Making Fast Money

Considering how hard Rolling Stone worked to make Barack Obama look good in their recent interview, it’s a pity they couldn’t bring themselves to cut the embarrassing “final thoughts” he insisted on appending:

One closing remark that I want to make: It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we’ve got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward.

The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible.

Everybody out there has to be thinking about what’s at stake in this election and if they want to move forward over the next two years or six years or 10 years on key issues like climate change, key issues like how we restore a sense of equity and optimism to middle-class families who have seen their incomes decline by five percent over the last decade. If we want the kind of country that respects civil rights and civil liberties, we’d better fight in this election. And right now, we are getting outspent eight to one by these 527s that the Roberts court says can spend with impunity without disclosing where their money’s coming from. In every single one of these congressional districts, you are seeing these independent organizations outspend political parties and the candidates by, as I said, factors of four to one, five to one, eight to one, 10 to one.

Even by the standards of overheated political rhetoric, this is remarkably silly.  Beyond the questionable tactic of motivating his base by insulting them as irresponsible crybabies, take another look at the stakes Obama lays out in that last paragraph.  He wants to “move forward” on the ridiculous climate-change fraud?  Note to the President: It’s over. The con artists got busted.  The country you left swimming in debt will not suffer another dime of its money to be confiscated for the benefit of global-warming carnival hustlers.  The great bid to frighten Americans into handing over control of their lives to a junk-science religious cult has failed.

How do we “restore a sense of equity and optimism to middle-class families?”  I know!  Let’s blow their jobs away and bankrupt their children with a poorly thought out socialized medicine scheme!

The President saves the best for last.  Democrats have to “fight in this election” if they “want the kind of country that respects civil rights and civil liberties.”  That’s the real agenda of the Tea Party movement, all right: reinstating slavery.

Of course, if you translate the President’s remarks from Leftspeak, you’ll see that by “civil rights” he means vast government spending programs and politicized “justice” of the Eric Holder variety.  Besides encrypting their real agenda to lure in “moderates,” the Left loves this kind of language because it lets them pretend to be heroic crusaders against absolute evil.  Every progressive voter sees himself lunging from the shadows and throwing Batarangs into the faces of surprised Klansmen.

The same fantasies fuel the ravings of NAACP chairman Ben Jealous, who has squandered the last of his organization’s credibility to hang a bucket of racist paint over a door the Tea Party will never walk through.  The NAACP purchases influence by performing certain services for the Democrat Party.  They’ve been unable to carry out their mission this year.  The impending defeat of his patrons has driven Jealous to muttering about Kristallnacht.

Hopefully the Tea Party women will remember to wear burqas over their jackboots, lest they provoke the righteous fury of Taliban Dan.  Alan Grayson’s slanderous ad campaign is merely the terminal point on a line of hysteria, stretching from Obama’s dire warnings about the end of civil rights, through Jealous and his delirious tiptoe through nights of broken glass.  It’s the same strategy, executed less gracefully.  Grayson is the eager but dimwitted kid who lights his jack-o-lantern with a stick of dynamite so it will glow extra bright.  The guy who runs his favorite Web site helped him carve the pumpkin.

Everywhere you look this election season, the sales pitch is the same: it’s Democrats or the Devil.  The Party and its President claim the moral and intellectual strength to run every aspect of our lives, and confiscate limitless amounts our income… but they won’t explain or defend their actions, because we can’t handle the truth.  Instead, they campaign by assuring us their opponents are monsters.  If I were one of their voters, I would tire of being treated like an idiot, and wonder why a Party full of geniuses can’t make a single rational appeal.

Cross-posted at www.doczero.org.

Doctor Zero: Year One now available from Amazon.com!

This post was promoted from GreenRoom to HotAir.com.

To see the comments on the original post, look here.

Clearly the plot of these Fast & Furious movies aren’t all that important and certainly aren’t what fans flock to the theaters for. But all movies need a plot and we finally get a look at the official one for Fast Five today.

Take a look at the official synopsis for below:

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of returning all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed in Fast Five. In this installment, former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) on the opposite side of the law. Dwayne Johnson joins returning favorites Jordana Brewster, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon and Don Omar for this ultimate high-stakes race.

Since Brian and Mia Toretto (Brewster) broke Dom out of custody, they’ve blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he’s not the only one on their tail.

Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can’t separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey…before someone else runs them down first.

Maybe it’s not the most imaginative plot in the world, but at least it’s taking things in an interesting direction. I really dig the addition of Dwayne Johnson as an agent who apparently never fails at his job (he looks badass in the set photos we posted last month).

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox <b>News</b> Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam
benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox <b>News</b> Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam bench craft company rip off

Considering how hard Rolling Stone worked to make Barack Obama look good in their recent interview, it’s a pity they couldn’t bring themselves to cut the embarrassing “final thoughts” he insisted on appending:

One closing remark that I want to make: It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we’ve got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward.

The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible.

Everybody out there has to be thinking about what’s at stake in this election and if they want to move forward over the next two years or six years or 10 years on key issues like climate change, key issues like how we restore a sense of equity and optimism to middle-class families who have seen their incomes decline by five percent over the last decade. If we want the kind of country that respects civil rights and civil liberties, we’d better fight in this election. And right now, we are getting outspent eight to one by these 527s that the Roberts court says can spend with impunity without disclosing where their money’s coming from. In every single one of these congressional districts, you are seeing these independent organizations outspend political parties and the candidates by, as I said, factors of four to one, five to one, eight to one, 10 to one.

Even by the standards of overheated political rhetoric, this is remarkably silly.  Beyond the questionable tactic of motivating his base by insulting them as irresponsible crybabies, take another look at the stakes Obama lays out in that last paragraph.  He wants to “move forward” on the ridiculous climate-change fraud?  Note to the President: It’s over. The con artists got busted.  The country you left swimming in debt will not suffer another dime of its money to be confiscated for the benefit of global-warming carnival hustlers.  The great bid to frighten Americans into handing over control of their lives to a junk-science religious cult has failed.

How do we “restore a sense of equity and optimism to middle-class families?”  I know!  Let’s blow their jobs away and bankrupt their children with a poorly thought out socialized medicine scheme!

