managing personal finances

• Black & Decker recalls cordless mowers a third time
  
  



• Daily Dispatch: Facebook and Skype to integrate messaging; Medical school gives students textbooks on iPhones
  
  



• Bose to launch its first TV, the VideoWave Entertainment System
  
  



• Finances may be among reasons that fewer 25-to-34-year-olds marry
  
  



• Beware of rogue online pharmacies selling unsafe drugs
  
  



• Video: "How's My Driving?" documentary on distracted driving and road rage
  
  



• Daily electronics deals
  
  



• NHTSA opens up defect investigations on Honda and Mini
  
  



• Hanging on to old appliances
  
  



• Stink bug: A home invader that lives up to its name
  
  

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

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

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

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

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

Features:

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

Check out Creditable @ http://getcreditable.com

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Read our Xbox 360 news of Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger.

Meg Whitman&#39;s Housekeeper -- &#39;Explosive&#39; Allegations | TMZ.com

The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria's office at 11 AM PT, "to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman's home." We're told the housekeeper will be filing a legal ...

Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara <b>News</b>

To pursue its growth Akihabara News is seeking for several more editors via an intership program for 6 to 9 months. Please send us a mail @ jobs@akihabaranews.com. Message. We are moving away from Feedburner, please update your RSS ...

benchcraft company scam
bench craft company rip off

Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our Xbox 360 news of Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger.

Meg Whitman&#39;s Housekeeper -- &#39;Explosive&#39; Allegations | TMZ.com

The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria's office at 11 AM PT, "to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman's home." We're told the housekeeper will be filing a legal ...

Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara <b>News</b>

To pursue its growth Akihabara News is seeking for several more editors via an intership program for 6 to 9 months. Please send us a mail @ jobs@akihabaranews.com. Message. We are moving away from Feedburner, please update your RSS ...

benchcraft company scam benchcraft company scam

• Black & Decker recalls cordless mowers a third time
  
  



• Daily Dispatch: Facebook and Skype to integrate messaging; Medical school gives students textbooks on iPhones
  
  



• Bose to launch its first TV, the VideoWave Entertainment System
  
  



• Finances may be among reasons that fewer 25-to-34-year-olds marry
  
  



• Beware of rogue online pharmacies selling unsafe drugs
  
  



• Video: "How's My Driving?" documentary on distracted driving and road rage
  
  



• Daily electronics deals
  
  



• NHTSA opens up defect investigations on Honda and Mini
  
  



• Hanging on to old appliances
  
  



• Stink bug: A home invader that lives up to its name
  
  

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

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

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

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

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

Features:

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

Check out Creditable @ http://getcreditable.com

bench craft company rip off

Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our Xbox 360 news of Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger.

Meg Whitman&#39;s Housekeeper -- &#39;Explosive&#39; Allegations | TMZ.com

The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria's office at 11 AM PT, "to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman's home." We're told the housekeeper will be filing a legal ...

Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara <b>News</b>

To pursue its growth Akihabara News is seeking for several more editors via an intership program for 6 to 9 months. Please send us a mail @ jobs@akihabaranews.com. Message. We are moving away from Feedburner, please update your RSS ...

bench craft company rip off benchcraft company scam

Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our Xbox 360 news of Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger.

Meg Whitman&#39;s Housekeeper -- &#39;Explosive&#39; Allegations | TMZ.com

The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria's office at 11 AM PT, "to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman's home." We're told the housekeeper will be filing a legal ...

Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara <b>News</b>

To pursue its growth Akihabara News is seeking for several more editors via an intership program for 6 to 9 months. Please send us a mail @ jobs@akihabaranews.com. Message. We are moving away from Feedburner, please update your RSS ...

bench craft company rip off benchcraft company scam

Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our Xbox 360 news of Kinect will talk to MSN Messenger.

Meg Whitman&#39;s Housekeeper -- &#39;Explosive&#39; Allegations | TMZ.com

The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria's office at 11 AM PT, "to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman's home." We're told the housekeeper will be filing a legal ...

Murata Seisakusho Robot Learns New Skill « Akihabara <b>News</b>

To pursue its growth Akihabara News is seeking for several more editors via an intership program for 6 to 9 months. Please send us a mail @ jobs@akihabaranews.com. Message. We are moving away from Feedburner, please update your RSS ...

benchcraft company scam

Making Money Marketing

After the huge fanfare that greeted Condé Nast’s June preview of the defunct Gourmet magazine’s reincarnation as a free iPad app, the brand’s fans finally got a chance to download it starting at midnight last night.

As our Staci D. Kramer noted after the initial preview, the publisher has big hopes for return of Gourmet as a regularly published product. During a press gathering at Condé Nast’s offices, execs discussed the heavy emphasis on social media in the way the content is accessed by users, as well as initial plans for sponsorship. The execs didn’t get into other areas of how this app will make money, though e-commerce appears to be a likely route, though company execs didn’t mention it. In addition, the Gourmet brand itself the moneymaker, through products such as branded books and a TV show.

As Juliana Stock, Gourmet Live’s GM and the publisher’s creative marketing director for the Consumer Marketing division, told me, bringing back the magazine in this particular app format is about retaining the ethos of the 75-year-old title, but not a necessarily a direct continuation of the print version. Still, it will rely on the vast archives of the magazine to a large extent. Stock and Kelly Senyei, who edits the Gourmet Live blog, the app is roughly comprised of 60 percent original content and 40 percent legacy material.

The Gourmet Live App will feature a new cover every day and the content will update regularly, with new stories and recipes at least once a week. it’s delivered in a way that combines the rich photography that the magazine was known for, but delivered in very iPad-friendly slideshow style.

While the app is free, there’s a lot of encouragement to register. Users can sign in with their Facebook or Twitter accounts get to the interactive features of the app, such as saving a “favorite” article or recipe or viewing “rewards,.” which are earned through simply reading certain stories. As Activate’s Anil Dash, who was one of the consultants brought in to help create the app, said during the press meeting this morning, offering rewards for reading makes better sense than making someone “mayor” of the app.

Although the Gourmet Live is free, the main goal right now is to get users to sample it and (Condé Nast hopes ) love it. After getting an idea of users’ ardor for it, paid upgrades and “experiences” are expected to be introduced.

The return of Gourmet suggests that Condé Nast sees greater potential for attracting foodie-focused readers and advertisers alongside the popular Epicurious recipes app. During the meeting, a Condé Nast representative noted that the free Epicurious iPhone and iPad app together have attracted nearly 3 million downloads and averages about 50,000 downloads a week.

So far, there are no plans for an iPhone version of Gourmet Live, nor are there any immediate plans to extend it to a web-enabled TV widget like Epicurious already has. “Since we created this in HTML5, the possibilities for other extensions are easy to realize,” Dash said, referring to Apple’s preferred graphics system.

In the meantime, here’s a marketing video Condé Nast has produced to promote Gourmet Live:

Related Stories

• Spanfeller Media Group Buys New York Restaurant Site Always Hungry


• Conde Nast Applies Gaming To Iconic Brand With New ‘Gourmet Live’


• Condé Nast Completes Review; Gourmet Shuttered; Bride Mags Consolidated; 180 Staffers Being Let Go

Introduction:



I am a 22 year old gay adult living in Calgary, Alberta Canada. I have a one year technical diploma in Computer Engineering and Web Development. Lately I've had a number of issues in my life that I haven't been able to necessarily ask my family or parents about. So I am hoping I can get your opinion.



