central bank money. Wholesale debt markets are only dribbling finance into the banks. Is it really conceivable that the central banks will be able to double or triple their balance sheets to finance a credit-driven consumer recovery while the banks game the central banks to make mega profits? We doubt it.

Fourth, none of the core problems that caused the credit crisis have been addressed. Consumer leverage is worse now that it was then (Figure 7). So is bank leverage. The leverage party cannot be repeated. The savings deficit countries (the US, the UK) must see a return to thrift (which will cap consumer spending). One driver of higher household thrift in deficit-ridden countries is that households and corporations realise that the wrecked balance sheets and budgets of the government sector can only be paid for in one way, down the road — with their money.

The excess savings economies (Japan, China, Europe) are likely to go on being just that (how they invest the savings in the post-dollar standard world is another matter —and that’s bearish for the dollar. This means slow global growth.

Some simple math from Roche.Credit crises end when the economy starts to grow without credit. Credit only expands later (Figure 9). This can happen because, in a credit contraction, the price of assets and goods and services can fall dramatically. Near 90% of the people keep their jobs and work income, so the mass of consumer purchasing power only falls by the amount of unemployment and wage decline.

Households lose about 20% of their wealth. But if the price of things (either stuff in the shops or investments) falls by more than the combined contraction of wealth and income, they have become cheaper in terms of the ability of most households to buy them. Those with money do so. They don’t borrow to buy or invest but they have the cash. Those that don’t are still busy paying down their debts. But the ‘haves’ can have enough purchasing power to move the economy off the bottom. This sort of recovery is self-sustaining. Note government has little to do with it!

If we are wrong on markets it will be because we are wrong on the economy. The markets cannot advance or stay where they are unless the economy fulfils their dreams. If we are wrong on the economy it is because the ‘natural’ recovery described above takes hold.

And a key observation:

Even though Twitter is still a relatively new service it has quickly become a go-to source for getting advice on anything from your next electronics purchase to how to get out of debt. The ability to connect with thousands of experts and enthusiasts on a topic makes it an appealing medium for learning more about personal finance Thanks to Mint's Money Tweets and WalletPop's Twitter lists, it's even easier to find quality personal finance tweets.

First off Mint.com, a personal finance tool, has a tool called Money Tweets which displays tweets from experts on money topics including investing, saving, budgeting, loans and retirement. It also features a Mint Question of the Day that solicits the advice of every Twitter user, bringing responses from people with a broad range of life experiences.

In addition to the advice from Mint, WalletPop has searched through millions of tweets to find some of the best personal finance experts on Twitter and added them to the WalletPop Personal Finance Bloggers list. You can follow this list on Twitter and see the action below.

This diverse group contains everyone from personal finance rockstars like @Ramit, @ManVsDebt and @JDroth to debt expert @GetOutofDebtGuy and real-world personal finance bloggers like @BudgetsAreSexy, @MattJabs and @NoDebtPlan.

You can also follow WalletPop and all of the WalletPop writers on Twitter by subscribing to the WalletPoppers list on Twitter.

http://removeripoffreports.net

Feb 27

Franchise Operations

Bleacher Report's own Lewie Pollis recently wrote an article comparing the Wins Above Replacement compiled by Boston and New York and the real difference between them. He split them into three groups—WAR by free agent signing, home-grown players and trade acquisitions.

His conclusion was the all too familiar one repeated mindlessly by millions of Yankee anti-fans.

New York buys their talent and championships.

As a Yankee fan, I'm used to this sentiment and have accepted it as a regular fact of life. People don't like that the Yankees spend money and they'll spin stats to prove that's the only reason the Yankees have been the most successful Major League franchise.

We all know teams never stay the same from year to year, so I decided to look ahead to the coming 2010 season and see what each team is going to look like.

Truth is, both the Yankees and the Red Sox have gotten some impressive production from players that they've brought up through their minor league system.

Boston's 2010 rotation consists of two homegrown players (Buchholz, Lester) one obtained by trade (Beckett) and two big-money free-agents (Lackey and Matsuzaka).

The New York rotation is identical. Regardless of whether Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain wins the No. 5 starter's job, the Yankees will begin the season with two home-grown pitchers (Chamberlain/Hughes, Pettitte), one obtained by trade (Vazquez) and two big-money free agents (Sabathia, Burnett).

The lineup however, is a markedly different story.

Boston's 2010 lineup runs out three (albeit very good) home grown players (Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury), one obtained by trade (Martinez) and five free-agent signings (Beltre, Cameron, Drew, Scutaro and Ortiz).

New York's lineup consists of five home grown players (Jeter, Posada, Cano, Gardner, Johnson), three trade acquisitions (Granderson, Rodriguez and Swisher) and one free agent signing (Teixeira).

Some of this could be fudged one way or another, and we won't know for sure until the two teams meet on April 4 in Boston to open the season what the Opening Day lineups will look like.

Gardner seems to be the favorite for the most playing time in the outfield alongside Granderson and Swisher, but Randy Winn could force his way into more playing time with an impressive spring. Maybe even Marcus Thames pushes the envelope with some spring homers.

You could also technically look at Pettitte and Johnson as free agent acquisitions, but both players came up through the Yankee system and are nothing less than home grown Yankee talent.

With Spring Training yet to begin, it's much too hard to speculate what players the bench and bullpen of each team will consist of when the teams head north.

But both teams have a home-grown closer (Papelbon, Rivera), several home grown middle relievers (Bard, Delcarmen, Robertson, Aceves) one or two guys obtained via trade (Ramon Ramirez, Chad Gaudin) and one guy signed as a free agent (Okajima, Mitre).

Looking at last year, the Yankees received a ton of production from players they signed as free agents. But some of that value left when Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui left town.

Brian Cashman spent the offseason working the phones and making trades that made perfect sense for the Yankees. They used parts of their team that were blessed with depth to address areas of need.

