libertynewsprint 3-29-08 edition

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Your Click and Print Newspaper LibertyNewsprint.com U.S. Edition24/03/08 - 30/03/08

Single White Democrat, Seeking...By Tommy Christopher (PoliticalMachine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 12:39:00 PM

Filed under: Democrats, Race Whileresearching yesterday's Obama/Clintonstory, I came across a Pew Research Studyentitled, Obama Weathers the WrightStorm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem,which I used in that story. As is often thecase, the study "buries the lede," as theysay. Deep into the report, I found afascinating survey. I deliberately haven't

linked it here. I will do so after the jump.The portion of the study that caught myeye was called Political Values, Traits andEmotions, and it was a survey of whiteDemocrats on a variety of issues, questionsI would never have thought to ask of anyDemocrat. I have always taken for grantedthat being a Democrat carried with it a setof automatic principles that transcendedpolitics.

These were not traits that I ascribedsolely to Democrats, but that I assumed all,or most , Democra ts sha red. Theoverarching philosophy of the Democrats,as I saw it, was tolerance, empathy, andfairness. You know, the old Libert,galit, fraternit. Sure, there were non-Democrats who shared some or all of theseprinciples, like good people who were justa l i t t le too greedy. It 's that smugsuperiority that people hate in us.

Of course, I'm oversimplifying, but youget the idea. Even after the Ohio primary,when there was so much chatter in themedia about white Democrats voting for

Hillary based on race, I stuck to my theorythat demographics are secondary toregional considerations. After the jump,we'll put you all to the test and see howyou stack up against Pew's whiteDemocrats, and chew over the survey'sresults.

OK, now, answer as honestly as you can.Results from the Pew Study after the poll.

I am a White Democrat WhiteRepublican Non-white Democrat Non-white Republican White Independent Non-white Independent Vote

We have gone too far in pushing equalrights in this country Agree Disagree Notsure Vote

I think it's all right for blacks and whitesto date each other. Agree Disagree Notsure Vote

Women should return to their traditionalroles in society. Agree Disagree Not sureVote

In general, men are better leaders thanwomen. Agree Disagree Not sure Vote

We should be willing to fight for ourcountry, whether it it right or wrong. AgreeDisagree Not sure Vote

The growing number of newcomers fromother countries are a threat to traditionalAmerican customs and values. AgreeDisagree Not sure Vote

Without further ado, here are the resultsof the Pew Study.

I was pretty shocked even by thesequestions, let alone the results. I call it aPew study because I have to hold my nosewhen I read it. From the Pew summary:

Overall, 61% of white Democratic voters

completely agree that it's "all right forwhites and blacks to date each other." Butfewer than half of non-college and olderwhite Democrats completely agree (44%

for each group). Notably, about one-in-fivein each of these groups disagrees with theidea that interracial dating is acceptable.By contrast, just 6% of college-educatedDemocratic voters, and just 3% of youngerwhite Democrats (ages 18 to 44), findinterracial dating unacceptable. Then,

there's this: Few Democrats believe thatwomen should return to their traditionalroles, or that men make better leaders thanwomen. However, younger and better

educated white Democrats are even morelikely than others to disagree with thesenotions. About three-quarters of collegeeducated (76%) and younger Democrats(73%) completely disagree that womenshould return to traditional roles, comparedwith 48% of those who have not attended

college, and 56% of Democrats ages 45and older. Similarly, 57% of Democratswith college experience completelydisagree that men are better leaders,compared with 40% of Democrats whohave not attended college. Finally, there'sthe war question, which, while lessdisgusting than the other questions, was farmore dis turbing in the outcome:Democrats are nearly equally divided overthe statement that "we should be willing tofight for our country whether it is right orwrong" (50% agree and 46% disagree).

However, 52% of Democrats who haveattended college disagree with this view,compared with 37% of non-collegeDemocrats. There are no significant agedifferences on this question. Whatconclusions can be drawn from this? Well,without comparative data, I can only gleanfrom this is that a party is made up ofpeople, and that some of them are deeplyflawed. I would love to see howRepublicans would do in a poll like this.Although the proportions might bedi ffe rent , I would expec t s imi la rrelationships between these questions andthe age and education level of therespondent.

I would also love to see numbers from 25years ago, to see if this is a messagingissue. In any case, this was an eye-openerfor me. Your thoughts?

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Sunday Talk Line-Up!By Greg McNeilly (Political Machine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 7:15:00 AM

Filed under: 2008 President, MediaThe Sunday talking heads schedule:

AB C - Th i s W e e k ( Ge o rg eStephanopoulos): with Governor EdRendell(D-PA), U.S. Senators JohnKerry(D-MA) and Joe Liberman(I-CT).

CBS - Face the Nation( Bob Schieffer):

with Governor Bill Richardson(D-NM),Philadelphia Mayor Mike Nutter, andDemocrat strategist Joe Trippi.

CNN - Late Edition( Wolf Blitzer): withChilean Ambassador Heraldo Munoz and

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson(D-FL).Fox - News Sunday( Chris Wallace):with

U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham(R-SC) andJack Reed(D-RI).

NBC - Meet the Press( Tim Russert) with

CIA Director Michael Hayden.Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|

Comments


2/25

2 Your Click and Print NewspaperDemocrats, Bush Squabble overHousingBy Mark Impomeni (PoliticalMachine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 2:45:00 AM

Filed under: President Bush, BushAdministration, Democrats, EconomyDemocratic heavyweights in the Senateclashed with President Bush yesterdayover the Administration's actions to helpease the housing market. The Senatorsthink that the White House has not gonefar enough in its efforts to put the brakeson foreclosures. Their comments came asthe president traveled to suburban NewJersey to visit a debt-counseling center thatis participating in the Administration'sinitiative to get struggling homeownershelp with refinancing options. Sen. CharlesS c hume r ( D - N Y ) s a i d t ha t t heAdministration's moves thus far amountedto nothing more than fiddling while Rome

burns."The administration refuses to step up to

the plate and do what's needed. Theadministration joined by [congressionalRepublicans] in their Herbert Hoover-likeattitude of do nothing, twiddle yourthumbs while the economy gets worse,especially in the housing area, is not goingto sit well with the American public."Senate Democrats, led by Schumer andSen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the SenateBanking Committee, want Congress topass a series of mortgage reforms thatwould allow governments at all levels tobuy up foreclosed properties or providefinancial backing for loans in danger offoreclosure. The plan would also allow

bankruptcy judges to change the terms ofmortgages in trouble, lowering paymentsand adjus t ing inte res t r a tes . TheDemocrats' plans, however, would havethe opposite impact on the housing marketfrom what they intend. They would likelyraise interest rates and artificially prop uphome prices. Both need to be allowed tocome down to market levels in order to

avoid a worse housing crisis.At his stop in New Jersey, President

Bush countered the Democrats by stressingthat the Federal government's role is tohelp "responsible" homeowners andwarning that too much governmentintrusion in the market would make thingsworse.

"There are some homeowners who havemade responsible buying decisions andwho could keep their homes with just alittle help.

We have a role to play at the governmentlevel, and that is to help lenders andborrowers work together to avoidforeclosure. The housing market problemsare complicated and there's no easysolutions. But ... we will help responsiblehomeowners weather a difficult period."The president's dwelling on the wordresponsible underlines the key differencebetween the Administration's and theDemocrats' plans for the housing market.The White House is taking personal

responsibility into consideration indeciding how and whom to help.Speculators, for example, who boughthomes on bad terms hoping to turn themaround for a quick profit, would not comein for assistance in the Administration'sview. Neither would homeowners whobought bigger homes than they couldafford by utilizing creative mortgagesoffered by unscrupulous lenders. Thosecategories of homeowners, and the lenderswho financed their purchases, would haveto bear the consequences of their decisions.That is a policy that would allow for a softlanding in the housing market, as justenough downward pressure on priceswould result from eliminating poorlyfinanced mortgages from the market, butnot so much as to affect the values of themajority of home loans that were taken outunder traditional terms.

Democrats, on the other hand, see theissue in terms of rescuing unwittinghomeowners from the underhandedpractices of mortgage lenders. Theybelieve that predatory lending has played apart in helping to create the mortgage messand want the government to step in to helpregardless of the circumstances behindindividual loans. This view is shortsightedat best. It would probably help to reducethe number of foreclosures in theimmediate future, but would alsoessentially validate the poor decisions ofsome borrowers and lenders. The danger isthat without some pain in the short term,similar bad decisions will be made in thefuture, and the problem will only repeat

itself at a later date and in a bigger way.With their focus squarely on the short runconsequences of the mortgage crisis,Democrats seem to be proposing a solutiontailored to assist their electoral chances asmuch as the housing market.


McCain Ad Controversy?By Mark Impomeni (PoliticalMachine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 7:30:00 AM

Filed under: Republicans, Ads, JohnMcCain, 2008 President Sen. John McCainis set to release his the first television ad of

the general election campaign on Monday.The ad, titled " 624787," will air statewidein New Mexico, neighbor to McCain'shome state of Arizona and which PresidentBush carried by a small margin in 2004.

Now the Washington Post reports thatthe ad's last line is causing an onlinecontroversy. Some commentators find it tobe an indirect shot at Sen. Barack Obama.

The script of the ad follows.JOHN MCCAIN: Keep that faith. Keep

your courage. Stick together. Stay strong.Do not yield. Stand up. We're Americans.And we'll never surrender.