The President saves the best for last.  Democrats have to “fight in this election” if they “want the kind of country that respects civil rights and civil liberties.”  That’s the real agenda of the Tea Party movement, all right: reinstating slavery.

Of course, if you translate the President’s remarks from Leftspeak, you’ll see that by “civil rights” he means vast government spending programs and politicized “justice” of the Eric Holder variety.  Besides encrypting their real agenda to lure in “moderates,” the Left loves this kind of language because it lets them pretend to be heroic crusaders against absolute evil.  Every progressive voter sees himself lunging from the shadows and throwing Batarangs into the faces of surprised Klansmen.

The same fantasies fuel the ravings of NAACP chairman Ben Jealous, who has squandered the last of his organization’s credibility to hang a bucket of racist paint over a door the Tea Party will never walk through.  The NAACP purchases influence by performing certain services for the Democrat Party.  They’ve been unable to carry out their mission this year.  The impending defeat of his patrons has driven Jealous to muttering about Kristallnacht.

Hopefully the Tea Party women will remember to wear burqas over their jackboots, lest they provoke the righteous fury of Taliban Dan.  Alan Grayson’s slanderous ad campaign is merely the terminal point on a line of hysteria, stretching from Obama’s dire warnings about the end of civil rights, through Jealous and his delirious tiptoe through nights of broken glass.  It’s the same strategy, executed less gracefully.  Grayson is the eager but dimwitted kid who lights his jack-o-lantern with a stick of dynamite so it will glow extra bright.  The guy who runs his favorite Web site helped him carve the pumpkin.

Everywhere you look this election season, the sales pitch is the same: it’s Democrats or the Devil.  The Party and its President claim the moral and intellectual strength to run every aspect of our lives, and confiscate limitless amounts our income… but they won’t explain or defend their actions, because we can’t handle the truth.  Instead, they campaign by assuring us their opponents are monsters.  If I were one of their voters, I would tire of being treated like an idiot, and wonder why a Party full of geniuses can’t make a single rational appeal.

Cross-posted at www.doczero.org.

Doctor Zero: Year One now available from Amazon.com!

This post was promoted from GreenRoom to HotAir.com.

To see the comments on the original post, look here.

Clearly the plot of these Fast & Furious movies aren’t all that important and certainly aren’t what fans flock to the theaters for. But all movies need a plot and we finally get a look at the official one for Fast Five today.

Take a look at the official synopsis for below:

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of returning all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed in Fast Five. In this installment, former cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) on the opposite side of the law. Dwayne Johnson joins returning favorites Jordana Brewster, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon and Don Omar for this ultimate high-stakes race.

Since Brian and Mia Toretto (Brewster) broke Dom out of custody, they’ve blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he’s not the only one on their tail.

Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can’t separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey…before someone else runs them down first.

Maybe it’s not the most imaginative plot in the world, but at least it’s taking things in an interesting direction. I really dig the addition of Dwayne Johnson as an agent who apparently never fails at his job (he looks badass in the set photos we posted last month).

benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox <b>News</b> Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

bench craft company rip off benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox <b>News</b> Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam bench craft company rip off

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

From Poll, a Snapshot of Fox <b>News</b> Viewers - NYTimes.com

Voters who watch Fox News are more enthusiastic about the election and angrier with Washington, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam

tracking personal finances

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

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.

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Michelle Malkin » New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox <b>News</b> is <b>...</b>

New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

halloween costumes

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Michelle Malkin » New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox <b>News</b> is <b>...</b>

New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

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

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.

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Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Michelle Malkin » New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox <b>News</b> is <b>...</b>

New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

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Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Michelle Malkin » New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox <b>News</b> is <b>...</b>

New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success.

Bad <b>News</b>: Yahoo Media Boss Out. Good <b>News</b>: Bartz Won&#39;t Have To Ask <b>...</b>

Yahoo's media boss Jimmy Pitaro is quitting the company.

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

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Events of the last week have made the Deficit Commission an embarrassment. Co-Chair Alan Simpson is a one-man disaster movie, compulsively offending one key voting bloc after another. Commission member Paul Ryan faced an angry crowd over his anti-Social Security stance, while another Commissioner locked experienced workers out of a nuclear facility rather than provide retirement benefits.

That's right: He's cutting retirement benefits.

But if the political blowback is obvious, here's what isn't: The Commissioners who are determined to cut your Social Security benefits are going to enjoy their own retirements in comfort. Their own pension plans insulate them from the fears that many other Americans face, and they don't have the professional expertise that would help them understand those concerns. In fact, the Commission's only expert on retirement is Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and she apparently opposes benefit cuts. The rest of the Commission is dominated by people who've expressed their desire to cut Social Security, despite their own secure futures. Millions of working Americans who have contributed to Social Security all their lives will lose out if these Commissioners have their way.

Happy Labor Day.

Normally I consider it off-limits to discuss people's personal finances when discussing their political opinions. But these Commissioners' lack of subject matter expertise, along with their lack of empathy, is important. If you don't know much about the topic and are protected from the problem, what makes you credible? Their pre-established prejudices makes the situation even worse, and their own situations underscore the irony of their self-professed willingness to make "brave choices" - choices whose consequences will mean little or nothing to them.

The Commission's Social Security obsession is odd anyway, since the projected Social Security shortfall comes out to only 0.7% of GDP. Nevertheless, these Commissioners have made their benefit-cutting intentions plain, presumably because they want to offer up America's seniors as a sacrifice to the bond markets. So how will these would-be income-slashers for the elderly make out in their own golden years? They'll be golden.

Consider Commissioner Alice Rivlin. Rivlin co-authored a paper that called for raising the retirement age and other benefit cuts, and recently released a specious paper about "Saving Social Security." As a former HEW Undersecretary, CBO Director, White House Budget Director, and Federal Reserve Vice Chair, she will presumably enjoy a comfortable retirement supported by multiple public pensions. Says Rivlin: ""We can't get out of this problem without doing both spending cuts, especially slowing the growth of entitlement, and tax increases."

Experts on Social Security finance (including the long-time Chief Actuary for the program) flatly disagree with Rivlin, pointing out that an adjustment to the payroll tax cap would unquestionably be enough to get the job done. They have the numbers to prove it. So why does Rivlin, who does not have their expertise in this area, disagree? Go ask Alice.