They got younger and more athletic. They identified a need to improve defensively and did that too. And they did it all without handing out a free-agent contract of more than $5.75 million.

The Boston Red Sox?

They handed out such contracts to Marco Scutaro, Adrien Beltre, Mike Cameron and John Lackey.

Since Brian Cashman has taken over baseball operations, the Yankees have moved away from the philosophy that saw them throw elite money at non-elite players. They now identify the players that best fit their needs and then go get them.

If that means contracts of $100 million or more so be it. They recognize the system that is set in place and operate in full accordance to it.

They were not the only team to offer Mark Teixeira an eight-year contract worth north of $150 million dollars. They were not the only team to offer CC Sabathia $100 million.

The Yankees certainly receive very valuable contributions from players they've signed through free agency. But to marginalize or negate the contributions they've received through players they've developed themselves or acquired through trades is ignoring a large facet of the game, and insulting to a general manager.

A MLB general manager must build a team using all three methods of obtaining players.

In the end, the only real difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox is the fact that one team was crowned World Series champions and one was not.

Two different outlets are reporting two seemingly conflicting reports about pay at General Motors, but it's clear regardless of the details that money is in motion at The General. Ed Whitacre, Jr., who doesn't receive any pay as GM's chairman, is waiting on approval from the Treasury pay czar for a $9 million “pay package” for his recent move to CEO. The pay has been “approved 'in principle',” but we aren't sure when it's going to be paid.

Bloomberg reports that “GM said Whitacre's annual compensation will be $9 million, with a $1.7 million cash salary, $5.3 million in stock that begins paying in 2012 and $2 million in restricted stock.” The Detroit News says that Whitacre will get the $1.7 million, but that the $5.3 million in stock will be paid out on a predetermined scheduled over three years starting in 2012. The $2 million in restricted stock is also reportedly performance based, but what criteria will be used to determine when the stock's released is not yet known.

Whether it's $9 million per year or $9 million over five years, we hope it's all the incentive Whitacre needs to get the RenCen ship going great guns again. Bloomberg also reports that he's unhappy with the pace of change at the company, canceling executives' meetings because they “spend too much time in such gatherings instead of getting work done.” Those are the eggs being broken to make a “corporate culture based on decision-making and accountability” omelet.

There is no question, though, around Fritz Henderson's pay package: he earns $59,090 for 20 hours of work per month as a consultant. He is back in the GM family to help the company with its international operations, something he is well regarded for. It might sound like a lot, but he left with no severance last year and it's only a little less than he was being paid as CEO to do a lot more work. And if he can help GM recharge the Opel/Vauxhall franchise, who knows, he might be worth it. Hat tip to John!

[Source: The Detroit News, Bloomberg | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]

College Pro Painters is a North American painting company founded and run by college students for the last 37 years. It was created in 1971 as a business plan of a college student, and has evolved over time into what it is today. This company since its very inception has been run and maintained by full-time college student managers, who on average each summer paint over 30,000 homes. It has been a franchise since its inception, as it allows the company to meet its mission. The mission being, “To provide exceptional management and leadership training to young entrepreneurs through real-world business experiences.” Today, College Pro Painters operates in 29 states and 7 Canadian provinces, and every year they recruit, select, and train franchise managers to deliver a quality service, run their own business, and keep the promises of the parent company.

This is a huge advantage to College Pro Painters as they are able to mold the highest quality of student they can find into someone who can effectively run their own painting business, and make a profit for everyone. The main thing they ask of their franchisees is to give their commitment to all aspects of the business and to maintain a core set of values. The values College Pro instills in all its managers are Deliver what you promise, Respect the individual, Have pride in what you do, To be open minded to possibilities, and Our core purpose is truly aspirational. However, this does lead to some difficulties as a company as in rare cases the wrong individual is chosen and this reflects badly on the company as a whole. In the end through all the training offered and help available along the way, as it is needed, some people are just cut out to manage or run an effective business.

Marketing plays a huge role in the aspect of franchising as it is the Franchisees responsibility, through College Pro's established marketing methods and their own intuition, to obtain leads and book jobs. A Franchisee, due to their marketing effort and College Pro's overall brand, can typically receive an average of 5-10 leads a week. These leads must then be estimated by the Franchisee, so the prospective customer can decide whether or not they want to have their exterior painting done by the company. The average success rate for a new franchisee is that they will obtain 15% success rate (booking rate) for all the estimates they do. So, this means leads are everything for a Franchisee, they more they get the more business they can run, as the more prospective customers they have and are competing for. The way the Franchisee obtains these leads is as follows. First of all a franchise will not be put in an area that doesn't have enough of College Pro's target market (homeowner with an annual income of $100,000.00 or more). Since Franchisees are assigned turfs (zip codes, cities, general areas) in which to operate in, there must be at least 10,000 people fitting into the companies target market in order for a Franchisee to even be assigned to the area. Once this happens the Franchisee is giving the tools to generate leads. One of College Pro's main tactics is the use of what they call cold calling or what is more commonly known as door-to-door marketing. The Franchisee receives as part of their business kit (supplied by Franchisor) hundreds of door hangers offering free estimates on exterior painting. These hangers have all the information a customer could possibly need to set up an estimate with the franchisee. By offering the free estimate this allows the managers to get a chance to sell the service and all that it offers, while providing the customer with a no-obligation cost of proposed work to be done.