ANNOUNCER: What must a presidentbelieve about us? About America? Thatshe is worth protecting? That liberty is

priceless? Our people, honorable? Ourfuture, prosperous, remarkable and free?And, what must we believe about thatpresident? What does he think? Where hashe been? Has he walked the walk?

INTERVIEWER: What is your rank?JOHN MCCAIN: Lt. Commander in the

Navy.INTERVIEWER: And your official

number?JOHN MCCAIN: 624787.ANNCR: John McCain. The American

president Americans have been waiting

for.JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I

approve this message. The Post reports thatthe phrase "American president" is beinginterpreted by some as an obliquereference to the various controversiessurrounding Obama: from his Kenyan

ancestry; to the false allegations that he isMuslim; to the incendiary and anti-American remarks of his pastor, Rev.Jeremiah Wright. The whole line seemsdesigned to counter Obama's, "We are theones we've been waiting for." message.But does a candidate referring to himselfas an "American" necessarily mean that hisopponent isn't?

McCain's campaign has not commented,yet. But the campaign may welcomequestions about the ad should they come.As the Democratic nomination battle dragson through the summer, the McCaincampaign increasingly finds itself in aposition where it has to generate freemedia coverage in order to breakthrough

the media's focus on the Democrats. Acontroversy about an advertisement istailor made for that effort. It wouldincrease the ad's visibility, therebyhighlighting McCain's military servicerecord, as the ad intends. If the ad's lastline wasn't a planned swipe at Sen. Obama,it could prove to be a very fortuitouscoincidence for Sen. McCain.


Nader to Hillary: Hang In There!By Christopher Weber (Political

Machine)Submitted at 3/28/2008 11:30:00 AM

Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Primaries,2008 President, Media, Ralph NaderPolitico had it first: On his web site today,Ralph Nader has a little advice for HillaryClinton. Senator Clinton: Just read whereSenator Patrick Leahy is calling on you todrop out of the Presidential race. Believeme. I know something about this.

Here's my advice: Don't listen to peoplewhen they tell you not to run anymore.

That's just political bigotry. Listen to your

own inner citizen First Amendment voice.This is America. Just like every othercitizen, you have a right to run. Wheneveryou like. For as long as you like.

It's up to you, Hillary. Just tell them - It'sdemocracy. Get used to it. Yours truly,Ralph Nader More evidence that politicsmakes strange bedfellows. If Hillary'slucky, maybe Nader will consider her for acabinet position.


Politics *


3/25

3Your Click and Print NewspaperU.S., British Troops BackIraqis in BasraBy Mark Impomeni (PoliticalMachine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 5:00:00 PM

Filed under: Bush Administration,Breaking News, Iraq As the standoffbetween the Iraqi Army and police andfirebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr'sMahdi Army continues in the strategicsouthern Iraqi port of Basra, U.S. andBritish troops have engaged in supportinggovernment forces. U.S. jets weredropping precision-guided bombs onMahdi Army strongholds inside the city,while British ground troops, which hadpatrolled Basra until withdrawing to basesoutside the city, handing over control ofIraq's second largest city to the Iraqis, firedartillery in support of Iraqi Army units.

Al-Sadr, who is backed by Iran, told hisfollowers to defy the government's order to

turn in their weapons. Iraqi Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki, who is in Basra and hasunwisely vowed to stay there until theunrest is quelled, originally set a deadlineof Saturday for militia members tosurrender their arms. That deadline hassince been extended to April 8th. Sadrsupporters accuse the Maliki governmentof attempting to eliminate the rival Shiitegroup ahead of provincial elections thisfall. Sadr's decision to call his army to thestreets now may be the opening salvo inwhat is a sad grab for political legitimacy.

Maliki has staked his government'sreputation on its ability to bring Sadr toheel in Basra. If government troops areseen as backing down, it will only

encourage more trouble making by Sadrand various other ethnic factions. Further,it could cause the Kurds in northern Iraq todepend much more heavily on their ownforces, known as the Peshmerga, forsecurity, threatening to split the alreadysemi-autonomous north from the rest of thecountry. The United States and Britain,perhaps fearing the political consequencesof seeming to take the lead in the clashes,

initially stood by while Iraqi forces beganthe planned offensive. The entrance ofcoalition air and ground power signals thatIraqi forces are not quite ready to take on achallenge the size of the Basra operationon their own.

But the fact the Maliki was willing tomake the move to rout the Mahdi Armyout of Basra does indicate that hisgovernment is feeling more secure in itsposition. President Bush called thedecision "bold" earlier this week. Maliki

has been lobbying Washington for greaterfreedom to control security operations inIraq for some time. Although he may havebitten off more than he can chew in Basra,the fact that Iraq is moving to solve its ownsecurity problems will eventually prove tobe a positive step.


Florida Senator: 'ReformElections'By Jay Allbritton (Political Machine)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 11:32:00 AM

Filed under: Senate, 2008 PresidentDemocracy has had its ups and downs inFlorida. From the butterfly ballots, hangingchads and Brooks Brothers riot of the wild2000 presidential election to the currentcontroversy over the state's Democraticdelegates, if there's a problem with anelection and you're not in Ohio, you'reprobably in Florida.

Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelsonhas had enough. He wants an entirely newsystem--a new primary system for thedemocrats and a new system for thegeneral election.

What would Nelson's system looklike?Nelson proposes six, rotatinginte rregiona l pr imaries . Ne lson 'slegislation would bring early voting to

every state, provide a paper trail and makevoting absentee an option for all voters.The bill also proposes funds to researchmail-in and internet voting.

Nelson also called for the elimination ofthe electoral college. As unpopular as theelectoral college is now, it's actually muchmore popular since the 2000 election thanit was before it. Having said that, it's anundemocratic recipe for disaster--as we

saw in 2000.The only part of the plan I'm wary of is

the early voting. It depends on how long ofa period we're talking about. A few dayswill allow more voters to make it out to thepolls. If the window is extended intoweeks, then voters are in danger of makinga decision they may regret becauseconditions may change. For example, a lot

of early voters in California voted for JohnEdwards before he dropped out of the race.What if the kind of scandal that took downEliot Spitzer hit the news a day or twobefore the election after millions of peoplealready voted?

A far better idea would be to makeelection day a national holiday.

Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|CommentsRush Limbaugh Safe

By Dave (Political Machine)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 2:17:00 PM

Filed under: Republicans, Primaries, 2008PresidentI never doubted it, but now I have a little

more backup, via the Columbus Dispatch:"We have no intention of prosecuting

Rush Limbaugh because lying throughyour teeth and being stupid isn't a crime,"said Leo Jennings, a spokesman forDemocratic Attorney General Marc Dann.

When asked whether she has concernsabout what Limbaugh did, Secretary ofState Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat,

replied, "I think it's very bad form, but Ithink most voters are intelligent enough tomake their own decisions."

I wonder what Mr. Jennings thinks aboutlefty blogger Markos of DailyKos, whowas running his own little Operation Chaosback in January.

Now here's the thing -- without a realDemocratic contest on the ballot, and alack of party registration in Michigan, thisis an open primary. Anyone can pick up aRepublican ballot. So Michigan Democratsand independents who want to see theRepublican battle royale continue should

just take a few minutes on Tuesday,

January 15th to cast a ballot for MittRomney in the Republican primary.

If you know someone in Michigan, send

them the email I've included below thefold. If you don't know someone inMichigan, send the email to your liberalfriends and see if THEY have friends inMichigan. Get the word out, whether byblog, mailing list, MySpace or Facebookpage, or whatever.

If this is a crime, Rush would be far fromthe only one in trouble.


Bad Penney(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 6:00:00 AM

In a stark illustration of the weakness inconsumer spending, J.C. Penney has cut itsforecasts for the first quarter, saying thatsales through Easter were "well belowexpectations."

The company says it now expects toreport earnings of 50 cents per share,below last month's forecast of 70 cents to80 cents per share.

The bleak outlook will heighten fearsthat the economy is in a recession and thatconsumers are cutting back their spendingas a result despite a $186 bill iongovernment stimulus package.

"Consumer confidence is at a multi-yearlow," said Myron Ullman, III, Penney'schief executive. "J.C. Penney counts halfof American families as its customers, andthey are feeling macro-economic pressuresfrom many areas, including higher energycosts, deteriorating employment trends,and significant issues in the housing and

credit markets."Related LinksA Bad PenneyStocks: We Have LiftoffShop Til the Deals Drop

Politics * Business *


4/25

4 Your Click and Print NewspaperGore?By Dave (Political Machine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 5:02:00 PM

Filed under: Democrats, Breaking News,2008 President, Al Gore

With apologies to Queen, is this the reallife, or is this just fantasy?

I'm voting for fantasy, but that doesn'tmean that the Gore option won't burn abunch of news cycles between here and theconvention. Jay posted on Thursday, andthe story has gotten a few more legs sincethen. This article is sourced to "formerGore aides":

Former Gore aides now believe he couldemerge as a compromise candidateacceptable to both camps at the party'sconvention in Denver during the last weekof August.

Two former Gore campaign officialshave told The Sunday Telegraph that ascenario first mapped out by members of

Mr Gore's inner circle last May now has asporting chance of coming true.

Added to this, we have the chin-scratcherof Gore's appearance on 60 Minutes. "Whynow?", inquiring minds would like to

know.To the former Gore aides, this could be

anything from a couple of guys speculatingwith a reporter at a bar, to a serious studycommissioned by Al himself. Or anythingin between. Given his unwillingness tooxygenate any presidential rumors so far,

I'd bet on the former.The big point to remember about an Al

Gore candidacy is that we'd go from eitherHillary or Barack supporters being veryunhappy, to both Hillary and Barackunhappiness. Both sides would have to beconvinced that Gore is an acceptablealternative to their candidate winning intheir own right. And we're not there yet atall. Barack has a lead in the delegates, andHillary sti l l thinks she owns thenomina t ion.


