An anonymous reader writes “Citibank is reissuing ATM cards following a December server breach in which hackers stole customer PIN codes, Wired reports. Citibank is reissuing ATM cards following a December server breach in which hackers stole customer PIN codes . Three months had passed since Citibank notified the FBI that a hacker managed to steal customer-account numbers and PIN codes, in an attack on a server that processes transactions from Citi-branded ATMs at 7-Eleven convenience stores. On this type of card, the magnetic strip is replaced by a microcontroller with various cryptographic features (aka smart card) that are supposed to secure transactions and make the card a PITA to clone. My bank has refunded fraudulent debit card purchases for me twice, and the money was back in my account within an hour or so, but I worry about the time that I don’t check it for a couple days and the money isn’t there when I need it. read more

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, enough food is produced in the world to provide over 2800 calories a day to everyone - substantially more than the minimum required for good health, and about 18 per cent more calories per person than in the 1960s, despite a significant increase in total population. The fact that there is already enough food to feed the world shows that the food crisis is not a technical problem - it is a social and political problem. Directly through their own market power and indirectly through governments and the World Bank, IMF and World Trade Organisation, they have changed the way food is grown and distributed around the world. Industrial farming in the Third World has produced increasing amounts of food, but at the cost of driving millions off the land and into lives of chronic hunger - and at the cost of poisoning air and water, and steadily decreasing the ability of the soil to deliver the food we need. The regressive food policies that have been imposed on poor countries by the World Bank and IMF are codified and enforced by the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Agriculture. read more

Contrary to the 18th century warnings of Thomas Malthus and his modern followers, study after study shows that global food production has consistently outstripped population growth, and that there is more than enough food to feed everyone. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, enough food is produced in the world to provide over 2800 calories a day to everyone — substantially more than the minimum required for good health, and about 18% more calories per person than in the 1960s, despite a significant increase in total population. As the Food First Institute points out, "abundance, not scarcity, best describes the supply of food in the world today. The fact that there is already enough food to feed the world shows that the food crisis is not a technical problem — it is a social and political problem. This year, agribusiness profits are soaring above last year’s levels, while hungry people from Haiti to Egypt to Senegal were taking to the streets to protest rising food prices. read more

The FTC charges that the defendants use deceptive means to persuade consumers to reveal their bank account information, often pretending they are calling from the Social Security Administration, Medicare or the consumers

The bill also mandates that fewer and fewer carbon credits will be made available over time, so these carbon credits will become increasingly more valuable and more money will be funneled into this tax exempt corporation. This board would become price fixers for the market of carbon credits, just as the Federal Reserve manipulates the value of Federal Reserve Notes, the Carbon Market Efficiency Board will manipulate the value of carbon credits. Many critics say the bill is nothing more than government fascism which gives broad police powers to the EPA, establishes a board with the power to manipulate the value of carbon credits and establishes a nonprofit corporation with no definitive government accountability that will have a great deal of wealth funneled into it by auctioning off what in the future will be increasingly more valuable carbon credits. Critics of carbon trading, such as Carbon Trade Watch, also argue that by including private activities “it places disproportionate emphasis on individual lifestyles and carbon footprints, distracting attention from the wider, systemic changes and collective political action that needs to be taken to tackle climate change”. There is also the issues of what do those selling carbon credits do the reduce carbon dioxide emissions and are proponents of the idea merely using the global warming fanatics to line their pockets and do so-called environmentalists scam the system for political advantage. Carbon offsets were created to counterbalance the release of carbon into the air through practices such as planting trees, which feed off of carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, or employing companies to use non-carbon dioxide-producing fuels as energy. read more

Ronnie Hudson, the owner of Speedy Cash in Cana, added that while a small segment of the industry might be guilty of abusing consumers, most cash-advance businesses operate ethically and responsibly in making loans, and meet many stringent regulations. The rate structure also is changed under the legislation, which permits lenders to charge a fee of 20 percent of the loan amount, and puts a cap on the annual interest rate of 36 percent. Reynolds has said that his opposition stems from representatives of local charities telling him they had spent much money helping needy area residents pay off loans with extremely high interest rates that they received from payday lenders. In addition to Hudson, other industry representatives predicted that the legislation will drive some payday lenders, particularly smaller cash-advance businesses, out of Virginia. read more

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The OSHA telecommuting controversy was only the most publicized recent instance of the growing conflict between the possibilities of the information-age economy and the rust-caked body of labor laws and — equally important — mental attitudes built over the past century. In 1991, 15 percent of all full-time workers had flexible schedules; by 1997 (the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics), 28 percent did. Thus, if hourly workers are allowed to work 10 hours a day for four days instead of eight hours for five days, then employers will impose this schedule on some unwilling workers. The idea that labor markets might work like other markets, that workers might sort themselves out according to their own preferences among packages offered by different employers, is antithetical to the still-prevailing New Deal belief system. read more

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I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC by Microsoft Corp. read more