Co-Chair Erskine Bowles brokered a deal with Newt Gingrich to cut Social Security in the 1990s, when he served as Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff. Before that he headed the Small Business Administration, so his government tenure presumably qualifies him for a Federal pension. If not, don't worry: He receives $425,000 per year in his current job running the public universities of North Carolina, and the people of North Carolina are presumably also funding a pension on his behalf. To his credit, Bowles pledged to donate $125,000 of his salary for need-based student funds - but then, he can afford it. As the son of a US Congressman, Bowles had the education and connections needed to make millions as an investment banker. The added income he earns today as a Board member for General Motors and Morgan Stanley will help, too - and his government experience undoubtedly helped him win those positions, too.

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, an aggressive advocate of Social Security cuts and privatization, will also enjoy his sunset years in comfort, thanks to a publicly-funded pension from his tenure as a Congressman. (He'll presumably earn even more as a result of his employment as an aide to two United States Senators.) Rep. Jeb Hensaerling has served as both a Representative and as an aide to Sen. Phil Gramm, so he should be safe from financial insecurity in his old age too .

The average annual pension payments for former members of Congress ranged from $41,000 to $55,000 in 2002, considerably more than the average $13,836 that Social Security recipients received in 2009. Yet neither Ryan nor Hensaerling have proposed cutting Congressional retirement benefits - nor should they. Sound pension plans like theirs were once available to most working Americans, and more effort should be made to restore them.

Former SEIU President Andrew Stern, who once might have been counted on to defend Social Security, recently sneered at Commission critics as "assassins of change" while saying that "all entitlements should be on the table." Mr. Stern's annual pension is $152,000 - and he retired at the age of 59, not 70. Nevertheless, Stern now publicly muses about "whether defined benefit pensions can really exist in the long run in a globalized economy."

Judd Gregg, who wants to raise the retirement age to 70, will receive a Federal pension for his Senate position. Gregg, like Alan Simpson, is the son of a Governor (self-made men, you might say), which means that public pensions also ensured that neither of them had to worry about supporting their aged parents. Tom Coburn, another would-be Social Security cutter, will receive a Congressional and Senatorial pension too.

David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell, provides some "private enterprise" perspective to the Commission's work. But Cote's wealth comes in part from Honeywell's government contracts, which exceed $4 billion annually. What's more, Cote's "free enterprise" ethic didn't stop him from making sure that Honeywell grabbed a few million in stimulus money from the taxpayers, too. A few billion from the Pentagon here, a few million more from Uncle Sam there - that'll plump up the nest egg a little for Mr. Cote's sunset years.

Cote made the headlines this week when Honeywell locked out the union workers at a nuclear power plant over a labor dispute - even though the workers agreed to stay on the job to protect public safety. Instead, Cote hired replacements and put them through a pared-down training process. The image of Homer Simpson comes to mind, pushing the wrong buttons and spilling beer on the reactor console - which would presumably make Cote Mr. Burns.

But it's no joking matter. Apparently there's real danger, which is why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reportedly stepped in to block Honeywell from distilling uranium with its crew of replacement workers And what are the union and Honeywell arguing about? Honeywell's raising health care costs - and eliminating retiree pension plans for new workers.

That's right. A member of the Commission that's pretending to judge our retirement security with impartiality would rather have hastily-trained amateurs handle nuclear materials than bargain openly with his workers - about their retirement. D'oh!

As for Simpson (Alan, not Bart), to say that he suffers from "political Tourette's syndrome" would be a disservice to Tourette's sufferers. Most of them don't really say socially objectionable things, and those who do (it's called "coprolalia") don't mean what they say. But Simpson does. By attacking senior citizens as "greedy geezers," then offending women with his "milk cow with 100 million tits" comment, and now offending veterans' groups, Simpson has now hit the voting bloc trifecta.

And Cote's outraged labor, a fourth group. But the problem isn't Simpson anymore, or Cote for that matter. It's the Commission itself. The coprolalic curmudgeon Simpson has done a service to the nation. He's drawn attention to the Commission, and to the anti-Social Security biases held by so many of its members - all of whom will retire in comfort, thanks to those whose benefits they would cut. It's the comfortable afflicting the afflicted.

If these Deficit Commission members want their recommendations to have any credibility, they should pledge to live on the same Social Security benefits that they would impose for other Americans. Better yet, they should dedicate themselves to helping provide every American with the kind of retirement security they enjoy. That was part of the social contract this nation embraced during its years of greatest economic growth, the fulfillment of a promise that a lifetime of work should never end with years of deprivation. They should be working to restore that contract, not erode it even further.

One thing is clear: This Commission has no business making recommendations about Social Security.

(Sign a petition asking Congress and the President to protect Social Security from the Deficit Commission. Roger Hickey has more here.)

Additional links:

* Sam Seder and I discussed Social Security this week while co-hosting The Young Turks.

* For further reference on the Commission's members and their biases, see Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo.

* House Democrats are vowing to protect Social Security from any cuts. The polls show why that's a very wise idea.

I am a 25 year old college student (school, job + savings, back to school… long story) and boy do I wish I knew about all the resources available to me back then. Good for you for starting early!

Lucky for me I have 1 parent (divorced) who is so bad with money that I have been scared into financial responsibility from a young age. Was I perfect? Hahaha.. but I am doing better than 95% of my friends are right now so I guess I am doing something right?

Here is my advice:

1. GET A JOB! - 2 shifts a week is all it takes. I have friends who just graduated from college without ever having a job. Result? No work experience so nowhere will hire them. Some had problems even getting an internship! Try for customer service jobs. Employers value people skills more than flipping burgers.

2. BUDGET! - Cant teach an old dog new tricks so it is best to start young. Add up your monthly expenses such as rent/insurance/cell/gas/etc and divide by 2 or 4 (depending on weekly/bi-weekly payday). Put this money in savings and no touchy! Once you can live on that budget a certain % for an emergency fund and then % for savings. The rest is your “fun” money. As others have said: pizza, ipods, and clothes are “fun money” and NOT emergencies!

3. DEBIT, CREDIT, or CASH?

DEBIT- I am a die hard debit card user. My credit union has detailed (free) online banking. I check my online bank statement in the morning and at night and go over my spending. Think of it as an instant virtual slap in the face about your spending habits. It hurts for the best.

