Making Money Online Easy

by Susana Polo | 4:09 pm, September 12th, 2010

There have been many effects of Eve Online’s decision to deal a large blow to the black market for their in-game currency by essentially making it purchasable for real money.  The one that we like the most, however, is that it is now really easy to quantify actions in Eve Online to people who don’t play the game.  Case in point:

In-game business machinations have lead to a player known as Bad Bobby walking away from a gutted in-game corporation with items worth $45,000.  And it was all game legal.

The plan was to set up an in-game business that turned a profit by selling copies of blueprints for Titan class starships.  90% of the profits would go to the shareholders who had bankrolled the founding of the company in the first place.  The location of the originals would be kept secret, but their ownership would be controlled by five trustees, ensuring that they could not be taken without all trustees in agreement.  Bad Bobby was a founding member of the company, Titans4U, and one of the trustees.

From Massively:

All of this security hinged on the fact that Bobby would not have access to over 50% of the company’s shares and so couldn’t vote to unlock the blueprints on his own. For over a year, this system worked amicably. In the background, however, Bobby was slowly scheming to get his hands on more shares.

To complete the scam, Bobby initiated a vote to create more shares under the guise of adding more trustees… the vote passed and more shares were created.

The other trustees presumably expected Bobby to hand over the shares when the new trustees were appointed. Instead, Bobby, with access to 50% of the shares, called for a vote to place the blueprints in his ownership at a time when only three of the other four trustees could log on to veto his request, stealing the blueprints.

According to Massively, the virtual goods were worth 850 billion Interstellar Kredits, which can be translated into a value of $45,000 US dollars, which can purchase 214 years of game time.

And yes, Eve Online is at heart an economic simulator as well as a space tactics simulator.  The game’s curators permit in-game thievery, smuggling, elaborate cons, pirates, market manipulation, bounty-hunting, corporate espionage, and racketeering; they simply warn their players to be aware of the risks and careful with their in-game possessions.  Bobby’s actions were all within the rules of the game.  The only thing he has sacrificed is his in-game reputation.

If Apple gets its way, the next big wave of content to hit iTunes might be magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is trying to convince publishers to offer newspaper and magazine subscriptions for the iPad through Apple’s own portal./> id="more-386602">/> Even before the iPad was launched, rumors of this sort of arrangement were already underway. Many of the Western world’s biggest publishers, including Time Inc., Hearst and Condé Nast, released iPad-optimized magazines or newspapers to coincide with the product’s release.

However, magazines have been limited to single issue sales. Some apps notify a user when a new issue is available, but at $4 or $5 an issue, most users are unlikely to forego a print or online subscription for iPad content.

The big holdup with bringing subscriptions to the iPad has reportedly revolved around user data and, of course, money. Publishers often use their subscriber database to better target customers and to entice advertisers. Apple reportedly doesn’t want to give publishers such easy access to customer information.

Additionally, Apple would likely want to take a 30% revenue cut off any subscriptions sold within iTunes, the same as it does for apps, music, books and video files now.

Both of these points are contentious with publishers, who have acquiesced by selling issues individually or are trying to either build apps that are really just portals to subscriber-only websites (à la The Wall Street Journal) or apps like Zinio that are PDF portals of sorts on their own.

Of course, the big promise with the iPad has been that it is an opportunity for publishers to redefine magazine or newspaper content by making it more engaging and interactive rather than just being a facsimile of the print edition.

Publishers who are looking at ways to combat declining print sales may be able to use Apple’s 160-million strong iTunes customer base to help boost sales. That might be worth a trade-off of control and profit.

For Apple, having unique arrangements with publishers to offer compelling subscription content that is auto-delivered to iOS devices could be a big differentiating factor between the iPad and future competing devices.

Apple’s foray into the world of e-books remains small, especially when compared to market giant Amazon.comclass="blippr-nobr">Amazon.com, but the iPad has the ability and the form factor to provide a much more compelling experience for subscription content.

We’ve reached out to several publishers for comment on this story and have not heard back. We’ll keep following this story for future developments.

In the meantime, let us know what you think of iPad-tailored subscriptions for newspapers and magazines. Do you currently read print publications? Would you be more or less likely to subscribe to a tablet-friendly digital version?

For more Apple coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Appleclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Apple channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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benchcraft company scam

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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.

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Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam benchcraft company scam

by Susana Polo | 4:09 pm, September 12th, 2010

There have been many effects of Eve Online’s decision to deal a large blow to the black market for their in-game currency by essentially making it purchasable for real money.  The one that we like the most, however, is that it is now really easy to quantify actions in Eve Online to people who don’t play the game.  Case in point:

In-game business machinations have lead to a player known as Bad Bobby walking away from a gutted in-game corporation with items worth $45,000.  And it was all game legal.

The plan was to set up an in-game business that turned a profit by selling copies of blueprints for Titan class starships.  90% of the profits would go to the shareholders who had bankrolled the founding of the company in the first place.  The location of the originals would be kept secret, but their ownership would be controlled by five trustees, ensuring that they could not be taken without all trustees in agreement.  Bad Bobby was a founding member of the company, Titans4U, and one of the trustees.

From Massively:

All of this security hinged on the fact that Bobby would not have access to over 50% of the company’s shares and so couldn’t vote to unlock the blueprints on his own. For over a year, this system worked amicably. In the background, however, Bobby was slowly scheming to get his hands on more shares.

To complete the scam, Bobby initiated a vote to create more shares under the guise of adding more trustees… the vote passed and more shares were created.

The other trustees presumably expected Bobby to hand over the shares when the new trustees were appointed. Instead, Bobby, with access to 50% of the shares, called for a vote to place the blueprints in his ownership at a time when only three of the other four trustees could log on to veto his request, stealing the blueprints.

According to Massively, the virtual goods were worth 850 billion Interstellar Kredits, which can be translated into a value of $45,000 US dollars, which can purchase 214 years of game time.

And yes, Eve Online is at heart an economic simulator as well as a space tactics simulator.  The game’s curators permit in-game thievery, smuggling, elaborate cons, pirates, market manipulation, bounty-hunting, corporate espionage, and racketeering; they simply warn their players to be aware of the risks and careful with their in-game possessions.  Bobby’s actions were all within the rules of the game.  The only thing he has sacrificed is his in-game reputation.

If Apple gets its way, the next big wave of content to hit iTunes might be magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is trying to convince publishers to offer newspaper and magazine subscriptions for the iPad through Apple’s own portal./> id="more-386602">/> Even before the iPad was launched, rumors of this sort of arrangement were already underway. Many of the Western world’s biggest publishers, including Time Inc., Hearst and Condé Nast, released iPad-optimized magazines or newspapers to coincide with the product’s release.

However, magazines have been limited to single issue sales. Some apps notify a user when a new issue is available, but at $4 or $5 an issue, most users are unlikely to forego a print or online subscription for iPad content.

The big holdup with bringing subscriptions to the iPad has reportedly revolved around user data and, of course, money. Publishers often use their subscriber database to better target customers and to entice advertisers. Apple reportedly doesn’t want to give publishers such easy access to customer information.