Career:



As I mentioned above, I am in the computer industry. Right after I finished my degree I was able to score a job with a fairly great employer. That lasted three months. I quit because the staff where extremely hard to work with on a daily basis. I was teased all the time about my sexuality and although it didn't cross the line as "sexual discrimination" it made the environment way too tense for me. My second job was with a marketing agency as a consultant. It lasted only a month because the company went bankrupt. Since then I've been doing freelancing. I get jobs here and there, basically just enough $ to keep food on the table. I've been applying for jobs for months, and I get interviews but frankly I don't stand a chance because there are so many unemployed "senior people" who are willing to work for my starting wage. I've been to two careers counselors who have not helped me in any kind of way. I'm frankly not sure what to do now. If I go back to college, I'll need to pick an entirely different industry which seems like a huge waste of my degree. Maybe business or marketing. Apparently there are cities that are experiencing growth in my industry but they are far away from where I live. My question is, should I continue to slug it out apply for jobs, move to a new city or go back to school? Also, in your opinion how many years of college is really sufficient to feeling "secure" and making a decent wage in most industry's?



Relationships:



I have trouble meeting boys who meet my criteria locally. By "criteria" I mean, they must be interested in a monogamous relationship because I don't want to get sick and secondly they must be within 5 years of my age and self sufficient enough to be independent. All my relationships have been long-distance.



Drew - I met Drew online two years ago. We instantly "connected" and would talk at-least once a day using video chat because he lived so far away from me. Finally met a year later in person. Things didn't exactly go as planned. We where meeting right as I was finishing college. I basically had to spend *all my money* to see him. He met me in Las Vegas, the trip was planned for a week. I payed for my airfare, hotel ect. He was only able to spend one day / night with me before he had to go back home, to California because of work. That made me upset! but never-the-less the time we had together was something *I do not regret at all*. Fast forward 5 months. He moved to Germany and then back to the states. I really want to see him, but he has no plans for us to "be together", at-least he won't say it to me. That really makes me confused because honestly I love him and I want to be with him. He wants me to fly out to see him again. I'm hesitant, I don't want my heart broken and I don't want to let him go. What do I do?



In the meantime I ended up casually meeting someone else (Garrett) in California and he is kind of like Drew except he actually "wants a relationship" and is more of what I'm looking for. The only downside to Garrett is that he has some anger issues when he gets into complicated situations/problems. This really has no relevance to the situation with Drew but I thought I would mention it for context sake.



I don't mean to seem high on myself or anything but I'm "above average looking" and I do get a lot of dating prospects but like I mentioned its rare for me to ever find anyone really "suitable". Drew or Garrett are probably the closest I'm going to get. Before you say "there's plenty of fish in the sea" let me say that I have dating profiles on all the major websites, get hundreds of messages weekly and do network with most of the gay people in my town. So I feel somewhat justified with that statement. I do want your thoughts though whatever they may me.



Ultimate goals;



For the next questions context - what I want in my life is: (1.) Financial stability. I don't want to worry if I can feed myself or my family and if I can/can't pay my bills. (2.) I want to get out of Canada and live somewhere with no winter. I hate cold and I hate snow. I love the beach, but since I've never really traveled extensively I don't know where this is. (3.) I want a boyfriend who I can trust, and won't leave me for someone more "pretty" when I start to age. I want a real relationship that is friendship first and sexual attraction later. (4.) I want to do good for others using my talents for complex thinking.



Money:



After I graduated college my mom gave me $5000. She is a single parent so that was considered a very generous gift on her behalf. Also, I managed to save $5000 of my own just by being extremely frivolous and not having much of a life. So my bank total is $10 000 at the moment. I want to be very careful with this money, because I feel like its all I have. At the moment, I have a decent car (totally paid off) and no debt. I want to set myself up for the future so I feel secure and can actually have a responsible, healthy life. Given the above information I've provided what should I do with these funds?





Sorry for the length of all this. Thank you for your thoughts! :)

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The new Fox News poll of the Wisconsin Senate race has bad news for Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, with an eight-point lead for Republican businessman Ron Johnson.

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Fox <b>News</b> Poll: GOPer Johnson Leads Feingold By 8 Points In WI-SEN <b>...</b>

The new Fox News poll of the Wisconsin Senate race has bad news for Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, with an eight-point lead for Republican businessman Ron Johnson.

Mobile Ads <b>News</b> and Trends: Android Requests Up, iAd on the Rise <b>...</b>

When it rains, it pours! Today, there's a ton of new information about mobile advertising trends and new initiatives, all of which should catch the eye of marketers, ...

Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: September 28 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Halliburton Makes the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (and pigs fly); More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal; Australian climate activists close down world's ...

After the huge fanfare that greeted Condé Nast’s June preview of the defunct Gourmet magazine’s reincarnation as a free iPad app, the brand’s fans finally got a chance to download it starting at midnight last night.

As our Staci D. Kramer noted after the initial preview, the publisher has big hopes for return of Gourmet as a regularly published product. During a press gathering at Condé Nast’s offices, execs discussed the heavy emphasis on social media in the way the content is accessed by users, as well as initial plans for sponsorship. The execs didn’t get into other areas of how this app will make money, though e-commerce appears to be a likely route, though company execs didn’t mention it. In addition, the Gourmet brand itself the moneymaker, through products such as branded books and a TV show.

As Juliana Stock, Gourmet Live’s GM and the publisher’s creative marketing director for the Consumer Marketing division, told me, bringing back the magazine in this particular app format is about retaining the ethos of the 75-year-old title, but not a necessarily a direct continuation of the print version. Still, it will rely on the vast archives of the magazine to a large extent. Stock and Kelly Senyei, who edits the Gourmet Live blog, the app is roughly comprised of 60 percent original content and 40 percent legacy material.

The Gourmet Live App will feature a new cover every day and the content will update regularly, with new stories and recipes at least once a week. it’s delivered in a way that combines the rich photography that the magazine was known for, but delivered in very iPad-friendly slideshow style.

While the app is free, there’s a lot of encouragement to register. Users can sign in with their Facebook or Twitter accounts get to the interactive features of the app, such as saving a “favorite” article or recipe or viewing “rewards,.” which are earned through simply reading certain stories. As Activate’s Anil Dash, who was one of the consultants brought in to help create the app, said during the press meeting this morning, offering rewards for reading makes better sense than making someone “mayor” of the app.

Although the Gourmet Live is free, the main goal right now is to get users to sample it and (Condé Nast hopes ) love it. After getting an idea of users’ ardor for it, paid upgrades and “experiences” are expected to be introduced.

The return of Gourmet suggests that Condé Nast sees greater potential for attracting foodie-focused readers and advertisers alongside the popular Epicurious recipes app. During the meeting, a Condé Nast representative noted that the free Epicurious iPhone and iPad app together have attracted nearly 3 million downloads and averages about 50,000 downloads a week.

So far, there are no plans for an iPhone version of Gourmet Live, nor are there any immediate plans to extend it to a web-enabled TV widget like Epicurious already has. “Since we created this in HTML5, the possibilities for other extensions are easy to realize,” Dash said, referring to Apple’s preferred graphics system.