Scalia Takes Liberal Media To TaskBy Justin Paulette (PoliticalMachine)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 4:40:00 AM

Filed under: Media, Supreme CourtSupreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

criticized the news media this week forpresenting court decisions as policy

j u d g m e n t s r a t h e r t h a n t e x t u a linterpretations of the relevant law. Scaliasingled out the New York Times asparticularly offensive, citing the GreyLady's wont to cast decisions based on lawas hardly possible.

This slant in coverage reflects a

pervasive ideological foundation at liberalnews outlets. The courts have long been arefuge wherein liberal policies could beimposed in contradiction to the popular,democratic will. Recognizing the courts asinstruments of social justice (read: liberalpolicy implementation), the news medianaturally sense injustice when the courtsdo not reach liberal results.

It requires a prevalence of character anddignity to accept that the result of aprincipled adjudication of the law shouldsometimes produce a conclusion contraryto personal preferences. The outrage whichaccompanied the miscarriage of justice in

Roe v. Wade was not attributable solely tothe Court's permitting of infanticide, butalso to the imposition of a political policy

by means of an illegitimate judicial decree.Liberals wail and gnash their teeth when aconservative president takes actions whichthey regard as exceeding executive powerand contravening legal standards - and yetthey rejoice when liberal judges do thesame.

Justice Scalia's righteous indignation isnot warranted simply from a judicialstandpoint, but from a love of democraticliberty. Were it that more on the left sharedhis sentiments.


What's Up With Lehman?(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/27/2008 11:30:00 AM

Now that Wall Street has taken a deepbreath and relaxed over the fate of BearStearns, it apparently needs to startworrying about someone else.

Shares of Lehman Bothers have beenbattered today by rumors of a possibleBear-like run on the bank. A spokeswomanfor Lehman denied that there was anythingto the rumors and the stock, which was

down by 10 percent earlier, recovered a bitby mid-afternoon, trading at $39, down 8percent.

Also on Portfolio.com:The Debt Shuffle New questions emerge.Burned on the Street Why investors

should stop listening. Earlier in the day,April options to sell Lehman at $30 werevery active. As the headline on the WallStreet Journal's MarketBeat blog put it:"Your Weekly Scheduled Bank StockFreak-Out"

Kerrie Cohen, a spokeswoman forLehman Brothers, told Reuters, "There area lot of rumors in the marketplace that aretotally unfounded. We are suspicious thatthe rumors are being promulgated by shortsellers of our stock that have an economicself-interest."

Lehman, which like Bear has been ahuge player in the mortgaged-backed-securities business, has in recent weeksbeen very vocal in emphasizing that itsliquidity position is much stronger than

Bear's was.Still, questions about Lehman persist.

Jesse Eisinger last week gave a skepticalassessment about Lehman's balance sheet,noting that its leverage and assets rose inthe first quarter. More troubling, Eisingersaid, was that the firm changed the way itdefines "tangible equity" or the hard assetsthat it has left over after subtracting itsliabilities.

To be sure, when it comes to marketworries, Lehman is not the only financial

firm. Shares of Merrill Lynch were down 5percent today after analysts forecast a lostfor its first quarter.

Related LinksFor the Record

S u b p r i m e : I t ' s N o t A b o u tC r e d i t w o r t h i n e s s

Illiquidity and Insolvency in theCommercial Real Estate Market

Lehman Bros. hit by fraudBy Douglas McIntyre(BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 6:40:00 AM

Filed under: Deals, Bad news, Scandals,Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Bear StearnsCos (BSC)

There has been concern for severalweeks that Lehman Brothers(NYSE: LEH)might have problems similar to BearStearns(NYSE: BSC). Customers might beworried about Lehman's financial healthand, if they were to withdraw large sumsof money, the brokerage could faceliquidity problems.

Just as those concerns appear to befalling, Lehman has been hit by a fraudthat may involve amounts as great as $250million.

According to The Wall StreetJournal(subscription required), "swindlers

used forged documents from one of Japan'sbiggest trading companies to bilk it out ofas much as $250 million." The money wasto go to a division of Japanese firm LTTBio-Pharma. The capital was secured bycertificates from Marubeni, a huge tradingcompany. Marubeni may have to pay

Lehman back the capital, but that is not yetclear.One consequence of the news is likely to

be that investor confidence in Lehman willbe eroded again. Why the brokerage wouldextend the money without complete duediligence is certainly a fair question forshareholders to ask.

One more straw on the pile of Lehman'stroubles.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at247wallst.com. Permalink| Email this|Comments

Fee for All(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/27/2008 11:00:00 AM

Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s Warner MusicGroup has tapped industry veteran Jim

Politics * Business *


5/25

5Your Click and Print Newspaper

FEEcontinued from page 4

Griffin to spearhead a controversial plan tobundle a monthly fee into consumers'internet-service bills for unlimited accessto music.

The planthe boldest move yet to keepthe wounded entertainment industry giantsafloatis simple: Consumers will pay amonthly fee, bundled into an internet-

service bill in exchange for unfetteredaccess to a database of all known music.

Bronfman's decision to hire Griffin, arespected industry critic, demonstrates thedesperation of the recording industry. Ithas shrunk to a $10 billion business from$15 billion in almost a decade. Compactdisc sales are plummeting as online musicdownloads skyrocket.

Also on Portfolio.com:MySpace and Friends Need to Make

MoneyThe answer may lie in creating "social

ads."Future PopCDs are history. U.S. labels should look

to Jin-Young Park if they hope to

survive."Today, it has become purelyvoluntary to pay for music," Griffin toldPortfolio.com in an exclusive sit-down thisweek. "If I tell you to go listen to thisband, you could pay, or you might not. It'spretty much up to you. So the musicbusiness has become a big tip jar."

Nothing provokes sheer terror in therecording industry more than the rise ofpeer-to-peer file-sharing networks. Foryears, digital-music seers have argued therise of such networks has made copyrightlaw obsolete and free music distributionuniversal.

Bronfman has asked Griffin, formerlyGeffen Music's digital chief, to develop amodel that would create a pool of moneyfrom user fees to be distributed to artistsand copyright holders. Warner has givenGriffin a three-year contract to form a neworganization to spearhead the plan.

Griffin says he hopes to move beyondthe years of acrimonious record-industrylitigation against illegal file-swappers,college students in particular.

"We're still clinging to the vine of musicas a product," Griffin says, calling theindustrys plight "Tarzan" economics.

"But we're swinging toward the vine ofmusic as a service. We need to get ready tolet go and grab the next vine, which is apool of money and a fair way to split it up,

rather than controlling the quantity anddestiny of sound recordings."

Warner Music Share PriceIn the last year, the Recording

Association of America, the industry groupthat represents the major labels, has sent5,400 threatening letters to students atmore than 150 schools, and reached

settlements with more than 2,300 them. Ithas filed formal lawsuits against 2,465others, who did not respond.

"I don't think we should be suing studentsand I don't think we should be suingpeople in their homes," says Griffin. "Wewant to monetize the anarchy of theinternet."

Griffin says Warner Music is "totallycommitted to this." The fundamental issue,he says, is whether music consumers willbuy songs and albums individually, orwhether they will subscribe monthly toaccess a "universal" database of songs.

Wil l Tanous , Warner Music 'scommunications chief, said Griffin'sinitiative is part of Warner's "ongoing

effort to explore new business models inthe music industry."In recent weeks, major music industry

players have signaled their interest in the"music as a service" model.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment is saidto be developing an online musicsubscription service that would give usersunlimited access to its catalog.

Apple is reportedly negotiating with themajor record labels to offer consumers freeaccess to the entire iTunes library inexchange for paying a premium for Applehardware.

Warner's plan would have consumerspay an additional feemaybe $5 amonthbundled into their monthlyinternet-access bill in exchange for theright to freely download, upload, copy, andshare music without restrictions.

Griffin says those fees could create apool as large as $20 billion annually to payartists and copyright holders. Eventually,advertising could subsidize the entiresystem, so that users who don't want toreceive ads could pay the fee, and thosewho don't mind advertising wouldn't pay adime.

"Ideally, music will feel free," saysGriffin. "Even if you pay a flat fee for it, atthe moment you use it there are nofinancial considerations. It's already been

paid for."While few of the plan's details have

emerged, critics have begun their attacks.David Barrett, engineering manager for

peer-to-peer networks at Web content-delivery giant Akamai, says he's opposedto it on principle. Griffin's plan, he says, istantamount to extortion, because it forces

everyone to join."It's too late to charge people for what

they're already getting for free," saysBarrett. "This is just taxation of a basic,universal service that already exists, for thebenefit a distant power that activelyharasses the people being taxed withouto f f e r i n g t h e m a n y m e a n i n g f u lr e p r e s e n t a t i o n . "

Griffin, who in 1994 was part of the teamthat made Aerosmith's "Head First" thefirst song available on the internet, goes togreat pains to emphasize that the collectivelicensing plan is not "his" plan.

"This isn't my idea," says Griffin. "WhileI would gladly take the credit, blanketlicensing has over 150 years of history

behind it.""Collective licensing is what people dowhen they lose control, or when control isno longer practical or efficient," Griffinsays. "A pool of money and a fair way tosplit it up replaces control."