Additionally, Apple would likely want to take a 30% revenue cut off any subscriptions sold within iTunes, the same as it does for apps, music, books and video files now.

Both of these points are contentious with publishers, who have acquiesced by selling issues individually or are trying to either build apps that are really just portals to subscriber-only websites (à la The Wall Street Journal) or apps like Zinio that are PDF portals of sorts on their own.

Of course, the big promise with the iPad has been that it is an opportunity for publishers to redefine magazine or newspaper content by making it more engaging and interactive rather than just being a facsimile of the print edition.

Publishers who are looking at ways to combat declining print sales may be able to use Apple’s 160-million strong iTunes customer base to help boost sales. That might be worth a trade-off of control and profit.

For Apple, having unique arrangements with publishers to offer compelling subscription content that is auto-delivered to iOS devices could be a big differentiating factor between the iPad and future competing devices.

Apple’s foray into the world of e-books remains small, especially when compared to market giant Amazon.comclass="blippr-nobr">Amazon.com, but the iPad has the ability and the form factor to provide a much more compelling experience for subscription content.

We’ve reached out to several publishers for comment on this story and have not heard back. We’ll keep following this story for future developments.

In the meantime, let us know what you think of iPad-tailored subscriptions for newspapers and magazines. Do you currently read print publications? Would you be more or less likely to subscribe to a tablet-friendly digital version?

For more Apple coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Appleclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Apple channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

bench craft company rip off

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company - Digits - WSJ

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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.

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New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company - Digits - WSJ

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.

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iLounge news discussing the Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch. Find more Apps + Games news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

<b>News</b> Roundup: Gordon Ramsay Responds to Chef&#39;s Suicide, Brad <b>...</b>

Gordon Ramsay has opened up about the death of 'Kitchen Nightmares' contestant Joseph Cerniglia. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ramsay expressed.

benchcraft company scam

Making Money Online With

Some cable providers and networks have been busy creating so-called TV Everywhere services that let subscribers log in and view on-demand video content online. But despite some early enthusiasm from select networks, these services have been slow to catch on. One reason for that, according to some cable and network execs, is that there’s no real business model for distributing content online through an authenticated service.

Comcast and Time Warner led the charge for TV Everywhere services beginning last year, announcing a partnership that would make additional cable content available to consumers who verify that they pay for a cable subscription. Since then, pay TV providers like Time Warner Cable, Verizon, AT&T, and Dish Network have made plans and rolled out their own TV Everywhere services.

But one thing that’s been missing from these services is real compelling content. Much of the early authenticated content that appears on TV Everywhere sites like Comcast’s Fancast Xfinity TV or DishOnline.com comes from Time Warner properties like TBS, TNT and HBO. Even for those networks, only a limited amount of video is available to subscribers who log in. But outside of Time Warner, few programmers have made the investment to bring their cable content online behind a pay wall.

One reason that other networks have been slow to introduce TV Everywhere offerings of their own is that there’s no financial incentive to do so. Multichannel News reports that Bruce Eisen, Dish Network’s vice president of online content development and strategy, said that programmers don’t have a clear revenue path when rolling out TV Everywhere services.

“I’ve found most of the networks aren’t jumping into this with two feet. For good reason — there’s no business model,” Eisen said.

Discovery is one company that has held back from widely making its content available through TV Everywhere services. According to a separate report in Multichannel News, Discovery CEO David Zaslav said at a conference last week that the programmer was not opposed to rolling out its own TV Everywhere initiative, but that any such project has to make money.

“We have been very careful about not putting our content out onto other platforms when the economic model doesn’t support it. TV Everywhere is actually something we are very encouraged by. If we can get our content through TV Everywhere authorized out onto the Web, and Nielsen can measure it or someone can measure it so we can monetize it, it would be very attractive,” Zaslav said.

I’ve been pretty pessimistic about the future of TV Everywhere ever since I got my first taste of what an authenticated cable service is like late last year. At least in its first iteration, TV Everywhere services have been difficult to use and so far lack really compelling content. But there are deeper, more fundamental issues, as I wrote about a few weeks ago:

“o-called TV Everywhere services miss the point: the existing audience paying $100 a month for TV doesn’t care about watching True Blood on a laptop. The people watching True Blood on a laptop aren’t going to shell out $100 for a cable subscription.”

For a programmer like Discovery to make money off a TV Everywhere service, it will have to find an audience for that service. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem, for sure — how to attract an audience without content and why to put up content without an audience — and one that TV Everywhere proponents will have a difficult time answering in the short term.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user skpy.

Related content on GigaOM Pro: (subscription required)

Cord-cutting? Hold the Phone

Google TV: Overview and Strategic Analysis

New Business Models For Pay TV Services

Gawker Media Community Policy

These are our sites, and we reserve the right to moderate the discussion. The basic rules are standard: An attack on authors or other commenters is unlikely to make you popular. Think before you disparage social or ethnic groups. Don't spam. Don't post pornography or copyrighted imagery. Stay on topic.

That said, the community policy of Gawker Media is forgiving. If your criticism is articulate, it will likely get through. We dole it out; we can take it. What do we mean by articulate? Support your point with argument, facts and citations. Good grammar and spelling also help.

Got questions? Need answers? See our FAQ and site-specific community guidelines.

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Some cable providers and networks have been busy creating so-called TV Everywhere services that let subscribers log in and view on-demand video content online. But despite some early enthusiasm from select networks, these services have been slow to catch on. One reason for that, according to some cable and network execs, is that there’s no real business model for distributing content online through an authenticated service.

Comcast and Time Warner led the charge for TV Everywhere services beginning last year, announcing a partnership that would make additional cable content available to consumers who verify that they pay for a cable subscription. Since then, pay TV providers like Time Warner Cable, Verizon, AT&T, and Dish Network have made plans and rolled out their own TV Everywhere services.

But one thing that’s been missing from these services is real compelling content. Much of the early authenticated content that appears on TV Everywhere sites like Comcast’s Fancast Xfinity TV or DishOnline.com comes from Time Warner properties like TBS, TNT and HBO. Even for those networks, only a limited amount of video is available to subscribers who log in. But outside of Time Warner, few programmers have made the investment to bring their cable content online behind a pay wall.

One reason that other networks have been slow to introduce TV Everywhere offerings of their own is that there’s no financial incentive to do so. Multichannel News reports that Bruce Eisen, Dish Network’s vice president of online content development and strategy, said that programmers don’t have a clear revenue path when rolling out TV Everywhere services.

“I’ve found most of the networks aren’t jumping into this with two feet. For good reason — there’s no business model,” Eisen said.

Discovery is one company that has held back from widely making its content available through TV Everywhere services. According to a separate report in Multichannel News, Discovery CEO David Zaslav said at a conference last week that the programmer was not opposed to rolling out its own TV Everywhere initiative, but that any such project has to make money.

“We have been very careful about not putting our content out onto other platforms when the economic model doesn’t support it. TV Everywhere is actually something we are very encouraged by. If we can get our content through TV Everywhere authorized out onto the Web, and Nielsen can measure it or someone can measure it so we can monetize it, it would be very attractive,” Zaslav said.

