Right now the headline on this Business Insider post reads, “What Are the Sources of Anti-Semitism.” Don’t get too attached to that formulation, however. The post has been changing at a Business Insiderish pace, as the notes and updates at the foot of the item explain:
NOTE: The original photo in this post was of a couple of jovial Orthodox Jews, one of whom was wearing a traditional hat. Some readers found that needlessly provocative. One suggested I replace it with a picture of Natalie Portman, who, I guess, is Jewish (I don’t know). So I have.
NOTE 2: The original title of this post was “Why Do Some People Hate Jews?” That made a lot of people angry. Folks seem more comfortable with the current title, which, admittedly, is less direct. So I changed it.
Reading through those footnotary amendments, you might conclude that Henry Blodget, author of the post and the top dog at Business Insider, didn’t give a lot of thought to this question before posting on it. That he just pushed it through Business Insider’s content management system. Hey, you’d be wrong!
When asked whether he’d vetted the post, Blodget responded:
I asked a couple of folks here to read it, including our Managing Editor. They thought it would provoke a vigorous discussion, which it has.
Gotta love the transparency, if not the depth of editorial deliberations at chez Business Insider.
Blodget writes that the idea for the post came to him a while ago, after he’d written “How Goldman Sachs Blew The Facebook IPO.” Notes Blodget: “As occasionally happens when writing about that firm, some anti-Semites showed up in the comments. As I was deleting their comments, I wondered, as I have before, ‘Where on earth does this come from?’ I figured I would ask our readers.”
Notwithstanding the origins of anti-Semitism, the origins of Blodget’s post appear to lie squarely within Business Insider’s model. That is, to generate the most amount of traffic with the least amount of effort. Thus a repetitive post that includes lines like: “Why do some people hate Jews?”And: “What is the source of this animosity? Why does it perpetuate itself? Where did this prejudice come from?”
Two problems with all of this. First is that Business Insider is not my spot for even legitimate and deep discussions of racial and ethnic hatred.
What I like most about Business Insider was the post in which it scooped some video of Jim Courier asking Novak Djokovic a stupid question about his breathing patterns in a tennis match. The exchange made Courier look dumb, and the aggregators at Business Insider were right on top of it. That’s Business Insider.
This is not Business Insider:
And hatred of Jews has obviously been an ongoing theme worldwide for centuries.
Hitler, for example, hated the Jews so much that he murdered 6 million of them.
The other issue is that Blodget’s question appears to at least contemplate legitimate motivations for anti-Semitism, via its titular question alone. Blodget bats away that suggestion: “Of course I wasn’t suggesting that anti-Semitism has a legitimate basis. I was asking where it comes from. I find the best way to handle sensitive topics like this is to talk openly about them. That’s what a lot of people have been doing this afternoon — and I, at least, have learned a lot from them.”
Years ago we passed the point at which we should take pride in stimulating conversation on the Internet. If you’re willing to write something dumb or just act in poor taste, you too can have a career as an Web conversation launcher. Stick with the IPOs, Blodget.
And hey, why post a photo of Natalie Portman without knowing her religion? “As I explained in the post, a reader suggested that I use her photo. And it actually seemed to underscore the absurdity and unfairness of anti-Semitism that some people might feel negatively about her based on her presumed religion.”
Money comes in for Rodgers - SkySports
Wigan's Roberto Martinez was being strongly tipped to take over at Liverpool after talks with the club's American owners Fenway Sports Group in Miami last week.
But there was still no word from Martinez as he arrived back in Manchester today following a family holiday in Barbados and Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has issued a deadline of Thursday for an agreement to be reached.
The story took a new twist today with Swansea boss Rodgers, who originally turned down the chance to speak to FSG, appearing firmly back in frame with online bookies Sky Bet. He is now 1/2 to be appointed Reds' manager with Martinez out to 2/1.
It now appears to be definitely a two-horse race with Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp out to 12/1 after being as short as 2/1 early on Monday.
Football trader Joe Petyt explained: "When Martinez was photographed with FSG's John Henry in America he became the strong favourite but even during that time we saw sustained money for Rodgers.
"In the last 24 hours the amount of money we've seen on Rodgers has increased substantially which indicates to us that some people have heard that he's going to take the job."
