The Office of the Small Business Advocate has this news:
Continue reading “Stimulus News Digest #10 – November 2009 | California Office of the Small Business Advocate”
Judge blasts bad bank, erases 525G debt | NYPOST.com
The government has been backing up to the back doors of these institutions, unloading truckloads of cash. Many have used the funds to purchase other banks or shore up their balance sheets; few have passed any relief to their customers. The backlash against them has primarily been debt repudiation (bankruptcy and foreclosure) and now, debt cancellation.
Spinner excoriated OneWest for repeatedly refusing to work out a deal, for misleading him about the dollar amounts at stake in the case, and for its treatment of the couple over months of hearings.
OneWest’s conduct was “inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious,” Spinner wrote.
He canceled the debt because the bank “must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against [the couple].”
The bank is involved in a similar case in California, where it’s trying to foreclose on an 89-year-old woman, despite two court orders telling it to stop.
Different Bus, Same Driver – Harvard ignored warnings about investments | The Boston Globe
The very thing that the former endowment chiefs had worried about and warned of for so long then came to pass. Amid plunging global markets, Harvard would lose not only 27 percent of its $37 billion endowment in 2008, but $1.8 billion of the general operating cash – or 27 percent of some $6 billion invested. Harvard also would pay $500 million to get out of the interest-rate swaps Summers had entered into, which imploded when rates fell instead of rising. The university would have to issue $1.5 billion in bonds to shore up its cash position, on top of another $1 billion debt sale. And there were layoffs, pay freezes, and deep, university-wide budget cuts.
Visualizing Empires Decline | Pedro M. Cruz
This is mainly an experimentation with soft bodies using toxi’s verlet springs.
The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent. The visual emphasis is on their decline.
Small business loan total drops by $10 billion | money.cnn.com
The 22 banks that got the most help from the Treasury’s bailout programs cut their small business loan balances by a collective $10.5 billion over the past six months, according to a government report released Monday.
SBA Stimulus Loan Money Runs Out|CNN Money.com
The Small Business Administration said Monday that it has run through all of the $375 million Congress allocated to temporarily waive fees and boost guarantees on loans backed by the SBA’s lending programs. Businesses still hoping for a slice of the pie can get in line, cross their fingers and wait.
Words That Get The Job Done | Information Is Beautiful.net
How To Get Replies – Online Dating
Dating site OKCupid examined which words in an opening email to women increased or decreased the chances of a reply. Hilarious and revealing.
Do a Sales Job on Yourself – Sales Trust – Entrepreneur.com
The idea is so plain it can be difficult to believe. It seems paradoxical: Stop trying to control your customers and you will get better results than if you try every trick in the book.
The Genius of Capitalism | Tom Tomorrow
NASA Treadmill Makes Exercise Easy|Trendhunter.com
Forbes reports “Alter-G G-Trainer’s unique treadmill system allows people to train and recover by reducing their effective body weight via positive air pressure.