I’ve been pretty pessimistic about the future of TV Everywhere ever since I got my first taste of what an authenticated cable service is like late last year. At least in its first iteration, TV Everywhere services have been difficult to use and so far lack really compelling content. But there are deeper, more fundamental issues, as I wrote about a few weeks ago:

“o-called TV Everywhere services miss the point: the existing audience paying $100 a month for TV doesn’t care about watching True Blood on a laptop. The people watching True Blood on a laptop aren’t going to shell out $100 for a cable subscription.”

For a programmer like Discovery to make money off a TV Everywhere service, it will have to find an audience for that service. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem, for sure — how to attract an audience without content and why to put up content without an audience — and one that TV Everywhere proponents will have a difficult time answering in the short term.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user skpy.

Related content on GigaOM Pro: (subscription required)

Cord-cutting? Hold the Phone

Google TV: Overview and Strategic Analysis

New Business Models For Pay TV Services

Gawker Media Community Policy

These are our sites, and we reserve the right to moderate the discussion. The basic rules are standard: An attack on authors or other commenters is unlikely to make you popular. Think before you disparage social or ethnic groups. Don't spam. Don't post pornography or copyrighted imagery. Stay on topic.

That said, the community policy of Gawker Media is forgiving. If your criticism is articulate, it will likely get through. We dole it out; we can take it. What do we mean by articulate? Support your point with argument, facts and citations. Good grammar and spelling also help.

Got questions? Need answers? See our FAQ and site-specific community guidelines.

Close

corporate reputation management company

LinkedIn Beefs Up Company Profiles With <b>News</b> Feeds, Career Data <b>...</b>

We recently wrote about the fast growing number of company profiles on professional social network LinkedIn (the network has over one million to be exact). Launched in April, the company profile gives organizations a centralized profile ...

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

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

SwitchEasy intros CapsuleRebel for iPhone 4 | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the SwitchEasy intros CapsuleRebel for iPhone 4. Find more iPhone Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

skin and vein center

LinkedIn Beefs Up Company Profiles With <b>News</b> Feeds, Career Data <b>...</b>

We recently wrote about the fast growing number of company profiles on professional social network LinkedIn (the network has over one million to be exact). Launched in April, the company profile gives organizations a centralized profile ...

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

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

SwitchEasy intros CapsuleRebel for iPhone 4 | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the SwitchEasy intros CapsuleRebel for iPhone 4. Find more iPhone Accessories news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

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

personal finance

10 Things Money Managers Won't Say [Smart Money] "#1: 'You may have more investing experience than I do.'"

3 Proven Ways to Save Real Money at Garage Sales [Wise Bread] "Here is how I managed to get some awesome deals!"

6 Tips to Stretch Your Back-to-School Cash [Money Talks News] "Here are five tips for stretching your back-to-school dollars."

Tips on tipping for 63 services [NY Times] "You know how much to tip the pizza delivery guy, right? But how about the fishing guide, tour guide or tattoo artist?"

Getting a Will: Six Common Questions [Bucks Blog] "Some common queries that tend to arise when writing a will."

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

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1. 
   
   
   

   Wow, I just made money. My home value shot up $70k. Mint single-handedly lifts the US out of the recession with this move. Seriously, most real-estate people I've talked with don't agree with Zillows home value calculations. Personally, I'm a fan of Zillow but they value my home much much higher than the previous site Mint used to calculate these values. Moral of the story? Don't worry about your home's value until you sell. Then and only then will you know the true value of your home, at least on that day.

   
   
   

   Posted by: Joel Price |
   September 22, 2010 8:22 AM

   
   
















2. 
   
   
   

   Words of wisdom Joel, words of wisdom!

   
   
   

   Posted by: sasha |
   September 22, 2010 10:30 AM

   
   






















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Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Middle East Countries Race for Nuclear Power

(Sept. 24) -- Nations in the Middle East, rich in oil, natural gas and volatile politics, are pursuing nuclear power with a headlong vigor that gives some analysts pause.

Early Critics Weigh in on Benu : Good <b>News</b>/Bad <b>News</b> : Eater SF

After slaving away in the internationally acclaimed French Laundry kitchen with one Thomas Kellar for years, Corey Lee is on his own now at Benu. If you've never heard of...




Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Middle East Countries Race for Nuclear Power

(Sept. 24) -- Nations in the Middle East, rich in oil, natural gas and volatile politics, are pursuing nuclear power with a headlong vigor that gives some analysts pause.

Early Critics Weigh in on Benu : Good <b>News</b>/Bad <b>News</b> : Eater SF

After slaving away in the internationally acclaimed French Laundry kitchen with one Thomas Kellar for years, Corey Lee is on his own now at Benu. If you've never heard of...


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Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Middle East Countries Race for Nuclear Power

(Sept. 24) -- Nations in the Middle East, rich in oil, natural gas and volatile politics, are pursuing nuclear power with a headlong vigor that gives some analysts pause.

Early Critics Weigh in on Benu : Good <b>News</b>/Bad <b>News</b> : Eater SF

After slaving away in the internationally acclaimed French Laundry kitchen with one Thomas Kellar for years, Corey Lee is on his own now at Benu. If you've never heard of...

personal finance programs

The State University of New York, which has 64 campuses, has agreed to a code of conduct developed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo designed to safeguard students from unscrupulous marketing.



The code outlines steps schools should take to monitor and limit credit card marketing to students, according to Bloomberg News. Under the code, colleges would be required to offer financial literacy programs and not share personal information with credit card companies without permission.



Perhaps most importantly, the code bans agreements in which the school earns a percentage of finance charges imposed on students. Schools are being asked to select cards based on students' best interests if an exclusive marketing agreement is made with a credit card company, and must also monitor all credit card offers being marketed on campus.



Cuomo is investigating credit-card marketing practices that target college students through their institutions.



A 2009 survey by Sallie Mae found the average college student graduates with nearly $4,100 in credit card debt.

At a time when bailouts for America’s rich proceed unimpeded and Americans are left to fend for themselves, support for further subsidies for the rich is limited among the public. Gallup polling finds that a majority of Americans (56 percent) oppose extending the Bush-era tax cuts, which went overwhelmingly to the wealthiest of Americans. Just one in three support extending the cuts, despite the current rhetoric of the Republican Party.

Opposition to the Bush-era tax cuts is entirely rational among the public in light of the cuts’ failure to promote economic growth. The Bush tax cuts concentrated the greatest benefits toward the rich, and benefits for the affluent became even greater in their later years (during the 2008 to 2010 period specifically). They are set to expire this year, unless Democrats and Republicans in Congress renew them. Although massive amounts of cash from the cuts fell into the hands of America’s wealthiest one percent, these elites have looked at the increased volatility of today’s market and decided to hoard the cash instead of investing it. To make matters worse, extending the cuts will result in an additional transfer of $31 billion into the hands of America’s billionaires.