As they say, “To have your home painted by College Pro Painters – to be a part of College Pro Painters – is to be exposed to a level of commitment, hard work, discipline, energy, and fun that exists in very few companies of any kind.” The franchise managers know this and sell this, as there are few contractors that really take the time out to get to know there customer and use this knowledge to give the highest level of satisfaction possible. This is how College Pro sells paint jobs, along with offering a competitive price, a 2-year warranty on all work done, $1,000,000 liability insurance for each job, workers compensation for all painters, their years of experience in painting houses, and the ability of homeowners to help struggling college students pay their bills. Another form of marketing is that once a job is being produced or as agreed upon with the customer (discount) before production starts, lawn signs are placed in the front of the home to show that College Pro is doing the work and to give contact information. These signs are left around as long as possible and can also be placed along medians of roadways (much like political lawn signs). Flyering of the area also occurs. Another form of advertising, which is optional for the Franchisee to participate in, is the direct mailing of the entire target market in a turf. Provided through the Franchisor for an additional cost, this is a great way a manager can obtain additional leads. Another method of marketing is the required participation of the Franchisee in a community service activity of painting a home for a family who can not afford such a thing.

This is used as an opportunity to train painters as well as get local media coverage and is done as early in the production season as possible. Also, the company uses it brand awareness and recognition among a customer base it has had for its 37 years of operation. This strong company image can only help the Franchisee. Payment for the Franchisee in marketing is as follows. The Franchisee is required to pay a marketing fee that ranges in $500.00 – $1,500.00(periodic charges) that is used to “defer the costs of producing the merchandising, advertising, and promotional campaigns conducted by College Pro.” In addition to this the Franchisee is also required to order a Franchisee Business Kit which contains the tools the Franchisee will be using in order to obtain leads (flyers, door hangers, lawn signs, lead tracking forms), conduct estimates(estimating guides and forms, proposal forms), and produce work (binders, painter applications, painter brochures, training guides). The cost of this is $800.00 and is paid in weekly installments. The cost incurred on marketing makes sense as the franchisees are provided with high quality methods/items that are able to be mass produced by the Franchisor. This lowers the cost of how much the Franchisee would pay for such services if the had to obtain these things alone. It also is of benefit to the Franchisor as it provides uniformity in its service. The Franchisee is not obligated to honor any nationally sponsored programs as the only direct marketing cost is guaranteed to be the one mentioned above.

In order to operate the business effectively and procure supplies, the Franchisor gives the Franchisee the means of obtaining materials. As mentioned before the Franchisee buys a business kit, he also buys access to an online software that provides information on all the Franchisees operations/financials/payroll/training videos/etc…, additionally the Franchisee must also purchase the following through the Franchisor; liability and workers compensation insurance coverage, telephone answering service (1% of Gross Sales with $975.00 minimum, the service runs the national 1-800 number featured on all advertisements and any other forms of contact directly with the company). In order to get paint supplies a $1,000.00 line of credit is established with College Pros certified paint supplier, Sherwin Williams Paint. The Franchisee is responsible for getting there own ladders and other necessary painting equipment, vehicle, and computer. The total estimated cost ($18,000.00, $6,000.00 paid directly to Franchisor) of equipment, goods, and services purchased represents 65%-80% of the Franchisees total purchases in the connection of the establishment of the business and approximately 15% of the total operating expenses. College Pro states, that “on behalf of its franchisees, College Pro seeks to negotiate favorable terms from its approved suppliers.”

In order to set up a franchise, the Franchisee must first go through a rigorous selection process and have multiple interviews. Once selected College Pro asks for your full commitment of available time, and does not charge any initial franchise fee. Furthermore, the Franchisee never pays for anything out of their pocket, as the Franchisee books a job they take a 15% deposit check and that is how the initial funds are obtained. So if a Franchisee booked a $15,000.00 job, they collect $2,250.00 in the form of a deposit. About 75% is sent to College Pro, to pay for various investments and the franchisee holds on to the remaining 25% as working capital. Capital which come production season will be spent on obtaining painting supplies (like ladders). Nothing comes out of the franchisees pocket. A royalty of 21% on all profits is also obtained by College Pro, once a breakeven occurs. However, this can be rebated 5% for the Franchisee if they achieve performance levels that College Pro sets that maintain a certain level of sales and quality standards. For instance if the Franchisee achieved their sales target, provided College Pro with job rating cards signed by all customers, etc… The breakeven point for a typical College Pro business is $35,000.00 in business.

Throughout the course of being a Franchisee there are many training sessions and the ability to consult with a person experienced with College Pro. Training covers Paint Systems and Failures, Painting Production, Painter Recruitment, Marketing, Sales Techniques, Estimating, Safety, Financial Management, and Business Administration. This training is of great advantage to the Franchisee because they are a college student who probably has no experience painting and running a business. This training enables the Franchisee to learn the business inside and out. While a disadvantage would be that this destroys creativity and new ideas that is not true for College Pro. As a company founded by college students ideas and run by college students, they are always open to new ideas and discuss them in-depth. In the end it's the Franchisee who decides what part of the training to follow, they are only required to uphold College Pros standards and policies, not the way in which they ultimately run their business.

In order to staff the Franchisees operations the Franchisee must employ crews consisting of one Job Site Manager and 2-3 painters. Depending on the size of production the Franchisee may employ 5-6 of these crews all operating on different jobs. The Franchisee is required to pay their painters minimum wage, however, bonuses are involved that ensure motivation of the workforce. It is possible for painters to receive up to $20.00 an hour. On average they make $10.00-$12.00 per hour (if they finish the job early while still maintaining quality). This bonus money is not more money out of the Franchisees pocket as the painters were always getting paid the same amount(for the estimated amount of work); they just get increases per hour depending on how fast they work. The Franchisee is also responsible to maintain workers compensation coverage for all their workers.

Should the franchise agreement be terminated at any time prior to its expiration, then the Franchisee must pay damages suffered by College Pro and up to $4,000. This could include possibly training an individual to take over your business, plane expenses, anything the company has spent on the franchise. It's up to their discretion. While this is rare in it happening and College Pro will do everything it can to help you with your problems (besides directly giving you financing), however, termination still does occur from time to time. This is because it is for the best interest of both the Franchisor and Franchisee to maintain their relationship. Also, since the franchise agreements are done on a yearly basis, it is easy to continue until the agreement expires, and not incur these termination costs. It is very easy to exit this business as if don't want to continue into the next production season you simply do not enter into another franchise agreement with College Pro Painters.