Meta Financial Group, Inc.® Declares Cash Dividend - Yahoo Finance
STORM LAKE, Iowa, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Meta Financial Group, Inc.® (the "Company") (CASH) announced that the Company will pay a cash dividend of $0.13 per share for the third fiscal quarter of 2012. This dividend will be payable on or about July 1, 2012 to shareholders of record as of June 11, 2012.
At March 31, 2012, the Company had total assets of $1.6 billion and shareholders' equity of $87.3 million.
This press release and other important information about the Company are available at www.metafinancialgroup.com.
Corporate Profile: Meta Financial Group, Inc.®, ("Meta Financial" or the "Company") is the holding company for its wholly-owned subsidiary, MetaBank™ (the "Bank"). MetaBank is a federally-chartered savings bank with four market areas: Northwest Iowa Market, Brookings Market, Central Iowa Market, Sioux Empire Market; and the Meta Payment Systems® prepaid card division. Twelve retail banking offices and one administrative office support customers throughout northwest and central Iowa, and in Brookings and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Company and the Bank, may from time to time make written or oral "forward-looking statements," including statements contained in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its reports to stockholders, and in other communications by the Company, which are made in good faith by the Company pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the Company's beliefs, expectations, estimates, and intentions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control. Such statements address, among others, the following subjects: future operating results; customer retention; loan and other product demand; important components of the Company's balance sheet and income statements; growth and expansion; new products and services, such as those offered by MetaBank or Meta Payment Systems (MPS), a division of the Bank; credit quality and adequacy of reserves; technology; and our employees. The following factors, among others, could cause the Company's financial performance to differ materially from the expectations, estimates, and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements: the strength of the United States economy in general and the strength of the local economies in which the Company conducts operations; the effects of, and changes in, trade, monetary, and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board, as well as efforts of the United States Treasury in conjunction with bank regulatory agencies to stimulate the economy and protect the financial system; inflation, interest rate, market, and monetary fluctuations; the timely development of and acceptance of new products and services offered by the Company as well as risks (including reputational and litigation) attendant thereto and the perceived overall value of these products and services by users; the risks of dealing with or utilizing third-party vendors; the scope of restrictions and compliance requirements imposed by the supervisory directives and/or the Consent Orders entered into by the Company and the Bank with the Office of Thrift Supervision and any other such actions which may be initiated; the impact of changes in financial services' laws and regulations, including but not limited to our relationship with our regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve; technological changes, including but not limited to the protection of electronic files or databases; acquisitions; litigation risk in general, including but not limited to those risks involving MPS; the growth of the Company's business as well as expenses related thereto; changes in consumer spending and saving habits; and the success of the Company at managing and collecting assets of borrowers in default.
The foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Additional discussions of factors affecting the Company's business and prospects are contained in the Company's periodic filings with the SEC. The Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company or its subsidiaries.
RI supports farmers and small business owners - Examiner
Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and Keith Stokes, Executive Director, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation led a program on May 9, at the Middletown Public Library, describing free or low-cost mentoring, business development and funding services available to Rhode Island businesses including farms.
Governor Chafee opened the presentation, saying how pleased he was that there were hatching chicks in the Children’s Room next door. Chafee likes to think that RI’s business-friendly programs will help “incubate,” “hatch” and grow RI’s small businesses and farms.
Keith Stokes, then Executive Director of the RI Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) moderated while a series of speakers described programs available to all Rhode Island businesses.
Many perceive RI’s permitting and licensing procedures and fees to be cumbersome. More towns are simplifying their processes like Middletown, RI which recently automated their complete permitting process; they offer online GIS mapping (lots, sewers, utilities, etc.) for everyone, not just contractors and town employees. Leslie Taito, RIEDC Director of Regulatory and Quality Management commended Middletown and several other RI communities.
Taito want to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks and is developing Best Practices for “clear predictable and reliable system” and coordinating efforts to implement these simplifications statewide. Taito is working to reduce turn-around times to less than 30 days, statewide and wants to offer a way to track progress through the permitting process. She encouraged farmers, contractors and businesspeople to seek pre-application meetings with regulatory officials to help submittals be complete and accurate, facilitating smooth and speedy processing.