Labor economist Robert Reich argues that tax cuts directed at the rich do little to restore a vibrant economy. Providing an inconvenient historical analysis to the narrative forwarded by Republicans, Reich explains that from the 1951 to 1980 period, when marginal taxes were between 72 and 90 percent, average economic growth per year was at 3.7 percent. From 1983 through the recent recession – when tax cuts under Reagan and Bush were a mainstay of macro-economic policy, national yearly economic growth averaged 3 percent. Reich is not alone in his conclusion. My previous piece on the Bush tax cuts, drawing on data from the Economic Policy Institute points out that, during the period when Bush’s tax cuts were passed and when the economy began a recovery (following the dot.com crash of 2000), economic growth was generally significantly weaker than during previous economic cycles that weren’t characterized by mass tax cuts for the rich (http://www.media-ocracy.com/?p=1436). In short, there appears to be little evidence that massive subsidies to the rich are the magic formula for restoring an ailing economy. They do a lot to redistribute wealth, but little to promote short-term rapid growth, since they keep money out of the hands of those most likely to spend it right away – the working and middle class.

Tax cuts for the rich (and the cuts for business Obama is proposing) – as with cuts to the wealthy in the past – will do little-to-nothing to restore growth. The reason why is obvious enough: at a time when the masses are tapped out due to continued high levels of unemployment, massive layoffs, and high levels of personal debt, Americans have little incentive to spend without caution. Putting more money into the hands of the public (through a mass public employment program, for example, or other social welfare programs), would help in terms of stimulating spending and economic growth. What will not help are tax cuts aimed at businesses that have no incentive to increase production of goods and services because of the decreased ability of the mass public to afford such goods at a time when everyone is tightening their belts. All that tax cuts for the rich will do is further increase the already appalling depression-level inequality that exists in this country. Besides, business elites have been sitting on a mountain of cash for some time now. If they haven’t invested that money by hiring new workers, there’s little reason to expect that they will do so following another infusion of tax cuts. Corporations like the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer are sitting on more than $26 billion in cash, refusing to reinvest it in job growth. Pfizer isn’t alone either. Fortune reports that non-finance companies in the S&P 500 are holding $837 billion in cash, a growth of 26% since 2009, at a time when the economy limps along and the state mass layoffs for public workers are becoming more common. This level of cash reserves is far outside normal levels from years past, and is unconscionable at a time when these companies should be hiring new workers and focusing on expansion.

As political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson show in their book Off Center: the Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy, the public has opposed tax cuts for the rich for at least the last ten years. Most would rather see government expand its responsibilities to assist the masses and less fortunate through the expansion of broad based social welfare programs. This lesson may stand at odds with Republican-conservative propaganda framing the public as moving to the right in the midst of a Tea Party revolution, but there is little reason to take these pronouncements seriously in light of decades of public opinion data showing longstanding public support for many individual social welfare programs (for more on this data, see the recent books by Martin Gilens, Benjamin Page, and Robert Shapiro, titled Why Americans Hate Welfare and Class War? What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality).

Corporate America’s gravy train of bailouts and business tax cuts have enabled a culture of entitlement among America’s rich and a callousness that justifies massive layoffs, pursued alongside record executive and CEO bonuses. The pillaging of public funds for private gain is unlikely to stop in the near future in light of what appear to be imminent mass gains in Republican Congressional seats this fall.

Anthony DiMaggio is the editor of media-ocracy (www.media-ocracy.com), a daily online magazine devoted to the study of media, public opinion, and current events. He has taught U.S. and Global Politics at Illinois State University and North Central College, and is the author of When Media Goes to War (2010) and Mass Media, Mass Propaganda (2008). He can be reached at: mediaocracy@gmail.com

statefarm big white booty

&#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.

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.

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 ...

&#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.

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.

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 ...

big white booty

&#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.

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.

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 ...

foreclosure agents

BR: Funny you say that — I referred to the NAR chief economist as Baghdad Bob in one of the “previously” links mentioned: Former NAR Economist David Lereah is a Jackass (January 6th, 2009)

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:11 am

If your stocked up on Insulin, try the ever sugary http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for your daily firehosing of rich, delicious Kool-Aid. You thought the NAR was hyper sunny. They’re simpletons compared to whomever runs this site.

You’ve been warned….

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:13 am

If you’re fully stocked with Insulin, try http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for a daily firehosing of rich, delicious Real Estate Kool-Aid. You think the NAR is hyper sunny? They’re simpletons compared to the people who run this site.

You’ve been fairly warned.

Soylent Green Is People.

ACS Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:32 am

How long before we reach Sanford’s step 12?

gavingunhold Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:45 am

I used to work at NAR. And I once time forwarded a blog post by Barry Ritholtz to Lawrence Yun, kind of just as a heads up. Lawrence was none too pleased. Heh.

JustinTheSkeptic Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:49 am

BR, you can continue with the “Bank Spin, Auto Company Spin, etc.” Take your pick….

rktbrkr Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:53 am

Take your pick…

“The manufacturing sector has maintained its momentum at least through August,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. The report “makes clear the economy is not slipping into recession any time but it’s still reasonable to be concerned about where we’re heading over the next three to six months.”

General Motors Co.’s sales fell 25 percent last month and trailed analysts’ estimates, as the U.S. auto industry headed for its worst August in 28 years.

GM said deliveries fell to 185,176 from 246,479 last August, when the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” incentive program boosted sales.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am

Regrets for the double post. The first one did not show so I rewrote it again. I confess to my foolishness.

machinehead Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Since the time I bought my first house, the cry of the Realtor(TM) has been, ‘Buy now, before prices go up!’

They are Permabulls, like many Wall Street brokers — not to be taken seriously. Pay them for transacting, not for their stuck-clock market predictions.

And — until proven otherwise — don’t regard them as professionals. That’s what the idiot NAR has accomplished — to deprofessionalize the image of a group which includes some very dedicated people. It took the NAR decades of hard work to break into the circus-clown limelight. Take a bow, bozos!

lalaland Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm

I doubt it’s the NAR’s fault that people expect their homes to appreciate 10% a year. Nobody really pays attention to them outside the statistics junkies I would wager. I blame exactly the kind of stupidity that has proven to be rampant across all sectors of the economy. Oh, and, you know – unrelated – it’s time to go watch Dick Fuld.

Mark Wolfinger Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:16 pm

The news media eat up those NAR reports.

Surely you have contacts at the big media to whom you can pass along this report with the hope that someone does the right thing.

http://blog.mdwoptions.com/options_for_rookies/

Expat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:21 pm

There is no one thing to blame for all this. The NAR is not the cause of the bubble. Wall Street is the proximate facilitator but not really the cause. Washington was a complicit beneficiary but not the cause. Assholes who bought homes that cost more than three times their income are victims and perpetrators but not truly guilty of anything but stupidity and gullibility. Lereah, Yun, and the NAR are in the unfortunate position of being mouthpieces for this mass hysteria so they are singled out.

But in reality, Lereah is no worse than any US president or member of congress when it comes to huge, important lies. What about the pope or any priest with a pulpit? The hellfire and brimstone, homophobic racists on the Bible Belt circuit? Imams calling for jihad. Etc.