Source: www.CollegeProPainters.com

His conclusion was the all too familiar one repeated mindlessly by millions of Yankee anti-fans.

New York buys their talent and championships.

We all know teams never stay the same from year to year, so I decided to look ahead to the coming 2010 season and see what each team is going to look like.

Truth is, both the Yankees and the Red Sox have gotten some impressive production from players that they've brought up through their minor league system.

Boston's 2010 rotation consists of two homegrown players (Buchholz, Lester) one obtained by trade (Beckett) and two big-money free-agents (Lackey and Matsuzaka).

The lineup however, is a markedly different story.

New York's lineup consists of five home grown players (Jeter, Posada, Cano, Gardner, Johnson), three trade acquisitions (Granderson, Rodriguez and Swisher) and one free agent signing (Teixeira).

Some of this could be fudged one way or another, and we won't know for sure until the two teams meet on April 4 in Boston to open the season what the Opening Day lineups will look like.

You could also technically look at Pettitte and Johnson as free agent acquisitions, but both players came up through the Yankee system and are nothing less than home grown Yankee talent.

With Spring Training yet to begin, it's much too hard to speculate what players the bench and bullpen of each team will consist of when the teams head north.

Looking at last year, the Yankees received a ton of production from players they signed as free agents. But some of that value left when Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui left town.

Brian Cashman spent the offseason working the phones and making trades that made perfect sense for the Yankees. They used parts of their team that were blessed with depth to address areas of need.

They got younger and more athletic. They identified a need to improve defensively and did that too. And they did it all without handing out a free-agent contract of more than $5.75 million.

The Boston Red Sox?

They handed out such contracts to Marco Scutaro, Adrien Beltre, Mike Cameron and John Lackey.

If that means contracts of $100 million or more so be it. They recognize the system that is set in place and operate in full accordance to it.

They were not the only team to offer Mark Teixeira an eight-year contract worth north of $150 million dollars. They were not the only team to offer CC Sabathia $100 million.

A MLB general manager must build a team using all three methods of obtaining players.

In the end, the only real difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox is the fact that one team was crowned World Series champions and one was not.

[Source: The Detroit News, Bloomberg | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]

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Feb 16

Making Money Working

NYT: We’re not working on a Paterson scandal story; Update: New scandal breaking

posted at 12:55 pm on February 10, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

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And that in itself may become a mini-scandal, at least in media circles. Rumors echoed so loudly that the New York Times would publish a hit piece on a personal scandal involving Governor David Paterson that Paterson issued an angry denunciation of the Times over the weekend. Today, the Gray Lady says, “Who, us?” (via the Daily Caller):

Albany — long a place of scandal, the rumor of scandal and the echoing talk about the rumor of scandal — has had a week a bit unlike any other. Newspapers, blogs, reputable outfits and fringe gossip sites have worked themselves into a frenzy about a purported article in The New York Times that would be so scandalous as to compel Gov. David A. Paterson to resign.

It has often been a self-feeding, self-referential frenzy, and it has managed to get Mr. Paterson pretty worked up, too. He’s been asked questions by reporters about a story the reporters don’t know exists, and he has denied rumors about what that story that he doesn’t know exists might say. …

Tuesday evening, Joe Sexton, The Times’s Metropolitan Editor, said: “Obviously we are not responsible for what other news organizations are reporting. It’s not coming from The Times.”

Not quite a categorical denial, but enough on the record to make Sexton and the Times look bad if they drop a scandal story on Paterson the next couple of days. The paper met with Paterson to review the rumors, apparently assuring the embattled governor that nothing was immediately forthcoming. Not appeased, Paterson sharply criticized the Times for not addressing the rumors earlier, calling their silence over most of the last week “appalling.”

Does a newspaper have a duty to squelch rumors of this kind when other media organizations report them? If the rumors remain stuck in the blogosphere, probably not; after all, they can’t do much about blogospheric hysteria in any case. When other media outlets begin reporting it, though, one might think that a clarification is in order, especially if it’s attached to an upcoming primary fight and the possible resignation of a sitting governor — and perhaps especially with Paterson, who would have been the second New York governor in a row to quit the job.

Now, the question will be how this rumor started, who fed it to whom, and why. It’s no secret that Democrats would like to see Paterson withdraw from the primary to allow Andrew Cuomo unhindered access to the nomination — but it’s also no secret that Cuomo won’t need to spend much money to dislodge the very unpopular incumbent, either. Paterson has also run afoul of the White House over the past year, although again, it’s hard to imagine that they see Paterson as any real threat worth making this kind of effort. Perhaps the Times would want to investigate this thread to see the motives behind it, if any.

Update: WPIX-TV breaks a story today about a new scandal involving Paterson, but it’s not of a personal nature:

PIX News has learned that federal prosecutors are investigating Governor David Paterson’s awarding of a lucrative contract to a politically connected group to run a gaming center at Aqueduct Raceway.

The embattled Governor who appears to have dodged the bullet of rumors and innuendo that had been circulating over a purported “bombshell” story being prepared by the New York Times, is now part of a probe by the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn.

Two reliable sources confirm the investigation is “very fresh,” but could not say precisely what it is prosecutors are looking at other than questions about public integrity.

Paterson has been under fire by members of his own staff and legislative leaders for awarding the contract to Aqueduct Entertainment Group, a group that includes former Congressman Rev Floyd Flake, whose political support the Governor had been aggressively seeking.

Unfortunately for Cuomo, that’s the kind of scandal that could damage Democrats across the board in the fall. (via AmeriKeith on Twitter)

Retire Sooner by Banking Labor, Not Just Income

Nearly everyone has heard the glory of compound interest sung—how if we all saved from our first day in the workforce until our last we'd have an enormous nest egg. Get that egg faster by investing your labor, too.