In the meantime, here’s a marketing video Condé Nast has produced to promote Gourmet Live:

Related Stories

• Spanfeller Media Group Buys New York Restaurant Site Always Hungry


• Conde Nast Applies Gaming To Iconic Brand With New ‘Gourmet Live’


• Condé Nast Completes Review; Gourmet Shuttered; Bride Mags Consolidated; 180 Staffers Being Let Go

Introduction:



I am a 22 year old gay adult living in Calgary, Alberta Canada. I have a one year technical diploma in Computer Engineering and Web Development. Lately I've had a number of issues in my life that I haven't been able to necessarily ask my family or parents about. So I am hoping I can get your opinion.



Career:



As I mentioned above, I am in the computer industry. Right after I finished my degree I was able to score a job with a fairly great employer. That lasted three months. I quit because the staff where extremely hard to work with on a daily basis. I was teased all the time about my sexuality and although it didn't cross the line as "sexual discrimination" it made the environment way too tense for me. My second job was with a marketing agency as a consultant. It lasted only a month because the company went bankrupt. Since then I've been doing freelancing. I get jobs here and there, basically just enough $ to keep food on the table. I've been applying for jobs for months, and I get interviews but frankly I don't stand a chance because there are so many unemployed "senior people" who are willing to work for my starting wage. I've been to two careers counselors who have not helped me in any kind of way. I'm frankly not sure what to do now. If I go back to college, I'll need to pick an entirely different industry which seems like a huge waste of my degree. Maybe business or marketing. Apparently there are cities that are experiencing growth in my industry but they are far away from where I live. My question is, should I continue to slug it out apply for jobs, move to a new city or go back to school? Also, in your opinion how many years of college is really sufficient to feeling "secure" and making a decent wage in most industry's?



Relationships:



I have trouble meeting boys who meet my criteria locally. By "criteria" I mean, they must be interested in a monogamous relationship because I don't want to get sick and secondly they must be within 5 years of my age and self sufficient enough to be independent. All my relationships have been long-distance.



Drew - I met Drew online two years ago. We instantly "connected" and would talk at-least once a day using video chat because he lived so far away from me. Finally met a year later in person. Things didn't exactly go as planned. We where meeting right as I was finishing college. I basically had to spend *all my money* to see him. He met me in Las Vegas, the trip was planned for a week. I payed for my airfare, hotel ect. He was only able to spend one day / night with me before he had to go back home, to California because of work. That made me upset! but never-the-less the time we had together was something *I do not regret at all*. Fast forward 5 months. He moved to Germany and then back to the states. I really want to see him, but he has no plans for us to "be together", at-least he won't say it to me. That really makes me confused because honestly I love him and I want to be with him. He wants me to fly out to see him again. I'm hesitant, I don't want my heart broken and I don't want to let him go. What do I do?



In the meantime I ended up casually meeting someone else (Garrett) in California and he is kind of like Drew except he actually "wants a relationship" and is more of what I'm looking for. The only downside to Garrett is that he has some anger issues when he gets into complicated situations/problems. This really has no relevance to the situation with Drew but I thought I would mention it for context sake.



I don't mean to seem high on myself or anything but I'm "above average looking" and I do get a lot of dating prospects but like I mentioned its rare for me to ever find anyone really "suitable". Drew or Garrett are probably the closest I'm going to get. Before you say "there's plenty of fish in the sea" let me say that I have dating profiles on all the major websites, get hundreds of messages weekly and do network with most of the gay people in my town. So I feel somewhat justified with that statement. I do want your thoughts though whatever they may me.



Ultimate goals;



For the next questions context - what I want in my life is: (1.) Financial stability. I don't want to worry if I can feed myself or my family and if I can/can't pay my bills. (2.) I want to get out of Canada and live somewhere with no winter. I hate cold and I hate snow. I love the beach, but since I've never really traveled extensively I don't know where this is. (3.) I want a boyfriend who I can trust, and won't leave me for someone more "pretty" when I start to age. I want a real relationship that is friendship first and sexual attraction later. (4.) I want to do good for others using my talents for complex thinking.



Money:



After I graduated college my mom gave me $5000. She is a single parent so that was considered a very generous gift on her behalf. Also, I managed to save $5000 of my own just by being extremely frivolous and not having much of a life. So my bank total is $10 000 at the moment. I want to be very careful with this money, because I feel like its all I have. At the moment, I have a decent car (totally paid off) and no debt. I want to set myself up for the future so I feel secure and can actually have a responsible, healthy life. Given the above information I've provided what should I do with these funds?





Sorry for the length of all this. Thank you for your thoughts! :)

corporate reputation management

Fox <b>News</b> Poll: GOPer Johnson Leads Feingold By 8 Points In WI-SEN <b>...</b>

The new Fox News poll of the Wisconsin Senate race has bad news for Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, with an eight-point lead for Republican businessman Ron Johnson.

Mobile Ads <b>News</b> and Trends: Android Requests Up, iAd on the Rise <b>...</b>

When it rains, it pours! Today, there's a ton of new information about mobile advertising trends and new initiatives, all of which should catch the eye of marketers, ...

Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: September 28 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Halliburton Makes the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (and pigs fly); More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal; Australian climate activists close down world's ...

skin and vein center

Fox <b>News</b> Poll: GOPer Johnson Leads Feingold By 8 Points In WI-SEN <b>...</b>

The new Fox News poll of the Wisconsin Senate race has bad news for Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, with an eight-point lead for Republican businessman Ron Johnson.

Mobile Ads <b>News</b> and Trends: Android Requests Up, iAd on the Rise <b>...</b>

When it rains, it pours! Today, there's a ton of new information about mobile advertising trends and new initiatives, all of which should catch the eye of marketers, ...

Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: Green <b>News</b> Report: September 28 <b>...</b>

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Halliburton Makes the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (and pigs fly); More than 100 Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal; Australian climate activists close down world's ...

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

tracking personal finances

This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. This post is part of Book Week at Get Rich Slowly.

Since my twin victories of paying off our last credit card and funding a summer of travel, my husband has begun to show interest in personal finance.

It’s not that he wasn’t supportive of my efforts before — he just preferred to support them from a safe, ignorant distance. A distance from which I handed him an envelope of cash each week to do the grocery shopping, he didn’t ask too many questions, and somehow we were climbing out of debt. He was more than happy to adopt any frugal-living strategy I suggested, as long as he didn’t have to think about the Big Picture.

That system worked, but I longed for more active participation from him. Not only because I wanted us to share equally in the journey toward financial freedom — I do want that — but also for a selfish reason. I wanted him to participate because he’s better at this stuff than I am. He’s a whiz at spreadsheets. The man has a Ph.d in Physical Chemistry. You don’t get one of those without doing a few math problems.

Lately, I’ve been getting my wish. My husband has been talking with a financial advisor at the university he works for, and having clear, honest conversations with me about our money.

This seemed like the perfect time for me to read Mary Hunt’s How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage.

Relationship first

Hunt’s book covers the basics of personal finance and debt destruction, with a special focus on doing it as a couple. Before she even begins talking about financial management, Hunt talks about strengthening the foundations of your marriage. You can’t have financial harmony without emotional intimacy, she says.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s clear in my own marriage that spending time relaxing together on vacation helped my husband and me both chill out and have better conversations during our family finance meetings too.

