Monthly To Do List

 

2010|06Monthly To Do List

Create my own Put Illinois to Work by making 100 calls for $1 million to fund project with TMC, APA that builds $100 million business and 500 jobs; Option 1 is placement in social enterprise, option 2 is placement with employers who need specific skills/workers.

 

 

Date	Create links by using Ctrl + Space to write important ideas, thoughts, and events of this month.
05/29/2010	100 calls to find $1 million to fund projects with TMC, APA, BBYS, CAARMS that helps BACP start building $100 million business and create 500 jobs; Option 1 is placement of ppl in social enterprise, option 2 is placement of ppl with employers who need specific skills/workers; DMX "we don't see any desirable and accessible jobs" on VH1 Behind the Music bio, Grandparents we all need somebody to be special to, mother of his child kicked him out, I have somebody to take care of and you not doing it; Create jobs by funding producers/entrepreneurs to develop new and inner city markets; Act as link between street/corporate development  ie Leo Vice ChairWarner Bros, Def Jams/Irv Gotti producer who saw DMX as counter to aspirational rap "Get at me Dogg"
05/30/2010	What products do black and latinos buy by age (young, middle, seniors), income level, etc; auto repairs, cars, cloths, food, cell phone, internet, etc?
	Goal is to create our own community leaders, mobilize an effective base of support that can develop a point of view and a voice in what matters and happens- build on civic capacity, social capital, literatures.
	How are Focus Hope and New Communities doing? funded?
	Gangs exist to provide something to belong to, protection and something to do?
http://services.newsweek.com/id/238551?from=rss	The 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, argues that people make better choices through optimal "choice architecture," systems that remove the effort from making the choice. For example, people are more likely to opt for healthy cafeteria foods if the offerings are arranged in a way that displays those foods prominently. Social networking radically alters the choice architecture of coming out of the closet.
	call deluxe travel, princeton wendy dlxtrvl@verizon.net(609) 924-6270 june 15-4 days hotel mt washington conferere center
	CAARMS: Shawndra Hill, Examples of Inference Using Large Social Networks- Examing how collective inference techniques may extend predictive influence of existing customers beyond their immediate neighborhoods; Robert Bell, Lessons from Netflix Prize- How can crowdsourcing, incentives/prizes be used to generate inner city jobs and development?; Could positive learning shows, games and videos about black, latino, women using math, science be sold to the History channel, BET, MTV, etc which now feature a lot of gangs, prison, reality shows they...distribute via tv, cable, mobile, online?; What strategies are needed for increasing respect for and use of expertise/knownledge in policy/politics in age of Obama; Followup initial email to contact Wes Moore; Lebron James talking about leadership and being a team, Coach Dru Jackson, in MTV's More than A Game discussing Teaching and Learning, becoming the best coach he could become;

 

This article was written in springnote.

Lost Decade, Here We Come - Paul Krugman Blog

The deficit hawks have taken over the G20:

“Those countries with serious fiscal challenges need to accelerate the pace of consolidation,” it added. “We welcome the recent announcements by some countries to reduce their deficits in 2010 and strengthen their fiscal frameworks and institutions”.

These words were in marked contrast to the G20’s previous communiqué from late April, which called for fiscal support to “be maintained until the recovery is firmly driven by the private sector and becomes more entrenched”.

It’s basically incredible that this is happening with unemployment in the euro area still rising, and only slight labor market progress in the US.

But don’t we need to worry about government debt? Yes — but slashing spending while the economy is still deeply depressed is both an extremely costly and quite ineffective way to reduce future debt. Costly, because it depresses the economy further; ineffective, because by depressing the economy, fiscal contraction now reduces tax receipts. A rough estimate right now is that cutting spending by 1 percent of GDP raises the unemployment rate by .75 percent compared with what it would otherwise be, yet reduces future debt by less than 0.5 percent of GDP.

The right thing, overwhelmingly, is to do things that will reduce spending and/or raise revenue after the economy has recovered — specifically, wait until after the economy is strong enough that monetary policy can offset the contractionary effects of fiscal austerity. But no: the deficit hawks want their cuts while unemployment rates are still at near-record highs and monetary policy is still hard up against the zero bound.

But what about Greece and all that? Look, right now sovereign debt problems are taking place in countries with a very specific problem: they’re part of the euro zone, AND they’re badly overvalued thanks to huge capital inflows in the good years; as a result they’re facing years of grinding deflation. Counties not in that situation are not facing any pressure from the markets for immediate cuts; as of this morning, 10-year bonds were yielding 3.51 in Britain, 3.21 in the US, 1.27 in Japan.

Yet the conventional wisdom now is that these countries must nonetheless cut — not because the markets are currently demanding it, not because it will make any noticeable difference to their long-run fiscal prospects, but because we think that the markets might demand it (even though they shouldn’t) sometime in the future.

Utter folly posing as wisdom. Incredible.

via krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

Posted via web from Brian's posterous

Long-Term Unemployed Now 46 Percent Of Unemployed, Highest Percentage On Record

WASHINGTON � If you lose your job these days, it's worth scrambling to find a new one � fast. After six months of unemployment, your chances of landing work dwindle.

The proportion of people jobless for six months or more has accelerated in the past year and now makes up 46 percent of the unemployed. That's the highest percentage on records dating to 1948. By late summer or early fall, they are expected to make up half of all jobless Americans.

Economists say those out of work for six months or more risk becoming less and less employable. Their skills can erode, their confidence falter, their contacts dry up. Their growing ranks also will keep pressure on Congress to keep extending jobless benefits, which now run for up to 99 weeks.

Overall, the economy has created a net 982,000 jobs this year. But for Jeff Martinez and the record 6.76 million others who have struck out for six months or more, their struggles are getting worse, not better.

Martinez, 40, a salesman in Washington, D.C., says he's logged more than 200 interviews in the past three years. Decked out in a dark navy suit and Burberry tie, Martinez projects drive and a zest for deal-making. And yet the most urgent deal of his career – finding a job – eludes him.

"You have days where you feel motivated and hopeful and optimistic," he says. "Then there are other days, you really lose the faith and think, `I'm never going to get another job. Ever.'"