Photo by wili_hybrid.

Over at the aptly named Early Retirement Blog, they argue in favor of not just focusing on investing some of your income for retirement but also investing your time and labor. While they don't argue with the conventional wisdom that you should be socking away some of your income towards your retirement goals, they suggest that in addition to that you should be using your labor and time during your working years to increase your available income:

It is often said a person's earning power, that is, the ability to earn an income, is by far the biggest asset anybody has. This is entirely true, but what this doesn't tell you is that you can magnify your earning potential several times over working for yourself rather than somebody else. This means finding a low-maintenance side gig and banking the earnings. This is what Tim Ferriss refers to as a muse in his book The Four Hour Work Week. If you do it right, you can net an additional $15,000-20,000 per year per muse, each requiring only a few hours per week (or month, if you choose wisely) to maintain.

The goal, by their measure, is to invest not just money in an interest-bearing vehicle, but to invest your time in securing new income opportunities—essentially diversifying your income sources like one diversifies an investment portfolio. You can read their whole take on the process at the link below. Have your own experiences scoring extra cash with side gigs, freelancing, or other kinds of outside-the-9-5 money making? Let's hear about it in the comments.

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Feb 10

personal finance and budgeting

Before you can begin mastering your personal finances, you need to understand what personal finance is all about. First, it's personal – meaning it's about you and it's unique to your situation. Second, it's about finances – meaning it involves money. Personal finance is more than just paying off debt, picking your investments, and buying your first home. Those things alone will not achieve your goals. Personal finance requires you to define your goals and dreams and then to apply the ideas and behaviors required to reach those goals. It's all about managing your money with an end in mind – achieving your goals.

Identify Your Issues

You probably aren't reading this article just for the fun of it. There is a reason you are seeking personal financial advice. Maybe you never seem to have enough money to make it through the month – or week. Perhaps you just need to figure out how to prepare yourself for those unexpected emergencies. Or you could be just fine, but you'd like to polish your financial plan and accomplish goals you never thought possible. Whatever your reason, it's important to begin by identifying the obstacles that lie ahead. Here are some common financial problems:

Repeated Overspending – We have all experienced the temptation to buy more than we can afford at some time or another, but making a habit of overspending will quickly destroy any financial plan. Debts can easily become too much to handle and prevent you from ever reaching your true financial goals.

Emergencies – Your car breaks down, your paycheck comes late, or you forgot about that insurance bill that only comes twice a year. Financial emergencies can wreak havoc on the best laid plans. By not preparing for these emergencies, you are setting yourself up for future failure.

Procrastination – Who hasn't put something off until the last minute? We're all likely to do this sometime or another, especially with long-term goals that don't seem very urgent. But saving for retirement is a lot easier if you start early – even if you're only saving a little bit.

Emotional Decision-making – Financial decisions require prudent forethought and careful execution. By allowing our emotions to take over, we often make terrible financial mistakes. Those get-rich-quick schemes you see in infomercials late at night may seem like a good idea, but they're just another quick way to kiss your hard-earned money goodbye.

Personality Mismatches – Money & finances are one of the top reasons people get divorced. But how do you manage to create a financial plan when you are a saver but your spouse is a spender? By working together to create a solid basis for your personal finances, you and your spouse can utilize all your strengths to ensure financial success.

The Basics

Personal financial planning draws from aspects of finance, investments, insurance, law, employee benefits, and taxes. But you don't have to be an expert in all of these areas to reach your goals. Three basic rules will help you stay on track in your personal finances:

1. Money, income, and wealth are all different. Your financial situation doesn't depend solely on how much money you make – it really depends on how much money you keep. Personal finance focuses on the accumulation, preservation, and distribution of the money you keep – your wealth.

2. Be on your best behavior. All the nifty financial tricks in the world can't save you if you don't learn to control your spending, begin saving, and change your habits to achieve your goals.

3. It's an ongoing process. Managing your money requires more than creating a financial plan and following it for the next 10 years. It requires a lot more than just making sure you paid all your bills for the month. Personal finance demands that you are fully aware at all times of your responsibilities and actions – otherwise all your effort will be for naught.

Income Is Not as Important as You Might Think

If I told you I make $100,000 a year, you'd think that sounds pretty good, right? But what if I'm spending $150,000 every year? Doesn't sound so great now, huh? Income is important – but only to a certain extent. What's more important is what you do with that income and how much you keep at the end of the month. Your financial success depends much more on how you manage your expenses than the money you make on each paycheck.

Another important factor is your net worth. Your net worth is basically your assets (what you own) minus your liabilities (what you owe). Net worth is the real measure of financial wealth. You might live in a $300,000 home, but it doesn't mean much if you owe $270,000 to the bank for your mortgage. Take a minute and think about your net worth. Do you know what it is? Do you have any idea? Keeping track of this number helps you see where you are, where you came from, and where you are going.

What's Your Financial Type?

You may have heard of the Myers-Briggs Typology. To borrow from that system, think about how you would categorize your financial type. Are you aware or oblivious? Can you easily control your spending, or do you have problems? Are you committed to your financial goals, or do you lack follow-through because you haven't established firm goals yet? Are you an aggressive investor, or do you prefer to safely manage your risk by taking a more prudent route?

The answers to these questions can help you determine the make-up of your financial type. These questions can also help you realize the areas where you and your significant other may differ. Take the time to answer these questions honestly, and you'll soon find yourself on the path to a better understanding of your current financial behavior and what you may need to work on.