CASH - Some people just cant be responsible enough to respect the plastic and do better with cash. Try and keep bigger bills on you. Breaking a $5 is less mentally painful than breaking a $20. $1s are dangerous. That can of coke is “only $1″. $7 a week, $30 a month. It adds up.

CREDIT - Many say don’t get a credit card, but I disagree. If you are responsible college is a great time to build credit (unless you have some serious control issues… if that is the case, these are not the droids you are looking for…). Not building credit early is the BIGGEST regret I have. Good credit means better rates when buying a house or a car. Do your research first. Consider a student, or if you have to a secured card.

More about credit-

*Do NOT apply for a credit card on campus. It is like selling your soul for a candy bar. Every time you apply for a credit card they run a credit check, which “pings” you. Too many pings hurts your credit score. Not good. Friend did that at every kiosk that offered something free to sign up when she was 20. This was 7 years ago and her credit is still recovering! The same is true for store credit cards. Do.Not.WANT!

*Pick a required expense, such as gas or cell phone bill and put it on the credit card. Pay off the card at the end of each month. Repeat.

*Do NOT use your credit card to buy “fun money” purchases. No clothes, no ipods, no pizza. This is why you have your debit card of cash. Don’t even think about it mr.!

4. EATING/DRINKING - This is going to be the weird random one from one young person to another.(Part of this only applies to you on/after your 21st birthday!) The young person’s life revolves around being social. For a 20 something this normally involves dinner and/or drinks with friends. It is expensive! So much money can be saved if you plan ahead!

*Eating - Going out to eat is a much needed social experience but NEVER go out to eat starving! Just like you don’t go shopping when you are hungry you never want to experience the whole “eyes bigger than stomach” thing while dining out. Have a snack an hour or so before you meet friends for dinner. This will help you avoid ordering that $8 appetizer! Also, try and order things that reheat or are good cold. LEFTOVERS! Also, water is free. It is good for you! Coke is $3. Go buy yourself a 12 pack and have one when you get home.

*Drinking - Most 20 somethings drink. It is a very expensive part of our lives. It is a social event to help us forget about school and work. We like bars. Unfortunately $5 for a beer is highway robbery! NEVER go to a bar completely sober (when you are 21+ & no drinky + drivey!). Have a drink or 2 at home and then have a beer at the bar. You will save TONS. Also, bring cash to a bar. Only bring as much cash as your sober self would like to spend. Alcohol impairs judgment. Sober you will thank drunk you for not spending. Drunk you will thank sober you for being smart enough to make sure you can afford the advil to take care of that hangover the next day. It is a win win.

Put all that saved food and drink money towards something that will last.

5. BOOKS - Buy used whenever possible. Check online first because campus stores are normally a ripoff. Try and sell the books back online, even if they have released a new edition. Most student book stores on campus will only give you 1/2 of what someone online will be willing to give you!

6. CARS - Buy used and reliable, but not “cheap”. New cars lose tons of value when you drive them off the lot. Don’t buy a “cheap” used car on it’s last leg. Think Goldilocks - not too new, not too old, juuusssttt right! Save up as much money as possible. Pay for it in cash if you can. If not, save up at least 2/3 before purchasing and do your homework!

And whatever you do: AVOID parking tickets, speeding tickets, registration fines.. may as well light the money on fire! Or if you do not want it I will give it a nice home and save you the trouble.

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The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

Expats talks <b>news</b> over booze - RT

This week, Moscow's expats share their impressions of the stories that made the news, including the Arctic Forum, Pakistan's floods and the Art Moscow Fair.

Scripting <b>News</b>: Angelgate in a Nutshell

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

The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

Expats talks <b>news</b> over booze - RT

This week, Moscow's expats share their impressions of the stories that made the news, including the Arctic Forum, Pakistan's floods and the Art Moscow Fair.

Scripting <b>News</b>: Angelgate in a Nutshell

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

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The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

Expats talks <b>news</b> over booze - RT

This week, Moscow's expats share their impressions of the stories that made the news, including the Arctic Forum, Pakistan's floods and the Art Moscow Fair.

Scripting <b>News</b>: Angelgate in a Nutshell

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

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I've read a lot of stores lately about "credit score enthusiasts" who want to get the perfect credit score or are obsessed with improving their score. While it's certainly better than not caring about your credit score at all, it almost never pays to get a perfect score.

Despite all the stories about the odd ways your score is being used, the reality is that once you have a good credit score, you don't need to obsess about it.

Consider this - if your score is better than 760, then Fair Isaac Corporation, the company that invested the credit score formula; says you get zero benefit from improving it. For mortgage interest rate purposes, a 761 is the same as an 850. For auto loans, the bar is even lower. If you have a score about 720, it's the same as having a perfect score of 850. Visit their site and look in the right hand column - there's a table listing FICO scores and APRs for 30-year fixed mortgages, 15-year fixed mortgages, and 36-month auto loans.

If you are planning on getting a loan in the next year or two and your score is close to the next tier, by all means try to improve it. If you aren't planning on getting a loan and you have a decent score, focus your energies on something else. I assure you that you will get a better return doing something other than obsessing about your credit score.

Jim writes about personal finance at Bargaineering.com.

Synium Software has released an update to iFinance Mobile adding native iPad support and several additional new features. iFinance Mobile is a personal finance application for iOS devices that allows users to record transactions and expenses on the go and optionally sync that data with iFinance for the Mac for expanded financial review and planning. iFinance Mobile 2.0 is now a universal app providing native support for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and adds a new Account History chart, CSV export of transaction data via e-mail and an improved, redesigned user interface for both the iPhone and iPad. The update also provides several other smaller enhancements such as a graphical calendar view, automatic BIC and IBAN validation, transaction sorting by date and localization in Czech, Polish, French and Russian. iFinance Mobile 2.0 is available from the App Store for $2 and is a free update for users of any prior version.

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Small Business <b>News</b>: An Owner&#39;s Manual

If only there were an owner's manual that came with your small business telling you what works, what doesn't and what are the best ways to move ahead in your.

&#39;Fox <b>News</b> Sunday&#39; to Host Kentucky Senate Debate - NYTimes.com

Jack Conway, Kentucky's attorney general and the Democratic candidate for Senate, and Rand Paul, the Republican nominee, have agreed to a live debate on "Fox News Sunday" on Oct. 3.