Hunt and I part ways in the chapters about how to achieve that emotional intimacy, though. She bases her prescription for marital bliss on traditional gender roles. She includes chapters for each sex on how to make deposits in the other’s Love Bank — a metaphorical bank of goodwill made of small, loving gestures.

The Love Bank is an adorable idea, one I’m tempted to put into practice here in my own home. I’m pretty sure I won’t be making my deposits to my husband’s Love Bank by biting my tongue when I disagree with him, though. Likewise, I don’t expect him to express his love for me by bringing me flowers and handling all the tough decisions for me like the natural leader of our family should.

Hunt is a generation (or two) older than I am, and what works for her marriage is so foreign to my young, feminist mind that it was actually a little hard to read. But leaving aside the details of how you get to an intimate marriage, though, she and I agree wholeheartedly that it’s important to get your emotional needs met before you can effectively work together with your spouse to manage your finances.

Money second

The personal-finance half of the book will be familiar to most GRS readers. Hunt advocates an approach similar to Your Money or Your Life and Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, one that begins with calculating your net worth and tracking your expenses. From there, she covers the basics of setting up an emergency fund, creating a spending plan, and starting a debt snowball (though she uses different terms for these steps).

Like her ideal of a healthy relationship, Hunt’s financial advice seems a little dated in places. A lot of it has to do with how to organize your three-ring binders, or how to painstakingly accomplish by-hand calculations that Mint can do for you in a few minutes. If you’re a devotee of the pen-and-paper approach, though, her chapters on how to track and plan your spending are rock solid and detailed enough to easily follow.

The one thing in this book that made me want to put it down, run to my office, and implement it on the spot was, in fact, her filing system. Hunt takes a few pages to go over exactly what personal records you should be keeping, and outlines an elegant effective way to organize them. I spent an hour tearing apart my filing cabinet yesterday as soon as I read those pages. I may not want my marriage to look much like hers, but I’m delighted to have made over my filing cabinet in Mary Hunt’s image.

Different views

There are a few areas where Mary’s financial advice deviates from the usual Get Rich Slowly formula. One is the matter of the debt snowball. She encourages readers to start saving 10% of their income towards an emergency fund immediately, while still paying the minimums on their credit cards. Only after saving up a fully funded six-month emergency fund would Hunt advise you to roll those savings into your credit card payments.

Given the relative interest rates on credit cards and savings accounts, this approach will almost certainly cost you money. If it works for you psychologically, though, by all means pursue it. No matter what order you do them in, the key steps of tracking your spending, creating an emergency fund, and snowballing your debt payments will lead you to financial security.

Another place where she breaks with conventional wisdom is in her savings and spending ratios. GRS readers are familiar with the Balanced Money Formula that encourages us to use 50% of our money for living expenses, 30% for fun and 20% for savings. Hunt advises 10% for giving, 10% for saving and 80% for spending.

The order of those percentages is vital to her. A devout Christian, Hunt feels that all the money that comes into your life is a blessing from God, and promptly giving 10% of it back to God shows you can be trusted with this blessing, and more of it will come your way.

I’m not a Christian, but I admire Mary’s faith and devotion to charitable giving. It’s a goal of mine to give 10% of my income. I’ve written about that here before, and readers made a persuasive case for waiting until my debts were paid before giving so much away. For now, I give a modest amount and look forward to giving more in the future.

I think that for Hunt, the psychological benefits of giving 10% and saving 10% before you make any spending decisions at all outweigh the financial benefits of paying off your debts as fast as possible and then beginning to accumulate and donate wealth.

It’s an interesting approach, and one that might work for a lot of people. Particularly if you’re a devoted Christian and looking for a personal-finance book that reflects your values, you’ll find a lot of good in How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage. If you’re looking for a book that’s totally focused on financial savvy and relationship skills, though, this might not be your best bet.

This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. This post is part of Book Week at Get Rich Slowly.

Since my twin victories of paying off our last credit card and funding a summer of travel, my husband has begun to show interest in personal finance.

It’s not that he wasn’t supportive of my efforts before — he just preferred to support them from a safe, ignorant distance. A distance from which I handed him an envelope of cash each week to do the grocery shopping, he didn’t ask too many questions, and somehow we were climbing out of debt. He was more than happy to adopt any frugal-living strategy I suggested, as long as he didn’t have to think about the Big Picture.

That system worked, but I longed for more active participation from him. Not only because I wanted us to share equally in the journey toward financial freedom — I do want that — but also for a selfish reason. I wanted him to participate because he’s better at this stuff than I am. He’s a whiz at spreadsheets. The man has a Ph.d in Physical Chemistry. You don’t get one of those without doing a few math problems.

Lately, I’ve been getting my wish. My husband has been talking with a financial advisor at the university he works for, and having clear, honest conversations with me about our money.

This seemed like the perfect time for me to read Mary Hunt’s How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage.

Relationship first

Hunt’s book covers the basics of personal finance and debt destruction, with a special focus on doing it as a couple. Before she even begins talking about financial management, Hunt talks about strengthening the foundations of your marriage. You can’t have financial harmony without emotional intimacy, she says.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s clear in my own marriage that spending time relaxing together on vacation helped my husband and me both chill out and have better conversations during our family finance meetings too.

Hunt and I part ways in the chapters about how to achieve that emotional intimacy, though. She bases her prescription for marital bliss on traditional gender roles. She includes chapters for each sex on how to make deposits in the other’s Love Bank — a metaphorical bank of goodwill made of small, loving gestures.

The Love Bank is an adorable idea, one I’m tempted to put into practice here in my own home. I’m pretty sure I won’t be making my deposits to my husband’s Love Bank by biting my tongue when I disagree with him, though. Likewise, I don’t expect him to express his love for me by bringing me flowers and handling all the tough decisions for me like the natural leader of our family should.

Hunt is a generation (or two) older than I am, and what works for her marriage is so foreign to my young, feminist mind that it was actually a little hard to read. But leaving aside the details of how you get to an intimate marriage, though, she and I agree wholeheartedly that it’s important to get your emotional needs met before you can effectively work together with your spouse to manage your finances.

Money second

The personal-finance half of the book will be familiar to most GRS readers. Hunt advocates an approach similar to Your Money or Your Life and Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, one that begins with calculating your net worth and tracking your expenses. From there, she covers the basics of setting up an emergency fund, creating a spending plan, and starting a debt snowball (though she uses different terms for these steps).

Like her ideal of a healthy relationship, Hunt’s financial advice seems a little dated in places. A lot of it has to do with how to organize your three-ring binders, or how to painstakingly accomplish by-hand calculations that Mint can do for you in a few minutes. If you’re a devotee of the pen-and-paper approach, though, her chapters on how to track and plan your spending are rock solid and detailed enough to easily follow.

The one thing in this book that made me want to put it down, run to my office, and implement it on the spot was, in fact, her filing system. Hunt takes a few pages to go over exactly what personal records you should be keeping, and outlines an elegant effective way to organize them. I spent an hour tearing apart my filing cabinet yesterday as soon as I read those pages. I may not want my marriage to look much like hers, but I’m delighted to have made over my filing cabinet in Mary Hunt’s image.