Your Habits Will Make You or Break You

The financial habits you adhere to will ultimately determine your success or failure. You can make all the plans in the world, but if you don't stick to them you'll never achieve your goals. Begin thinking about your current financial habits and ask yourself how you started those habits. Ask yourself if those are good habits – in that they will lead you to your goals. If you need to change your habits, what should you do instead and how will you make the change? Start today by thinking of a simple change you can make. Stick to that one little change for two weeks or four weeks and you'll soon find you can begin to make bigger changes. Eventually you will have all of your habits aligned with your goals, and you will be on the path to achieving your dreams.

Stay tuned for the rest of this Personal Finance series. We will cover net worth, financial math, budgeting, reducing debt, understanding credit, investing, insurance, taxes, education planning, retirement planning, estate planning, and other important topics along the way. In the meantime, you may visit Free Financial Plannerto get answers to your specific and unique financial questions.

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Feb 9

personal finance blog

Personal finance blogger Mrs. Micah unleashed a mammoth list of 2009 tax deductions on her blog, Finance for a Freelance Life.

Here's her snippet on un-reimbursed busines expenses:

If your company made you fly somewhere & didn’t reimburse you, you can deduct it. Laundry and dry-cleaning you had to do while on a business trip—deductible. 50% deduction of an unreimbursed business meal. This has to be done in the itemized deduction section and must reach 2% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), as must the business use of a car deductions above. For more info on deducting unreimbursed business expenses see the pertinent IRS page.

These deductions make Tax Cat purr. Which are you most excited about using when it comes time to start plugging away at this year's tax return?

Mammoth 2009 Tax Credit and Deduction List [Finance for a Freelance Life]

I’m pretty sure that they said that the second amendment said that the right of “bearing arms for a lawful purpose…shall not be infringed by Congress”. And the difference between Cruikshank and Heller was that in Heller it was in fact Congress doing the infringing, not some mob.

I went back and read the opinion (cheating, I know). I think both of us are right, though my initial wording was imprecise. Here’s the relevant language:

“The general charge in the first eight counts is that of “banding,” and in the second eight that of “conspiring” together to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate Levi Nelson and Alexander Tillman, citizens of the United States, of African descent and persons of color, with the intent thereby to hinder and prevent them in their free exercise and enjoyment of rights and privileges “granted and secured” to them “in common with all other good citizens of the United States by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

***

The second and tenth counts are equally defective. The right there specified is that of “bearing arms for a lawful purpose.” This is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed, but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress. This is one of the amendments that has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government, leaving the people to look for their protection against any violation by their fellow citizens of the rights it recognizes…”

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SourceForge.net: Some good news: SourceForge removes blanket blocking

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I am so pleased this is finally happening. Haiti has been burdened by its national debt for a long time and this will help speed their recovery from the massive earthquake: The world's leading industrialised nations have pledged to …

Feb 9

personal finance manager

People have asked whether moving your money from your giant bank to a small community bank or credit union will have any real affect on the too big to fails, given that most of their profits come from speculative investments instead of normal banking deposits.

According to the Nation, the answer is yes:

The cynics either do not understand banking or misunderstand the widespread public anger. Dennis Santiago, [influential bank-rating firm, Institutional Risk Analytics'] CEO and managing director, explained that banks compete fiercely for the “core deposits” provided by individual and small business accounts–this stable money is their preferred base for profitable lending. Take away core deposits, and bankers feel immediate balance-sheet stress. Expand the account base for community banks, and they gain greater stability and greater lending power. “Will moving your money have an effect?” Santiago asked. “And by effect, I don’t mean making a momentary political statement. I mean making a structural difference to the country’s financial system. The answer is yes.”

The Nation points out that a wide variety of campaigns to take back power are being launched from diverse sources:

A campaign launched by faith-based community organizations associated with the Industrial Areas Foundation identifies sky-high interest rates on credit cards and other lending as the ancient sin of usury. IAF groups are asking churches, foundations and local governments to withdraw funds from the usurious banks that profit by destroying borrowers. Organized labor, likewise, has launched an aggressive movement to insist on responsible investing values for the pension-fund wealth of working people, urging state treasurers and fund managers to invest for society’s interests as well as good returns.

The Nation is right. There are numerous efforts to stand up to the giant banks.

Congresswoman Kaptur advises her constituents facing foreclosure to demand that the original mortgage papers be produced. She says that – if the bank can’t produce the mortgage papers – then the homeowner can stay in the house.

Debtors are revolting against exorbitant interest rates and fees and other aggressive tactics by the too big to fail banks. See this, this and this.

Portfolio manager and investment advisor Marshall Auerback argues that a debtor’s revolt would be a good thing.

Popular personal finance advisor Suze Orman is highlighting the debtors revolt phenomenon on her national tv show.

And see this and this.

What is fueling the debtor’s revolt? Economic conditions are obviously a large part of it. But the fact that the big banks are not abiding by “free market rules”, but are gambling with taxpayers’ money on the taxpayers’ dime, is a contributing factor. In other words, many people apparently feel that since the banks aren’t playing fair or by the normal rules of contract , they shouldn’t have to, either.

The Federal Government is stepping in as the private sector has shed more than $1.5 trillion of mortgage assets in the past two years. Figure 3.2 illustrates this active downsizing by the private sector and the reduction in its exposure as well as some of the accompanying decrease in values due to foreclosures. In short, between net mortgage lending and existing mortgage management, the Federal Government now completely dominates the housing mortgage market, with the taxpayer shouldering the risk that had once been borne by the private sector.

The most comprehensive chart highlighting why the Fed is the new New Century:

The collapse of the GSEs:

A summary of all the artifical home price increase programs set up by the government:

59 Qualified Financial Institutions have missed one or more dividend payments on the TARP's CPP program.

HAMP trial programs started since program inception: 902,620; number permanent mortgage mods completed: 66,465.