What's causing the rising ranks of the long-term jobless to exceed the pace of other recessions?

Mainly, it's the depth and duration of the job-slashing this time. Since the recession began in December 2007 through May this year, a net 7.4 million jobs have vanished. The unemployment rate has surged nearly 5 percentage points: From 5 percent in December 2007 to 9.7 percent in May.

By contrast, in the last severe recession, the rate rose less sharply over a shorter period: From 7.2 percent in July 1981 to 10.8 percent at the end of 1982.

Story continues below

Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, points to the "sheer scale of the falloff in demand for workers" this time. It's left more people out of work for longer stretches. And it's intensified competition for each opening.

"It's a cruel game of musical chairs," Mishel says.

To lower the unemployment rate from the current 9.7 percent to a more normal 6 percent would require roughly a net 15 million new jobs by the end of 2016, estimates Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at IHS Global Insight.

Few think that's likely.

One factor behind the growing proportion of the long-term unemployed is the erosion of their workplace skills – or employers' perception of it. It's hard to find work in a tight job market when your skills are seen as stale.

For some occupations in particular, such as computer technicians or accountants, people jobless for many months can lose pace with technological changes or federal rules.

Among those who fear losing their edge is Stephan Azor, 30. He's looking for information technology work, perhaps overseeing a company's computer system. He was laid off eight months ago as a system administrator for a defense contractor.

"Technology changes every six months, so there are things I have to look up and learn," says Azor, who lives in Washington.

Other reasons for the growing proportion of the long-term unemployed:

_ Jobs wiped out by the Great Recession that aren't coming back. In industries like home construction, manufacturing and retail, fewer workers will be needed even after the economy has fully recovered. One reason is higher productivity: Companies have managed to produce the same level of goods or services with fewer workers. Economist Marisa DiNatale of Moody's Economy.com notes that people out of work in those industries may lack the skills for other jobs that are becoming available.

_ The breadth of the recession, which struck every area of the country, makes it harder for job hunters to move to another region in expectation of finding a job. Complicating the matter, the housing bust made it difficult for people to sell their homes and move elsewhere to take a job, economists say.

A study by the National Employment Law Project found that older workers – those 45 and up – make up the largest slice of the long-term unemployed. African-Americans make up 20.8 percent. And men account for six out of 10.

Martinez was living in Los Angeles and pulling in $200,000 a year from a media sales job. Three years ago, he lost it.

Burning through cash, Martinez had to move back home with his parents in Sterling, Va., outside Washington. He landed another media sales job in the area in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. But four weeks later, he was laid off.

By his count, Martinez has sent out 2,500 resumes in the past year. He's researched would-be employers and written personalized cover letters. He hit a dry spell at the start of this year. Since then, Martinez says the job climate seems to have improved. He's interviewing again. But it's emotionally draining.

"It's tough not to have an interview, and it's just as tough to go on five or six or seven interviews and not get hired," he says.

___

AP Business Writer Christopher Leonard in St. Louis contributed to this report.

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via huffingtonpost.com

Posted via web from Brian's posterous

Mayor Daley Defends City Funding to Charity / Chicago News Cooperative

Mayor Richard M. Daley today staunchly defended the increased flow of City Hall dollars to the youth charity founded and led by his wife.

The mayor’s comments came in response to Thursday’s story by the Chicago News Cooperative about the rise in city funding for Maggie Daley’s charity, After School Matters.

At a news conference today to promote a city recycling program, Mayor Daley said the charity got more money “because after school matters.”

He added, “It’s not my wife’s charity. It’s a charity for teenagers in Chicago. Are you questioning my wife now?
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I hope you realize, I hope your company gave money to the after-school programs, because they provide great programs, and we’ll find out if New York Times had given money to it,” he said.
The Chicago News Cooperative produces the “Chicago” section for the New York Times.

Daley’s press secretary, Jacquelyn Heard, later said the city has maintained or increased funding for many social service programs – “not just Maggie Daley’s program.”

City records show $15 million in Chicago taxpayer funds went to After School Matters in 2009. But officials say the marked increase is due to the fact that they were a year behind in their payments to the group and paid them last year for work done in 2008 as well as 2009.

Still, even using the city’s accounting method, the charity received more than $10 million from the city last year for work that it did in that same year. That figure is almost double what After School Matters got from the city in 2005.

“What’s wrong with that?” Mayor Daley said. “These are wonderful programs in the city to take teenagers away from gangs and drugs. After school programs [for]a lot of poor kids. They’re not wealthy kids. Poor kids in the city. It’s one of the best programs in the country. It’s been adopted worldwide by other cities. It is a program that brings artists from the community in to work with young people. And it’s really … one of the best programs we’ve adopted in this city.”

Maggie Daley, who has been fighting cancer for eight years, founded the group in 2000. In the past 5-1/2 years, it has received a total of more than $46 million from the city.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 4:39 pm and is filed under Dateline: Chicago. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

via chicagonewscoop.org

Posted via web from Brian's posterous

The media’s ongoing war on single black women - Sara Libby - Ill Communication - True/Slant

Image via Wikipedia

I have amassed dozens of clips in which I protest whatever the day’s conventional wisdom tells us about my generation – whether it’s how we’re going to ruin the next election; how we’re using social networks to our detriment; or how we’re insufficiently religious. I have an almost knee-jerk reaction to such pieces, since the media has been weirdly fixated on Gen Y and what it perceives as our bizarre social habits and general outlook on life.

But that fixation seems paltry compared with the media’s recent obsession with black women and why, in their view, their love lives are so pathetic. I’m no black woman, but I can’t stomach this peculiar fascination much longer.

Today’s culprit is the New York Times, which announces: “It is a familiar lament of single African-American women: where are the ‘good’ black men to marry?” Again, I don’t intend to speak for black women, but given the crush of stories on this subject, I think that this supposedly “familiar lament” is among newspaper editors, and not African-American women. It goes on to document a recent survey finding:

1 in 5 black men who wed (22 percent) married a nonblack woman in 2008. This compares with about 9 percent of black women, and represents a significant increase for black men — from 15.7 percent in 2000 and 7.9 percent in 1980.