Griffin was quick to point out that the $5figure is arbitrary.

"We negotiate in every place," Griffinsays. "Clearly $5 per month would be aninsane number in China or India. If youcould get a nickel a month you could growthe business tenfold in those countries. Inanother country that had a high G.D.P., anickel per month would be ridiculouslycheap. So you negotiate. Fair is whateveryou agree upon."

Griffin says Bronfman and MichaelNash, the company's digital-strategy chief,brought him into Warner to create anorganization to negotiate collectivelicensing deals. But Griffin's ambitionsextend far beyond just Warner Music.

"We're building a [as yet unnamed]company inside Warner that is notintended to be solely owned by Warner,"Griffin says. "We hope all of the rightsholders will come in and take ownershipwith us, and Warner will not control it. Ourgoal is to create a collective society for thedigital age."

Meanwhile, critics have already attacked

the plan as a kind of mandatory "culturetax."

"Jim will vehemently deny the 'tax'label," says Akamai's Barrett. "But it's atax nonetheless. It'll be a government-approved cartel that collects money fromvirtually everyoneoften without theirknowledgeand failure to pay their tax

will ultimately result in people with gunscoming to your door.

"Jim's proposal does nothing but directmoney to the very people that tried toprevent this future from coming to be,"Barrett adds, "while further legitimizingthe terror being waged in the courtroomsagainst their members."

Griffin dismisses such criticism."I understand what David is thinking, but

I assure you, we have no such interest ingovernment running this or having any partof it," he says.

Griffin says that in just the few weekssince Warner began working on this plan,the company has been approached byinternet service providers "who want to

discharge their risk.""But more important than the risk for anI.S.P. is the marketing," Griffin says,drawing a comparison to Starbucks'marketing of "fair trade" coffee.

"I.S.P.'s want to distinguish themselveswith marketing," Griffin says. "You canonly imagine that an I.S.P. that marketed a'fair trade' network connection would see amarketing advantage."

Gerd Leonhard, a respected music-industry consultant who has advisedSony/BMG, which recently announcedplans for a flat-rate-subscription model fordigital music, rejects Barrett's argumentthat the monthly fee amounts to a tax.

"This is not a tax," says Leonhard. "It'sbundled into another charge."

"People should not be too harsh on Jimfor trying to get the ball rolling," saysLeonhard. "At this point, 96 percent of thepopulation is guilty of some sort ofinfringement, whether they're streaming ordownloading or sharing."What we have here is the widespread use

of technology that declares all of thepopulation to be illegal."

Related LinksThe Pirates Can't Be StoppedComing Down Hard on DownloadersSplitting the Apple Online

LehmanGets a Boost(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 5:30:00 AM

Plagued by market speculation that it

could become the next Bear Stearns,Lehman Brothers has received a vote ofconfidence from Citigroup, which raisedits rating on Lehman shares to a "buy."

Also on Portfolio.com:Lehmans Debt Shuffle Questions

remain.Burned on the Street Why investors

should stop listening. In a note headlined"Reality Will Trump Fear," Citigroupanalyst Prashant Bhatia says that Lehmanhas "ample liquidity.""With $34 billion in liquidity at the parent

company, the ability to get access to over$200 billion in liquidity from the Fed'sprimary dealer credit facility, and itsability to tap the term auction facility,

access to liquidity is a non-issue, he said.In addition, he said, pointing to thediversity in the firm's earnings "Weestimate that, write-downs aside, Lehmanhad its second best fixed-income tradingquarter ever."

Shares of Lehman fell 9 percent onThursday on rumors of a possible run onthe bank. Activity in options to sellLehman were active. OptionsMonsternoted on Thursday that "The type of putbuying seen is reminiscent of the putbuying in Bear Stearns just before the axefell."

Lehman said on Thursday that theliquidity rumors were unfounded, addingthat, "We are suspicious that the rumorsare being promulgated by short sellers ofour stock that have an economic self-interest."

Related LinksLeveraged Super Senior Trades and the

Liquidity PutCredit Losses: The Good NewsAwaiting Citi's Big Number

Business *


6/25

6 Your Click and Print NewspaperEarnings highlights: Adobe, ConAgra,Lennar, Oracle, Tiffany, Darden andothersBy Trey Thoelcke (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 8:40:00 AM

Filed under: Earnings reports, WalgreenCo (WAG), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), AdobeSystems (ADBE), Tiffany and Co (TIF),C onA gra F oods (C A G ) , D a rde nRestaurants (DRI), KB HOME (KBH),Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Oracle Corp(ORCL), CKE Restaurants (CKR)

Here are some highlights from this pastw e e k ' s e a rn i ngs c ove ra ge f romB l ogg i ngS t oc ks : AAR Corp.(NYSE:AIR

) postedrecord third-quarter earnings

and revenue. Adobe Systems Inc.(NASDAQ:ADBE

) postedbetter-than-estimated first-quarter resultsand raised its outlook.

CKE Restaurants Inc.(NYSE:CKR

) postedthird-quarter resultsthat missed estimates.

ConAgra Foods Inc.(NYSE:CAG

)

third-quarter profit surgedas strong sales offset commodity prices. Darden Restaurants Inc.(NYSE:DRI

)beat third-quarter expectationsand offered guidance.

FactSet Research Systems Inc.(NYSE:FDS

)

second-quarter resultsbeat estimates and it raised its outlook. Fortress Investment Group(NYSE:FIG) remained upbeat despitea fourth-quarter loss. Guess Inc.(NYSE:GES)record fourth-quarter resultsbeat Wall Street expectations. Inter Parfums Inc.(NASDAQ:IPAR) posted

better-than-estimated fourth-quarterresults

and raised its outlook. Jabil Circuit Inc.(NYSE:JBL) beatsecond-quarter expectationsbut lowered its guidance. JC Penney Co. Inc.(NYSE:JCP) lowered itsfirst-quarter outlookon weaker-than-expected sales. KB Home(NYSE:

KBH) swung to alarger-than-expected first-quarter losson write-downs. Lennar Corp.(NYSE:LEN) posted asmaller-than-expected first-quarter loss. Monsanto Co.(NYSE:

MON) raised itssecond-quarter and full-yearguidance. Oracle Corp.(NASDAQ:ORCL) merelymet earnings expectations, sending shares lower. Tiffany & Co.(NYSE:TIF) posted

better-than-estimated fourth-quarterresults

and raised its outlook. Usana Health Sciences Inc.

(NASDAQ:USNA) postedlower-than-expected first-quarter results. Walgreen Co.(NYSE:WAG) postedsolid second-quarter results, including same-store sales growth.Also, auction-rate securities issues may

hurt some tech company results. Analystskeep cutting earings estimates for the bigbanks, but some are eyeing Yum!Brands(NYSE: YUM) earnings prospectsas it expands in China, as well as Archer

Daniels Midland(NYSE: ADM) on soaringdemand for commodities.Upcoming results to watch for include

Best Buy(NYSE: BBY), Monsanto(NYSE:M O N ) , a n d R e s e a r c h i nM o t i o n ( N A S D A Q : R I M M ) .

Visit AOL Money & Finance for moreearnings coverage. Permalink| Email this|Comments

Killer Diller(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 2:30:00 PM

After a week of high drama in theDelaware Chancery Court, John Malonehas lost his dispute with longtime partnerBarry Diller, the chief executive of

IAC/Inte rac t ive Inc . , an inte rne tconglomerate that Diller has built into a $6billion enterprise with Malone's backing.

Malone and his company, Liberty MediaCorp., lost claims that Diller violatedcontracts with Malone by proposing to spinoff IAC into five separate companies witha single-tier stock structure. Such a movewould eliminate the supervoting sharesLiberty owns in IAC, effectively wipingout its majority control of the company.

Under a proxy agreement in their 13-yearpartnership, Diller has had the right to voteLiberty's IAC stock. The court ruled thatright permits Diller to vote Liberty's sharesagainst Liberty's interests.

"The court concludes that Liberty has

failed to demonstrate that Diller breachedor threatened to breach any contractualduty he owed to Liberty," Vice ChancellorStephen Lamb wrote in an opinion issuedthis afternoon. "In particular, the courtrejects Liberty's claim that the proposedsingle-tier spin-off gives rise to any rightof consent on LIberty's part. It follow thatthe proxy remains in effect."

In his 79-page opinion, Lamb rejectedLiberty Media's claim that its "veto" rights,as contained in the governance agreementbetween Malone and Diller, contained a"sweeping" catchall provision. Lambconcluded that the "only sensibleconclusion" for interpretation of the vetoright was that it applied to "regulatorymatters."

From the outset of the relationship,Liberty was concerned with the FederalCommunications Commission's rules oncross-ownership of broadcast companies.

Malone said he left the details to hislawyer, but Diller, on the witness stand,testified that"alarm bells" would have goneoff if he thought the Liberty veto applied tomore than regulatory matters.

Lamb's ruling is a win for Diller'slawyers at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen &Katz. Diller presented well as a witness,and in the end, no one from Malone's team

could testify that a "catchall" veto wascommunicated to the Diller team.

The case boiled down to the partiesconflicting interpretations of the vetoprovision"the centerpiece of thisli t igation," in Lamb's opinion.

In that opinion, the vice chancellor

examines scenes from the deterioratingmarriage between Malone and Diller.Lamb pegs the "deterioration" of thatmarriage to 2005, a period that coincidedwith the appointment of former Microsoftexecutive Greg Maffei as the C.E.O. ofLiberty.

Lamb's opinion notes that Diller toldMalone that the choice of Maffei for theposition was "poor."