Charles Fogarty, Director of the Department of Labor & Training (RI DLT), described current Workforce Training programs and programs in development with partner, RI Community College, to address workplace needs. The DLT served over 48,000 people and businesses last year, helping with job postings, prioritization, recruitment, assessment, skills development and placement. Job Fairs are routinely held with private partners helping businesses find skilled labor and staff for their needs. “Prove It” is an on-line tool helping employers screen candidates.
Fogarty described training grants available to businesses to help fund new staff during their training periods; tax credits help businesses keep quality staff during economic downturns allowing business to retain their most qualified, best workers for better times ahead.
FREE online training is available to anyone in hundreds of topics including business and enterprise skills, computer training, workplace safety and health at www.alison.com.
Chris Cannata, RIEDC Financial Services Client Relations Manager, described the small business loan funds of up to $250,000 for up to 25% of the total project cost of acquisition and improvements of land, buildings and equipment, new construction and working capital. Loans have fixed interest rates and can be paid back in up to ten years. Jobs creation, working capital as well as research and development programs exist for farms, small businesses in the science, medical and defense fields. For more information, see www.riedc.com/business-services/financing/sblf.
Julian Dash, RIEDC Director of the Renewable Energy Fund, described seed money availability for technical and feasibility studies for alternative energy projects like solar, wind and hydropower. Distributed Generation contracts and utility net metering help make many more projects economically viable. Dash stressed their goal to encourage innovation in these industries with equipment and technology sales across RI, the country and the world. More information is available at www.riedc.com/business-services/renewable-energy/pre-development-consultant-and-technical-feasibility-program.
Too many “small businesses don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan” Mark Hayward, District Director of the Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA offers capital, counseling and contracts. The SBA facilitated $3.5 million in RI small business loans in just the first four months of 2012. The SBA also helps small businesses obtain surety bonds which are necessary for signing any government contracts.
Free counseling services are available across the United States for business through local Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). Assistance is available with marketing, loan packaging, business plans, operational issues, strategic planning and much more). The RI SBDC is hosted by Johnson & Wales University with five regional offices. For RI office and program information, seewww.risbdc.org. To find a regional chapter near you click here.
SCORE is a national organization offering business-mentoring services by volunteer active or retired business professionals for new or existing businesses; their experienced mentors will help you reach customers and achieve your goals. To find a chapter near you, see www.score.org/chapter-list.
The Center for Women and Enterprise (in Providence, RI, Worchester, MA and Boston, MA) offers free or low cost training and workshops for new and experienced businesspeople in a wide variety of topics like how to start and grow a business, how to create and implement a marketing plan, social media marketing and website design. For more information, see www.cweonline.org. To locate other Women’s Business Centers in the US, click here.
Promotional opportunities for farms, CSAs and agritourism events are available at the RIEDC Travel and Tourism websites, www.visitrhodeisland.comand www.visitri.com/farm-visits, New England Farmways at www.nefarmways.com, Farm Fresh Rhode Island at www.farmfreshri.org, and through local Visitors’ Bureaus and Chambers of Commerce.
A similar story ran in the May 28, 2012 New England issue of "Country Folks."
MacroSolve: Does Every Business Need a Mobile App? - Yahoo Finance
TULSA, OK--(Marketwire -05/10/12)- MacroSolve, Inc., doing business as Illume Mobile (MCVE.PK) (MCVE.PK) ("MacroSolve," "Illume Mobile" or the "Company"), a leading provider of mobile technologies, apps, and solutions for business, today announced that on May 8th, 2012, Donald Trump Jr. was featured on Fox Business' Markets Now with Cheryl Casone and Dennis Kneale discussing the world of business apps and the defense of innovation (through the context of software patent litigation).
In the segment, Donald Trump Jr. and Fox highlight the importance of utilizing mobile technologies for businesses today.
"Today, perhaps the most important piece of real estate that someone can have, is... on their smartphones," claims Donald Trump Jr. "To be able to control a piece of that face, is really critical for business."
Another topic of interest discussed was software patent litigation and, in Mr. Trump's words, the defense of innovation in America. Mr. Trump was stalwart in his defense of MacroSolve's robust patent portfolio and defended a number of lawsuits against major corporations including: Facebook, Walmart and Marriott.