Sociologists said the rate of black men marrying women of other races further reduces the already-shrunken pool of potential partners for black women seeking a black husband.

But the Times is, well, behind the times in uncovering this supposedly terrible problem plaguing black women. Back in December, the Washington Post profiled Helena Andrews, the author of a book about “successful but lonely young black women.” It says:

Andrews writes about what it is like for a young, black woman dating in D.C., trying to find a mate who seems ever elusive. The futile rituals are familiar: the dressing up, the eager cab ride over to the party, the hold-your-breath as you walk in, scanning the room quickly for any looks returned. The mantra sounding in the back of your head: “So-and-so found a man last year at a party like this. Maybe tonight is my night.” Then one by one, the men prove to be disappointments and disappointing: married, uninteresting or uninterested.

Just me, or is this unnecessarily over-the-top in its characterization of black women as somehow defective in the realm of love (as if it were a walk in the park for everyone else)? The Post was so concerned with this defection that it followed up with this piece, detailing how black women would be wise to look outside their race if they ever want to tie down a man:

Single black women with college degrees outnumber single black men with college degrees almost 3 to 1 in major urban areas such as Washington, according to a 2008 population survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Given those numbers, any economist would advise them to start looking elsewhere.

It’s Econ 101 for the single, educated black woman.

“Black women are in market failure,” says writer Karyn Langhorne Folan. “The solution is to find a new market for your commodity. And in this case, we are the commodity and the new market is men of other races.”

“Nightline” does the Post one better: It not only echoes the paper’s observation that black women’s love lives are a cause for concern, but it offered a roundup of commentators on the issue that reduced what it insisted was a serious problem into a punchline – instead of interviewing sociologists and experts who might be able to seriously consider the topic, the producers trotted out comedians like Steve Harvey. Writing in The Nation, Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell had a characteristically spot-on critique of the program:

Given the distortions of or absence of black women in most mainstream media outlets we are skeptical that Nightline was primarily motivated by a desire to address the human needs of African American women. Instead, we suspect marriage is a trope for other anxieties about respectability, economic stability, and the maintenance of patriarchy. Which social issue appears on the public agenda is never accidental. In this moment of economic crisis, social change and racial transformation it is meaningful that black women are being encouraged to exclusively embrace traditional models of family and to view themselves as deficient if their lives do not fit neatly into these prescribed roles.

Ultimately, these stories do little more than echo each other’s insistence that black women are an object for our pity, instead of offering any substantive or valuable political or social commentary. But placing a unique blame and shame on black women says much more about the mostly older white men who continue to dominate media management than it does about the women they keep bizarrely attributing blame and shame to with these pieces.

via trueslant.com

Posted via web from Brian's posterous

This weekend in Illinois: Vote 2010 Kick-Off

This is a reminder for all the groups working with exoffenders, the working poor, after school programs and in the hood--- political organizing is a part of what we need to do to obtain resources and support from inside and outside the community. I'm not concerned about whether we join Obama's Organizing for America, in fact I think we have to organize to get more from the Obama administration. In November we are going to elect a new Governor, Cook County Board President, and U.S. Senator who need to hear from us about our issues and needs. Many of us who live outside of the politics world need to become engaged and organized to move $$$ toward policies that will help us rather than toward corporations, banks, political insiders and others who understand the connection between being involved and obtaining policy benefits.

Brian Banks

Brian -- It all starts this weekend. Volunteers in Chicago, throughout Illinois, and across the country are joining together to launch our Vote 2010 campaign. OFA volunteers and staff are making the final preparations right now -- creating maps and lists of voters to talk to -- and they need to know how many supporters are coming. Can you make it? Here are the details: What: Vote 2010 Kick-Off event Where: Logan Square Library 3030 W. Fullerton Chicago, IL 60647 When: Saturday, June 5th 10:00 AM Can you make it? Yes, I'll be there. No, but I want to see other events in my area. Sorry, I can't make it this weekend, but I still want to help. In 2008, there were 15 million voters who cast their ballots for the first time -- roughly 804,858 in Illinois alone -- many of whom supported Barack Obama. And you know how that election turned out. We can make history again, but we need your help to get as many of those supporters as possible back to the polls in November. This weekend, we're getting together to phone bank and knock on the doors of first-time voters in Chicago, asking them to commit to voting again this fall. We know that our best chances of winning are to re-engage those 804,858 voters across the state -- but we'll have to start early. Click here to RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/vote2010kickoff/gp8vsh See you out there, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to: brianlbanks@ameritech.net Update Address / Email | Unsubscribe

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THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME

FYI, this was forwarded by a colleague:

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME

 