Different views

There are a few areas where Mary’s financial advice deviates from the usual Get Rich Slowly formula. One is the matter of the debt snowball. She encourages readers to start saving 10% of their income towards an emergency fund immediately, while still paying the minimums on their credit cards. Only after saving up a fully funded six-month emergency fund would Hunt advise you to roll those savings into your credit card payments.

Given the relative interest rates on credit cards and savings accounts, this approach will almost certainly cost you money. If it works for you psychologically, though, by all means pursue it. No matter what order you do them in, the key steps of tracking your spending, creating an emergency fund, and snowballing your debt payments will lead you to financial security.

Another place where she breaks with conventional wisdom is in her savings and spending ratios. GRS readers are familiar with the Balanced Money Formula that encourages us to use 50% of our money for living expenses, 30% for fun and 20% for savings. Hunt advises 10% for giving, 10% for saving and 80% for spending.

The order of those percentages is vital to her. A devout Christian, Hunt feels that all the money that comes into your life is a blessing from God, and promptly giving 10% of it back to God shows you can be trusted with this blessing, and more of it will come your way.

I’m not a Christian, but I admire Mary’s faith and devotion to charitable giving. It’s a goal of mine to give 10% of my income. I’ve written about that here before, and readers made a persuasive case for waiting until my debts were paid before giving so much away. For now, I give a modest amount and look forward to giving more in the future.

I think that for Hunt, the psychological benefits of giving 10% and saving 10% before you make any spending decisions at all outweigh the financial benefits of paying off your debts as fast as possible and then beginning to accumulate and donate wealth.

It’s an interesting approach, and one that might work for a lot of people. Particularly if you’re a devoted Christian and looking for a personal-finance book that reflects your values, you’ll find a lot of good in How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage. If you’re looking for a book that’s totally focused on financial savvy and relationship skills, though, this might not be your best bet.

big white booty chile

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

Tax The Rich! (9pm Saturday on Fox <b>News</b> Channel) « John Stossel

In my weekend special, The Battle for the Future -- it airs Saturday at 9pm and Sunday at 8 PM and.

Diane Sawyer: ABC World <b>News</b> Goes Home: Looking for What Works in <b>...</b>

We at ABC's World News are heading out to search for innovative ideas that are helping turn the economy around. Real change is often born out of a simple act. And one ripple can lead to a powerful transformation.

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

Tax The Rich! (9pm Saturday on Fox <b>News</b> Channel) « John Stossel

In my weekend special, The Battle for the Future -- it airs Saturday at 9pm and Sunday at 8 PM and.

Diane Sawyer: ABC World <b>News</b> Goes Home: Looking for What Works in <b>...</b>

We at ABC's World News are heading out to search for innovative ideas that are helping turn the economy around. Real change is often born out of a simple act. And one ripple can lead to a powerful transformation.

big white booty

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

Tax The Rich! (9pm Saturday on Fox <b>News</b> Channel) « John Stossel

In my weekend special, The Battle for the Future -- it airs Saturday at 9pm and Sunday at 8 PM and.

Diane Sawyer: ABC World <b>News</b> Goes Home: Looking for What Works in <b>...</b>

We at ABC's World News are heading out to search for innovative ideas that are helping turn the economy around. Real change is often born out of a simple act. And one ripple can lead to a powerful transformation.

managing personal finances

Are you a fan of the GTD personal productivity system? Well if you like "Getting Things Done," here's GFD, Getting Finances Done, which shows you how to map David Allen's same principals to managing your personal finance and achieving your financial goals.

Applying GTD principles to your personal finances - Part 1 [Getting Finances Done]

Are you a fan of the GTD personal productivity system? Well if you like "Getting Things Done," here's GFD, Getting Finances Done, which shows you how to map David Allen's same principals to managing your personal finance and achieving your financial goals.

Applying GTD principles to your personal finances - Part 1 [Getting Finances Done]

mass big white booty

Actual Real Life Good Internet <b>News</b>: Super Wi-Fi Coming Soon <b>...</b>

Most of the time, news about the internet is both hard to understand and seemingly bad. There are always stories coming out about net neutrality where you.

Libratone Beat offers wireless playback from iPad, iPhone, iPod <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the Libratone Beat offers wireless playback from iPad, iPhone, iPod. Find more iPod Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Actual Real Life Good Internet <b>News</b>: Super Wi-Fi Coming Soon <b>...</b>

Most of the time, news about the internet is both hard to understand and seemingly bad. There are always stories coming out about net neutrality where you.

Libratone Beat offers wireless playback from iPad, iPhone, iPod <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the Libratone Beat offers wireless playback from iPad, iPhone, iPod. Find more iPod Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

big white booty

Actual Real Life Good Internet <b>News</b>: Super Wi-Fi Coming Soon <b>...</b>

Most of the time, news about the internet is both hard to understand and seemingly bad. There are always stories coming out about net neutrality where you.

Libratone Beat offers wireless playback from iPad, iPhone, iPod <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the Libratone Beat offers wireless playback from iPad, iPhone, iPod. Find more iPod Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Making Money Through

Social games are the rage these days, but making money from them isn’t easy. Gamers play these titles for free, but Adknowledge is figuring out how game publishers can wind up making money from 100 percent of the players.

Adknowledge’s Burlingame, Calif.-based Super Rewards subsidiary is launching a three-part system for making money from virtual currency in games. That could help boost the engagement of players in social games and help raise the revenue generated from each user, said Adknowledge chief executive Scott Lynn. Adknowledge can offer this money-making system as a one-stop shop for publishers and game advertisers.

The three elements include an in-game overlay, offer banners, and a new offer wall for online game publishers. Adknowledge claims the new platform improves the experience for users and increases the number of paying users in a game. Adknowledge is one of a number of companies that give users the option of accepting special offers in lieu of payment for an online game. You can accept an offer such as signing up for a Netflix subscription in return for virtual currency in a game.

But results show that roughly 75 percent of players do not use offers. Super Rewards can target those missing the offers with an in-game overlay, which brings a single, high-value offer to users within a game. The overlay shows up at strategic moments in a game, such as after the initial load. The offers can include promotional language such as “Get More Coins.”

The offer banner uses the space around the main game landscape, presenting a mini version of an offer wall during game play. Users can pay for virtual items at the moment with direct payment methods.

Publishers using the three-part system include The Broth, whose Facebook game Barn Buddy saw its revenue increase 25 percent after using the new system for just five days, said Broth chief executive Markus Weichselbaum. Other publishers have seen a 45 percent increase in the number of new paying users. Adknowledge said developers have seen a 40-percent increase in the number of first-time payers. Super Rewards’ rivals include TrialPay and Offerpal.

Adknowledge has more than 300 employees and $300 million in revenue, making it the largest privately owned internet advertising network. It was founded in 2004 and has grown through acquisitions. The company has raised $48 million in funding from Technology Crossover Ventures.

Next Story: Game media firm IGN Entertainment to give free office space to indie game startups Previous Story: DEMO: VentureBeat’s Matt Marshall touts tech and farming trends (video)

Does respecting the opinions of others include despising others, of implying that others will be at fault if the awful Rethugs, whom Obama has been, you will recall, courting with “bipartisanship”?