Personally, I think the NAR is guilty of high crimes and treason against the US, having done more damage to our country than any blind or diabetic islamic terrorist. And what do we try to do to islamic terrorists? And what should we do to all members of the NAR? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

How the Common Man Sees It Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:03 pm

What do they expect when they are always selling houses as investments and not places to live? In the investing world RE is the equivalent of the summer resort if we are talking timing. What I’m saying is that the owners of a summer resort know their product is only marketable a few months out of the year and that is what they target for.

Do you think the folks in the RE industry and/or the NAR want to be telling folks their ‘investment dream’ is only a great deal a few years out of many in the investment cycle? NO! That would put them out of business for years until the crowds came back every cyclical summer

That’s not gonna happen

d4winds Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Red pill HGTV sounds like a fabulous idea–to replace that NAR of the “financial” TV, CNBC.

Julia Chestnut Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 3:04 pm

The NAR are liars, and they aren’t even very good at it. Lawrence Yun is a laughing stock. The people who need to be strung up are the corporate media outlets that just take the press releases full of whoppers along the lines of “cotton candy cures cancer!!!!!!!!” and reprinting it along side what passes for “news.”

Industry shills are industry shills and always have been. What has changed is any semblance of concern for truthful and accurate reporting of statistics, facts, and trends. Statistics, facts, and trends are considered so malleable these days, no one worries about what conflicts of interests the spinners may have – they just care how little they have to rewrite it from the NAR’s website before press/broadcast time.

Despicable.

TomL Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Why is that *every* article written by or quoting a real estate professional includes the refrain “It’s never been a better time to buy.” ?

Reminds me of the warning how do you know a politician is lying…

loganagent Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm

It’s so true I recently had an experience where the local newspaper quoted me, after I said that our local market was going to decline, in my blog: http://loganrealestate.blogspot.com/2010/02/number-of-logan-homes-for-sale.html The local Board President came to me and told me not to speak with the media anymore. He said those in leadership had special “training” in how to handle media.

The ironic thing is that my market falling predictions came true. But we don’t want the public to know the truth do we.

philipat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 8:37 pm

The “Blue Pill” being Viagra. Or, in other words the NAR is saying “Up yours”?!!

Very appropriate!

IrvineRenter Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 9:30 pm

I have beaten up on RE agents a couple times over the last year:

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/realtors-treated-as-lackeys-and-maids-grovel-for-6/

and

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/urgency-versus-reality-realtors-win-buyers-lose-14-jackson-irvine/

I totally agree with your assessment of the foolish way they operate. In fact, the growth of my side business as a broker is largely due to the fact that I refuse to spin BS the way they do.

BTW, thank you for the link yesterday. I greatly appreciate it, and I am flattered that you stop by and read my blog.

canoles Says:



September 2nd, 2010 at 8:36 am

“In other words, mislead the public with spin. Create false hope. Lie.” – Sir, that is NAR’s job as a trade association. Please name one trade association that does not do this.

The third wave of programming for the sixth edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 23rd-30th in Austin, Texas, has been announced with the highlights being the US premiere of the hyper-stylized action film Bunraku, a sneak preview of Darren Bousman’s terrifying new horror-thriller Mother’s Day, and the world premiere of Agnosia, the latest film from Fantastic Fest 2005 alumnus Eugenio Mira.

A total of 20 films have been added in this latest wave, and we're including them all here, even if a few aren't strictly horror, just to give you an idea of how truly diverse Fantastic Fest is. For the other films screening that week, click here for all our Fantastic Fest 2010 coverage.

PREMIERE SCREENINGS

Agnosia (2010)

Director: Eugenio Mira, Spain, World Premiere

The producers of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage present a truly unique romantic thriller from Fantastic Fest veteran Eugenio Mira (The Birthday). “I’ve read few screenplays in my life that have impressed me as much as Agnosia,” said director Guillermo del Toro. Director Eugenio Mira will be live in person.

Bunraku (2010)

Director: Guy Moshe, USA, US Premiere

In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett), a young samurai and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman) and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. This visually stunning film is filled with uniquely choreographed action sequences of a new style that melds east with west and old school with new. Director Guy Moshe will be live in person.

Mother’s Day (2010)

Director Darren Bousman, USA, Sneak Preview

After a botched robbery, three brothers, one severely injured, burst into their mother’s house, only to find that she lost it months earlier in a foreclosure. The new owners (Jaime King and Frank Grillo) and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers' unwitting hostages. With the situation quickly devolving, the brothers have only one choice: call Mother (Rebecca De Mornay) to mastermind their escape. Director Darren Bousman, Rebecca DeMornay & Jaime King will be live in person.

RED (2010)

Director: Robert Schwentke, USA, Sneak Preview

Based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novels RED is an explosive action-comedy starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren. Frank, Joe, Marvin and Victoria used to be the CIA’s top agents – but the secrets they know just made them the Agency’s top targets. Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history. Karl Urban (Star Trek, Lord of the Rings) will be live in person.

SPECIAL EVENT SCREENINGS

Class of 1984

Special screening to celebrate the debut of new book “DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film” edited by Zack Carlson & Bryan Connolly. More info on the book here.

The year is 1984. A rabid pack of rampaging punk teens run our schools, our drugs and our prostitutes. Brutality and decadence are everywhere. Enter first-year teacher Andrew Norris (Perry King), who’s forced to violently turn the tables on the bloodthirsty gang before their trashwave swallows the town alive. Writer/director Mark L. Lester’s reckless masterpiece debuted at Cannes Film Festival to severely divided reviews.

What detractors and many thrill-seeking fans both sadly overlooked was the fact that the movie had been done exactly right. Each actor turns in a memorable, convincing performance amid knifings and punk slam pits. Beloved ham Roddy McDowall pulls off what may have been his best scene of the decade. The film moves constantly forward at full speed, with humor and intelligent dialogue balancing out the horrors perpetrated by the vicious teens. Class of 1984 is a perfect exploitation film. It’s relentlessly seedy, overflowing with assault, suicide, racism, drug use and crime crime crime, all of which is perpetrated by minors! The tension of victimization and vengeance create some of the most stirring scenes of violent retribution on record. But beyond all this, there’s a bitterly absorbing air of human helplessness and leather-clad heartlessness that makes this movie the flat-out best in its genre.

Master Pancake Theater – Independence Day

During Fantastic Fest 6, the boys of Master pancake will be skewering the It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World of sci-fi disaster flicks. Featuring a massive cast of pretty good A-listers (Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum) and awesome B-listers (Judd Hirsch, Harry Connick Jr., and Brent "Data" Spiner) in the fight of their lives against a horde of invading aliens. Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle called ID4: "A gasping, bloated roller-coaster ride that veers from scenes of truly awesome destruction to stretches of numbingly bad melodrama and back again." The president himself, Bill Pullman, will be joining the Pancake team to mock the hell out of this bloated rollercoaster.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

Spaceballs Quote-Along

Mel Brooks' Star Wars parody is soooo much more than just a parody film, bursting with the sorts of jokes that the writers of all the recently-made and vastly inferior "spoof films" only wish they could dream up. If your Schwartz is as big as mine, you're probably uncomfortably excited with just the prospect of this show happening. Somewhere in space, Dot Matrix's virgin alarm is ringing loudly. For this special voyage of the Eagle V, Lone Star himself (Bill Pullman) will be live in person to kick off the fun.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

The Intergalactic Nemesis

The year is 1933. Pulitzer-winner Molly Sloan and her assistant Timmy Mendez are on the trail of a story so big, it's impossible to believe. The Intergalactic Nemesis is a truly unique live show. Imagine a modern spin on the radio serial that combines projections of 1250 hand-drawn comic illustrations, 3 voice actors performing a wide array of characters, a foley artist performing 100s of sound effects and an award winning pianist performing a riveting live score. You've never experienced anything like it!