Amazing how this is written in the 1900’s but still applies.   This is incredible!!   I think this is another Black History Moment...I thought you might find interesting, lost in the history books..archives, wherever, that I MUST Forward.... 12 Things the Negro Must Do For Himself--Written in the 1900's (must read)      Written by a black woman in the 1900's      12 Things The Negro Must Do For Himself by Nannie Helen Burroughs     (Circa Early 1900's) 1.  The Negro Must Learn To Put First Things First. The First Things Are: Education; Development of Character Traits; A Trade and Home Ownership.                  The Negro puts too much of his earning in clothes, in food, in show and in having what he calls 'a good time.'  The Dr. Kelly Miller said, 'The Negro buys what he WANTS and begs for what he needs.'       2.  The Negro Must Stop Expecting God and White Folk To Do For Him What He Can Do For Himself.                It is the 'Divine Plan' that the strong shall help the weak, but even God does not do for man what man can do for himself. The Negro will have to do exactly what Jesus told the man (in John 5:8) to do--Carry his own load--'Take up your bed and walk.'  3.  The Negro Must Keep Himself, His Children And His Home Clean And Make The Surroundings In Which He Lives Comfortable and Attractive.               He must learn to 'run his community up'--not down. We can segregate by law, we integrate only by living.  Civilization is not a matter of race, it is a matter of standards. Believe it or not--some day, some race is going to outdo the Anglo-Saxon, completely. It can be the Negro race, if the Negro gets sense enough. Civilization goes up and down that way.  4.  The Negro Must Learn To Dress More Appropriately For Work And For Leisure.              Knowing what to wear--how to wear it--when to wear it and where to wear it, are earmarks of common sense, culture and also an index to character.     5.  The Negro Must Make His Religion An Everyday Practice And Not Just A  Sunday-Go-To Meeting Emotional Affair.  6.  The Negro Must Highly Resolve To Wipe Out Mass Ignorance.                   The leaders of the race must teach and inspire the masses to become eager and determined to improve mentally, morally and spiritually, and to meet the basic requirements of good citizenship. We should initiate an intensive literacy campaign in America , as well as in Africa . Ignorance--is a millstone about the neck of the race.  It is democracy's greatest burden. Social integration is a relationship attained as a result of the cultivation of kindred social ideals, interests and standards. It is a blending process that requires time, understanding and kindred purposes to achieve.. Likes alone and not laws can do it.    7.     The Negro Must Stop Charging His Failures Up To His 'Color' And To White People's Attitude.     The truth of the matter is that good service and conduct will make senseless race prejudice fade like mist before the rising sun.  God never intended that a man's color shall be anything other than a badge of distinction. It is high time that all races were earning that fact. The Negro must first QUALIFY for whatever position he wants. Purpose, initiative, ingenuity and industry are the keys that all men use to get what they want.  The Negro will have to do the same. He must make himself a workman who is too skilled not to be wanted, and too DEPENDABLE not to be on the job, according to promise or plan. He will never become a vital factor in industry until he learns to put into his work the vitalizing force of initiative, skill and dependability. He has gone 'RIGHTS' mad and 'DUTY' dumb.  8.  The Negro Must Overcome His Bad Job Habits.                 He must make a brand new reputation for himself in the world of labor. His bad job habits are absenteeism, funerals to attend, or a little business to look after. The Negro runs an off and on business. He also has a bad reputation for conduct on the job--such as petty quarreling with other help, incessant loud talking about nothing; loafing, carelessness, due to lack of job pride; insolence, gum chewing and--too often--liquor drinking. Just plain bad job habits!  9.  He Must Improve His Conduct In Public Places.       Taken as a whole, he is entirely too loud and too ill-mannered.  There is much talk about wiping out racial segregation and also much talk about achieving integration. Segregation is a physical arrangement by which people are separated in various services. It is definitely up to the Negro to wipe out the apparent justification or excuse for segregation. The only effective way to do it is to clean up and keep clean. By practice, cleanliness will become a habit and habit becomes character.  10.  The Negro Must Learn How To Operate Business For People--Not For Negro People, Only.                To do business, he will have to remove all typical 'earmarks,' business principles; measure up to accepted standards and meet stimulating competition, graciously--in fact, he must learn to welcome competition.  11.  The Average So-Called Educated Negro Will Have To Come Down Out Of The Air.  He Is Too Inflated Over Nothing.  He Needs An Experience Similar To The One That Ezekiel Had--(Ezekiel 3:14-19).  And He Must Do What Ezekiel Did       Otherwise, through indifference, as to the plight of the masses, the Negro, who thinks that he has escaped, will lose his own soul. It will do all leaders good to read Hebrews 13:3, and the first Thirty-seven Chapters of Ezekiel. A race transformation itself through its own leaders and its sensible 'common people.' A race rises on its own wings, or is held down by its own weight. True leaders are never 'things apart from the people.' They are the masses. They simply got to the front ahead of them. Their only business at the front is to inspire to masses by hard work and noble example and challenge them to 'Come on!' Dante stated a fact when he said, 'Show the people the light and they will find the way!' There must arise within the Negro race a leadership that is not out hunting bargains for itself. A noble example is found in the men and women of the Negro race, who, in the early days, laid down their lives for the people. Their invaluable contributions have not been appraised by the 'latter-day leaders.' In many cases, their names would never be recorded, among the unsung heroes of the world, but for the fact that white friends have written them there.  'Lord, God of Hosts, Be with us yet.'          The Negro of today does not realize that, but, for these exhibits A's, that certainly show the innate possibilities of members of their own race, white people would not have been moved to make such princely investments in lives and money, as they have made, for the establishment of schools and for the on-going of the race.  12.  The Negro Must Stop Forgetting His Friends.  'Remember.'             Read Deuteronomy 24:18. Deuteronomy rings the big bell of gratitude. Why? Because an ingrate is an abomination in the sight of God. God is constantly telling us that 'I the Lord thy God delivered you'--through human instrumentalities. The American Negro has had and still has friends--in the North and in the South. These friends not only pray, speak, write, influence others, but make unbelievable, unpublished sacrifices and contributions for the advancement of the race--for their brothers in bonds. The noblest thing that the Negro can do is to so live and labor that these benefactors will not have given in vain. The Negro must make his heart warm with gratitude, his lips sweet with thanks and his heart and mind resolute with purpose to justify the sacrifices and stand on his feet and go forward--'God is no respector of persons. In every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is' sure to win out. Get to work! That's the answer to everything that hurts us. We talk to o much about nothing instead of redeeming the time by working.  R-E-M-E-M-B-E-R  In spite of race prejudice, America is brim full of opportunities. Go after them!   And, this was written in the early 1900's! The more things change the more they stay the same.

 

"There is sufficient in the world for man's needs but not for man's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

Posted via email from Brian's posterous

Bill Gates: More Profit Than Prophet - Business - The Atlantic

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Bill Gates: More Profit Than Prophet

May 20 2010, 7:43 AM ET |

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It's been 15 years since Bill Gates published The Road Ahead, a book packed with the Microsoft founder's predictions about the future. How do Gates's prophecies hold up now that the road ahead has arrived? Let's take a look at Bill's hits and misses:

E-Mail

Prediction: Gates wrote, "Electronic mail and shared screens will eliminate the need for many meetings. ... when face-to-face meetings do take place, they will be more efficient because participants will have already exchanged background information by e-mail. ... information overload is not unique to the (information) highway, and it needn't be a problem."