Does respect entail telling us that what we saw, in print, of Obama’s clear promises, what we heard with our own ears, of Obama’s promises, an Obama many worked for thinking that, as a black man, Obama would be good for the country, and the vote alone, by itself, Was and IS a sign of the good of the country … does respect mean telling us we never saw or heard such things … that we are lying and making things up?

Does respect mean telling people who have watched, closely, the political scene for longer than Obama has been alive, people who were willing and happy to donate time and effort and ideas, people who had and have good, indeed wonderful, ideas, ideas that still must be implemented to avert serious economic and social disaster, that they are “effing r*****s”, in need of a drug test, and of “getting” a “real” life?

Does respect mean peddling fear?

Or does “respect” mean something else perhaps, like appreciation, or at least, tolerance AND the understanding that people who do not agree with you are, possibly, neither stupid nor uninformed?

Apparently, what phred suggested, regarding a party having actual accomplishments and a moral compass is less important than “winning”, when such “winning” simply means more of the same.

Frankly, AC2, it matters little who is in power because the “system” is so corrupt, economically and legally, specifically as regards the rule of law, as Obama has continued and extended the worst of the Bush-Cheney Executive power grab, and the military has far to much power, politically and, in terms of the amount of the nation’s “wealth and treasure”, a stranglehold on the nation’s “looking forward” future, that regardless of who is in “power”, as they are both essentially the same, in spite of YOUR assertions that, somehow, they are not … our society faces very hard times … and to be brutally honest … the pain ought to be shared equally, and the blame, let’s not put it on “progressives”, or even the T-baggers, but on those who have had and do have power, especially Obama who had, despite those who dispute it, a genuine and heartfelt mandate to actually make some changes, which as President, with majorities in both the House and Senate, as well as each and every one of those “Democratic” Senators and Representatives, he and the Democrats COULD have done?

At the very least, respect means not calling others stupid or blaming them for the failures of others.

When the spill in the Gulf occurred, certain pundits intoned, “We are all responsible for this catastrophe.”

But look who is still in business, the largest supplier to the US military, aka Bee Pee.

When the economic meltdown occurred, certain pundits intoned, “It was those who could not afford these homes, but really we are all to blame.”

But look who is getting huge, actually obscene, “bonuses”?

Now you can say, “It’s systemic, and the D’s can’t fix it over-night”

Righto, AC2, righto.

Wonder when they plan to start?

Righto, right after they defeat the awful, evil R’s … well soon thereafter, anyhow.

But it’s hard, doncha know?

Righto.

Now, you will note, AC2, that at no point did I take you, personally, to task or suggest that it will be your fault if disaster befalls us? Nor did phred, for that matter.

Those who differ from you have never said you are to blame, yet you, and other partisans who agree with your viewpoint, charge us with such “responsibility” constantly and consistently,

Nobody “lost” 2000, but the Dems, Gore and Lieberman.

Frankly, AC2, I voted AGAINST Lieberman AND Gore’s apparently happy choice of Lieberman as his running-mate.

And, you know, just between us, AC2, Gore’s behavior, during Bush v. Gore, was not inspiring, to say the least.

Kind of cowardly, like the D’s in general, and certain ones, in particular.

These times, clearly, call for courage and bold innovation, not capitulation to selfish greed, mindless fear, and state secrecy, “secret” law and killing at a distance on the whims of one man or woman. Democrat or Republican. The President of the United States of America.

In my opinion.

DW

&#39;Climate Change&#39;: even Porritt knows the game&#39;s up – Telegraph Blogs

caption id="attachment_100054982" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Eat lead, eco loons!"] A mournful post from my old sparring partner the Ho...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

US committed to support Lebanon&#39;s Armed Forces - Arab <b>News</b>

At no time will Arab News attempt to alter the core meaning of a comment. 3. Reject the message, edit the message when the moderators judge it to be a personal attack, defamatory (or potentially defamatory), abusive, incite hatred or ...

robert shumake

&#39;Climate Change&#39;: even Porritt knows the game&#39;s up – Telegraph Blogs

caption id="attachment_100054982" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Eat lead, eco loons!"] A mournful post from my old sparring partner the Ho...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

US committed to support Lebanon&#39;s Armed Forces - Arab <b>News</b>

At no time will Arab News attempt to alter the core meaning of a comment. 3. Reject the message, edit the message when the moderators judge it to be a personal attack, defamatory (or potentially defamatory), abusive, incite hatred or ...

Social games are the rage these days, but making money from them isn’t easy. Gamers play these titles for free, but Adknowledge is figuring out how game publishers can wind up making money from 100 percent of the players.

Adknowledge’s Burlingame, Calif.-based Super Rewards subsidiary is launching a three-part system for making money from virtual currency in games. That could help boost the engagement of players in social games and help raise the revenue generated from each user, said Adknowledge chief executive Scott Lynn. Adknowledge can offer this money-making system as a one-stop shop for publishers and game advertisers.

The three elements include an in-game overlay, offer banners, and a new offer wall for online game publishers. Adknowledge claims the new platform improves the experience for users and increases the number of paying users in a game. Adknowledge is one of a number of companies that give users the option of accepting special offers in lieu of payment for an online game. You can accept an offer such as signing up for a Netflix subscription in return for virtual currency in a game.

But results show that roughly 75 percent of players do not use offers. Super Rewards can target those missing the offers with an in-game overlay, which brings a single, high-value offer to users within a game. The overlay shows up at strategic moments in a game, such as after the initial load. The offers can include promotional language such as “Get More Coins.”

The offer banner uses the space around the main game landscape, presenting a mini version of an offer wall during game play. Users can pay for virtual items at the moment with direct payment methods.

Publishers using the three-part system include The Broth, whose Facebook game Barn Buddy saw its revenue increase 25 percent after using the new system for just five days, said Broth chief executive Markus Weichselbaum. Other publishers have seen a 45 percent increase in the number of new paying users. Adknowledge said developers have seen a 40-percent increase in the number of first-time payers. Super Rewards’ rivals include TrialPay and Offerpal.

Adknowledge has more than 300 employees and $300 million in revenue, making it the largest privately owned internet advertising network. It was founded in 2004 and has grown through acquisitions. The company has raised $48 million in funding from Technology Crossover Ventures.

Next Story: Game media firm IGN Entertainment to give free office space to indie game startups Previous Story: DEMO: VentureBeat’s Matt Marshall touts tech and farming trends (video)

Does respecting the opinions of others include despising others, of implying that others will be at fault if the awful Rethugs, whom Obama has been, you will recall, courting with “bipartisanship”?

Does respect entail telling us that what we saw, in print, of Obama’s clear promises, what we heard with our own ears, of Obama’s promises, an Obama many worked for thinking that, as a black man, Obama would be good for the country, and the vote alone, by itself, Was and IS a sign of the good of the country … does respect mean telling us we never saw or heard such things … that we are lying and making things up?

Does respect mean telling people who have watched, closely, the political scene for longer than Obama has been alive, people who were willing and happy to donate time and effort and ideas, people who had and have good, indeed wonderful, ideas, ideas that still must be implemented to avert serious economic and social disaster, that they are “effing r*****s”, in need of a drug test, and of “getting” a “real” life?

Does respect mean peddling fear?