"There are patent trolls and then there are true innovators," states Mr. Trump. "Before anyone was even thinking about... patents and mobile apps and communicating this way, these guys [MacroSolve] came up with the technology to be able to do that. That kind of foresight and that kind of thinking really needs to be protected in this country."
Coming off the recent launches of a number of innovative mobile applications including one for the Trump organization, the business-to-business app company released its first quarter results demonstrating its 5th consecutive quarter of top line revenue growth.
Illume Mobile provides custom mobile solutions, and specializes in three industry-specific mobile application platforms: sales (SaleSentral), dining (DineSentral), and personal safety (GuardianSentral). SaleSentral takes sales information and presentations mobile through the development of a customer interface used for uploading and managing content, creating a sales toolkit to use anytime, anywhere. DineSentral makes it easy to promote a restaurant's brand, maximize sales and connect with customers by utilizing rich graphical content, social media, customer loyalty, customer feedback, and integration with third party applications. GuardianSentral is an easy-to-use smartphone application used in tandem with your current campus security offering (emergency phones, campus police, etc.) to provide real-time GPS tracking of individuals who feel they are in danger.
"Businesses of all sizes recognize the need for a mobile strategy," says Steve Signoff, CEO of Illume Mobile, "but businesses are also savvy and know that having a mobile app means more than just checking a box."
Fox Business' Cheryl Casone asks, "Does every business need a mobile app?" Through the innovative mobile technologies being developed and made available by companies such as MacroSolve, it wouldn't make business sense not to take advantage.
About MacroSolve
MacroSolve, Inc., doing business as Illume Mobile, is a pioneer in delivering mobile apps, technologies, and solutions. Leveraging its intellectual property portfolio, MacroSolve enforces its landmark patent while providing mobile app products and services under the name Illume Mobile. MacroSolve is positioned to become a leader in the mobile app development services space, which is projected to become a $100 billion market in 2015 according to Research2Guidance. For more information, visit Illume Mobile at www.illumemobile.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains projections of future results and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Important factors that may cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in the projections and forward-looking statements included in this press release are described in our publicly filed reports. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, the acceptance of our products, lack of revenue growth, failure to realize profitability, inability to raise capital and market conditions that negatively affect the market price of our common stock. The Company disclaims any responsibility to update any forward-looking statements.
Living on mobile money - BBC News
Rory Cellan-Jones tries living without money
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my frustrating efforts to use various new mobile money applications on my phone. I promised then to have another go, to give up cash and try to pay by phone alone. So, how did it go? Not very well, I'm afraid.
I started by loading up my phone with a variety of apps which - supposedly - would help me get by without cash or even cards. My main weapons were to be O2 Wallet and Barclays Pingit, two new services which allow you to send and receive money from your phone. But I also installed the Paypal app, and a range of others that allow you to buy a coffee or pay for a taxi from your phone.
Within minutes of starting, I ran into trouble. It was my turn to buy the office tea and coffee round, and the coffee outlet only took cash. No problem - I would get my colleague Anthony to pay and refund him via one of my mobile money pay-by-text services.
With Barclays Pingit playing up (I never got it to work, even after deleting the app and going through the lengthy verification system again) I turned to my O2 wallet. Just two or three passwords later, I had texted a £2.80 money message to Anthony.
Then the fun began.
He spent days - quite literally - trying to make sure this and a couple of other payments from me made their way from his phone into his bank account. Much of that time was spent in increasingly intemperate phone conversations with O2. At one point the company told him their "triage unit" was on the case. Anthony's verdict? "No need for triage - it's terminal!"
I quickly realised that although I wanted to rely solely on my phone, this approach wasn't going to work. I would need to use credit and debit cards as well, plus my Oyster touch-and-go card for travel around London.
By paying for meals via my debit card - which meant I had to spend more than £5 - I did manage to get by without cash for a couple of days.
Then I took a trip to Oxford and had my first failure.
Getting on a bus to the city centre without a travelcard, I found myself obliged to dip into my pocket for some coins to pay the fare. And my bus trip proved a timely example of how useful mobile money could be if it were more widely adopted. On a busy route, every time we stopped dozens of school children and students queued to pay by cash, making our progress very slow.
