| Egg, Citigroup could face probe over credit card claims - report
LONDON, Feb. 11, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Egg and its owner Citigroup (NYSE:C) Inc could face an investigation over allegations that the UK internet bank cancelled credit cards because holders consistently paid up in time, according to a report. The UK's Financial Services Authority has referred a British lawmaker's complaint about the issue to the Office of Fair Trading, The Guardian reported. Last month, Egg said it planned to end the customer agreements of a proportion of its credit card portfolio. It said the 161,000 card holders affected had a 'higher than acceptable risk profile', according to The Guardian. However, many of those said they paid their bills in full every month, never went over their limit and had excellent credit ratings. Egg denies the claims alleging that it made the move because the customers were not making it enough money, the newspaper said.
Block parties will challenge neighbors to reduce energy use
The woman, whose identity has not been released, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment. She sustained non-life threatening injuries to her lower torso, according to a Police Department news release. The officers involved have been placed on standard administrat Full Article .
Annual “Lambs to the Slaughter” ritual has begun
It's that time of the year again. Holiday spending was up another 5% this year to …. get this….. $457.4 Billion. As reported By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com staff writer in the article found here. That's right, billion with a “B". And, once the credit card bills begin to get delivered…. the slaughter will begin. Many might be thinking that I'm going to drone on about the high cost of credit, how long it will take to pay off those credit cards, fees, penalties, etc… Not this time. The ritual that I'm referring to is mortgage refinancing. Every year thousands of homeowners find themselves in a little trouble with last years spending habits. And this year many people are going to get the old Double Whammy with roughly 12% of adjustable mortgages coming due. Scratching their heads trying to figure out how they will make ends meet, refinancing (or debt consolidation) begins to look appealing.
Coastal Post Online
All persons should know the meaning of the words conservatorship, conservator, and conservatee. It is vital to the protection of one's life, assets, and freedoms.
In California, a conservator of the person may be appointed for a person who is unable to provide properly for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing or shelter. A conservator of the estate may be appointed for a person who is substantially unable to manage his or her own financial resources or resist fraud or undue influence. The person conserved is a conservatee. "Substantial inability may not be proved solely by isolated incidents of negligence or improvidence." CA Probate Code Sec. 1801.
Sometimes a conservatorship is necessary and beneficial; in that case, family members are favored by the law to act as conservator.
Ten guys women should run from
I used to have a friend who said, "I seem to have a very liberating effect on whatever man I'm dating. We go on three dates, and the next thing I know he's moved in with me, he's quit his job, and his car is up on blocks in my yard." Certain men are more prone to this type of liberation than others, I have found: Carpenters, river guides, and flamenco guitarists all fall into the category of men who are perfectly willing to hand themselves over to the care of a good woman, as well as visual artists, stage performers, and racers (ski, bike, boat) of all kinds. The Betrayed
I seem to have dated an inordinate number of men who have just been left by a woman for a woman. In general, these men are angry beyond all reason, no matter to what lengths they may go to disguise it, and if you date one, be ready to give up all your girlfriends, or you will be accused of being a lesbian, too.
Red Hat/Cygnus record run lost amid Sun/MySQL billion-dollar hoopla
Two reasons: (1) Red Hat had a large market cap in the days of 1999-2000 stock market and (2) Cygnus was earning in 1999 what very few open source companies are earning even today, almost 10 years later. At the end of the day, revenue and growth drives valuation, and Cygnus had revenue and growth. Does that almost decade-long reign say anything about the real or perceived values of open source companies today? It says more about how rare it is to find high-quality companies. What's your best guess as to how long we'll have to wait for the next billion-dollar-plus open source deal? Exempting Red Hat from my answer (because I cannot comment or speculate on Red Hat's future), I would not be surprised to see another $1B deal of some sort in the next 12-18 months.