A summary of all the PPIP managers:

AllianceBernstein L.P. is a publicly traded investment management firm that offers research and diversified investment services to institutional clients, individuals and private clients in major markets around the world. It has $496 billion in assets under management and employs more than 500 investment professionals in more than 20 countries.
Angelo, Gordon & Co. is a privately held registered investment advisor focused on alternative investing. The firm was founded in 1988 and currently manages, with its affiliates, approximately $21 billion in assets. Angelo, Gordon & Co. is partnering with GE Capital Real Estate for the purposes of PPIP asset management.
BlackRock Inc. is a publicly traded asset management firm and provides global investment management, risk management, and advisory services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors around the world. The firm has $3.2 trillion in assets under management and employs more than 8,500 professionals in 24 countries.
Invesco Ltd. is a publicly traded global investment management company. The firm provides investment solutions for retail, institutional, and high net worth clients around the world. With $417 billion in assets under management, Invesco Ltd. employs approximately 4,900 individuals in 20 countries; the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IVZ.
Marathon Asset Management LP is a private alternative investment and asset management company. Marathon’s core businesses include hedge funds, structured finance, emerging markets, and real estate. Founded in 1998, the firm has more than $11 billion in assets under management and 140 professionalsworldwide with headquarters in New York City and investment offices in London and Singapore.
Oaktree Capital Management L.P. is an investment management firm specializing in less efficient markets and alternative investments. Founded in 1995, Oaktree Capital Management has $67.4 billion in assets under management. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles and has more than 500 employees in 10 countries.
RLJ Western Asset Management LP is a newly created, minority-owned entity that is 49% owned by Western Asset Management, the fixed-income affiliate of Legg Mason, Inc. and 51% owned by The RLJ Companies, the portfolio holding company owned by Robert L. Johnson. Western Asset Management is a global investment firm, and The RLJ Companies include private equity real estate funds, a private equity mid-sized buyout fund, and a bank, Urban Trust Bank.
TCW Group Inc. is a private asset management firm, headquartered in Los Angeles, offering individual and institutional investors a range of U.S. equity and U.S. fixed income alternatives, as well as international investment strategies. As of September 30, 2009, TCW had approximately $108 billion in assets under management. TCW’s management has an average of 23 years of industry experience and the firm’s portfolio managers have approximately 11 years of tenure with TCW. On January 4, 2010, TCW withdrew as a manager in PPIP. Treasury has entered into a winding-up and liquidation agreement with TCW.
Wellington Management Company LLP is a private partnership investment advisory firm headquartered in Boston. Wellington Management has more than $506 billion in assets under management and serves as an investment advisor to more than 1,600 institutions located in more than 40 countries.

Full report:

MetsBlog.com – News: Fernando Martinez MVP of Carribbean Series

Yes very happy for F Mart and its good to see positive news about something having to do with the Mets, these days as we know its been far and few between. However I too think he still needs more time in the minors, just because he did …

News Ticker: Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Fripp, Leonard Cohen, John …

Up to the minute breaking news from the world of music, from the editors of Rolling Stone.

Chinese maker of iPad clone vows to sue Apple | iLounge News

Claiming that the P88, which was announced last October, is “identical” to the iPad, Wu Xiaolong, president of Shenzhen Great Long Brother Industrial Co., said, “I was very angry and flabbergasted when I saw the news of the iPad …

Feb 5

Making Money Online Forum

The Internet is a place for reinvention, and there are few who understand that quite so well as Steve Woolf and Zadi Diaz, who last night relaunched their groundbreaking web series Epic Fu — making this the fourth iteration of the show since its launch in June 2006, when it was known as The Jetset Show and targeted towards 8-to-10 year olds. Since then, Fu has had deals with both Next New Networks and Revision 3, nearly made a TV show and continued to push the possibilities of interactivity inherent to

As opposed to earlier incarnations, which celebrated the Internet’s wacky breadth, Fu’s new format features greater focus on specific areas, with two new episodes every week focusing on music on Mondays and film on Thursdays. However, in the first episode, the definition of film in this case has been broadened to include discussion of Conan O’Brien’s online possibilities and other more memeish projects, such as Tumblr-famous fiance Justin Johnson’s Film Fights project.

Diaz’s signature high-octane editing style remains constant, however, as well as Woolf’s sharply-worded, self-deprecating scripting — the episode is soaked with frank acknowledgment of the fact that producing content for the web isn’t exactly a path to fame and fortune, with jokes focusing on the joys of the unemployment line and YouTube commenters.

The irony is that Woolf and Diaz stand out as some of the community’s most successful creators, which shone out clearly at last night’s Tubefilter-organized event in Los Angeles. There, Woolf and Diaz discussed the ups and downs of the show’s history, including why they left Next New to join Revision 3 — a decision due in part to the fact that NNN “wasn’t on the same page” with them in regards to factors like a potential television deal, while Rev3 “didn’t care.”

Fu’s secrets to success, according to the pair, are two-fold: One, they worked hard early on to champion interesting bands and videos, and as a result developed a reputation for being tastemakers that made brands excited to be associated with them (HP and Intel are currently sponsoring the new season). Two, they created and nurtured a community around the show, and the Ning-based Mix forum not only gives the Fu audience a chance to interact directly with Woolf and Diaz, but enables them to influence the direction of the show. The plan in future weeks is to build this out even further with a new blogging project, created in partnership with the British Council, which will help give Fu a truly international flavor while also bringing new voices onto the site.

They also spoke publicly on why their TV deal with a “cable news network” didn’t end up happening — the factors being that the money wasn’t quite enough to justify the amount of work that would have been involved, and that the contract was far too restrictive, keeping Diaz from being involved with any other projects beyond the web show for a period of two years. They admitted that in the early years of their career, their neighbors — after seeing the camera setups in their apartment and hearing that they “made a video show for the internet” — thought they did porn. “If we did porn, we’d be driving a better car,” Woolf joked.

The death toll in Haiti is surging towards a frightening figure. A massive tragedy that has shaken the world just like the quake that left ruins in its wake.