The vice chancellor addressed whatbecame something akin to the discovery ofinfidelity between Diller and Malone: AWall Street Journal article under theheadline "Can This Marriage Be Saved?"

In the article, Malone repeatedlycriticized Diller. In his opinion, Lamb

pointed out: "The article greatly upsetDiller. Diller testified that, combined withMalone's previous negative commentsabout IAC and it's lack of management, thearticle was nothing short of an outrightattack on his abilities and a thinly veiledthreat that Liberty would not fairlynegotiate a breakup of IAC."

Lamb also ruled against LIberty's claimsthat the IAC board, by hearing a proposalon the spinoffs from Diller and hislawyers, had violated their fiduciary dutyto shareholders.

The vice chancellor concluded that thoseclaims were "unripe" because the IACboard has given "only general (andununanimous) approval to the spinoff, buthas not considered or acted on any final

details of that plan.""Most importantly," he adds, "the IAC

board has not yet made any decision aboutthe voting structure of the spincos."

And so this partnership, such as it is,lives on to fight another day. Like many(unfortunate) marriages, it is a war withoutconclusion, at least for now.

Related LinksSmacking Down a Plaintiffs' Law FirmDiller on the StandMalone on the Ropes?

Business *


7/25

7Your Click and Print NewspaperComcast Backs Down(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/27/2008 9:30:00 AM

Comcast, the nation's largest cablecompany, said today that it will change itscontroversial network managementpractices and work with file-sharing

services to address complaints that itunfairly blocks certain peer-to-peer traffic.But consumer groups weren't buying it.

The Federa l Communica t ionsCommission is currently investigatingComcast over charges that it stifles legalpeer-to-peer traffic on its network.Consumer groups and network-neutralityadvocates have been pushing the F.C.C.and Congress to forbid Comcast todiscriminate against legal traffic on itsnetwork.

Today's announcement is a stunningturnaround for a company that until justmonths ago denied it engaged in any Webblocking at all. After the Associated Presscaught Comcast blocking certain traffic,

the company was forced to admit that it"delays" certain peer-to-peer traffic, but itdefended the practice as "reasonablenetwork management."

Comcast said that by the end of 2008, itsnetwork-management policy will be"protocol agnostic"meaning it will notfavor one type of traffic over anotherandwill instead focus on users who consumethe most bandwidth.

"This means that we will have to rapidlyreconfigure our network-managementsystems, but the outcome will be a traffic-management technique that is moreappropriate for today's emerging internettrends," Comcast chief technology officerTony Werner said in a statement.

Comcast will also expand its network

capacity to better accommodate rapidlyincreasing bandwidth consumption, saidJohn Schanz, a Comcast Cable executivevice president.

"We plan to more than double theupstream capacity of our residentialinternet service in several key markets byyear end 2008," Schanz said.

Comcast also said it had agreed to workwith file-sharing service BitTorrent in aneffort to address the best way to manage

peer-to-peer traffic, one of the mostbandwidth-intensive activities on the Web."Recognizing that the Web is richer and

more bandwidth-intensive than it has beenhistorically, we are pleased that Comcastunderstands these changing traffic patternsand wants to collaborate with us to migrateto techniques that the internet communitywill find to be more transparent," said EricKlinker, BitTorrent's chief technologyofficer.

Meanwhile, consumer groups reactedwarily to Comcast's about-face. NicholasReville, co-founder and executive directorof the Participatory Culture Foundation,wasn't buying what Comcast was selling.

"Comcast is taking a page right out of the

auto-industry playbook: Car companiesdeny the importance of global warmingwhile using announcements of futuretechnology to block meaningfulenvironmental protections," said Reville."Comcast can see that public demands forn e t - n e u t r a l i t y p r o t e c t i o n s a r egrowingthis announcement i s atransparent attempt to distract from thatdebate."

"The announcement from Comcast andBitTorrent has absolutely nothing to dowith the need for net-neutrality protectionsand BitTorrent certainly does not speak forother torrent technology companies,"Reville added.

Gigi Sohn, president of consumer rightsgroup Public Knowledge, called Comcast's

agreement with BitTorrent "irrelevant,"and said in a statement that it does nothave "any bearing on the complaint andpetitions pending before the Federal

Communications Commission on whatrights users have on the internet."

"The F.C.C. should continue to reinforceits principles of internet access and shouldcontinue to work for the benefit ofconsumers regardless of any particulararrangements made by the private sector,"

Sohn added.Markham Erickson, executive director ofthe Open Internet Coalition, which lobbiesfor net neutrality, said that "despite thewelcome news tha t Comcast andBitTorrent are working together, theF.C.C. still needs to reinforce these effortsby establishing the basic rules of the roadfor BitTorrent users and all internetconsumers by defining permissibleb roa dba nd ne t w ork -ma na ge me n tp ra c t i c e s . "

"Time and time again, when the telcomsa nd c a b l e c ompa n i e s e nga ge i ndiscriminatory behavior against certaintypes of speech and contentas we'veseen with AT&T, Verizon, and most

recently with Comcasta familiar patternemerges," Erickson said."First, a spotlight gets focused on the bad

behavior," he said. "Then, when exposed,the companies state such action is withintheir power as network operators. Afterthat, the F.C.C. and Congress focus onthese discriminatory acts, and finally, thecompanies do a U-turn and apologize.

"While it's always a positive step whenthese companies admit the error of theirways," added Erickson, "it's a bad way torun the internet."

Related LinksComcast Has Plenty of Room for Video

Its OwnF.C.C. Warns Comcast Over Web

'Blocking'

Crackdown: Comcast Blocks Peer-to-Peer Web Traffic

Big Banks Shuffle(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 4:30:00 AM

Amid estimates that they will reportbillions of dollars in additional write-downs for the first quarter, the two largestU.S. banks by deposits are preparing for

their post-subprime futures.Citigroup has a new chief for its U.S.consumer business, David Enrich of theWall Street Journal reports, while Bank ofAmerica has agreed to pay $28 million toDavid Sambol, the chief operating officerof Countrywide Financial, to stay on whenthe two companies merge.

Terri Dial, who runs the retail bankingbusiness of Lloyds TSB of Britain, will beCiti 's new chief of U.S. consumeroperations, succeeding Steven Freiberg,the Journal says. Freiberg will now run thebank's global credit-card business.

Dial, 58, was a highly regarded WellsFargo executive when she joined Lloyds in2005.

The Financial Times' Alphaville blognotes that the situation at Citi's consumerunit, a sluggish business plagued by risingdefaults, is similar to what she stepped intoat Lloyds.

Citi is also ousting the chiefs of its globalfinance and prime brokerage business.Nick Roe will replace Ali Hackett andTom Tesauro, according to an internalmemo, Reuters and Bloomberg Newsreport.

The shakeup is part of Vikram Pandit'seffort to overhaul troubled bank giant sincehe took over from Charles Prince as C.E.O.in December.

"For Pandit it's the case of a new broomsweeps clean," Rupert Della-Porta, thechief operating officer at Atlantic Equities

in London, told Bloomberg News. "You

should expect a rotation of people, andprime brokerage is an area that people arefocusing on, including Citigroup."

Bank of America, meanwhile, is facing anumber of doubters about its planned $4bill ion acquisit ion of CountrywideFinancial, the largest mortgage lender in

the country. Countrywide continues tosuffer from mounting foreclosures and itf a c e s c r i m i n a l a n d r e g u l a t o r yi n v e s t i g a t i o n s .

But Bank of America is going full-steamahead. It has already announced thatSambol would be the chief of thecombined mortgage businesses of the twocompanies, a move that Senator CharlesSchumer, Democrat of New York, askedthat Bank of America reconsider. Now, thebank has disclosed its incentive to keepSambol.

According to a filing on Thursday withthe Securities and Exchange Commission,Sambol will be due a $20 million bonus tobe paid in two parts, on the first and

second anniversaries of the merger.He also gets $8 million in restricted stockin three installments. In addition, Sambolgets to keep his Countrywide fringebenefits until the end of next year, whichinclude use of a jet, car, and financial-consulting services, as well a country-clubdues.

All in all, Sambol gets a much richer dealthan Bank of America's chief executive,Ken Lewis, who received $20.4 million incompensation.

But did he have a better year?Related LinksWas B of A Blindsided by Countrywide

Lawsuits?Countrywide Gets a New HomeWhen Banks Diversify Internationally

The Wal-Mart Weekly: Why do many hate Wal-Mart?By Brian White (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 4:40:00 AM

Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), ColumnsWelcome to the 55th installment of The

Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated tobringing you insight, wit, facts, results,opinions, and just a bit of everything else

when it comes down to a very hot topicthese days: Wal-Mart.

In this week's Wal-Mart Weekly, I'll belooking at what seems to be second natureto many Americans in this day and age --hating Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(NYSE:WMT). Like many divisive issues thesedays (think Democratic candidates), many

Americans I have met either love or hate

Wal-Mart. There seems to be little to nomiddle ground. I can very muchunderstand the love many customers haveover Wal-Mart. But the hatred?

Who is to blame for all the hatredtowards Wal-Mart? The retailer itself?How about the customers who keep it atthe top? These are questions that

constantly see emotion overtaking logicwhen the questions arise. Let's take a lookat them a little more closely today.

Continue reading The Wal-Mart Weekly:Why do many hate Wal-Mart? Permalink|Email this| Comments

Business *


8/25

8 Your Click and Print NewspaperWhen Genius Fails Again, and Again(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 3:00:00 AM

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.Was this the motto for Long-Term CapitalManagement alumni?

