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make tv pods
- upload your video
- one of many ways to get on tv
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Would you hock grandma's gold ring?
- With gold tipping at $1000 an ounce, and the economy still headed south, how, where and why would you hock you... more info
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- $$$ PAID ASSIGNMENT
- VIDEO SUBMISSIONS ONLY
- ENDS: 12/31/2008 07:00 PM
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Creators of Scrabble knockoff on Facebook sued
NEW YORK (AP) -- T-R-O-U-B-L-E could loom for a Scrabble knockoff that has become one of the most popular activities on Facebook.
Hasbro Inc., the company that owns the word game's North American rights, sued the creators of the Scrabulous program on Thursday, less than two weeks after the release of an authorized version of Scrabble for Facebook.
Hasbro said in its lawsuit that Scrabulous violates its copyright and trademarks. Separately, Hasbro asked Facebook to block the game.
In the year since Facebook began letting outside developers write Web programs that Facebook members can plug into their personal profile pages, Scrabulous has attracted some half-million daily users, despite efforts by Scrabble's owners to end it.
Video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. released an official version for American and Canadian Facebook users last week as part of a broader, year-old licensing deal with Hasbro, yet Facebook users have continued to spend countless hours on the unauthorized Scrabulous.
Now, Hasbro is trying to stop Scrabulous completely and collect unspecified damages. NEW YORK (AP) -- T-R-O-U-B-L-E could loom for a Scrabble knockoff that has become one of the most popular activities on Facebook. ... more -
Sorry We Asked, Sorry You Told
Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military.
The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee made just such a miscalculation yesterday. Holding the first hearing in 15 years on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, lawmakers invited a quartet of veterans to testify on the subject and also extended an invitation to Donnelly, who has been working for years to protect our fighting forces from the malign influence of women.
Donnelly treated the panel to an extraordinary exhibition of rage. She warned of "transgenders in the military." She warned that lesbians would take pictures of people in the shower. She spoke ominously of gays spreading "HIV positivity" through the ranks.
"We're talking about real consequences for real people," Donnelly proclaimed. Her written statement added warnings about "inappropriate passive/aggressive actions common in the homosexual community," the prospects of "forcible sodomy" and "exotic forms of sexual expression," and the case of "a group of black lesbians who decided to gang-assault" a fellow soldier.
At the witness table with Donnelly, retired Navy Capt. Joan Darrah, a lesbian, rolled her eyes in disbelief. Retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a gay man who was wounded in Iraq, looked as if he would explode.
Inadvertently, Donnelly achieved the opposite of her intended effect. Though there's no expectation that Congress will repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and allow gays to serve openly in the military, the display had the effect of increasing bipartisan sympathy for the cause.
Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) labeled her statement "just bonkers" and "dumb," and he called her claims about an HIV menace "inappropriate." Said Snyder: "By this analysis . . . we ought to recruit only lesbians for the military, because they have the lowest incidence of HIV in the country."
Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), a veteran of the war in Iraq, called Donnelly's words "an insult to me and many of the soldiers" by saying they "aren't professional enough to serve openly with gay troops while successfully completing their military mission."
Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military. ... more -
Ron Paul comments on the Housing Bill or "The Mother Of All Bailouts"
In addition to throwing economic fundamentals out the window, Paul points out the peculiarities that mortgage brokers must now be fingerprinted and that credit card transactions will now be reported to the I.R.S. CONgress ≠ PROgress.
The following is excerpted from Congressman Paul's Statement on H.R. 3221:
"Madam Speaker, For several years, followers of the Austrian school of economics have warned that unless Congress moved to end the implicit government guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and took other steps to disengage the US Government from the housing market, America would face a crisis in housing. This crisis would force Congress to chose between authorizing a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie, and other measures increasing government’s involvement in housing, or restoring a free-market in housing by ending government support for Fannie and Freddie and repealing all laws that interfere in housing. The bursting of the housing bubble, and the recent near-collapse in investor support for Fannie and Freddie has proven my fellow Austrians correct. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, instead of ending the prior interventions in the housing market that are responsible for the current crisis, Congress is increasing the level of government intervention in the housing market. This is the equivalent of giving a drug addict another fix, which will only make the necessary withdrawal more painful.
The provision giving the Treasury Secretary a blank check to purchase Fannie and Freddie stock not only makes the implicit government guarantee of Fannie and Freddie explicit, it represents another unconstitutional delegation of Congress’ Constitutional authority to control the allocation of taxpayer dollars. While the Treasury Secretary has to file a report with Congress, the lack of any effective standards for the expenditure of funds makes it impossible for Congress to perform effective oversight on Treasury’s expenditures.