Verdict: Miss. Gates's view of e-mail now seems naively Utopian, failing to account for unintended consequences. If anything, e-mail has made workplace meetings more frequent and less efficient. "Didn't you get that e-mail?" is probably the single most common question posed at meetings, a query that often leads to ... another meeting. By some estimates, nearly 40 percent of workers spend at least two hours of the work day sifting through e-mail, leading some companies to adopt policies aimed at reducing e-mail glut. One frequent solution: more face-to-face meetings.

The Wallet PC

Prediction: "You'll be able to carry the wallet PC in your pocket or purse. It will display messages and schedules and also let you read or send electronic mail and faxes, monitor weather and stock reports, play both simple and sophisticated games, browse information if you're bored, or choose from among thousands of easy-to-call up photos of your kids."

Verdict: Hit. Gates's wallet PC is more or less today's mobile smartphone with voice capability added.

Wireless Networks

Prediction: "The wireless networks of the future will be faster, but unless there is a major breakthrough, wired networks will have a far greater bandwidth. Mobile devices will be able to send and receive messages, but it will be expensive and unusual to use them to receive an individual video stream."

Verdict: Miss. Today, receiving a wireless video stream is neither expensive nor unusual; in fact, it's so commonplace that most people don't give it a second thought. Gates failed to anticipate that wireless would become cheaper and faster, but his chief mistake was a common but flawed assumption among techno-futurists: that new technology is adopted chiefly on the basis of technological superiority rather than social factors. Even though most wired networks still have greater bandwidth than wireless nets, that's trumped by the tremendous social utility of wireless, allowing information to be accessed anytime, anyplace.

Social Networking

Prediction: "The (information) highway will not only make it easier to keep up with distant friends, it will also enable us to find new companions. Friendships formed across the network will lead naturally to getting together in person."

Verdict: Hit and Miss. One of the killer apps of the information highway has turned out to be social networking. Facebook has more than 400 million registered users worldwide and countless other social networks are creating new connections among people. But friendships formed online don't regularly lead to face-to-face meetings. Far more common is the user with 250 Facebook friends, most of whom he rarely, if ever, sees in person.

Online Shopping

Prediction: "Because the information highway will carry video, you'll often be able to see exactly what you've ordered. ... you won't have to wonder whether the flowers you ordered for your mother by telephone were really as stunning as you'd hoped. You'll be able to watch the florist arrange the bouquet, change your mind if you want, and replace wilting roses with fresh anemones."

Verdict: Miss. Gates was right that the information highway would carry video, but he completely misread the social and economic factors that would shape its use in online commerce. How on earth would a harried florist find the time to hold a videoconference with every customer who orders flowers for Mother's Day? What company would absorb the colossal expense of having orders changed at the last second according to customers' shifting whims? Gates's vision of online shopping has turned out to be a lot like past predictions about personal jet packs and moving sidewalks: a future that's technologically possible but socially and economically impractical.

Videoconferencing

Prediction: "Small video devices using cameras attached to personal computers or television sets will allow us to meet readily across the information highway with much higher quality pictures and sound for lower prices."

Verdict: Hit. What came to be called webcams are standard issue on PCs, or can be purchased from Bill Gates's favorite company for under $30.

The Internet and the Web

Prediction: Gates's 286-page book mentions the World Wide Web on only four of its pages, and portrays the Internet as a subset of a much a larger "Information Superhighway." The Internet, wrote Gates, is one of "the important precursors of the information highway," along with PCs, CD-ROMs, phone networks, and cable systems, but "none represents the actual information highway. ... today's Internet is not the information highway I imagine, although you can think of it as the beginning of the highway."

Verdict: Miss. Gates's notion that the Internet would play a supporting role in the information highway of the future, rather than being the highway itself, was out-of-date the day The Road Ahead was published. Even Gates realized it. Shortly before his book hit the stores, Gates reorganized Microsoft to focus more on the Internet, and he made major revisions to a second edition of The Road Ahead, adding material that highlighted the significance of the Internet. In many ways, Gates's cloudy crystal ball regarding the Internet amounted to wishful thinking.

Gates built Microsoft into a global powerhouse by selling proprietary software that users loaded onto their PCs. He wasn't likely to warm to the idea that the same functions could be delivered cheaper and faster through a decentralized network that he couldn't control. Of all of the predictions Gates missed in The Road Ahead, this one might be the costliest. Microsoft is still playing catch-up as a result of failing to anticipate the dominance of the Internet.

Privacy

Predication: "A decade from now, you may shake your head that there was ever a time when any stranger or wrong number could interrupt you at home with a phone call. ... by explicitly indicating allowable interruptions, you will be able to establish your home -- or anywhere you choose -- as your sanctuary."

Verdict: Little Hit, Big Miss. It's true that technology lets you explicitly indicate allowable interruptions -- you can use caller ID to dodge unwanted calls or sign up at the National Do Not Call Registry to nix telemarketers. But the notion that technology would pave the way to greater privacy has turned out to be anything but true. Privacy has become one of the great casualties of the computer age, a reality most people have come to accept as the cost of traveling on the information superhighway.

Don't bother looking for privacy on The Road Ahead -- it's already in the rear view.

It's fun to see what (even) Bill Gates could get wrong about today in predictions 15 years ago, but how would you do? Take a shot in the comments section below with what you think things will look like in 2025 ...

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Whoop!

FYI

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kiplyn Primus <kprimus@whoop.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 10:39 AM
Subject: Whoop!
To: BrianlBanks@gmail.com

Hello Brian Banks!!

 

It was great speaking with you this morning about Whoop, mobile solutions and strategies. 

 

Whoop offers a software platform to create apps which is much more expansive than a template and much less expensive than a custom app.

 

Please find attached a one sheet overview of our solutions as well as press release regarding our partnership with the American Red Cross.

 

Whoop is proud to partner with the Red Cross to support its smart phone apps in multiple OS's - Mobile Marketer - http://bit.ly/axqJGA 

 

We will be in Chicago on June 14^th and 15^th.

 

We are available for face-to-face meetings on June 14^th after 3PM and on June 15^th after 12PM. 

 

Thanks in advance for your time and attention.

 

We look forward to working with you in the near future.

 

Be Good,

Kiplyn Primus!