ICM And WME And CAA <b>News</b>… – Deadline.com

ICM's talent department signed Emmy nominee and TV standout (Malcolm In The Middle) Jane Kaczmarek, who had been represented by WME. She's managed by Adena Chawke and Lisa Wright at Greenlight Management. Also joining ICM from WME is ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: An Owner&#39;s Manual

If only there were an owner's manual that came with your small business telling you what works, what doesn't and what are the best ways to move ahead in your.

&#39;Fox <b>News</b> Sunday&#39; to Host Kentucky Senate Debate - NYTimes.com

Jack Conway, Kentucky's attorney general and the Democratic candidate for Senate, and Rand Paul, the Republican nominee, have agreed to a live debate on "Fox News Sunday" on Oct. 3.

ICM And WME And CAA <b>News</b>… – Deadline.com

ICM's talent department signed Emmy nominee and TV standout (Malcolm In The Middle) Jane Kaczmarek, who had been represented by WME. She's managed by Adena Chawke and Lisa Wright at Greenlight Management. Also joining ICM from WME is ...

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Small Business <b>News</b>: An Owner&#39;s Manual

If only there were an owner's manual that came with your small business telling you what works, what doesn't and what are the best ways to move ahead in your.

&#39;Fox <b>News</b> Sunday&#39; to Host Kentucky Senate Debate - NYTimes.com

Jack Conway, Kentucky's attorney general and the Democratic candidate for Senate, and Rand Paul, the Republican nominee, have agreed to a live debate on "Fox News Sunday" on Oct. 3.

ICM And WME And CAA <b>News</b>… – Deadline.com

ICM's talent department signed Emmy nominee and TV standout (Malcolm In The Middle) Jane Kaczmarek, who had been represented by WME. She's managed by Adena Chawke and Lisa Wright at Greenlight Management. Also joining ICM from WME is ...

Who's Making Money

The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.

WASHINGTON/POLITICAL

For the latest political news:  www.CNNPolitics.com

CNN: Obama to lay out new economic plan Wednesday

With less than two months to go until a critical midterm election likely to turn on the economy, President Obama this week will lay out a new plan that includes a proposal to extend a tax cut popular with the business community, according to an administration official.

CNN: Democrats defend state of economic recovery

As the summer begins to wind down, Republicans are criticizing Democrats over economic promises they made at the beginning of the season. Democrats had dubbed it a recovery summer, but critics were taking aim at some economic indicators that didn't show much forward progress.

CNN: McCain wants Obama to visit border

Republican Sen. John McCain on Sunday invited President Barack Obama to visit the border with Mexico to get a complete picture of the region and called on the president to do more for security.

New York Times: For G.O.P., Tea Party Wields a Double-Edged Sword

So far this election season, the Tea Party has brought a huge amount of unexpected energy into the campaign, and it could drive sufficient Republican turnout to become a major and perhaps decisive factor in many races. But the movement has also forced Republicans to spend precious time and money on primary races they should have won easily and has produced some inexperienced candidates who have stumbled in the early going.

Politico: Dems run away from health care

A handful of House Democrats are making health care reform an election year issue — by running against it. At least five of the 34 House Democrats who voted against their party’s health care reform bill are highlighting their “no” votes in ads back home. By contrast, party officials in Washington can’t identify a single House member who’s running an ad boasting of a “yes” vote — despite the fact that 219 House Democrats voted in favor of final passage in March.

Politics Daily: Republicans Headed for Big Pick-Up of Governor's Seats This Year

Democrats currently hold a slight majority of the nation's governor's seats but that balance of power is likely to shift dramatically after this year's midterm elections, according to a new forecast.

Politico: GOP gov hopefuls run against Obama

They’re all Rick Perrys now. A year and a half after the governor of Texas energized his reelection campaign by casting himself as an antagonist to President Barack Obama, Republican gubernatorial candidates across the country are following his example.

Los Angeles Times: 4 campaigns, each with its own distinct style

Republicans Whitman and Fiorina and Democrats Brown and Boxer bring different levels of wealth, history and intensity to their races in an unpredictable year.

Lexington Herald-Leader: Coal a 'driving factor' in U.S. Senate race

The landscapes of Eastern and Western Kentucky have little in common, but the areas share at least two things: an abundance of coal and a pivotal role in the U.S. Senate race.

CNN: Clinton to make Middle East trip

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to the Middle East on September 14 to participate in a second round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to a senior State Department official.

NATIONAL

For the latest national news:  www.CNN.com

CNN: American Muslims nervous about Ramadan's end coinciding with 9/11

For Muslims, the end of the holy month of Ramadan is typically cause for celebration, with three days of feasting and socializing after a month of daytime fasting. This year, though, many American Muslims are greeting Ramadan's end with a measure of worry, as the holiday coincides with the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Los Angeles Times: For many unemployed workers, jobs aren't coming back

The U.S. economy will eventually rebound from the Great Recession. Millions of American workers will not. What some economists now project — and policymakers are loath to admit — is that the U.S. unemployment rate, which stood at 9.6% in August, could remain elevated for years to come.

Indianapolis Star: Even in this economy, some jobs are in demand

The unemployment rate is 9.6 percent, with nearly 15 million Americans looking for jobs; yet some industries are desperately seeking qualified workers to fill positions that have been vacant for months.

Detroit News: New health reform measures start

More health care reform measures are kicking in, with many of them taking effect this month. While Michigan's major insurers say the changes will have little, if any, impact on health care premiums, analysts say consumers can expect insurance rate hikes eventually.

Washington Post: US may stop cyber attacks at source

The Pentagon is contemplating an aggressive approach to defending its computer systems that includes preemptive actions such as knocking out parts of an adversary’s computer network overseas — but it is still wrestling with how to pursue the strategy legally.

Denver Post: Spoiled system: Eating healthier comes with a price for families

As Revisha Martinez pondered the cost of peaches and watermelon at her local King Soopers recently, she became the last stop in a complicated food-production system that critics believe has turned healthy eating into expensive eating.