It certainly seems that way. But perhaps

it's time to find a new one.It turns out that Long-Term Capitalfounder John Meriwether isn't the onlysurvivor of the hedge fund that implodedspectacularly in 1998 who is havingtrouble surviving today. Eric Rosenfeld, aformer Salomon Brothers trader whohelped Meriwether start both L.T.C.M. andJ.W.M. Partners, has his own troubled taleto tell, Portfolio.com has learned.

Rosenfeld parted ways with Meriwetherto start his own fund last year. He reunitedwith L.T.C.M.'s former chief financialofficer, Robert Shustak, and the fund'sformer controller, Bruce Wilson, to startQuantitative Alternatives L.L.C. in RyeBrook, New York.

The plan, according to reports, was touse statistical models for trading strategiesmuch like those employed by the ill-fatedL.T.C.M. It had hoped to start trading by

the end of last year.But that day would never come. The

fund never got off the ground, and thethree partners decided to fold the operationat the end of last year. But unlike thedramatic finale of L.T.C.M., QuantitativeAlternatives exited the scene in silence.

"The capital-raising environment wasvery challenging," says Shustak, who wasreached by phone in his new of fice at QFSAsset Management. "At the end of theyear, we just decided it wasn't the righttime to raise a new quantitative fund. Wedidn't feel it was appropriate."

No one knows about today's challengingenvironment better than Meriwether, whois now struggling to keep his nine-year-oldhedge fund solvent, the Wall Street Journalreported yesterday. Meriwether startedJ.W.M. Partners with five other principalsof L.T.C.M., including Rosenfeld, and itsbiggest fund is down 28 percent so far thisyear.

As for the defunct Quantitative

Alternatives, Shustak declined to say howmuch money the trio raised before quietlycalling it quits. He landed on his feet atQFS earlier this year, and Shustak says

Wilson is now working for Third PointPartners, an activist fund run by theoutspoken Daniel Loeb.

Rosenfeld, however, is still "exploringhis different options," Shustak says. Effortsto reach Rosenfeld both at home and at theformer offices of Quantitative Alternatives

were unsuccessful.So is there a Long-Term Capital curse?When two or more former L.T.C.M.traders enter the same room, does lightningstrike?

Shustak doesn't think there's enoughevidence that the shared experiences atL.T.C.M. have anything to do with thesuccess or failure of a new joint venture.

And he has reason to hope that's true.One of the principals of QFS, Shustak'scurrent firm, worked in the back office forL.T.C.M., according to his bio.

Related LinksIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldMeriwether Decimates his Partners'

Capital, Again

Another Hedge Fund Tracker Launches

Harvard's New Stockpicker(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/27/2008 9:30:00 AM

Look out, Harvard. There's a new girl intown.

Actually, it's a familiar face to theCrimson crowd. After an extensive search,Harvard has hired Jane Mendillo tooversee its $35 billion endowment.

Mendillo spent 15 years at Harvard

Management Company before leaving in2002 to manage the endowment forWellesley College. During her five years atthe women's school, the fund grew from $1billion to $1.7 billion, and had annualizedreturns of 13.5 percent, according to anannouncement by Harvard.

She returns to Harvard to run thecountry's largest university endowment, a

position that was vacated by Mohamed El-Erian last year. El-Erian returned to thegiant bond fund Pacific InvestmentManagement Co.

Mendillo worked at Harvard from 1987to 2002 in a number of differentmanagement positions. During most of thattime, she worked under the legendaryinvestment manager Jack Meyer.

When Meyer joined Harvard in 1990, the

endowment was worth $4.7 billion. Underhis oversight, aggressive fundraisingefforts and more diversified investmentstrategies helped it grow to nearly $23billion by the time he left in 2005. Meyerlaunched an investment strategy that's stillpaying off handsomely todayone thatrelies less on stocks and bonds and moreon alternative investments like real estate

and hedge funds.He left to start his own investment firm

with several of his top managers fromHarvard after a firestorm erupted over thecompensation packages of the fund'semployees.

As a protg of Meyer's, Mendilloshould be a welcome sight to theendowment office, which has been withouta leader during one of the most tumultuous

market cycles in its history.Related LinksBack to the Beach, as Heir ApparentHarvard Gets It Right AgainEl-Erian Leaves Harvard, Returns to

Pimco

Ringside: Bringing socialnetworking to allbusinessesBy Tom Taulli (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 10:40:00 AM

Filed under: Next big thing, Smallbusiness, Technology

With the popularity of Facebook, beboand MySpace, companies are trying to findways to leverage social networking.However, it can be expensive to build out astrong platform.

Well, things are getting easier; that is,Ringside Networks has launched an opensource server to build social networks (it'sin the beta mode).

True, there are other systems on themarket. However, in the case withRingside, it allows for seamless integrationwith other sites, such as Facebook. In other

words, it will help companies migrateusers to their own platform.What's more, Ringside allows companies

to keep their own branding and the look-and-feel of their own websites.

Oh, and some of the co-founders ofRingside -- Bob Bickel, Rich Friedmanand Mark Lugert -- were instrumental in

the development of JBoss, which turnedout to be one of the most successful opensource projects in tech history.

To get some perspective on this, I talkedto David DePaolo, who opera tesWorkCompCentral.com. He has knownabout Ringside for some time. His take: "Itmakes sense that someone would start thisup as they have with other technologies,and just in time. As technology progresses,we find that it is not all about thetechnology and patents, it's the applicationof that technology to a specific market."

Tom Taulli is the author of various

books, including The Complete M&AHandbook and The Edgar Online Guide toDecoding Financial Statements. He alsooperates DealProfiles.com. Permalink|Email this| Comments

Option Update: Cal-Maine Foodsvolatility elevated into EPS, $3dozen eggsBy Paul Foster (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 5:40:00 AM

Filed under: OptionsCal-Maine Foods(NASDAQ: CALM), a

producer and marketer of fresh shell eggs,is expected to report Q3 EPS on March 31.CALM shares have rallied 173% over thepast 12 months. CALM will initiate avariable dividend policy during Q3 toreplace a fixed dividend policy. Accordingto NASDAQ, CALM on March 14 had ashort interest of 12,436,184 shares withaverage daily volume of 585,828 shares.

CALM April 35 straddle is priced at $7.

CALM May 35 straddle is priced at $9.CALM May call option implied volatilityis at 87, puts are at 103--above its 26-weekaverage of 68 according to Track Data,suggesting larger price movement. Puts areprice higher than call because CALM isdifficult to borrow.

Option Update is provided by StockS p e c i a l i s t P a u l F o s t e r o f theflyonthewall.com. Permalink| Emailthis| Comments

Business *


9/25

9Your Click and Print NewspaperThe real victims of ahousing industry bailoutBy Zac Bissonnette(BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 2:40:00 AM

Filed under: HousingYesterday I received a great comment

from long-time reader Dr. MichaelSchneider of barrelomoney.com. He wrote:Every market has buyers and sellers-- sofar it seems the remedies for the housingmess have been directed at helping thebanks and homeowners (sellers) and,rightly or wrongly, propping up housingprices. This has the effect of helping thosewho created the mess or who profited fromit while possibly hurting potential buyers--including 1st time home-buyers who mayhave to pay higher prices for homes thatmay still be overpriced.

This may seem like fairly obvious pointbut it has profound ramifications: it's been

completely missed by the people who aresupposedly working to solve these

problems. Propping up home prices delaysthe inevitable reversion to somethingresembling intrinsic value, and prices firsttime home buyers out of the market.

This was one of the effects of thesubprime bubble as well: lax lending pricesthat made homes available to people withbrand new SUVs and double-digit FICOscores made it difficult for people whowanted to do it the right way: work hard,save money, and make a 20% downpayment on an affordable home with a 30-year fixed mortgage.

When you think about it like that, youhave to wonder why there is so muchresistance by supposedly reasonablepoliticians to just letting the darn pricescome back down to earth: it's a zero-sumgame, and lower home prices will help justas many people as they hurt. Permalink|Email this| Comments

Is Paulson using the creditcrunch to deregulate WallStreet even more?By Peter Cohan (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 3:39:00 AM

Filed under: Market matters, Politics,Headline news, Federal Reserve

The last time Washington took afundamental rethink of how best toregulate the financial markets was duringthe 1930s. Now it's decided to try again.The New York Times reports that onMonday Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsonwill announce a plan to substitute analphabet soup of regulatory agencies withthree new ones.

I think it's a clever way to use the currentcredit crisis to loosen regulation on thefinancial industry while doing little to fixthe current problem or prevent future ones.

A better way would be to nip futureproblems in the bud by changingfinanciers' incentives -- requiring them,rather than taxpayers, to foot the bill for

the bad deals they originate -- and

shedding far more light on their dealings.Paulson's proposal brings manyquestions to mind:

Would the proposed scheme haveprevented the current credit crisis?

Could the scheme actually be passed byCongress? Would it prevent future crises? Is there a better way to manage the

capital markets?I think the answers are no, no, no, and

yes. Before addressing these questions,though, let's examine what Paulson isproposing. Specifically, he wants to createthree new agencies detailed as follows:

Continue reading Is Paulson using thecredit crunch to deregulate Wall Street

even more? Permalink| Email this|Comments

Barron's: BlackRock's CEO looks into thecrystal ballBy Tom Taulli (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 7:40:00 AM

Filed under: General Electric (GE),Boeing Co (BA), United Technologies(UTX)

About a year ago, I had a chance to hear

a presentation by Laurence Fink, who isthe CEO of BlackRock(NYSE: BLK),which is a mega money manager. Simplyput, he was a bit concerned about themarkets. With the huge amounts ofleverage, he thought that investors weren'tgetting enough premium for the potentialrisk.