Or does “respect” mean something else perhaps, like appreciation, or at least, tolerance AND the understanding that people who do not agree with you are, possibly, neither stupid nor uninformed?

Apparently, what phred suggested, regarding a party having actual accomplishments and a moral compass is less important than “winning”, when such “winning” simply means more of the same.

Frankly, AC2, it matters little who is in power because the “system” is so corrupt, economically and legally, specifically as regards the rule of law, as Obama has continued and extended the worst of the Bush-Cheney Executive power grab, and the military has far to much power, politically and, in terms of the amount of the nation’s “wealth and treasure”, a stranglehold on the nation’s “looking forward” future, that regardless of who is in “power”, as they are both essentially the same, in spite of YOUR assertions that, somehow, they are not … our society faces very hard times … and to be brutally honest … the pain ought to be shared equally, and the blame, let’s not put it on “progressives”, or even the T-baggers, but on those who have had and do have power, especially Obama who had, despite those who dispute it, a genuine and heartfelt mandate to actually make some changes, which as President, with majorities in both the House and Senate, as well as each and every one of those “Democratic” Senators and Representatives, he and the Democrats COULD have done?

At the very least, respect means not calling others stupid or blaming them for the failures of others.

When the spill in the Gulf occurred, certain pundits intoned, “We are all responsible for this catastrophe.”

But look who is still in business, the largest supplier to the US military, aka Bee Pee.

When the economic meltdown occurred, certain pundits intoned, “It was those who could not afford these homes, but really we are all to blame.”

But look who is getting huge, actually obscene, “bonuses”?

Now you can say, “It’s systemic, and the D’s can’t fix it over-night”

Righto, AC2, righto.

Wonder when they plan to start?

Righto, right after they defeat the awful, evil R’s … well soon thereafter, anyhow.

But it’s hard, doncha know?

Righto.

Now, you will note, AC2, that at no point did I take you, personally, to task or suggest that it will be your fault if disaster befalls us? Nor did phred, for that matter.

Those who differ from you have never said you are to blame, yet you, and other partisans who agree with your viewpoint, charge us with such “responsibility” constantly and consistently,

Nobody “lost” 2000, but the Dems, Gore and Lieberman.

Frankly, AC2, I voted AGAINST Lieberman AND Gore’s apparently happy choice of Lieberman as his running-mate.

And, you know, just between us, AC2, Gore’s behavior, during Bush v. Gore, was not inspiring, to say the least.

Kind of cowardly, like the D’s in general, and certain ones, in particular.

These times, clearly, call for courage and bold innovation, not capitulation to selfish greed, mindless fear, and state secrecy, “secret” law and killing at a distance on the whims of one man or woman. Democrat or Republican. The President of the United States of America.

In my opinion.

DW

robert shumake

&#39;Climate Change&#39;: even Porritt knows the game&#39;s up – Telegraph Blogs

caption id="attachment_100054982" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Eat lead, eco loons!"] A mournful post from my old sparring partner the Ho...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

US committed to support Lebanon&#39;s Armed Forces - Arab <b>News</b>

At no time will Arab News attempt to alter the core meaning of a comment. 3. Reject the message, edit the message when the moderators judge it to be a personal attack, defamatory (or potentially defamatory), abusive, incite hatred or ...

robert shumake

&#39;Climate Change&#39;: even Porritt knows the game&#39;s up – Telegraph Blogs

caption id="attachment_100054982" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Eat lead, eco loons!"] A mournful post from my old sparring partner the Ho...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

US committed to support Lebanon&#39;s Armed Forces - Arab <b>News</b>

At no time will Arab News attempt to alter the core meaning of a comment. 3. Reject the message, edit the message when the moderators judge it to be a personal attack, defamatory (or potentially defamatory), abusive, incite hatred or ...

Making Money Cash

"many consumers are stopping their mortgage payments, and then blowing the money they would usually pay towards their mortgage on luxuries"

What percent of these insolvent consumers are buying "luxuries" and how much do these luxury purchases account for in relation to the total spending of these insolvent consumers? 

Fact is, you can't answer these questions because you have shit data and lurid conclusions based on suspicion, rumor, anecdotal "evidence" and the burning envy that still defines America . . . particularly the astonishingly perverse envy of the "haves" for the "have nots." 

No doubt a "significant" number of the falling middle class are insanely maxing out their cards and gaming the system--this is America--but in an environment of 40 million-plus on food stamps, 20% real unemployment/underemployment, ARM blow-ups, and so on do you really believe most people are spending the money they don't have to pay their mortgage payments on luxuries?   I would suggest that before asserting common sense defying conclusions, you dig up some actual data that meaningfully supports something stronger than this bullshit.

What is this, National Enquirer for the educated set? 

Okay, the put-down is a rhetorical one, George.  I generally admire your work and, of course, ZH is the shiznit.  But this developing story line of the average underwater American bleeding the rest of us dry while they continue living The Life is getting real old.  See Tyler's similar post from just yesterday. 

I suspect these unsupported conclusions say more about the audience than they do about the typical insolvent consumer, regardless of the testimonials.  Sampling bias, anyone?

Final thought that apparently is not widely known here: If you have both income and overwhelming credit card or other debt, you can't just skate by not paying the bills.  It might work for a while with the house, since the banks are complicit in hiding the bad debts on their books, but it doesn't work anywhere else for long.  One late payment and your credit line is cut off (and we all know card credit limits have been slashed to begin with.)  Then you get taken to court.  My daughter is an attorney working for one of the nation's largest debtor-relief firms and she's been blown away by the onslaught of suits brought by creditors in the last 6 months--her workload just writing Answers has increased about 600%.  When it's not the banks themselves, it's the collection agencies that have bought the paper--don't pretend that a charge-off by the original creditor means the debt disappeared for good.  Many people on unemployment are being garnished.  People who have retirement accounts are tapping them out. 

I look forward to some quality analysis of these issues as the data emerges and creative, conscientious analysts applying themselves to doing it--wish I didn't have to keep hearing this incessant drumbeat of unsupported resentment until that day arrives. 

The newly formed �super PAC� of abortion rights advocacy group EMILY�s List drew most of the $430,000 it raised in August from just five sources, a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance reports filed Thursday shows.

Last month, the PAC, known as Women Vote!, raised $250,000 from the Service Employees International Union and another $95,000 from four wealthy women philanthropists and investors who have been prolific political donors over the years, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis. Such contributions illustrate how relatively few people may now, in the aftermath of major federal court decisions, significantly affect the financial fortunes of certain political groups.

This $95,000 represents more than 50 percent of all non-SEIU contributions Women Vote! collected in August.

The largest individual contribution the group received in August came from New York investor Judith-Ann Corrente, who contributed $50,000.

Along with her husband, Blenheim Capital Management Chairman Willem Kooyker, Corrente is among the top 50 donors to all federal candidates, parties and committees so far this election cycle.