HR 3221 also takes another troubling step toward the creation of surveillance state by creating a Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. This federal database will contain personal information about anyone wishing to work as a “loan originator.” “Loan originator" is defined broadly as anyone who "takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain." According to some analysts, this definition is so broad as to cover part-time clerks and real estate agents who receive even minimal compensation from "originators." Additionally, this database forced on industry will be funded by fees paid to the federal banking agencies, yet another costly burden to the American taxpayers.
Among the information that will be collected from loan originators for inclusion in the federal database are fingerprints. Madam Speaker, giving the federal government the power to force Americans who wish to work in real estate to submit their fingerprints to a federal database opens the door to numerous abuses of privacy and civil liberties and establishes a dangerous precedent. Fingerprint databases and background checks have been no deterrent to espionage and fraud among governmental agencies, and will likewise fail to prevent fraud in the real estate market. I am amazed to see some members who are usually outspoken advocates of civil liberties and defenders of the Fourth Amendment support this new threat to privacy."
(End of excerpt)
Full transcript of Congressman Paul's Statement
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2008/cr072408h...
For more information on H.R. 3221 please visit THOMAS (The Library of Congress)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03221:
In addition to throwing economic fundamentals out the window, Paul points out the peculiarities that mortgage brokers must now be fing... more -
Should religious schools get public money?
" A federal appeals court ruling that a Christian university in Colorado can receive state scholarship money is the latest in a string of legal victories for religious schools seeking public dollars.
The most recent case involved Colorado Christian University, a college of 2,000 students in suburban Denver where most students must attend chapel weekly and sign a promise to emulate the life of Jesus and Biblical teachings.
Colorado Christian faculty must sign a statement that that the Bible is the "infallible Word of God."
Students "attending institutions such as CCU who take their faith-based commitment seriously should have an equal opportunity to participate in Colorado's financial aid program," said Paul Cortis, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.
But critics called it the latest example of a worrisome trend.
"The bottom line is that taxpayers will now end up having to pay for religious indoctrination," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The law wasn't discrimination, but "a sensible judgment by Colorado that some colleges are so religious that they cannot expect taxpayers to support them."
The ruling cuts to a conundrum in the First Amendment, which prohibits the state from establishing any religion, but also prohibits religious discrimination. Religious colleges have argued their students shouldn't be deprived of a state benefit everyone else can get."
" A federal appeals court ruling that a Christian university in Colorado can receive state scholarship money is the latest in a string... more -
Woman kills self before foreclosure
(TAUNTON, Mass.) — A 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead.
Police said that Carlene Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself Tuesday afternoon, shortly after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m.
The mortgage company called police, who found Balderrama's body at 3:30 p.m. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south of Boston, while Balderrama's body was still inside, according to Taunton police chief Raymond O'Berg.
Police did not immediately release the name of the mortgage company. O'Berg said Balderrama's fax read, in part, "By the time you foreclose on my house I'll be dead."
O'Berg also said a suicide note found next to Balderrama told her husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the (life) insurance money and pay for the house."
Joe Whitney, who works with Balderrama's husband, a plumber, said that Balderrama handled the bills and her husband didn't know about the foreclosure.
"John didn't even know about it, that's the surprise," Whitney said told The Boston Globe. "It's just one of those awful, awful tragic events." (TAUNTON, Mass.) — A 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying tha... more -
Why are Americans Slaves to Debt?
The New York Times has an article that tells the unfortunate tale of Diane McLeod and her love affair with debt. She started out "debt free" when she got married, but after a divorce she'd managed to accrue $25,000 in credit card debt. Despite not having a down payment or any assets, Diane was given a $135,000 mortgage. Over the next few years, illness, underemployment, and shockingly irresponsible spending combined disastrously with the bank's willingness to refinance her loan as her home appreciated (for a fee, of course). 5 years later, Diane owes $237,000 on her mortgage. She's in foreclosure now, and a recent sheriff's auction of the home did not draw a single bidder. A similar house down the street recently sold for $84,000 less than she owes on her home.