Yes, it was a good call. And the upshot is

that BlackRock has been a stellarperformer.

Well, now Fink is more sanguine. In fact,

in this week's Barron's[a paid publication],there is an interview with him.What's his take? First of all, he think

investors should dip into equities, such asthe big caps that benefit from globalgrowth. Some of his choices include:G e n e r a l E l e c t r i c ( N Y S E : G E ) ,Monsanto(NYSE: MON), Uni tedTe c hno l og i e s (N Y S E: U TX ) a nd

Boeing(NYSE: BA).He also likes high-grade mortgage debt.

Basically, the spreads are attractive (andseem to account for the risk levels).

Finally, Fink is bullish on overseasmarkets, especially commodity-basedcounties like Brazil.

Tom Taulli is the author of variousbooks, including The Complete M&AHandbook and The Edgar Online Guide toDecoding Financial Statements. He alsooperates DealProfiles.com. Permalink|Email this| Comments

Oregon newspaperclaims JP Morgan Chasememo of dubious intentBy Gary E. Sattler (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 9:40:00 AM

Filed under: Rumors, Management,Newspapers, Rants and raves, Scandals,JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Housing

Jeff Manning, staff writer for TheOregonian newspaper, released a story

Thursday, March 27, 2008, that claims thepaper has come into possession of a copyof an internal memo from JP MorganChase(NYSE: JPM). According to TheOregonian article, which hints at unsavoryor even fraudulent mortgage processingpractices, the memo indicates that loanprocessors can (not should) use creativedata entry to alter automated underwritingsystem results. The Oregonian writerentertains the "dark side" scenario in thetone of his article.That's a real convenient,time-tested ploy for selling newspapers.Kudos for his attempt.

However, representatives for Chasemortgage operations have dismissed thememo as nothing more than a strategicangle on automated process. While no onehas actually come out to say they createdthe memo or why, the company allegedlyadmits that the document is genuine. I getno sense that anyone from the companywho commented on the situation hasanything to hide. In fact, company repsappear to be quite forthcoming on thematter.

Continue reading Oregon newspaperclaims JP Morgan Chase memo of dubiousintent Read| Permalink| Email this|Comments

Cayne Sells Out(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)

Submitted at 3/27/2008 2:00:00 PM

It's over.Any hope that there will be a deal other

than J.P. Morgan Chase's $10-per-sharestock offer for Bear Stearns should now befinally dashed.

James Cayne, the chairman and formerchief executive of Bear Stearns, has sold5.6 million shares of Bear for $10.84 a

share, or about $60.1 million, on Tuesday.It's quite a comedown for a man who was

a billionaire about a year ago, when Bear'sstock price was near $160. He had beenamong Bear's largest shareholders.

The Securi t ie s and ExchangeCommission filing indicates that Cayne'swife sold 45,669 Bear shares.

Related LinksThe Age of ReregulationWill Asking Mortgage Servicers to

Modify Mortgages Have Much Impact?Bear Funds Being Liquidated: Who

Wants to Buy?

Business *


10/25

10 Your Click and Print NewspaperComfort Zone Investing:Can stocks get much worse?By Ted Allrich (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 3:40:00 AM

Filed under: Comfort Zone InvestingTed Allrich is the founder of The Online

Investor and author of the just releasedbook: Comfort Zone Investing: BuildWealth And Sleep Well At Night. In thisweekly column, he'll offer advice toinvestors who are just getting started.

Of course they can. But they can also getmuch better. While the stock market, asmeasured by the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage, has rallied from its lows, can itsustain the gain or will investors take thisopportunity to reap smaller losses (who hasprofits these days?) or step up and buy?Here's what will influence them.

It seems all economic news is bad."Credit crunch" is more common thanCaptain Crunch around the breakfast table.Banks are hemorraging from bad loans.

They're reluctant to make new ones unlessthe credit is so good and the loan so smallthat it would be impossible to lose moneyon it. Most likely the best terms are for

those borrowers who deposit all the moneythey need in the bank first, then borrow itback, but not all of it. The banks want thatextra cushion of safety these days. Don'tlook for the banks to change lending habitssoon. More losses are coming. Until theystop, banks will keep credit tight.

Continue reading Comfort ZoneInvesting: Can stocks get much worse?

Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Creative halts unauthorizeddistribution of homegrownVista driversBy Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 9:52:00 AM

Filed under: Peripherals, Portable AudioChances are that if you do your duties onVista and rely on one of Creative's soundcards to get your dance on, you may havebecome frustrated by the firm's inability tooffer up a driver package that lived up tothose loosed for Windows XP. 'Course, ifthat rings a bell, you're probably not tooconcerned -- you know, thanks to thoseunofficial (but totally functional) driversbrought to you by Daniel_K. Unfortunatelyfor users suddenly excited to gain someextra utility from their device, Creative hashopped on the offensive and is forbiddingsaid compiler from distributing the firm'stechnology / IP (not to mention collecting

donations), and it's also scouring the 'net toremove other links to the software.Granted, we fully understand Creative'sdesire to disallow the distribution ofuntested, potentially harmful third-partydrivers, but until they release the driverscustomers expect they should be a little

more cautious about shutting down thirdparty patches.

[Via Slashdot, thanks to everyone whosent this in]

Update: It seems Creative has decided to

allow Daniel_K to continue with oneparticular endeavor at least, noting that "aslong as no intellectual property of Creativeis distributed, [it] will have no problemwith it." Thanks, Aaron!


Linux becomes only OS to escape PWN 2 OWNunscathedBy Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 7:48:00 AM

Filed under: Laptops

After a week full of Red Bulls, Fruit bythe Foot and dreams of In-N-Out, themighty Sony VAIO loaded with Linuxstood as the only machine unhacked by theend of the PWN 2 OWN hacking contest atCanSecWest. As you're well aware bynow, the MacBook Air on display wasseized in two minutes by the presumablywell prepared Charlie Miller, and after two

full days of work, Shane Macaulay and afew of his 1337 associates managed tocrack the Vista rig on Friday. Reportedly,

Shane and his pals weren't expecting to dobattle with the extra protected SP1 versionof Vista, and while the exact loopholewon't be divulged, we are told that it was a

cross-platform bug that "took advantage ofJava to circumvent Vista's security." In theend, it was reported that some folks onhand had discovered bugs in the Linux OS,but many of them "didn't want to put thework into developing the exploit code thatwould be required to win the contest."[Image courtesy of TippingPoint]Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Video of theiPhone Pwnedproject in actionBy Nilay Patel (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 1:38:00 PM

Filed under: Cellphones

Those crafty kids on the iPhone DevTeam have already hacked the 2.0firmware, but now they're getting ready torelease the oh-so-creatively-namedPWNED tool, which takes iPhone hackingto the next level by patching the bootloaderto let you load any firmware image youwant -- even images not signed by Apple.That means custom patched firmware cannow be loaded directly from iTunes, whichsimplifies the jailbreaking / unlockingprocess tremendously, and also means thata patched version of the 2.0 firmware iscoming soon. We're putting the toolthrough its paces right now and we'll havea hands-on with it (and the Dev Team'spatched 2.0 firmware) as soon as we get it

all working, but check out some highlightsafter the break, and hit the read link formore info.

Continue reading Video of the iPhonePwned project in action


BlackBerry service outages keeping your weekend interesting?By Paul Miller (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 6:18:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones Having some

BlackBerry troubles? You're not alone,we've been receiving some sporadic tips onthe subject, and some forum users havereported outage trouble as well, though for other users it seems just fine. Let us know

how your service is doing. Or don't -- thismight be just the chance you were lookingfor to ditch work email and get a start onthat spring tan. We won't tell a soul.

Permalink| Email this| Comments

Business * Tech Gadgets *


11/25

11Your Click and Print NewspaperHackers embed flashinganimations on epilepsy supportforumBy Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 1:50:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets Shortly afterhearing a sad tale of a 7-year old cancerpatient having his medication and PSPstolen whilst en route to treatment comesyet another story of the world's meanestpreying on the helpless. This go 'round, agroup of griefers (assuming to be membersof Anonymous) managed to invade asupport forum established by the nonprofitEpilepsy Foundation and use JavaScriptcode and messages littered with f lashinganimations to effectively assault dozens ofvisitors who suffer from the disorder. TheFoundation managed to catch wind of theproblem within 12 hours of the attack, andwhile the boards were closed downtemporarily to purge it of offending

messages, many readers (such as RyAnne

Fultz, pictured) experienced headaches andseizures before rescue arrived. Let's justsay we sincerely hope the culprits getwhat's comin' to 'em.