INTERNATIONAL

For the latest international news:  http://edition.cnn.com

CNN: U.S. military helps repel suicide bombing attack, official says

U.S. military personnel were involved in repelling a suicide bombing attack Sunday on an Iraqi military base in Baghdad, four days after the United States officially ended its combat operations in Iraq.

CNN: Sources: As many as 2,000 more troops may be going to Afghanistan

As many as 2,000 additional troops - including a number of U.S. forces - may be headed to Afghanistan in the coming weeks under a plan being proposed by Gen. David Petraeus, CNN has learned.

BBC: Boat accidents in DR Congo claim 'many' lives

Many people are feared dead in two separate boat accidents in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the boats was carrying up to 300 people when it caught fire on the Kasai River near the Angolan border.

CNN: Israel's Netanyahu offers regular talks with Abbas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas one-on-one every two weeks to discuss "the agenda for a peace agreement," he said Sunday.

Los Angeles Times: North Korea Workers' Party meeting raises speculation

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CNN: Indonesians protest U.S. church's plan to burn Quran

Thousands of Indonesians gathered Sunday outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to protest a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran. The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, plans to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning copies of the Muslim holy text.

CNN: Plan C for Chile mine rescue: Use oil drill

Hedging their bets, officials in Chile said on Sunday they will set up an oil drill as a third option to rescue the 33 miners trapped underground since August 5. The idea, which is Plan C, could be the fastest of the three options currently underway. However, the drill needs to be transported first from Iquique, a city in northern Chile, and then installed.

CNN: Basque separatist group announces cease-fire

The Basque separatist group ETA released a cease-fire statement Sunday to various media, including the Basque newspaper Gara, where it typically releases information. ETA has announced cease-fires before and broken them, notably the unilateral 2006 cease-fire that was announced as "permanent," only to be broken months later with a car bomb at Madrid's airport that killed two people.

BUSINESS

For the latest business news:  www.CNNMoney.com

CNN Money: 81% rate U.S. economy as 'poor' – CNN poll

A new national poll released Sunday indicates that eight in 10 Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, and the number that say conditions are very poor is on the upswing after steady declines through the spring. And according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, more people blame the Republicans over the Democrats for the country's economic problems.

CNN Money: Wall Street faces an economy at a 'crossroads'

Stocks started September with a bang as investors cheered a rare dose of good economic news but investors may need to buckle in for the coming week: It's a holiday-shortened week with little on the docket to set the tone.

New York Times: Grim Housing Choice: Help Today’s Owners or Future Ones

The unexpectedly deep plunge in home sales this summer is likely to force the Obama administration to choose between future homeowners and current ones, a predicament officials had been eager to avoid.

In Case You Missed It

CNN's Candy Crowley talks about the critical reaction to the renovated White House Oval Office.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/09/05/sotu.oval.office.fluff.cnn

The heads of the AFL-CIO and the National Small Business Association give their take on the state of the U.S. economy.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/09/05/sotu.mccracken.trumka.int.cnn

Subscribe to the CNN=Politics DAILY podcast at http://www.cnn.com/politicalpodcast

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startups, IT, investing

Spinout Doctors: How New Venture Partners Saved Freescale’s Magnetic Memory and Other Stranded Technologies

Wade Roush 9/2/10

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory, or MRAM, promises to change everything about how our computing devices work. It’s as fast as classical static RAM at the core of today’s microprocessors, but it doesn’t wear out, and it also holds data permanently, even when the power is off, like today’s flash memory. It could enable true “instant-on” information devices and speed up many types of computation.

Freescale Semiconductor, the former chipmaking division of Motorola, poured a lot of effort and money into making MRAM practical in the mid-2000s. But the technology almost wound up homeless, because Freescale is a microprocessor manufacturer, and wasn’t equipped to sell storage devices. The company had developed the technology without ever really intending to get into the fiercely competitive memory business.

Which is where New Venture Partners entered the picture. The San Mateo, CA-based venture firm purports to be one of the only venture firms in the world that specializes in finding promising but under-supported technologies inside corporate R&D labs and spinning them out as independent startups. Yesterday we published the first part of a conversation with David Tennenhouse, a former Amazon and Intel research executive who’s now a partner at the firm. In 2008, Tennenhouse and New Venture Partners helped to spin out the MRAM business from Freescale in the form of Everspin Technologies, which is now one of the world’s leading suppliers of MRAM for industrial, aerospace, and military applications. The details of the Everspin case, which illustrated many of the nuances and challenges of the spinout process, are among the highlights of Part 2 of our conversation, transcribed below.

During this part of our talk, Tennenhouse also described how the firm identifies teams and technologies that can be spun out profitably, what types of companies are likely to house potential spinoffs, why Google doesn’t do spinoffs but Microsoft does, and the roles that NVP’s partners must sometimes take on—including career counselor.

X: Can you walk me through a couple of your favorite examples of companies you’ve helped to spin out?

DT: One of my favorites is Everspin, where we spun out all the MRAM magnetic memory technology from Freescale. That’s an area where Motorola [which spun out Freescale in 2004] invested for many years and Freescale invested for many years. It’s the only group shipping real, working MRAM. It’s a great example, because one of the things you need is leadership in the team that is really headstrong and committed. Here you’re talking about a new semiconductor; a new material. They managed to get this all the way into customers’ hands. This was a hell of a dedicated team and they really wanted to foist this thing on the world.

Another critical ingredient is that the CTO at Freescale, Lisa Su, really wanted to see this thing happen also. But Freescale looked at the situation and said, ‘We don’t really want to be in the merchant memory business.’ If you could replace on-chip Flash memory with MRAM, that would be very interesting to Freescale, but first you would have to …Next Page »

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at 415-796-3024, or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/wroush. You can subscribe to his Google Group and you can follow all Xconomy San Francisco stories at twitter.com/xconomysf.

Olbermann On Sharron Angle Video | Fox <b>News</b> | Media Matters | Mediaite

You'll never believe this one, but it appears Keith Olbermann isn't the biggest fan of Fox News. But in case there was any doubt, on last night's Countdown he made it clear again, going after what he sees as the network blatantly ...

Google New: It&#39;s Google <b>News</b> About New Google Stuff In One Place

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Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 9/23 - Arrowhead Pride

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robert shumake

Olbermann On Sharron Angle Video | Fox <b>News</b> | Media Matters | Mediaite

You'll never believe this one, but it appears Keith Olbermann isn't the biggest fan of Fox News. But in case there was any doubt, on last night's Countdown he made it clear again, going after what he sees as the network blatantly ...

