| MasterCard spent $1.8M lobbying
MasterCard International Inc. spent $1.8 million in 2007 to lobby on Internet-related issues and on fees merchants pay when customers use credit cards. The Purchase, N.Y.-based company spent $880,000 in the second half of 2007 to lobby Congress, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office. It lobbied on gambling regulations and the use of credit cards to purchase illegal material on the Internet. The company spent $880,000 lobbying in the first half of the year on financial literacy, data security, microchip technology and fees banks pay to credit card networks. Congress is weighing tighter regulations on the credit card industry. The industry came under fire in December, when a Senate subcommitee issued a report denouncing practices that include raising interest rates for customers whose credit ratings decline, even if they make their card payments on time.
Pa. Photographer Couple Charged With Theft
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS 3) ― A photographer trusted for decades to capture precious events for local families is facing charges, along with his wife. Authorities said he preyed on a guest at one of those events.Authorities said photographer Steve Raab stole a guest's purse during a Bat Mitzvah at the Philmont Country Club on February 2."To have someone violate that trust and steal at a bat mitzvah is just outrageous," Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said.Police said Raab and his wife, Susan, then attempted to use to the victim's credit card to run up hundreds of dollars in charges."These two people are preying on people who come to an event, just to have fun, to relax, and to enjoy their family and friends, never expecting that they would be victimized," Ferman said.Despite the arrests, the Raab's business "Creative Photography & Video" remains open for business.
ACH Fraud: Clearing House Aims To Clean House
Stepping up the pressure on third-party processors to police their ACH users, NACHA member institutions may decide later this summer on new network rules to strengthen fines or even ban originators with excessive unauthorized items. The new proposals would also require originators to maintain statistics on their return activity and rid themselves of problem firms (read: telemarketers) that blatantly violate NACHA rules with improper Web- or telephone-based authorizations-each helping to form the basis of a de facto originators blacklist. "Obviously, if you suspended a company from the ACH network, you would have to let all the banks in the country know about that," says Michael Herd, managing director of network rules for the ACH Network's governing body. Two years ago, a less-stringent proposal to automate fees against returned transactions failed to garner enough support from NACHA members.
Google Gives All SF Homeless Free Voicemail
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Google has made an announcement that could help hundreds of homeless people in San Francisco get back on their feet.
Every single homeless person in the city will be given a life-long phone number and voicemail, should they choose to accept it, NBC11's Lisa Bernard said.
VIDEO: Google Gives Homeless Phone Numbers
SLIDESHOW: SF, Google Give Free Voicemail, Phone Numbers To Homeless Google is partnering with San Francisco to provide the service to homeless individuals and to shelters and agencies so they can distribute the numbers to their clients. The announcement was made at a Project Homeless Connect event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Wednesday. .
Three weeks until it begins anew
However, after missing two entire seasons and having two elbow surgeries since he last pitched in a major league game, Hampton's no longer being counted upon by the Braves. Smoltz, Hudson and Glavine are being counted upon. And two other starters from the group of returning lefty Chuck James (11-game winner each of his first two seasons); extremely promising rookie Jair Jurrjens, who Jim Leyland says would've certainly been a part of Detroit's opening-day rotation if they hadn't traded him to get Edgar Renteria; rookie lefty Jo-Jo Reyes; and Jeff Bennett, who could also fit into a role as long reliever and spot (sixth) starter. Anyway, like I said, we'll have plenty of time in the coming weeks to examine the Braves' strengths and weaknesses and break down issues such as the bench, where it's going to be interesting to see if the Braves go with versatile prospect Brent Lillibridge in a sort of super-utility role to begin the season, and if they do, whether he might stick around even after veteran Omar Infante returns from a likely brief season-opening stint on the DL for a broken hand.
A mighty defender
I'm a goal defender, and in that position, you've got to stick hard to your opponent. But I'm a clean player. Fair but firm." When she is not on the netball court fighting it out for points, Bluett is waging a different kind of battle, around the negotiating table with the State Government, over teachers' pay and conditions. Over the past 25 years, she has overseen almost 20 teacher strikes and negotiated four enterprise bargaining deals. The latest, over which thousands of teachers walked off the job last week in pursuit of a 30% pay rise, is her fifth. But this one cuts deeper for teachers, says Bluett, not just because they're fed up with being the lowest paid in the country, but because Victorian Premier John Brumby used to be one of their own.
Time to re-assess attitude to alcohol
So is junk food. But neither of them is "good". Furthermore, being good doesn't always guarantee popularity – if that was the case, carrots and celery would be in much higher demand. And why do we tend to lean towards popular – even when we know that, sadly, carrots are better for us than chocolate. One thing our society is generally good at, supported by underlying philosophies such as individualism and materialism, is elevating short-term pleasure over long-term benefits. Hence, a smoker will tell you that they know cigarettes are bad for them but they still smoke. It's why I choose a chocolate bar instead of an apple for a mid-afternoon snack, or sleep in instead of getting up and exercising. I know what is good, but the good is not always popular. And being popular does not make it good – no matter what the owner of the Normanby may hope.
Murdoch To Times: I Will Bury You! Keller Bristles
At 3 p.m. on Oct. 12, three days before the launch this week of the Fox Business Network, Roger Ailes gave a rally-the-troops speech to FBN rank-and-file, according to a staffer present. The Fox News president warned that the upstart network would encounter a doubting mainstream press, just as Fox News had over a decade ago. “Don't worry about what people may say about us," Mr. Ailes told his staff. Then he dug into his mid-1990's newspaper archives, and gleefully quoted from a notably skeptical—and, as it turned out, unprescient—assessment of Fox News' prospects. The article was from The New York Times. Even as Rupert Murdoch uses FBN, his latest News Corp. project, to take on the existing business television establishment in the form of CNBC and Bloomberg, he and his top lieutenants appear to have one eye on the coming struggle with a more iconic foe.
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Guitar Man
It's quite good in a way for me to know what other people do like, because I can get very obscure. There have been points in my history where, with some of the songs, you'd have to have a lot of explanation as to what they were about. It was only me that understood them at all. The guitar is what I'm thinking at the time. That's what comes out." His musical journey begins in Edinburgh. When Bert was three months old, his mother left his father in Glasgow, and they moved into a council house in West Pilton. His interest in music was sparked at Pennywell Primary School, when a teacher brought in a Spanish guitar. This was the time of Elvis and skiffle, so his attention was snared. He built a guitar from a kit, and - by now at Ainslie Park high school - was introduced to the Howff club in the High Street.
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