Nyko's wireless Wii nunchukadapter hits the FCC, itself with theugly stickBy Nilay Patel (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 10:42:00 PM

Filed under: GamingNo matter how we might try and stop it,

Nyko's wireless Wii nunchuk adapter /abomination ceaselessly advances upon theunsuspecting American consumer,stopping at nothing to ruin the delicateaesthetics of the Wii controllers and pump

us full of even more unnecessary RF. Theadapter and its receiver have just hit theFCC, and our nation's government hasmanaged to use every ounce of

photographic skill at its disposal to renderthese mutant hunks of plastic in asflattering a light as possible -- just look atthat stained blue backdrop. Seriously, isanyone going to drop $20 on this thing?Isn't that money better spent on games?Explain yourself in comments, in tenwords or less.[Thanks, Mickel]Read- Wireless adapter

Read- ReceiverPermalink| Email this| Comments

Biosensing nanodevice couldhasten security checks, healthscreeningsBy Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 5:13:00 PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets We'll goahead and warn you: if you're hoping topurge your mind of all things science thisweekend, this post isn't the one to bereading. For the rest of you knowledgeseekers, Arizona State University

researcher Wayne Frasch has developed abiosensing nanodevice that could possiblyrevolutionize health screenings and speedup that grueling airport security process.Put simply (well, as simply as possible), hediscovered that the enzyme F1- ATPasecan be equipped with an optical probe and"manipulated to emit a signal when itdetects a single molecule of target DNA."

Currently, a prototype of the DNA detectoris already being worked up, but there's noword on when (or if) the device will escapethe lab and hit the commercial realm. Stillnot geeked out? Hit the read link and holdon for dear life.[Via Physorg]Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Mesiro Meriummedia PC has sleek,sexy down patBy Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 12:44:00 AM

Filed under: Home Entertainment, MediaPCsThose on the hunt for a pre-fabricated

HTPC can't complain about a lack ofchoices these days, but if you've yet to betaken aback by anything out there, why notgive Mesiro's Merium a glance? Thestandout feature here isn't the 1.66GHzCore 2 Duo T5500 processor, 250GBinternal HDD, dual-layer DVD burner,GMA950 graphics accelerator, WiFi, 5-in-1 multicard reader or the bundled MCEremote -- oh no, it's the interchangeablechassis covers (weird, right?). Yep, youcan swap out the covers on this rigwhenever you feel the urge, ensuring thatthere 's a case for every occasion.

Unfortunately, those in America who'd liketo get in on this won't appreciate the 999($1,578) price tag, and those 55 ($87)faceplates aren't any easier to swallow.[Via MoCo Loco]Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Tech Gadgets *


12/25

12 Your Click and Print Newspaper

South Korean police aiming toequip all new handsets with GPS?By Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 5:40:00 AM

Filed under: Cellphones, GPSPresumably taking a note from Japan, it'sbeing reported that South Korean policeare backing a highly controversial plan thatwould equip each new mobile sold in thenation with a GPS chip. Reportedly, SongKang-ho, chief of the investigation bureauof the National Police Agency, has statedthat the government has "already submitteda related bill to the National Assembly,"

and the general idea here is to crack downon the rise of kidnapping and various othercrimes against children and women (not

much different than we Americans havingsuch a chip for E911, really). Granted,there's not a lot of supporting evidence thatthis is actually set to go down, so until wesee it inked in stone, our skeptic hats areremaining in place.

[Via textually, image courtesy of TheNew York Times]


Nintendo's Wii Wheel priced at $14.99By Darren Murph (Engadget)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 11:15:00 AM

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals We'veknown that Nintendo would be bundling asingle Wii Wheel in with the forthcomingMario Kart Wii title, but now it seems thatfolks riding shotgun (or riding your tail)can grab one of their own. According to arecently released flyer from GameStop,extra Wheels -- should the plethora ofsteering apparatuses already out there notsuffice -- will be sold for a cool $14.99each. April 27th just seems so, so far away,doesn't it? Check the flyer in full after the

jump.

[Thanks, Pat]Continue reading Nintendo's Wii Wheel

priced at $14.99Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Newspapers' Real ProblemsBy Kevin Maney (Portfolio.com:Tech Observer)

Submitted at 3/28/2008 5:53:25 AM

Newspapers aren't dying because of theInternet. Newspapers are dying because of

two reasons that usually go unspoken:most newspapers suck, and almost allnewspapers aim at the wrong audience.Throw in screw-ups like the Los AngelesTimes' Tupac mess, and you get a trainwreck.

The New Yorker has a lengthy storydelving into why newspapers are dying. Itnames all the usual suspects -- Craigslist,Google, disinterest among the young toread anything on paper.

If those are the culprits, though, how doyou explain the success of collegenewspapers? You'd think, since collegekids are so wired, they'd rather pick up acow pie than a printed paper. Yet a 2006survey showed that 44% of college

students read their campus paper twice ormore a week -- a market penetration citynewspapers only dream about. Advertisingrevenue for college papers increased 15%in 2007.

College newspapers are indispensableparts of their communities. They're writtenby students for students. They're oftencourageous, whether taking on theadministration or running sex-advicecolumns. Most college papers have Websites, but students still read the printversion, actually enjoying a break fromtheir computer screens.

So why can't city newspapers have thatkind of success? Well, for one, outside ofmaybe the 10 biggest papers, they don'thave the talent for it. Most city newspapershave seen their newsroom budgetssqueezed tighter and tighter for the past

decade or two. They're left with too fewpeople. The salaries that newspapers pay,coupled with the conventional wisdom thatthe medium is dying, prevent them fromluring or keeping the brightest newcomers.In short, newspaper companies have notseriously invested in improving andupdating their product in years -- for themost part, not since the move to color.

With rare exception, newspapers are dulland bound to outdated traditions. (My oldemployer, USA Today, busted out of thatcontainer 25 years ago only by startingwith a clean slate -- but then increasinglyadopted newspaper traditions over thesepast 25 years.) In a Pew survey, less than20% of journalists named the quality of

coverage as something that journalism "isdoing especially well these days." Alongthe way, newspapers portray themselves aspurveyors of trusted professional news,and then suffer scandals, like the LATimes linking Sean Combs to TupacShakur's death based on false FBIdocuments. No wonder papers are losingcustomers.

And then, if you want to accept thatyounger people won't read a newspaper(which the success of college papers seemsto counter), or if you want to accept thatnewspapers need to hold onto their

traditions, then newspapers keep trying towin the wrong audience. They constantlytalk about appealing to younger readers --but they shouldn't. Newspapers might dobetter if they consciously play to olderreaders.

Surveys show a generation gap in theway people get news -- particularlynational and international news. In onePew survey, the median age of the threecategories of news consumers least likelyto turn to the Net is around 50. Theinformation "omnivores," who use the Netfor most everything, has a median age of28.

Newspaper executives tend to covet ageneration of readers they can't win whiletaking for granted the readers who couldbecome loyal fans. It 's completelybackwards. Logic says that newspapercompanies should give their customerswhat they want: aim the print productsquarely at people, say, 40 and older, and

aim the Web site at 40 and younger.That could create some brandingtensions. But what else are newspapersgoing to do? Everything they've tried overthe past decade has not worked.

Related LinksIdle Chatter: All Eyez on the 'L.A.

Times'Late Breaks: About that Diddy-Shot-

Tupac Story...The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper

Business

WordPress Gets Major OverhaulBy Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 4:04:11 PM

WordPress 2.5 has been released with a

major overhaul to the interface and a rangeof new features.The biggest change is in the appearance

of the administration backend, which isdescribed as being a Cleaner, faster, lesscluttered dashboard. The WordPressdashboard is now widget friendly, andusers can include items such as stats,offe r ing s imi la r func t iona l i ty toMovableType .

Other new features include multi-file

uploading, one-click plugin upgrades, built-in galleries, salted passwords and cookieencryption, media library, code friendlyWYSIWYG, concurrent post editing

protection, full-screen writing, andimproved search.A demo video from Automattics Matt

Mullenweg above, and further details onthe WordPress blog here. CrunchBaseInformation Automattic Matt MullenwegInformation provided by CrunchBase

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch MobileGadgets and Applications, DeliveredDaily.

Glam Makes Big Cuts InPublisher Payments - UpTo 80% Drop In RevenueBy Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)

Submitted at 3/29/2008 12:09:41 PMAdvertising network Glam is putting an

Tech Gadgets * Technology *


13/25

13Your Click and Print Newspaper

GLAMcontinued from page 12

end to at least some of its guaranteedpayments to publishers, just a month afterraising an$85 million round of financing.

Scott Swanson, Glams GM and VicePresident, told publishers in an email (fulltext below) that house ads that wereserved for unsold inventory were beingdiscontinued as of March 25, except to

fulfill minimum commitments that Glamhas contractually agreed to.The email says the change was made to

give publishers more choice when itcomes to how you use your unsoldinventory. But according to one largepublisher partner to Glam, this is actuallynothing more than a way for Glam todramatically cut payments to partners. HesaidWhile theyre spinning this aspositive news, it sucks for publishers.Publishers were previously guaranteed $3 -$5 CPMs for house ads. By no longerrunning any house ads, that revenue dies.And, given Glams fill rates retwork wideare only 30%, thats 70% of traffic (formost publishers) thats no longer earningrevenue from GlamItll basically cause a30 - 80% drop in revenue for publishers

Glams business model is to guaranteeminimum flat payments to publishers. Amedium sized blog will receive, say, aguaranteed payment of $10,000 monthly.Glam then sells ads into those blogs, andplaced house ads with a high CPM for anyunsold inventory. If the blogs page viewsgrew, those additional payments over theguarantee could really add up. Somepublishers, with 3 or more ad units on apage, could guarantee a $15 or higherRPM (revenue per thousand page views).

Thats an awesome advertising income forblogs, particularly blogs targeting womengenerally (highly specific niche blogs cancommand higher rates, but usually only atscale).

So why is Glam doing this? Threereasons, probably.

First, they need to get costs down. Last

year the company lost $3.7 million on $21million in revenue. Theyve promisedinvestors that 2008 would bring in $150million in revenue with $40 million inprofit. The only way to get there is br

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