Why are Americans so willing to do this to themselves? The article explains that as few as 40 years ago, we were a thrifty nation full of "savers," and that banks were focused on whether or not you could repay your loan and not the "fees" they could get from loans before they were sold to investors. We know that there were changes to the financial system. What happened to our values? The New York Times has an article that tells the unfortunate tale of Diane McLeod and her love affair with debt. She started out "debt... more -
Today's headlines
* House OKs Housing Aid After Bush Drops Opposition
* Military Town Foreclosures 4 Times the US Average
* Woman Commits Suicide Before Foreclosure
* Inflation Offsets New Minimum Wage Increase
* Dems Push Withdrawal of Workplace Toxin Rules
* Obama Avoids Gaza Strip on Mideast Trip
* Senate Drops Pressure on Chevron in Burma
* Bolivia Presses US on Interference Charges
* Oil Tanker Spills Near New Orleans
* Cancer Researcher Warns on Cell Phone Use
* Appeals Court Rejects Abu-Jamal Re-Trial
* Protesters Target Fox News for Coverage of African Americans * House OKs Housing Aid After Bush Drops Opposition * Military Town Foreclosures 4 Times the US Average ... more -
Inflation Deflation Red-flation Blue-flation
"A debate has been raging for some time among those in the finance industry about whether the United States is currently experiencing inflation, deflation, stagflation, reflation, hyperinflation, or maybe even some other sort of "-flation" that only Dr. Seuss could imagine.
Unfortunately, much of this debate is unproductive because the participants use varying definitions of these terms, and even when they use the same ones, deciding on one simple label might not be sufficient to describe the deeper economic forces at work and what their effects are likely to be. Given the confusion, this article will add some color to the debate by offering usable definitions of the terms inflation and deflation and then attempt to show what is occurring in today's economy."
(End of excerpt)
Full article at link by Matthew Beller// Ludwig von Mises Institute "A debate has been raging for some time among those in the finance industry about whether the United States is currently experiencing ... more -
Why do poor people play the lottery?
A Carnegie Mellon University study has finally shed some light on this difficult question. In their study they found that poor people buy twice as many lottery tickets than more affluent people. They buy these tickets despite knowing that their chance of winning is very slim.
Why?
The study discovered that they buy these tickets because they hope to win and not be poor anymore.
Another addition to our "no duh" files. A Carnegie Mellon University study has finally shed some light on this difficult question. In their study they found that poor people... more -
Turn dollars into buttons
Do you want to make some quick cash selling a cool piece of wearable art?
Why don't you turn your dollars into buttons.
Note: If you sell the buttons at a dollar a piece, you will get a 300% return on your investment. Do you want to make some quick cash selling a cool piece of wearable art? Why don't you turn your dollars into buttons. ... more -
Jobless claims rise to 406,000
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest in almost four months, a sign the slowing economy is weakening the labor market.
Initial jobless claims increased by 34,000 to 406,000 in the week ended July 19, from a revised 372,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The filings exceeded economists' forecast and were the most since 406,000 in the week ended March 29.
U.S. employers are reducing workers as surging fuel costs, a three-year housing slump and a crisis in credit markets restrains demand. Rising joblessness reinforces concern that consumers will pull back on spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy.
``The underlying picture is one of a labor market that is weak,'' said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, whose forecast of 410,000 was the closest to the actual number in a Bloomberg News survey of 44 economists. ``The economy is growing slowly so you tend to see job losses rising. The weakness could increase further in coming months.''
Treasuries were higher, pushing yields down. The benchmark 10-year note yielded 4.09 percent as of 8:50 a.m. in New York, down 3 basis points from yesterday.
Near 2005 High The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest in almost four months, a sign... more -
Men grow happier with age while women grow miserable, says new report
Middle-aged women are unhappier than their male peers, even though they start adult life more content, a study suggests.
Researchers looked at data spanning several decades, and concluded that after the age of 48, men are generally happier than women.
Men are most miserable in their 20s, but grow more satisfied as they get older, marry and earn more money, they found.
Women on the other hand are happier than men in early adulthood, but the glow wears off with time.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge and University of Southern California looked specifically at the role of unfulfilled desires in a person's sense of well-being.
They found that overall happiness is most heavily linked to the stability of a person's family and finances.
Both sexes have fairly similar life goals when it comes to love, the study reveals. Nine out of 10 people reach adult life wanting a happy marriage.
The saddest period of the average man's life – his 20s – is also the period when he is most likely to be single.
Young men are also more dissatisfied than young women with their financial situations, not because they are worse off, but because they want more and therefore experience a greater "shortfall," the researchers said.
But age alters many things, including men's money woes and lacklustre love lives.
After the age of 34, men are more likely to be married than women, and the gap only widens with age, mirroring men's growing satisfaction with family life.
Ms Plagnol said: "In later life men come closer to fulfilling their aspirations, are more satisfied with their family lives and financial situations, and are the happier of the two."
Men also become more satisfied with their financial situations over time, as reflected in their increased spending power. The researchers found that men tend to covet big-ticket items that might not be within reach until later in life, such as a car or holiday home.