RSS Feeds Email our editors with your tips , corrections , complaints , inquiries, suggestions , etc. According to Obama, he is running a fair campaign and wants to “change” the way candidates run and will not resort to personal attacks, but if that were really true, why did wife Michelle make the comment early on that “You can’t get the white house in order if you can’t get your own house in order”. When Bill’s term was over & the movers were taking furniture out of the White House (that belonged to Abraham Lincoln & past Presidents), Bill said that he thought the furniture were gifts that had been given to you both. If we want a president who will lead America to the big, bold changes we need and change the conversation in America, Democrats should choose the candidate who has led the field in ideas and shaped the conversation in this race so far. And because John Edwards has not accepted a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs, he has a bold, transformational plan to take on the big oil companies, polluters and power companies to address the great environmental challenges of our lifetime. John Edwards is the only one that will fight poverty and bring health care and education to the poor & middle class of America. read more

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In Part 1 of this article , I argued that John Edwards is the most electable of the leading Democratic candidates and the one most likely to carry large Democratic Senate and House majorities on his coattails, thus having the best chance to enact major reform after the ‘08 elections. America needs big and sweeping changes–economic policies that will help the poor and middle classes obtain more economic security, access to better education, a more progressive tax structure, and universal health care; environmental policies that will lead towards energy independence and make America a leader in combating global warming; and a new foreign policy that will forsake unilateralism, renounce military preemption, get us out of Iraq, and take major strides to fight global poverty. Fundamental change demands a President who is willing to rally the American people against these rich and powerful corporate interests and use the bully pulpit to force Congress to vote in the general interest and not for the special interests who lobby them and contribute to their campaigns. Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire have the chance to break through the mainstream media’s story of a two-way race between Clinton and Obama by catapulting Edwards to front runner status, shaking up the Democratic primary process, and ultimately helping to nominate the most electable and progressive major Democratic candidate and ushering in an era of progressive political change. This writer gives no evidence that to argue that among Edwards, Obama and Clinton, Edwards would be the best nominee and the best President has anything to do with race. Since then, his campaign has continued to disappoint me, particularly his repeated claims that the way to bring change is to sit down at the table with the insurance companies, drug companies, energy companies, and other corporate interest and negotiate with them. read more

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Earnings per share are based on a weighted average of 46,864,775 (47,097,583 fully diluted) common shares outstanding during the quarter and 43,457,474 (43,567,253 fully diluted) common shares outstanding during the first nine months of the year. Financial Statements For convenience, this news release includes the Company’s Fiscal 2007 Third Quarter Consolidated Balance Sheets, Statements of Operations, Statements of Comprehensive Income, Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity and Statements of Cash Flows. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains “forward-looking” statements that are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company and the environment in which it operates, which are based on the Company’s operations and management’s estimates, forecasts and projections. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements anticipated or implied by the forward-looking statements. There is no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. read more

According to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization, the payday lending business model is designed to keep borrowers in debt, not to provide one-time assistance in a time of financial need. Payday lenders reportedly collect 90 percent of their revenue as fees from repeat borrowers who cannot pay off their loans, rather than from one-time borrowers in short-term emergencies. Cash for Checks requires customers to pay off their entire loans within a two-week term, and offers a $25 discount for those who do so within five days of getting a loan, said Crain. While some states have cracked down on payday lending, others exempt the lenders from limits on interest rates partly because the loans are generally for small amounts. Look for the credit offer with the lowest annual percentage rate (APR)-consider a small loan from your credit union or small loan company, an advance on pay from your employer, or a loan from family or a friend. read more

The company’s most advanced drug development candidates are TELCYTA, a tumor-activated small molecule product candidate in clinical development for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and non- small cell lung cancer; and TELINTRA(R), which is in clinical development for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome. Rather, investors should use the information provided by the profiled companies as a starting point for doing additional independent research on the profiled companies in order to allow the investor to form his or her own opinion regarding investing in the profiled companies. The information contained herein contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1993 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 including statements regarding expected continual growth of the company and the value of its securities. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 it is hereby noted that statements contained herein that look forward in time which include everything other than historical information, involve risk and uncertainties that may affect the company’s actual results of operation. read more

Like any other payday loan, no teletrack payday loan has many benefits that make it very popular. So ‘no teletrack payday loan’ means that the loan will be disbursed without using teletrack. The fees charged by payday loan companies are many times higher than those of most credit card companies. No teletrack payday loan is a good opportunity for people with bad credit history. To get more insight about faxless payday loans and other forms of cash advance visit best payday loan . read more

Neither Security Mortgage Broker owner Steve Rosen nor Levin have any recollection of Thomas’ mortgage. In court, however, Thomas and her lawyer from Community Legal Services hope to prove that she was the victim of predatory lending, the practice of deceiving a borrower into accepting a high-cost loan or a loan they can’t afford (legally or illegally), and stave off her foreclosure. Mike Cleveland, a 39-year-old who recently bought a house in Mount Airy, is one of the homeowners stuck with a high-interest loan, only he doesn’t blame a broker or a loan officer for deceiving him. In 2006, Cleveland decided to leave his job as a loan officer and become a broker, attracted by the allure of the new subprime market. While a loan officer works directly for a mortgage company and can often wring only a limited commission from a mortgage, a broker can earn more per deal by adding fees, raising the interest rate and selling certain types of loans. They are currently in the process of appealing the decision, but they also hope that housing groups like the Philadelphia Unemployment Project (PUP), a local nonprofit, might be able to get them into a fixed-rate mortgage by negotiating with the mortgage company. read more