Google New: It&#39;s Google <b>News</b> About New Google Stuff In One Place

In terms of blog networks, no one ever seems to talk about Google, but they actually have one of the biggest. The search giant has well over 100 blogs devoted to everything from general company news to niche things that only webmasters ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 9/23 - Arrowhead Pride

We're over the hump and headed into Sunday. The Kansas City Chiefs are seeing a lot of guarded love. For the most part, people can't ignore our record and at the same time can't ignore our offensive production. Here's today's news.

The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.

WASHINGTON/POLITICAL

For the latest political news:  www.CNNPolitics.com

CNN: Obama to lay out new economic plan Wednesday

With less than two months to go until a critical midterm election likely to turn on the economy, President Obama this week will lay out a new plan that includes a proposal to extend a tax cut popular with the business community, according to an administration official.

CNN: Democrats defend state of economic recovery

As the summer begins to wind down, Republicans are criticizing Democrats over economic promises they made at the beginning of the season. Democrats had dubbed it a recovery summer, but critics were taking aim at some economic indicators that didn't show much forward progress.

CNN: McCain wants Obama to visit border

Republican Sen. John McCain on Sunday invited President Barack Obama to visit the border with Mexico to get a complete picture of the region and called on the president to do more for security.

New York Times: For G.O.P., Tea Party Wields a Double-Edged Sword

So far this election season, the Tea Party has brought a huge amount of unexpected energy into the campaign, and it could drive sufficient Republican turnout to become a major and perhaps decisive factor in many races. But the movement has also forced Republicans to spend precious time and money on primary races they should have won easily and has produced some inexperienced candidates who have stumbled in the early going.

Politico: Dems run away from health care

A handful of House Democrats are making health care reform an election year issue — by running against it. At least five of the 34 House Democrats who voted against their party’s health care reform bill are highlighting their “no” votes in ads back home. By contrast, party officials in Washington can’t identify a single House member who’s running an ad boasting of a “yes” vote — despite the fact that 219 House Democrats voted in favor of final passage in March.

Politics Daily: Republicans Headed for Big Pick-Up of Governor's Seats This Year

Democrats currently hold a slight majority of the nation's governor's seats but that balance of power is likely to shift dramatically after this year's midterm elections, according to a new forecast.

Politico: GOP gov hopefuls run against Obama

They’re all Rick Perrys now. A year and a half after the governor of Texas energized his reelection campaign by casting himself as an antagonist to President Barack Obama, Republican gubernatorial candidates across the country are following his example.

Los Angeles Times: 4 campaigns, each with its own distinct style

Republicans Whitman and Fiorina and Democrats Brown and Boxer bring different levels of wealth, history and intensity to their races in an unpredictable year.

Lexington Herald-Leader: Coal a 'driving factor' in U.S. Senate race

The landscapes of Eastern and Western Kentucky have little in common, but the areas share at least two things: an abundance of coal and a pivotal role in the U.S. Senate race.

CNN: Clinton to make Middle East trip

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to the Middle East on September 14 to participate in a second round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to a senior State Department official.

NATIONAL

For the latest national news:  www.CNN.com

CNN: American Muslims nervous about Ramadan's end coinciding with 9/11

For Muslims, the end of the holy month of Ramadan is typically cause for celebration, with three days of feasting and socializing after a month of daytime fasting. This year, though, many American Muslims are greeting Ramadan's end with a measure of worry, as the holiday coincides with the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Los Angeles Times: For many unemployed workers, jobs aren't coming back

The U.S. economy will eventually rebound from the Great Recession. Millions of American workers will not. What some economists now project — and policymakers are loath to admit — is that the U.S. unemployment rate, which stood at 9.6% in August, could remain elevated for years to come.

Indianapolis Star: Even in this economy, some jobs are in demand

The unemployment rate is 9.6 percent, with nearly 15 million Americans looking for jobs; yet some industries are desperately seeking qualified workers to fill positions that have been vacant for months.

Detroit News: New health reform measures start

More health care reform measures are kicking in, with many of them taking effect this month. While Michigan's major insurers say the changes will have little, if any, impact on health care premiums, analysts say consumers can expect insurance rate hikes eventually.

Washington Post: US may stop cyber attacks at source

The Pentagon is contemplating an aggressive approach to defending its computer systems that includes preemptive actions such as knocking out parts of an adversary’s computer network overseas — but it is still wrestling with how to pursue the strategy legally.

Denver Post: Spoiled system: Eating healthier comes with a price for families

As Revisha Martinez pondered the cost of peaches and watermelon at her local King Soopers recently, she became the last stop in a complicated food-production system that critics believe has turned healthy eating into expensive eating.

INTERNATIONAL

For the latest international news:  http://edition.cnn.com

CNN: U.S. military helps repel suicide bombing attack, official says

U.S. military personnel were involved in repelling a suicide bombing attack Sunday on an Iraqi military base in Baghdad, four days after the United States officially ended its combat operations in Iraq.

CNN: Sources: As many as 2,000 more troops may be going to Afghanistan

As many as 2,000 additional troops - including a number of U.S. forces - may be headed to Afghanistan in the coming weeks under a plan being proposed by Gen. David Petraeus, CNN has learned.

BBC: Boat accidents in DR Congo claim 'many' lives

Many people are feared dead in two separate boat accidents in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the boats was carrying up to 300 people when it caught fire on the Kasai River near the Angolan border.

CNN: Israel's Netanyahu offers regular talks with Abbas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas one-on-one every two weeks to discuss "the agenda for a peace agreement," he said Sunday.

Los Angeles Times: North Korea Workers' Party meeting raises speculation

Secrecy abounds ahead of the first party congress in decades. Experts expect it to set the stage for officially naming the ailing Kim Jong Il's successor, said to be his youngest son.

CNN: Indonesians protest U.S. church's plan to burn Quran

Thousands of Indonesians gathered Sunday outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to protest a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran. The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, plans to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning copies of the Muslim holy text.