 

 

Kiplyn Primus

Inside Sales Director

Office - (404) 924-6861

Mobile - (678) 641-2143

Fax - (404) 924-6869

kprimus@whoop.com

www.whoop.com

15 Piedmont Center, Ste. P-120

Atlanta, GA  30305

 

 

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this communication in error, please contact the sender

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Chuck D: The Tech Industry: Revenge of the Nerds?

Facebook's recent antics have tested the faith of its users; wireless carriers are posting massive profits (no doubt, due in large part to Blacks and Latinos out-indexing each month in expenditures); statistical reports demonstrate "surprising" facts that young, hip users of color are also out-indexing in Twitter usage; there are emerging reports of questionable practices concerning how companies like Apple strip Africa's coltan mineral for its power-products; New York Magazine did not include a single digital female entrepreneur of color in its recent issue lauding start-ups-to-watch; and there is a profound lack of diversity inside most Silicon Valley offices, as recently reported in the San Jose Mercury News. Given all of this, legendary rap artist Chuck D and I decided to press pause a minute, look at the elephant in the room and chop it up a bit about today's pop-tech situation as it pertains both to diverse users of digital tech and digital entrepreneurs of color.

Here are the highlights from my talk with Chuck D.

via huffingtonpost.com

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Kirk says he 'misremembered' military record :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

Kirk says he 'misremembered' military record

Comments

June 3, 2010

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter

Watch live streaming video from chicagosuntimeslive at livestream.com

» Click to enlarge image

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican Senate candidate, explains to the Sun-Times Editorial Board exaggerations of his miliary service he put on his resume.
(Dom Najolia/Sun-Times)

RELATED STORIES

Kirk admits he listed wrong military award on bio Sweet: Kirk corrects claim to award that wasn't his Kirk takes blame for misstating military award Sweet: Kirk didn't tell the whole story

�I simply misremembered it wrong,� Rep. Mark Kirk told the Sun-Times Thursday.

The North Shore Republican was trying to explain how he could have reported on his resume for a decade that he had been awarded the �Intelligence Officer of the Year� when he actually was describing a group medal awarded to his Naval unit as a whole.

Over and over again, Kirk tried to explain how tumultuous his life was when he got the award � he just won a primary election against 10 opponents and now was facing a tough general election for his first term in Congress.

�I swung by D.C. and picked up this award, but I was no longer focused on the award,� Kirk said.

�I apologize to you and your readers,� Kirk said several times.

Kirk launched his apology tour to the Sun-Times and other media after exaggerations he put on his resume and voiced himself on the floor of Congress blew up in the middle of his campaign for U.S. Senate this week.

�There is a casualness that I sometimes use to describe military details,� Kirk conceded.

How could he say: �In my role in the military, I command the war room at the Pentagon�?

Well, he commands one of two rooms � the intelligence unit � for eight hours at a time on his once-a-month weekend Naval reserve duties, and he was trying to explain that to a civilian audience, he said.

�I need to be humble about my military record,� Kirk said. �Going forward, the way I should conduct myself is to understate, and downplay.�

Kirk has been criticized over the years for using a bit of swagger and braggadocio in talking about his 21 years of military service � often in the Reserves as he served in Congress or as an aide to former U.S. Rep. John Porter. No, he was never fired on as he flew over Iraq or Kosovo, he said Thursday, but he never said he was, he said.

�It�s my responsibility,� Kirk said of ensuring the accuracy of his resume and letters he sends to his constituents � which he acknowledged have also over-stated his military credentials. �This has hurt me when it was absolutely unnecessary. This is a human mistake I made � When you put together your biography, you should use much more precision than I used.�

via suntimes.com

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Three Illinois Dems Wavering On Unemployment Benefits? | Progress Illinois

Yesterday, we posted an update on the federal jobs bill (H.R. 4213) that will extend the filing deadline for unemployment benefits through the end of 2010 as well as funding for Put Illinois To Work and similar programs nationwide. Today, there are a few more nuggets to pass along.

House Democratic leadership is busy trying to woo conservative Dems worried about the bill's price tag, currently at $190 billion. As a result, they've pared down their package by $40 billion, agreeing to extend benefits through November 30 as opposed to December 31. Even so, some deficit hawks aren't sold. The Heartland Alliance is hearing that three Illinois Democrats -- Reps. Jerry Costello, Mike Quigley, and Dan Lipinski -- might vote against the measure.  The organization is now urging its supporters to call their offices in favor of the bill.

Keep an eye on that roll call, possibly later today.

via progressillinois.com

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How nonprofits can raise funds through the mobile channel - Mobile Marketer - Columns

How nonprofits can raise funds through the mobile channel

August 13, 2009

Michael Becker will be there. Will you?

By Michael Becker

There is little doubt now that the mobile phone and related wireless-enabled devices such as the Apple iPod touch, Amazon Kindle, Sony PSP and a slew of others have become an important fixture in the daily lives of nearly everyone.

These devices and the myriad of corresponding wireless networks supporting them give us the ability to communicate one-on-one and, with our communities of choice, to be entertained, informed and to engage in marketing and commerce.

For example, we can call and text friends, contribute to our Facebook accounts, conduct business, watch videos on YouTube or have the joke of the day sent via text and through and with our mobile phones.

We can check out trailers for the latest move releases (e.g., see http://mobileprivews.mobi) or follow the recent events surrounding our favorite celebrities and shows (e.g., see http://eonline.mobi).

We can also participate in sweepstakes, get coupons (check out what MoneyMailer is doing with couponing at www.moneymailer.com ), buy pizza (see http://papajohns.mobi ) and so much more.

In addition to these types of engagements, the mobile phone and the various paths through the mobile channel (SMS, MMS, email, voice, Internet/mobile Internet, applications and Bluetooth) are also increasingly and successfully being used by nonprofits for cause marketing purposes.

Mobile profits other sectors too
Mobile is no long just used for consumer packaging goods, retail and entertainment sectors, as is often thought.

Nonprofits are using mobile to share their organizational messages, stimulate volunteerism and community, as well as, to raise money through a new mobile practice commonly referred to as mobile giving.

With mobile giving, nonprofits can invite people to donate to their organization by simply asking them to text message a keyword to a common short code and donate $5 or $10 to the charity.