While neither of my mobile money services proved at all useful over the week, there were two things - taxis and coffee - that proved easy to pay for by phone. The taxi app market is now fiercely competitive and I found Hailo, a service that lets you order a London cab, pretty efficient at delivering a driver to me within five minutes.
I also tried Ubicabs to order minicabs, and this again worked fine - although my driver ended up asking me to navigate to my destination. These services make it very easy to move around without cash or credit cards - if only in the London area - but they have one major downside. You end up racking up big bills without even thinking about it.
The same applies with the Starbucks app, which allows you to load money onto a virtual payment card on your phone, then swipe your phone against a reader to pay for coffee or a sandwich. Because this was the only easy way I found to buy food from my phone, I ended up spending far too much on cappuccinos.
When I ended my experiment, I breathed a sigh of relief - as did my colleague Anthony, who is still trying to extract from his phone the money I owe him. Trying to live off mobile money, which is supposed to make life easier, has been a stressful experience. The inevitable concerns about security are making most of these new services so complicated to use that you have to be slightly deranged even to bother.
That is not to say the whole idea is doomed to failure. We will see further innovation over the coming weeks as payments firms unveil plans to allow visitors to the London Olympics to pay with their phones.
But here's my advice to the companies pushing these services - your "triage units" are in for a busy time.
For those with more money than taste... the £125,000 diamond encrusted gold coins on sale to celebrate Queen's jubilee - Daily Mail
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Forget commemorative mugs or tea towels, there's now a much more elaborate souvenir on sale to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee.
But with a price tag of 125,000, you'll need more money than taste in order to afford it.
The East India Company has released 60 minted gold coins, one for each year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, encrusted with diamonds to celebrate the royal milestone.
Despite the hefty price tag, the company has revealed that it has had 'brisk and determined interest' from monarchist collectors and investors from across the globe.
Diamond Queen: The East India Company have released 60 of these gold coins encrusted with diamonds to mark the jubilee
The gold coins weigh a kilo and feature the head of the Queen wearing a diamond tiara, necklace and brooch with the words 'Elizabeth Regina, Diamond Jubilee 1952-2012' around the outside.
They have also released 60 silver coins of the same design and weight but at a 'cheaper' price of 25,000.
Each kilo struck by The Royal Mint represents over 1,000 hours of craftsmanship - and the company has received particularly high interest in the coins from international buyers.
As a result, the company is now scheduling private viewings in Monaco, Moscow, Geneva, Hong Kong, the Middle East and India.
The East India Company, which has a flagship store in Mayfair, has long-standing links to the British monarchy.
Expensive souvenir: Diamonds are encrusted in the tiara, necklace and brooch of the Queen's image raising the price of the one kilo gold coin to 125,000
Queen Elizabeth I founded the East India Company in 1600 by Royal Charter.
In the 19th century, the company set jewels in a tiara for Britain's other diamond Queen, Queen Victoria, when she was crowned Empress of India.
Sanjiv Mehta, CEO of East India Company said: 'The company was instrumental in building the British Empire with its legacy still visible today in what we know as the Commonwealth Nations.
'We chose to commission the Royal Mint, another quintessential British brand who first minted coins for us over 200 years ago, with this unique project to create a timeless tribute that reflects the grand achievement it celebrates.'
Commemorative: Sixty silver coins have also been made and are on sale for 25,000
Given the expensive nature of the purchase, buyers get more for their money than just the coin.
It is presented on royal purple velvet in a bespoke presentation case, designed by British company Linley.
A diamond-magnifying loupe is hidden in the base compartment of the presentation case, which enables owners to get a close-up view of the encrusted diamonds.
The purchase also includes a book which tells the story of the Queen Elizabeth II's 60-year reign.
Business Connectors: Secondees can supply missing link - Financial Times
May 29, 2012 4:27 pm
Although some of the comments may seem a little negative, lets face it the Queen's achievment of being on the throne for 60 years is commendable. So why not have something like this to celebrate the jubilee, it goes without saying that this is certainly a once in a life time occasion.
- Geoff Wall-Davis, Longbridge, Birmingham, England., 29/5/2012 19:28
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