ADDITIONAL FEATURE FILM OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

14 Blades (2010)

Director Daniel Lee, Hong Kong, Regional Premiere

Betrayed by his fellow Imperial bodyguard soldiers, Qinglong (Donny Yen) must seek out and rally the loyalists to rise and restore the Emperor to power. In his way are the deadliest assassins in the land, his former brethren, the Jinyiwei.

Bibliotheque Pascal (2010)

Director Szabolcs Hajdu, Hungary/France, Regional Premiere

In order to regain custody of her daughter, Mona sets off on a surreal journey that will take her to the shadowy world of sexual slavery in Bibliotheque Pascal, the strangest brothel you could ever conceive.

Cold Fish (2010)

Director: Sion Sono, Japan, Regional Premiere

Equal parts black humor and bloody dementia in this true crime portrait of a Japanese tropical fish dealer responsible for over forty murders.

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

Director: Adam Wingard, USA, US Premiere

When a serial killer escapes from prison, the dangerous past of a young woman dealing with alcoholic rehab quickly begins to catch up with her. Director Adam Wingard will be live in person.

In the Attic (2009)

Director: Jiri Barta, Czech Republic, Regional Premiere

Courageous toys from an old suitcase undertake a dangerous journey through a forsaken attic to rescue their friend, Buttercup a beautiful doll who finds herself in the clutches of the all-powerful plaster Head, ruler of the Empire of Evil.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

The Last Circus (Balada Triste) (2010)

Director: Álex de la Iglesia, Spain, US Premiere

Álex de la Iglesia's genius for dark humor is at its most eloquent in his latest parody about the Spanish Civil War. Two clowns attack and disfigure one another in jealous rages over a beautiful dancer. In the name of love, they destroy the very object of their affection. Director Álex de la Iglesia will be live in person.

Mutant Girl Squad (2010)

Directors: Tak Sakaguchi, Noburu Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Japan, Regional Premiere

In 2009, Tak Sakaguchi (Be A Man! Samurai School), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) and Noboru Iguchi (Robogeisha), got drunk and vowed to make a movie together. One year later, here it is. This splatter-ific, fetishy, hyperactive take on the X-Men is going to shock, horrify and delight you. Director Yoshihiro Nishimura live in person.

Naan Kadavul (2009)

Director: Bala, India, North American Premiere

Naan Kadavul is like an Alejandro Jodorowsky version of a Bollywood movie. A long haired Vedic ubermensch burns corpses, lives in graveyards, smokes dope, beats up people, and proclaims himself to be God before he eventually become the savior to a collective of severely deformed beggars. Do not miss this film.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Director: Jalmari Helander, Finland, US Premiere

Santa Claus is somewhat less than jolly - in fact, he's the stuff nightmares are made of - in Jalmari Helander's Rare Exports, an atmospheric and witty re-working of a cherished folk tale. Co-writer and co-creator Juuso Helander will be live in person.

Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission (2010)

Director: Mike Woolf, USA, Encore screening

Last year Richard Garriott became the first son of an astronaut to go to space, but this is no millionaire’s joy ride, he pioneered private space travel to make his dream come true: from his training in Russia to his launch in Kazahkstan to the dramatic, never before seen footage inside the capsule during fiery re-entry, this is a historic moment in human space travel. Richard Garriott live in person.

Summer Wars (2009)

Director: Mamoru Hosoda, Japan, Austin Premiere

When an online social networking community gets attacked by a piece of sentient malware that threatens to deliver a denial of service attack to the entire world, one girl and her massive extended family unites to restore peace to cyberspace. Gorgeously animated with tons of heart and soul to boot, Summer Wars is one of our favorite anime titles in recent years.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

Transfer (2010)

Director: Damir Lukacevic, France, North American Premiere

Herman and Anna, a wealthy aging couple decides to extend their lives by leasing the bodies of two young Africans. For one million euros, the Africans signed away their lives for 20 hours a day, but in the 4 hours a day they have back in their own bodies, they begin to regret the arrangement.

Fantastic Fest is the film festival with the boring parts cut out. Miss this one, and your regrets will agonize you for years to come. You have been warned.

For more info visit the official 2010 Fantastic Fest website.

- Uncle Creepy

VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!

Got news? Click here to submit it!

Be fantastic in the comments section below!

Submitted by Uncle Creepy on Wed, 09/08/2010 - 6:24pm.

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

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

Rumour: Project Milo cancelled Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rumour: Project Milo cancelled.

Breaking <b>News</b>: Eliza Dushku Has a &#39;Big Bang Theory&#39;

'The Big Bang Theory' is no stranger to sexy sci-fi starlets, having scored geektastic cameos from Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau in seasons past (wit.

robert shumake

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

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

Rumour: Project Milo cancelled Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rumour: Project Milo cancelled.

Breaking <b>News</b>: Eliza Dushku Has a &#39;Big Bang Theory&#39;

'The Big Bang Theory' is no stranger to sexy sci-fi starlets, having scored geektastic cameos from Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau in seasons past (wit.

BR: Funny you say that — I referred to the NAR chief economist as Baghdad Bob in one of the “previously” links mentioned: Former NAR Economist David Lereah is a Jackass (January 6th, 2009)

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:11 am

If your stocked up on Insulin, try the ever sugary http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for your daily firehosing of rich, delicious Kool-Aid. You thought the NAR was hyper sunny. They’re simpletons compared to whomever runs this site.

You’ve been warned….

My .02c

Soylent Green Is People.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:13 am

If you’re fully stocked with Insulin, try http://www.positiveonrealestate.com/ for a daily firehosing of rich, delicious Real Estate Kool-Aid. You think the NAR is hyper sunny? They’re simpletons compared to the people who run this site.

You’ve been fairly warned.

Soylent Green Is People.

ACS Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:32 am

How long before we reach Sanford’s step 12?

gavingunhold Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:45 am

I used to work at NAR. And I once time forwarded a blog post by Barry Ritholtz to Lawrence Yun, kind of just as a heads up. Lawrence was none too pleased. Heh.

JustinTheSkeptic Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:49 am

BR, you can continue with the “Bank Spin, Auto Company Spin, etc.” Take your pick….

rktbrkr Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:53 am

Take your pick…

“The manufacturing sector has maintained its momentum at least through August,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. The report “makes clear the economy is not slipping into recession any time but it’s still reasonable to be concerned about where we’re heading over the next three to six months.”