The donation appears on the mobile subscriber's mobile phone bill. For example, the Special Olympics Northern California (http://www.sonc.org) recently launched a mobile giving program to raise money to support its athletes.

People can text the SONC keyword to the 20222 short code to donate $5 to the Northern California Special Olympics.

The Direct Marketing Education Foundation (http://www.directworks.org) has a similar program. Consumers can text DMEF to 20222 and donate $5 to support the foundation's cause in helping educate students in the maturing practice of direct marketing.

For more details on the terms and conditions of mobile giving programs, see http://mobilegiving.org/T/Default.aspx or the respective Web sites of either of these organizations for their privacy policy.

Today, mobile giving billing happens through premium SMS (PSMS), i.e. text messages flagged for billing.

Steps to mobile giving
The consumer engagement process for mobile giving is straightforward. Here are the steps.

1. Consumers see call-to-action for a donation in traditional or new media channel and responds by either text messaging, as discussed above, or they can enter their mobile phone number into a form field on a wired Web or mobile Web site by clicking a prompt in an interactive voice response audio call, shaking their mobile giving iPhone application or a similar Web services application. This is step is referred to as the "opt-in."

2. The opt-in triggers the application service provider and/or mobile giving foundation's servers to send a confirmation text message request to the mobile subscribers, asking them to confirm their donation.

3. The mobile subscribers then reply Yes to the message to confirm the donation.

4. Once the Mobile Giving Foundation receives the confirmation response, its servers process the billing and send a confirmation receipt via text to the mobile subscribers informing them that their phone bill has been charged and that they can donate up to a total of five times, not to exceed $25 dollars in a month.

It is at this last step that the billing happens. The mobile subscribers will not be charged until confirmation is received.

Note, mobile subscribers can always go the Mobile Giving Foundation Web site (http://mobilegiving.org/SMS_Donations/Default.aspx) to get a report of all the donations they have made.

The mobile giving messaging flows are fixed and strictly controlled to ensure compliance with carrier and industry regulations.

Mobile giving players
Mobile giving in the United States is powered by the Mobile Giving Foundation (http://www.mobilegiving.org) and its partners and customers, including:

� Wireless carriers: AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and U.S. Cellular

� Mobile Giving Foundation certified application service providers: iLoop Mobile ()http://www.iloopmobile.com, Mobile Accord (http://www.mobileaccord.com), MobileCause (http://ww.mobilecause.com), Mobile Commons (http://www.mcommons.com), Wireless Factory (http://www.wirelessfactory.com), Distributive Networks (http://www.distributivenetworks.com), g8wave Inc (http://www.g8wave.com ), Give on (http://www.giveonthego.com) and Guide by Cell (http://www.givebycell.com)

� Nonprofit organizations such as the Northern California Special Olympics (http://www.sonc.org), Direct Marketing Education Foundation (http://www.directworks.org), Keep a Child Alive (http://www.keepachildalive.org) and others (see http://www.mobilegiving.org/charities.aspx for a partial list of the many nonprofit charities benefiting from mobile giving)

Roles
The entire mobile giving process hinges around the Mobile Giving Foundation and its relationship with each of the three organization classes above. The following describes the role of each player, including the nonprofit organization.

� The nonprofit organization is the charity or foundation which seeks to collect donations and engage the target audience through and with the mobile channel.

� The Mobile Giving Foundation is the founder of mobile giving and the mediator that coordinates mobile giving. Simply put, the Mobile Giving Foundation 1) coordinates the development and maintenance of the business and technical standards for mobile giving, 2) oversees the money flow between the donor, wireless carrier, itself and the nonprofit organization, and 3) manages its network of application service providers and other partners.

� Wireless carriers maintain the mobile networks, the billing process and all the network mechanics for making mobile giving a reality.

� Application service providers. Mobile Giving Foundation certified applications service providers play a number of roles, including 1) acting as the primary point of contact for the nonprofit organization and overseeing all the processes for getting the nonprofit organization's programs approved and up and running, as well as 2) providing the nonprofit organization with any additional mobile channel and marketing services that the nonprofit would like to offer to engage its audience above and beyond the donation call-to-action, including text alerts, mobile Internet Sites and the mobile enhancement of the nonprofit's traditional new media programs.

And 3) often, the application service provider, along with the nonprofit's marketing team and agencies, will also provide mobile strategy and creative assistance as needed. The Mobile Giving Foundation hand-selects and certifies its application service provider partners.

Easy steps for a nonprofit to get involved
It is very straightforward for a nonprofit organization to get involved with mobile giving and to learn how to leverage the rich interactivity of the mobile channel to engage its audience. In fact, it can be done in five easy steps.

Step 1: Ensure Qualification. The nonprofit organization should check the Mobile Giving Foundation guidelines and ensure that it qualifies to participate. The basic qualification requirements are that the non-profit organization must 1) be a 501(c)(3) with reported revenues of at least

$500,000.00, 2) register in each state it will want to promote its program, 3) in compliance with all state and federal laws, 4) in good standing in its state and have been in operation for at least a 1 year, and 5) shall be truthful in all its representations and 6) maintain industry standard privacy policies and follow best practices. For a complete list of guidelines, see (http://www.mobilegiving.org/pdf/MGFGuidelines.pdf).

Step 2: Partner with an application service provider. Assuming the nonprofit is qualified, it should then contact one of the Mobile Giving Foundation certified application service providers.

The nonprofit should interview each one of these providers, not just for their ability to support the mobile giving process, but also for their ability to help the nonprofit organization meet its other marketing needs and how these needs may be met through and with the mobile channel.

The nonprofit should ensure that it finds a partner that can handle all its mobile needs, not just one element of mobile.

In addition, the nonprofit organization will want to find a partner that has a business model that works for it.

Each application service provider has a different business model. Some take a percentage of the donation, others may charge a monthly fee and/or transactional fees.

Step 3: Get the Mobile Giving Foundation NPO contract in place. The application service provider will assist the nonprofit organization in getting its contract in place with the Mobile Giving Foundation.

The purpose of this contract is to lay the foundation so that that the Mobile Giving Foundation can collect the donated funds and then distribute them to the nonprofit organization.