A Growth Maven's New Favorite: Gold
NOT MUCH ESCAPES THE ATTENTION OF THIS wise and wily investor. Near visionary in his ability to identify trends and capitalize on them, Joseph McNay has made a lot of people and institutions wealthy in the 40-plus years he's been plying the investment trade. He manages more than $3 billion at Essex Investment Management in Boston, a firm he founded, including its flagship long-short fund and a natural-resources fund. One of the all-time greats of growth investing, McNay is now pounding the table for, of all things, gold. Attention must be paid. Barron's: Are we in a recession or are we perhaps talking ourselves into one? McNay: We certainly are in an economic slowdown, and my personal opinion is that we are in the early phases of a recession. Whether we are in a recession or not is irrelevant because we are slowing down, and results are becoming more negative.
The Demise of Hyphy
A closer look into the absence of hyphy from the airwaves found that while local artists bear a degree of responsibility for the decline of the homegrown art form, KMEL is far from blameless. Specifically, the station • yanked local rappers with buzzworthy records from rotation over petty personal beefs • made it difficult, if not impossible, for artists not aligned with favored promoters to get access to station personnel • ignored the advice of its own DJs on potential hit records by local artists • put the kibosh on efforts to spread hyphy in other regions • engaged in blatant favoritism toward certain artists, alongside other activities that contributed to the fragmentation of the local hip-hop community • employed a two-tiered promotion system for major-label and independent acts KMEL's provincial attitude toward local rap artists is perhaps best exemplified by the station's treatment of Mistah F.A.B., a charismatic Oaklander sometimes referred to as "hyphy's crown prince." According to F.A.B., a "personal situation" with current music director Big Von Johnson has existed for years.
Senior center in Keizer seeks applicants for scholarship
Those with senior center ties looking for help with college tuition have their chance. Keizer/Salem Area Seniors Inc. are seeking applications for the groups second annual, $2,000 college scholarship. The recipient must be a child or grandchild of a current KSAS member. Applications are available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m Monday to Friday at the front desk of the senior center, 930 Plymouth Drive NE, Keizer. Applications also will be sent upon request. Completed applications are due May 1. The winner will be awarded the scholarship June 1. For more information, call (503) 390-7441. Jillian Daley .
Student Allegedly Choked Inside Bucks Co. School
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (CBS 3) ― Investigators are looking into allegations that a student was choked inside the bathroom of a Bucks County school.David Holzerman, a junior at Quakertown High School, told CBS 3 he was attacked from behind on Tuesday in a school bathroom. David said he was choked with an object that he believes was a belt."I saw the belt come in front of my face and it go around my neck and I was picked up, like I was on my tippy-toes, but I was picked up and I was held for about 10 seconds and then he just dropped me," David explained.David, 16, said he never saw his attacker, but he reported the incident to school officials immediately.David's mother believes her son was targeted; he attends law enforcement classes at Upper Bucks Vocational School and David sometimes takes on authority role at Quakertown High.Debbie Holzerman admitted to having concerns about how students might react to David's occasional authoritative role at school, but she never expected anyone could harm her son by choking him."If you could come forward, we can work this out and we can figure out what was the reason, what was the cause, what would make you get to this point, that's all I would ask," Debbie said.The school district told CBS 3 that they are aware of the incident and that they are investigating.
The gold standard
That was the prevailing view" for most of his tenure in the gold and coin business, Blumert says. "And it still is, although to a lesser extent." The reputation of the goldbug as an outsider — and as a stubborn fanatic — prevails in a 2000 New Yorker magazine article in which author James Collins wrote that nearly any investment purchased in 1980 "would have increased in value by the year 2000 ... There was, however, one investment that would have lost you money, causing not only financial distress but also shame and humiliation. That investment was gold." In 1980, Collins went on to explain, the price of gold peaked at $825.50 an ounce; in 2000, the price was about $280 an ounce. "So," the author continued, "while the popular crowd has rocked on at the bull-market beach party, gold investors have been holed up in somebody's basement, with two beers among them, and no girls." Blumert recalls, "It was a horrible time in our industry from 1980 through 2000.
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