Some age milestones:
41: Age at which men's financial satisfaction exceeds women's financial satisfaction
48: Age at which men's overall happiness exceeds women's overall happiness
64: Age at which men's satisfaction with family life exceeds women's satisfaction
Are you a woman growing ever unhappier, or a man getting more and more content? How does what you want now differ from what you wanted 5 or 10 years ago, and what you want 5 or 10 years in the future? Could the prevalent social idea that age is thought to diminish women's beauty and therefore her worth, whereas age makes a man more valuable and distinguished, have something to do with it? What changes do you notice in your male and female friends as you grow older, and which of the two sexes appear to be happiest? Or is it all a load of crap, with no differences between men and women at all?
Middle-aged women are unhappier than their male peers, even though they start adult life more content, a study suggests. ... more -
Mother and Wife in Massachusetts Facing Foreclosure Commits Suicide
From NECN.com:
"(Prat Thakkar, NECN: Taunton, MA) - In Taunton, Massachusetts police say a woman who was about to lose her home to foreclosure took her own life.
Police say 53-year-old Carlene Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself Tuesday afternoon, just 90 minutes before her home was to be sold at auction.
Balderrama faxed a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house, she would be dead. The mortgage company notified authorities who found her body an hour later.
Police say she left a note to her family telling them to take the life insurance money to pay for the house.
Material from the Associated Press is included in this report."
This is difficult for all those families out there that are struggling to pay their mortgages and personal finances. I'm sure the public will hear more stories similar to this one. The sad part of this particular story is that the husband did not have any idea about the pending foreclosure on the home. From NECN.com: ... more -
Bloomberg, Gates pledge $375 mln against tobacco
"New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) co-founder Bill Gates pledged $375 million on Wednesday to fight what they called a global tobacco epidemic.
The billionaires said the money would go to anti-smoking groups working with governments of developing countries such as India and China to curb tobacco use.
Bloomberg, who championed New York City's groundbreaking smoking ban in 2002, is adding $250 million over four years to a program he started several years ago that has $125 million committed to it.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest $125 million over the next four years.
"Smoking is an epidemic that can be stopped, and we want more people to get involved," Gates said at his first public event as chairman of his philanthropic foundation since he left his full-time executive role at Microsoft in June.
Gates said China and India should get special attention. Statistics show that by 2030, more than 80 percent of worldwide tobacco-related deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries compared to half today.
They pointed to declining U.S. smoking rates since bans, including those in bars and restaurants, were introduced in California and New York. Nations such as Ireland, France, Italy and Turkey have followed suit.
They said poor nations could use government-backed incentives, such as higher taxes on tobacco and bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
Bloomberg noted difficulties in places such as China, where the government owns cigarette manufacturing companies.
"What we have to show them is that the revenue they get, the profits they get from selling cigarettes, are dwarfed by the expense to society," Bloomberg said."
Hopefully that money doesn't go to make horrible commercials!
"New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) co-founder Bill Gates pledged $375... more -
Most Banking Sites are Insecure! Is your money safe?
"More than three-quarters of bank Web sites have design flaws that could expose bank customers to financial loss or identity theft, according to a University of Michigan study that will be presented this week at the Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy.
The study, "Analyzing Web Sites For User-Visible Security Design Flaws," examined 214 bank Web sites in 2006. It was conducted by University of Michigan computer science professor Atul Prakash and doctoral students Laura Falk and Kevin Borders.
The vulnerabilities identified by the authors aren't fixable with a simple patch. Rather, they are issues like login boxes, information submission forms, security information, and contact information placed on insecure pages; redirections outside the bank's domain without warning; allowing insecure user IDs and passwords; and e-mailing sensitive information insecurely.
"To our surprise, design flaws that could compromise security were widespread and included some of the largest banks in the country," Prakash said in a statement. "Our focus was on users who try to be careful, but unfortunately some bank sites make it hard for customers to make the right security decisions when doing online banking."
Prakash said that some of the issues have been addressed since they were discovered, but that more work needs to be done. At the same time, he advises not panicking because exploiting the vulnerabilities that he and his students found is not easy. In general, he said these flaws become an issue on potentially insecure networks, such as a wireless network not under your control or on a hotel's network.
Prakash and his colleagues point to a recent quarterly FDIC Technology Incident Report, which tracks suspicious activity at banks, to show the extent of the bank security shortcomings. The report identifies 536 computer intrusion incidents with an average loss of $30,000, a total loss of $16 million in the second quarter of 2007."
"More than three-quarters of bank Web sites have design flaws that could expose bank customers to financial loss or identity theft, ac... more -
Does the Government Owe You Money?
The state of Pennsylvania owes me money.