The contract process takes a couple of weeks and there is a nominal processing fee. At the time of this writing, the fee is a few hundred dollars.

Step 4: Work with application service provider on program details. The application service provider will work with the nonprofit organization to collect all the necessary program details and fill out all the necessary forms for setting up and launching the program. It will manage this process with the Mobile Giving Foundation.

The process typically takes two weeks to four weeks once all the necessary information is collected for the program to be set up and approved on most carriers. Sometimes there are unforeseen delays, which the application service provider will oversee while keeping the nonprofit organization informed.

Once the program is approved, the nonprofit organization is ready to launch, start marketing the program and collecting donations.

Step 5: Work with the application service provider to get the most out of the program. Most application service providers provide additional value-added services, such as strategy and creative consulting as well as help with text messaging, mobile Internet, Interative Voice Response, Bluetooth and applications - an iPhone application, for example - program development.

These other programs can be used to augment the mobile giving program and the nonprofit organization's marketing initiatives. Nonprofits organization should avail themselves of these services to support their overall program.

So that's it. Most nonprofit organizations can get up and running with a mobile giving program in a month or so in just five easy steps. Profit from mobile.

Michael Becker is vice president of mobile strategy at

via mobilemarketer.com

My company AdvaTEXT partners with ILoop to deliver mobile marketing solutions.

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Learning to Say No | Politics | Chicago Reader

There are many reasons for the City Council to turn against Mayor Daley's tax increment financing program.

The program is supposed to benefit poor, blighted communities but ends up funneling hundreds of millions of dollars a year into wealthier ones. It's a tax largely concealed from the taxpayers who pay it. And it's run with no meaningful oversight, leaving Mayor Daley free to distribute it as he wishes, often to well-connected developers and corporations.

But on May 12 the council launched a small insurrection over one of the relatively less egregious problems with the program: the use of TIF money to build or rehab schools.

Still, for those of us looking for any sign of reform, it's a start.

As faithful readers should know by now, TIF is an off-the-books property tax hike passed by the City Council at Mayor Daley's urging. When the aldermen create a TIF district, they freeze the amount of property tax dollars the schools, parks, county, and other taxing bodies can collect from that area for up to 24 years. To compensate for the revenues they're not collecting from these districts, the schools et al have to raise rates on everybody else. In the last three tax years the TIFs have collected about $1.5 billion in taxpayer money. So the schools and parks and county do the dirty work of raising tax rates, and the extra cash gets turned over to Mayor Daley, who then can claim—as he did again just last week in a speech to business leaders at the City Club of Chicago—that he's holding the line on property taxes.

As scams go, it's a beaut. Over the years the aldermen have gone along with it either because they haven't understood it or because the mayor's persuaded them that they'd have a hand in distributing the money in their wards.

click to enlarge

• Lyle A. Waisman / Getty Images
• Alderman Pat Dowell

"We believed this was money that was going to be spent in our communities," says Third Ward alderman Pat Dowell, who led the recent rebellion.

State law governing TIF allows the city to spend the money in districts adjacent to the one where it's collected, via a process called porting. By keeping much of the program's workings secret, then threatening to withhold money from the wards of unhelpful aldermen, Mayor Daley's repeatedly made it clear that when push comes to shove, he, not the council, will determine when and how all those hundreds of millions of dollars get spent.

Dowell's rebellion had to do with Modern Schools Across Chicago, an ambitious plan Daley launched in 2006—on the eve of his last reelection run—in which he proposed to spend roughly $600 million in TIF dollars building or rehabilitating schools.

For the sake of transparent bookkeeping, it would make sense to fund each school construction project with money from the TIF district in which it's located. However, some of these districts aren't collecting enough property tax dollars to pay off the bonds the city has issued to build or rebuild schools. So Daley's set up a convoluted rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul financing scheme—but with property values falling, it's not certain that any of these accounts has enough money to pay for all this construction. So on top of everything else, the golden goose may be overextended.

While fixing or building schools doesn't sound like such a poor use of public money, TIF isn't really intended to pay for projects like schools. In fact, while legal, using TIF to build schools is antithetical to the program. TIF projects are supposed to pay for themselves by subsidizing new development that will fill the coffers with more property taxes. Public schools don't pay property taxes. (And while some schools may help lift surrounding property values, others have been shown to push them lower.)

Unfortunately, none of our esteemed leaders is worried about that. But several are in a stew over the mayor's use of porting, including Daley allies like aldermen Eugene Schulter of the 47th Ward and Walter Burnett of the 27th. As they see it, the money from TIF districts in their wards is "their" money.

Schulter and Burnett lit into Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman when the second phase of Modern School funding came up for consideration at the May 10 meeting of the City Council's finance committee. But after the meeting Mayor Daley privatelyoffered to add an amendment to the funding package that would port money back to the TIF funds in their wards if there were a surplus in the TIF districts where the new schools are going up. The two aldermen ended up voting to authorize the funding.

Dowell, however, was more persistent. The city plans to take $1.6 million from the 47th and Halsted TIF district in her ward to pay for Back of Yards High School, which is being built at 2011 W. 47th, in the 12th Ward. Dowell's upset because few, if any, Third Ward residents will attend the new high school and her ward has many of its own pressing school construction needs. "There's about $12 million in unfunded capital improvements for schools in my ward," says Dowell. "Yet we're being asked to build a new school that residents in my district won't attend. That bothered me."

In April Dowell decided to use a little aldermanic leverage. Knowing Daley needed the council to approve the second phase of Modern School funding, she sent a letter to Huberman informing him of her ward's school construction needs. "I wanted them to understand my concerns," she says.

Huberman didn't respond, Dowell says. So at the May 10 finance committee meeting she proposed an amendment that would block 47th and Halsted TIF funding for Back of the Yards High School.

That got everyone's attention. James Balcer, alderman for the 11th Ward, moved to table the amendment—or rather finance chair Ed Burke recognized Balcer's motion to table the amendment even though Balcer had made no such motion. Balcer didn't even appear to know what was going on—he looked startled when Burke made the announcement. If nothing else—and sometimes there is nothing else—our City Council is entertaining.

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