But the sunshine factor has been the massive show of solidarity and support from all corners of the globe. Millions are being raised. It will not dispel the gloom but may help to lessen it.

New age media is chipping in and doing it by the bits and bytes. A recent news item in the Washington Post says that U.S cell phone users raised $22 million via a text campaign. Twitter updates are spreading the news. That’s social media lending a hand to humanity.

Make a Difference: Donate To The Haitian Earthquake Victims – Here’s How.

The money may be peanuts compared to the lot that will be required, but it is true that social media is not only making people aware but also helping them to loosen their purse strings. The amount though takes the second spot behind the greater impact of generating awareness for a cause. The ‘here – there – everywhere’ nature of social media is taking the hitherto local cause to global eyes and ears.

You can’t escape from it. And if you don’t want to, let me give you five websites that can help to keep social issues on your radar and provide you with opportunities to make a difference.

AlertNet

AlertNet brings you the latest in humanitarian news from around the world. What gives it top billing is that it’s a Reuters site. So you can expect the same up-to-datedness and accuracy of news reporting.

AlertNet draws ten million users a year. It has a network of 400 contributing humanitarian organizations and its weekly email digest is received by more than 26,000 readers. A couple of mapping tools also give a graphical picture of emergencies and relief work around the world. And if you want to jump in, the Job Search tool is a help.

Visit the site’s About Us page – it is definitely one of the most informative I have read. Some features are open to only aid workers and organizations but the site is free as a whole.

Causecast (Beta)

A TechCrunch website, Causecast is a meeting place for nonprofits, community leaders, activists, celebrities, brands, and the common man. You can use the site to find volunteer opportunities, post articles, connect to community leaders and celebrities, learn about causes and of course, make donations.

Just like any online forum, Causecast encourages activities. You can also log your offline humanitarian activities in your account. The sum total of achievements can help you earn ‘Kudos’ (a digital Thank You). The Kudos can be exchanged for tangible gifts when the Causecast Marketplace opens up.

Changeants

Read this as ‘Agents of Change’ and you will get what they are all about. Changeants is a social networking site for learning about the causes around us. The mission is powered by a community of dynamic individuals and their activities for social/environmental good. These change agents are socially connected to their network of friends and backers who are helping them to achieve their cause and make a difference.

The inspiration for a cause comes from stories (i.e. blog posts) that get swapped across this social network. Change agents send out volunteer requests and you can join up and contribute in small or big ways. But if you want to lead rather than follow, become a change agent yourself.

Care2

We have featured Care2 before as a site which supports green living. But the site is not only about that or their well designed free ecards. Environmental issues are not the only thing on their agenda. Apart from watching the causes that are on around the world, you can also read up a lot on it. You can also as free members spread the word out about things that are interesting and important to you, by sharing and rating news stories.

Any activity on the website can earn you credits. These credits are redeemable as cash which goes to a non-profit of your choice. Care2 calls it the ‘Butterfly Rewards’. The easiest way to earn credits is to set Care2 as your browser’s home page and use Care2’s web search for all of your web searches. The Care2 community numbers nearly 12 million – a very large company for goodness.

Idealist

The organization behind Idealist.org is the nicely named non-profit called Action Without Borders (AWB). Idealist is like a common platform which connects those who need volunteer services with those who can offer them. It is a large web directory of non-profit projects, non-profit organizations, fundraising events, socially relevant issues, humanitarian jobs etc.

If you are really looking to give your two cents worth of time (or money), this is a place where you can log on. The site has blogs, podcasts, email alerts and also a social community that helps to connect with the larger world picture.

The site presently lists about 93,000 organizations from across the globe and 17,000 jobs in its index. The site also holds career fairs and graduate degree fairs for the inclined.

These five sites are just the tip of the iceberg as far as social and philanthropy websites go. What I have tried to present is the variety that’s on offer for the serious volunteer. So you have a news site like AlertNet to begin with and then a web directory like the Idealist.

To paraphrase Admiral Nelson’s words, let’s say that the world expects every man to do his duty. Whether big or tiny, a little effort goes a long way.

Maybe you have already participated in a social project through social media. Share it with us in the comments.

Image Credit: woodleywonderworks

http://www.webjam.com/gabrielle71 http://www.prlog.org/10248797-reitbuyercom-offers-opportunity-to-onlinereal-estate-stock-traders-in-albuquerque-new-mexico.html http://www.prlog.org/tag/online-stock-trading/ http://www.prlog.org/10219817-online-traders-discover-reits-and-real-estate-mutual-funds-to-be-good-investment.html http://www.prlog.org/10248797-reitbuyercom-offers-opportunity-to-onlinereal-estate-stock-traders-in-albuquerque-new-mexico.html http://www.webjam.com/gabrielle71

The death toll in Haiti is surging towards a frightening figure. A massive tragedy that has shaken the world just like the quake that left ruins in its wake.

But the sunshine factor has been the massive show of solidarity and support from all corners of the globe. Millions are being raised. It will not dispel the gloom but may help to lessen it.

Make a Difference: Donate To The Haitian Earthquake Victims – Here’s How.

You can’t escape from it. And if you don’t want to, let me give you five websites that can help to keep social issues on your radar and provide you with opportunities to make a difference.

AlertNet

Visit the site’s About Us page – it is definitely one of the most informative I have read. Some features are open to only aid workers and organizations but the site is free as a whole.

Causecast (Beta)

Changeants

Care2

Idealist

The site presently lists about 93,000 organizations from across the globe and 17,000 jobs in its index. The site also holds career fairs and graduate degree fairs for the inclined.

To paraphrase Admiral Nelson’s words, let’s say that the world expects every man to do his duty. Whether big or tiny, a little effort goes a long way.

Maybe you have already participated in a social project through social media. Share it with us in the comments.

Image Credit: woodleywonderworks

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