My uncle was perusing the PA treasury website when he found a search field for people who may be owed money from the state. For fun, he started entering family members’ names, and BINGO! I’m the big winner.
Turns out, upon graduating in 2005, I failed to pick up my final paycheck from working at the University of Pittsburgh’s student newspaper. So the moolah has remained in the coffers of my alma mater for the past three years.
Money2_max200w
Why didn’t they just send it to me? I’m not entirely sure, they always seemed to get tuition bills and library fines to me with no problem. The state of Pennsylvania owes me money. ... more -
How About Working 4 Days A Week?
I was reading around today and came across an article about Utah state jobs. It appears that they are moving to a 4 day work week for many state workers to save money on energy costs. By shutting down the buildings on Friday, they can reduce the costs by 1/5th but still be just as effective.
This got me thinking, why can’t I work a 4 day week? I decided to come up with a proposal on why this would be better.
My Proposal
I could easily get all my work done with 4 10 hour days. I would actually be even more effective. I put together some diagrams showing my productivity throughout the week.
5 Day Work Week
As you can clearly see, the productivity percentage of my typical week is an upside down V. I come in on Monday and barely move, peak on Wednesday, and am back down to almost nothing by Friday. Not very effective if you ask me.
4 Day Work Week
Now look at that! If I worked only 4 days a week, the overall productivity levels would be much higher. By Thursday, I would be pumped about the 3 day weekend coming up. That would push my productivity through the roof each week. I was reading around today and came across an article about Utah state jobs. It appears that they are moving to a 4 day work week for ... more -
The luxury of taxing the poor
Are taxes being levied fairly when it comes to the rich and the poor?
PBS NOW correspondent David Brancaccio investigates and finds that, for the rich and those doing their bidding in government, their obstinance is their bliss. Many states are providing corporate welfare on massive scales to big business interests in the context of "providing jobs" that do very little to alleviate crippling poverty in the communities they exploit with staggeringly inadequate wages and benefits--and this even after decades within those very communities their presence was expected to improve.
While most of the rich carefully concern themselves about which set of new clubs may best improve their golf game, working class families are irresponsibly left to teeter on the edge of complete destruction for the privilege of footing the bills for so many of those very luxuries the rich enjoin for themselves.
It is a fact that growing numbers ***within the United States*** are barely subsisting, often in poor conditions, and often going hungry without food, and without so many of just the basic "necessities" most of us take for granted every day. (Perhaps you should read that again.)
Watch and learn about reality in the land in of the "free", because if it's true you may not be rich, you certainly are paying for it.
Are taxes being levied fairly when it comes to the rich and the poor? ... more -
Oil-rich Norway has most expensive petrol prices
"In Norway, many motorists are up in arms over why they have to pay the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in Europe when the country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a recent tax hike has done little to cool tempers.
"It is really strange: we have lots of oil and we're a rich country. Why do we have to pay so much?" asks Per-Arne Skjerpingstad, a 38-year-old hospital porter as he fills up the tank of his Peugeot 307 at an Oslo gas station for 750 kroner (94 euros, 148 dollars).
Diesel costs 14.23 kroner (1.78 euros, 2.82 dollars) a litre (quarter gallon) and 95 unleaded 13.84 kroner, putting it at the top of the European league, EU figures show.
And while many countries are discussing how to soften the blow of skyrocketing oil prices on consumers, Norway on July 1 increased its already heavy tax take by 0.05 kroner per litre on petrol and 0.10 kroner (0.1 euro cent, 0.2 dollar cent) on diesel.
Seven out of 10 Norwegians oppose the tax increase, according to a July poll by the daily VG.
"It's not the way to go. In a country like Norway, people need to have cars. I bought this car because I'm going to be a father soon," Skjerpingstad said.
Critics argue it is meaningless to increase taxation when oil prices have risen so much in the past months. And as the new tax increase is low, it won't significantly change drivers' behaviour."
More at the link. "In Norway, many motorists are up in arms over why they have to pay the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in Europe when the country is... more -
Canoeist's wife guilty of faking husband's death
Anne Darwin will be jailed for six years, having been convicted of assisting her husband to fake his own death in a canoe accident, in an elaborate plan to fraudulently gain life insurance benefits worth £250,000. Ms Darwin, of Hartlepool, denied her involvement in court, claiming her husband, John, coerced her to see the ruse through.
She was found guilty on separate counts of deception and money laundering, following a four-hour deliberation by the jury. Her sons were kept ignorant of their father's existence after the staged disappearance. He then lived in a room adjoining the family house for six years.
Macabre details at the link. Anne Darwin will be jailed for six years, having been convicted of assisting her husband to fake his own death in a canoe accident, in... more
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