CNN: Plan C for Chile mine rescue: Use oil drill

Hedging their bets, officials in Chile said on Sunday they will set up an oil drill as a third option to rescue the 33 miners trapped underground since August 5. The idea, which is Plan C, could be the fastest of the three options currently underway. However, the drill needs to be transported first from Iquique, a city in northern Chile, and then installed.

CNN: Basque separatist group announces cease-fire

The Basque separatist group ETA released a cease-fire statement Sunday to various media, including the Basque newspaper Gara, where it typically releases information. ETA has announced cease-fires before and broken them, notably the unilateral 2006 cease-fire that was announced as "permanent," only to be broken months later with a car bomb at Madrid's airport that killed two people.

BUSINESS

For the latest business news:  www.CNNMoney.com

CNN Money: 81% rate U.S. economy as 'poor' – CNN poll

A new national poll released Sunday indicates that eight in 10 Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, and the number that say conditions are very poor is on the upswing after steady declines through the spring. And according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, more people blame the Republicans over the Democrats for the country's economic problems.

CNN Money: Wall Street faces an economy at a 'crossroads'

Stocks started September with a bang as investors cheered a rare dose of good economic news but investors may need to buckle in for the coming week: It's a holiday-shortened week with little on the docket to set the tone.

New York Times: Grim Housing Choice: Help Today’s Owners or Future Ones

The unexpectedly deep plunge in home sales this summer is likely to force the Obama administration to choose between future homeowners and current ones, a predicament officials had been eager to avoid.

In Case You Missed It

CNN's Candy Crowley talks about the critical reaction to the renovated White House Oval Office.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/09/05/sotu.oval.office.fluff.cnn

The heads of the AFL-CIO and the National Small Business Association give their take on the state of the U.S. economy.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/09/05/sotu.mccracken.trumka.int.cnn

Subscribe to the CNN=Politics DAILY podcast at http://www.cnn.com/politicalpodcast

And now stay posted on the latest from the campaign trail by downloading the CNN=Politics SCREENSAVER at http://www.CNN.com/situationroom

startups, IT, investing

Spinout Doctors: How New Venture Partners Saved Freescale’s Magnetic Memory and Other Stranded Technologies

Wade Roush 9/2/10

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory, or MRAM, promises to change everything about how our computing devices work. It’s as fast as classical static RAM at the core of today’s microprocessors, but it doesn’t wear out, and it also holds data permanently, even when the power is off, like today’s flash memory. It could enable true “instant-on” information devices and speed up many types of computation.

Freescale Semiconductor, the former chipmaking division of Motorola, poured a lot of effort and money into making MRAM practical in the mid-2000s. But the technology almost wound up homeless, because Freescale is a microprocessor manufacturer, and wasn’t equipped to sell storage devices. The company had developed the technology without ever really intending to get into the fiercely competitive memory business.

Which is where New Venture Partners entered the picture. The San Mateo, CA-based venture firm purports to be one of the only venture firms in the world that specializes in finding promising but under-supported technologies inside corporate R&D labs and spinning them out as independent startups. Yesterday we published the first part of a conversation with David Tennenhouse, a former Amazon and Intel research executive who’s now a partner at the firm. In 2008, Tennenhouse and New Venture Partners helped to spin out the MRAM business from Freescale in the form of Everspin Technologies, which is now one of the world’s leading suppliers of MRAM for industrial, aerospace, and military applications. The details of the Everspin case, which illustrated many of the nuances and challenges of the spinout process, are among the highlights of Part 2 of our conversation, transcribed below.

During this part of our talk, Tennenhouse also described how the firm identifies teams and technologies that can be spun out profitably, what types of companies are likely to house potential spinoffs, why Google doesn’t do spinoffs but Microsoft does, and the roles that NVP’s partners must sometimes take on—including career counselor.

X: Can you walk me through a couple of your favorite examples of companies you’ve helped to spin out?

DT: One of my favorites is Everspin, where we spun out all the MRAM magnetic memory technology from Freescale. That’s an area where Motorola [which spun out Freescale in 2004] invested for many years and Freescale invested for many years. It’s the only group shipping real, working MRAM. It’s a great example, because one of the things you need is leadership in the team that is really headstrong and committed. Here you’re talking about a new semiconductor; a new material. They managed to get this all the way into customers’ hands. This was a hell of a dedicated team and they really wanted to foist this thing on the world.

Another critical ingredient is that the CTO at Freescale, Lisa Su, really wanted to see this thing happen also. But Freescale looked at the situation and said, ‘We don’t really want to be in the merchant memory business.’ If you could replace on-chip Flash memory with MRAM, that would be very interesting to Freescale, but first you would have to …Next Page »

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at 415-796-3024, or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/wroush. You can subscribe to his Google Group and you can follow all Xconomy San Francisco stories at twitter.com/xconomysf.

robert shumake

Olbermann On Sharron Angle Video | Fox <b>News</b> | Media Matters | Mediaite

You'll never believe this one, but it appears Keith Olbermann isn't the biggest fan of Fox News. But in case there was any doubt, on last night's Countdown he made it clear again, going after what he sees as the network blatantly ...

Google New: It&#39;s Google <b>News</b> About New Google Stuff In One Place

In terms of blog networks, no one ever seems to talk about Google, but they actually have one of the biggest. The search giant has well over 100 blogs devoted to everything from general company news to niche things that only webmasters ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 9/23 - Arrowhead Pride

We're over the hump and headed into Sunday. The Kansas City Chiefs are seeing a lot of guarded love. For the most part, people can't ignore our record and at the same time can't ignore our offensive production. Here's today's news.

robert shumake

Olbermann On Sharron Angle Video | Fox <b>News</b> | Media Matters | Mediaite

You'll never believe this one, but it appears Keith Olbermann isn't the biggest fan of Fox News. But in case there was any doubt, on last night's Countdown he made it clear again, going after what he sees as the network blatantly ...

Google New: It&#39;s Google <b>News</b> About New Google Stuff In One Place

In terms of blog networks, no one ever seems to talk about Google, but they actually have one of the biggest. The search giant has well over 100 blogs devoted to everything from general company news to niche things that only webmasters ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 9/23 - Arrowhead Pride

We're over the hump and headed into Sunday. The Kansas City Chiefs are seeing a lot of guarded love. For the most part, people can't ignore our record and at the same time can't ignore our offensive production. Here's today's news.