General Motors Co.’s sales fell 25 percent last month and trailed analysts’ estimates, as the U.S. auto industry headed for its worst August in 28 years.

GM said deliveries fell to 185,176 from 246,479 last August, when the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” incentive program boosted sales.

Soylent Green Is People Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am

Regrets for the double post. The first one did not show so I rewrote it again. I confess to my foolishness.

machinehead Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Since the time I bought my first house, the cry of the Realtor(TM) has been, ‘Buy now, before prices go up!’

They are Permabulls, like many Wall Street brokers — not to be taken seriously. Pay them for transacting, not for their stuck-clock market predictions.

And — until proven otherwise — don’t regard them as professionals. That’s what the idiot NAR has accomplished — to deprofessionalize the image of a group which includes some very dedicated people. It took the NAR decades of hard work to break into the circus-clown limelight. Take a bow, bozos!

lalaland Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm

I doubt it’s the NAR’s fault that people expect their homes to appreciate 10% a year. Nobody really pays attention to them outside the statistics junkies I would wager. I blame exactly the kind of stupidity that has proven to be rampant across all sectors of the economy. Oh, and, you know – unrelated – it’s time to go watch Dick Fuld.

Mark Wolfinger Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:16 pm

The news media eat up those NAR reports.

Surely you have contacts at the big media to whom you can pass along this report with the hope that someone does the right thing.

http://blog.mdwoptions.com/options_for_rookies/

Expat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 12:21 pm

There is no one thing to blame for all this. The NAR is not the cause of the bubble. Wall Street is the proximate facilitator but not really the cause. Washington was a complicit beneficiary but not the cause. Assholes who bought homes that cost more than three times their income are victims and perpetrators but not truly guilty of anything but stupidity and gullibility. Lereah, Yun, and the NAR are in the unfortunate position of being mouthpieces for this mass hysteria so they are singled out.

But in reality, Lereah is no worse than any US president or member of congress when it comes to huge, important lies. What about the pope or any priest with a pulpit? The hellfire and brimstone, homophobic racists on the Bible Belt circuit? Imams calling for jihad. Etc.

Personally, I think the NAR is guilty of high crimes and treason against the US, having done more damage to our country than any blind or diabetic islamic terrorist. And what do we try to do to islamic terrorists? And what should we do to all members of the NAR? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

How the Common Man Sees It Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:03 pm

What do they expect when they are always selling houses as investments and not places to live? In the investing world RE is the equivalent of the summer resort if we are talking timing. What I’m saying is that the owners of a summer resort know their product is only marketable a few months out of the year and that is what they target for.

Do you think the folks in the RE industry and/or the NAR want to be telling folks their ‘investment dream’ is only a great deal a few years out of many in the investment cycle? NO! That would put them out of business for years until the crowds came back every cyclical summer

That’s not gonna happen

d4winds Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Red pill HGTV sounds like a fabulous idea–to replace that NAR of the “financial” TV, CNBC.

Julia Chestnut Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 3:04 pm

The NAR are liars, and they aren’t even very good at it. Lawrence Yun is a laughing stock. The people who need to be strung up are the corporate media outlets that just take the press releases full of whoppers along the lines of “cotton candy cures cancer!!!!!!!!” and reprinting it along side what passes for “news.”

Industry shills are industry shills and always have been. What has changed is any semblance of concern for truthful and accurate reporting of statistics, facts, and trends. Statistics, facts, and trends are considered so malleable these days, no one worries about what conflicts of interests the spinners may have – they just care how little they have to rewrite it from the NAR’s website before press/broadcast time.

Despicable.

TomL Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Why is that *every* article written by or quoting a real estate professional includes the refrain “It’s never been a better time to buy.” ?

Reminds me of the warning how do you know a politician is lying…

loganagent Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm

It’s so true I recently had an experience where the local newspaper quoted me, after I said that our local market was going to decline, in my blog: http://loganrealestate.blogspot.com/2010/02/number-of-logan-homes-for-sale.html The local Board President came to me and told me not to speak with the media anymore. He said those in leadership had special “training” in how to handle media.

The ironic thing is that my market falling predictions came true. But we don’t want the public to know the truth do we.

philipat Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 8:37 pm

The “Blue Pill” being Viagra. Or, in other words the NAR is saying “Up yours”?!!

Very appropriate!

IrvineRenter Says:



September 1st, 2010 at 9:30 pm

I have beaten up on RE agents a couple times over the last year:

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/realtors-treated-as-lackeys-and-maids-grovel-for-6/

and

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/urgency-versus-reality-realtors-win-buyers-lose-14-jackson-irvine/

I totally agree with your assessment of the foolish way they operate. In fact, the growth of my side business as a broker is largely due to the fact that I refuse to spin BS the way they do.

BTW, thank you for the link yesterday. I greatly appreciate it, and I am flattered that you stop by and read my blog.

canoles Says:



September 2nd, 2010 at 8:36 am

“In other words, mislead the public with spin. Create false hope. Lie.” – Sir, that is NAR’s job as a trade association. Please name one trade association that does not do this.

The third wave of programming for the sixth edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 23rd-30th in Austin, Texas, has been announced with the highlights being the US premiere of the hyper-stylized action film Bunraku, a sneak preview of Darren Bousman’s terrifying new horror-thriller Mother’s Day, and the world premiere of Agnosia, the latest film from Fantastic Fest 2005 alumnus Eugenio Mira.

A total of 20 films have been added in this latest wave, and we're including them all here, even if a few aren't strictly horror, just to give you an idea of how truly diverse Fantastic Fest is. For the other films screening that week, click here for all our Fantastic Fest 2010 coverage.

PREMIERE SCREENINGS

Agnosia (2010)

Director: Eugenio Mira, Spain, World Premiere

The producers of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage present a truly unique romantic thriller from Fantastic Fest veteran Eugenio Mira (The Birthday). “I’ve read few screenplays in my life that have impressed me as much as Agnosia,” said director Guillermo del Toro. Director Eugenio Mira will be live in person.

Bunraku (2010)

Director: Guy Moshe, USA, US Premiere

In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett), a young samurai and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman) and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. This visually stunning film is filled with uniquely choreographed action sequences of a new style that melds east with west and old school with new. Director Guy Moshe will be live in person.

Mother’s Day (2010)

Director Darren Bousman, USA, Sneak Preview

After a botched robbery, three brothers, one severely injured, burst into their mother’s house, only to find that she lost it months earlier in a foreclosure. The new owners (Jaime King and Frank Grillo) and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers' unwitting hostages. With the situation quickly devolving, the brothers have only one choice: call Mother (Rebecca De Mornay) to mastermind their escape. Director Darren Bousman, Rebecca DeMornay & Jaime King will be live in person.

RED (2010)

Director: Robert Schwentke, USA, Sneak Preview

Based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novels RED is an explosive action-comedy starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren. Frank, Joe, Marvin and Victoria used to be the CIA’s top agents – but the secrets they know just made them the Agency’s top targets. Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history. Karl Urban (Star Trek, Lord of the Rings) will be live in person.

SPECIAL EVENT SCREENINGS

Class of 1984

Special screening to celebrate the debut of new book “DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film” edited by Zack Carlson & Bryan Connolly. More info on the book here.