The other women to drop five-figure checks for the committee are as follows:

• Anne D. Taft, of Binghamton, N.Y. She contributed $25,000 and her occupation is listed as �investor� on the group�s Federal Election Commission filings


• Emily H. Fisher, a philanthropist who lives in Sheffield, Mass. She contributed $10,000 and her occupation is listed as �retired� on the group�s FEC filings


• Anne Bartley, of San Francisco. She contributed $10,000. Her occupation is listed as �investor� on the group�s FEC filings. She is married to Larry B. McNeil -- who is the director of the SEIU�s Institute for Change and who was a �Saul Alinski organizer for 25 years,� according to an official online biography
  

Bartley is also currently a trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. (Full disclosure: This foundation is a funder of the Center for Responsive Politics.)

The EMILY�s List�s Women Vote! PAC was established earlier this year for the explicit purpose of making independent expenditures in hot races, for example, running advertisements overtly telling voters to support or defeat specific candidates. It is one of more than two dozen groups to register with the FEC as an �independent expenditure-only committee,� as OpenSecrets Blog has previously written about on numerous occasions.

The group has raised $1.5 million between January and August. It ended August with about $703,000 cash on hand.

It has spent $826,900 since January, including $65,800 on mailings in August touting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan and opposing Republican Senate candidate Roy Blunt in Missouri.

During previous election cycles, federal rules limited how much money PACs could collect from individuals. It was illegal to collect more than $5,000 per person, per year. But recent federal legal rulings -- including Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission -- have changed that.

Chemical industry <b>news</b>

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Cave Story DS on the way? DS <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

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Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...

robert shumake

Chemical industry <b>news</b>

Previously you would have found the latest Chemical Industry News from our news server site. Acquisitions, mergers, share prices, new chemical industry trading…

Cave Story DS on the way? DS <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our DS news of Cave Story DS on the way?. ... Email news@eurogamer.net. Related Games. Cave Story WII. Latest Features. Cave Story Review . Cave Story Hands On . Latest News. Upcoming DSiWare/WiiWare titles listed ...

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Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...

"many consumers are stopping their mortgage payments, and then blowing the money they would usually pay towards their mortgage on luxuries"

What percent of these insolvent consumers are buying "luxuries" and how much do these luxury purchases account for in relation to the total spending of these insolvent consumers? 

Fact is, you can't answer these questions because you have shit data and lurid conclusions based on suspicion, rumor, anecdotal "evidence" and the burning envy that still defines America . . . particularly the astonishingly perverse envy of the "haves" for the "have nots." 

No doubt a "significant" number of the falling middle class are insanely maxing out their cards and gaming the system--this is America--but in an environment of 40 million-plus on food stamps, 20% real unemployment/underemployment, ARM blow-ups, and so on do you really believe most people are spending the money they don't have to pay their mortgage payments on luxuries?   I would suggest that before asserting common sense defying conclusions, you dig up some actual data that meaningfully supports something stronger than this bullshit.

What is this, National Enquirer for the educated set? 

Okay, the put-down is a rhetorical one, George.  I generally admire your work and, of course, ZH is the shiznit.  But this developing story line of the average underwater American bleeding the rest of us dry while they continue living The Life is getting real old.  See Tyler's similar post from just yesterday. 

I suspect these unsupported conclusions say more about the audience than they do about the typical insolvent consumer, regardless of the testimonials.  Sampling bias, anyone?

Final thought that apparently is not widely known here: If you have both income and overwhelming credit card or other debt, you can't just skate by not paying the bills.  It might work for a while with the house, since the banks are complicit in hiding the bad debts on their books, but it doesn't work anywhere else for long.  One late payment and your credit line is cut off (and we all know card credit limits have been slashed to begin with.)  Then you get taken to court.  My daughter is an attorney working for one of the nation's largest debtor-relief firms and she's been blown away by the onslaught of suits brought by creditors in the last 6 months--her workload just writing Answers has increased about 600%.  When it's not the banks themselves, it's the collection agencies that have bought the paper--don't pretend that a charge-off by the original creditor means the debt disappeared for good.  Many people on unemployment are being garnished.  People who have retirement accounts are tapping them out. 

I look forward to some quality analysis of these issues as the data emerges and creative, conscientious analysts applying themselves to doing it--wish I didn't have to keep hearing this incessant drumbeat of unsupported resentment until that day arrives. 

The newly formed �super PAC� of abortion rights advocacy group EMILY�s List drew most of the $430,000 it raised in August from just five sources, a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance reports filed Thursday shows.

Last month, the PAC, known as Women Vote!, raised $250,000 from the Service Employees International Union and another $95,000 from four wealthy women philanthropists and investors who have been prolific political donors over the years, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis. Such contributions illustrate how relatively few people may now, in the aftermath of major federal court decisions, significantly affect the financial fortunes of certain political groups.

This $95,000 represents more than 50 percent of all non-SEIU contributions Women Vote! collected in August.

The largest individual contribution the group received in August came from New York investor Judith-Ann Corrente, who contributed $50,000.

Along with her husband, Blenheim Capital Management Chairman Willem Kooyker, Corrente is among the top 50 donors to all federal candidates, parties and committees so far this election cycle.

The other women to drop five-figure checks for the committee are as follows:

• Anne D. Taft, of Binghamton, N.Y. She contributed $25,000 and her occupation is listed as �investor� on the group�s Federal Election Commission filings


• Emily H. Fisher, a philanthropist who lives in Sheffield, Mass. She contributed $10,000 and her occupation is listed as �retired� on the group�s FEC filings


• Anne Bartley, of San Francisco. She contributed $10,000. Her occupation is listed as �investor� on the group�s FEC filings. She is married to Larry B. McNeil -- who is the director of the SEIU�s Institute for Change and who was a �Saul Alinski organizer for 25 years,� according to an official online biography
  

Bartley is also currently a trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. (Full disclosure: This foundation is a funder of the Center for Responsive Politics.)

The EMILY�s List�s Women Vote! PAC was established earlier this year for the explicit purpose of making independent expenditures in hot races, for example, running advertisements overtly telling voters to support or defeat specific candidates. It is one of more than two dozen groups to register with the FEC as an �independent expenditure-only committee,� as OpenSecrets Blog has previously written about on numerous occasions.

The group has raised $1.5 million between January and August. It ended August with about $703,000 cash on hand.

It has spent $826,900 since January, including $65,800 on mailings in August touting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan and opposing Republican Senate candidate Roy Blunt in Missouri.

During previous election cycles, federal rules limited how much money PACs could collect from individuals. It was illegal to collect more than $5,000 per person, per year. But recent federal legal rulings -- including Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission -- have changed that.

robert shumake

Chemical industry <b>news</b>

Previously you would have found the latest Chemical Industry News from our news server site. Acquisitions, mergers, share prices, new chemical industry trading…

Cave Story DS on the way? DS <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our DS news of Cave Story DS on the way?. ... Email news@eurogamer.net. Related Games. Cave Story WII. Latest Features. Cave Story Review . Cave Story Hands On . Latest News. Upcoming DSiWare/WiiWare titles listed ...

Wild <b>News</b>

Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...

robert shumake

Chemical industry <b>news</b>

Previously you would have found the latest Chemical Industry News from our news server site. Acquisitions, mergers, share prices, new chemical industry trading…

Cave Story DS on the way? DS <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our DS news of Cave Story DS on the way?. ... Email news@eurogamer.net. Related Games. Cave Story WII. Latest Features. Cave Story Review . Cave Story Hands On . Latest News. Upcoming DSiWare/WiiWare titles listed ...

Wild <b>News</b>

Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...