The year is 1984. A rabid pack of rampaging punk teens run our schools, our drugs and our prostitutes. Brutality and decadence are everywhere. Enter first-year teacher Andrew Norris (Perry King), who’s forced to violently turn the tables on the bloodthirsty gang before their trashwave swallows the town alive. Writer/director Mark L. Lester’s reckless masterpiece debuted at Cannes Film Festival to severely divided reviews.

What detractors and many thrill-seeking fans both sadly overlooked was the fact that the movie had been done exactly right. Each actor turns in a memorable, convincing performance amid knifings and punk slam pits. Beloved ham Roddy McDowall pulls off what may have been his best scene of the decade. The film moves constantly forward at full speed, with humor and intelligent dialogue balancing out the horrors perpetrated by the vicious teens. Class of 1984 is a perfect exploitation film. It’s relentlessly seedy, overflowing with assault, suicide, racism, drug use and crime crime crime, all of which is perpetrated by minors! The tension of victimization and vengeance create some of the most stirring scenes of violent retribution on record. But beyond all this, there’s a bitterly absorbing air of human helplessness and leather-clad heartlessness that makes this movie the flat-out best in its genre.

Master Pancake Theater – Independence Day

During Fantastic Fest 6, the boys of Master pancake will be skewering the It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World of sci-fi disaster flicks. Featuring a massive cast of pretty good A-listers (Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum) and awesome B-listers (Judd Hirsch, Harry Connick Jr., and Brent "Data" Spiner) in the fight of their lives against a horde of invading aliens. Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle called ID4: "A gasping, bloated roller-coaster ride that veers from scenes of truly awesome destruction to stretches of numbingly bad melodrama and back again." The president himself, Bill Pullman, will be joining the Pancake team to mock the hell out of this bloated rollercoaster.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

Spaceballs Quote-Along

Mel Brooks' Star Wars parody is soooo much more than just a parody film, bursting with the sorts of jokes that the writers of all the recently-made and vastly inferior "spoof films" only wish they could dream up. If your Schwartz is as big as mine, you're probably uncomfortably excited with just the prospect of this show happening. Somewhere in space, Dot Matrix's virgin alarm is ringing loudly. For this special voyage of the Eagle V, Lone Star himself (Bill Pullman) will be live in person to kick off the fun.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

The Intergalactic Nemesis

The year is 1933. Pulitzer-winner Molly Sloan and her assistant Timmy Mendez are on the trail of a story so big, it's impossible to believe. The Intergalactic Nemesis is a truly unique live show. Imagine a modern spin on the radio serial that combines projections of 1250 hand-drawn comic illustrations, 3 voice actors performing a wide array of characters, a foley artist performing 100s of sound effects and an award winning pianist performing a riveting live score. You've never experienced anything like it!

ADDITIONAL FEATURE FILM OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

14 Blades (2010)

Director Daniel Lee, Hong Kong, Regional Premiere

Betrayed by his fellow Imperial bodyguard soldiers, Qinglong (Donny Yen) must seek out and rally the loyalists to rise and restore the Emperor to power. In his way are the deadliest assassins in the land, his former brethren, the Jinyiwei.

Bibliotheque Pascal (2010)

Director Szabolcs Hajdu, Hungary/France, Regional Premiere

In order to regain custody of her daughter, Mona sets off on a surreal journey that will take her to the shadowy world of sexual slavery in Bibliotheque Pascal, the strangest brothel you could ever conceive.

Cold Fish (2010)

Director: Sion Sono, Japan, Regional Premiere

Equal parts black humor and bloody dementia in this true crime portrait of a Japanese tropical fish dealer responsible for over forty murders.

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

Director: Adam Wingard, USA, US Premiere

When a serial killer escapes from prison, the dangerous past of a young woman dealing with alcoholic rehab quickly begins to catch up with her. Director Adam Wingard will be live in person.

In the Attic (2009)

Director: Jiri Barta, Czech Republic, Regional Premiere

Courageous toys from an old suitcase undertake a dangerous journey through a forsaken attic to rescue their friend, Buttercup a beautiful doll who finds herself in the clutches of the all-powerful plaster Head, ruler of the Empire of Evil.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

The Last Circus (Balada Triste) (2010)

Director: Álex de la Iglesia, Spain, US Premiere

Álex de la Iglesia's genius for dark humor is at its most eloquent in his latest parody about the Spanish Civil War. Two clowns attack and disfigure one another in jealous rages over a beautiful dancer. In the name of love, they destroy the very object of their affection. Director Álex de la Iglesia will be live in person.

Mutant Girl Squad (2010)

Directors: Tak Sakaguchi, Noburu Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Japan, Regional Premiere

In 2009, Tak Sakaguchi (Be A Man! Samurai School), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) and Noboru Iguchi (Robogeisha), got drunk and vowed to make a movie together. One year later, here it is. This splatter-ific, fetishy, hyperactive take on the X-Men is going to shock, horrify and delight you. Director Yoshihiro Nishimura live in person.

Naan Kadavul (2009)

Director: Bala, India, North American Premiere

Naan Kadavul is like an Alejandro Jodorowsky version of a Bollywood movie. A long haired Vedic ubermensch burns corpses, lives in graveyards, smokes dope, beats up people, and proclaims himself to be God before he eventually become the savior to a collective of severely deformed beggars. Do not miss this film.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Director: Jalmari Helander, Finland, US Premiere

Santa Claus is somewhat less than jolly - in fact, he's the stuff nightmares are made of - in Jalmari Helander's Rare Exports, an atmospheric and witty re-working of a cherished folk tale. Co-writer and co-creator Juuso Helander will be live in person.

Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission (2010)

Director: Mike Woolf, USA, Encore screening

Last year Richard Garriott became the first son of an astronaut to go to space, but this is no millionaire’s joy ride, he pioneered private space travel to make his dream come true: from his training in Russia to his launch in Kazahkstan to the dramatic, never before seen footage inside the capsule during fiery re-entry, this is a historic moment in human space travel. Richard Garriott live in person.

Summer Wars (2009)

Director: Mamoru Hosoda, Japan, Austin Premiere

When an online social networking community gets attacked by a piece of sentient malware that threatens to deliver a denial of service attack to the entire world, one girl and her massive extended family unites to restore peace to cyberspace. Gorgeously animated with tons of heart and soul to boot, Summer Wars is one of our favorite anime titles in recent years.

[NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]

Transfer (2010)

Director: Damir Lukacevic, France, North American Premiere

Herman and Anna, a wealthy aging couple decides to extend their lives by leasing the bodies of two young Africans. For one million euros, the Africans signed away their lives for 20 hours a day, but in the 4 hours a day they have back in their own bodies, they begin to regret the arrangement.

Fantastic Fest is the film festival with the boring parts cut out. Miss this one, and your regrets will agonize you for years to come. You have been warned.

For more info visit the official 2010 Fantastic Fest website.

- Uncle Creepy

VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!

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Be fantastic in the comments section below!

Submitted by Uncle Creepy on Wed, 09/08/2010 - 6:24pm.

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