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Richard Roeper "Bets The House" in new book

03.24.2010

Richard Roeper > View profile

During the course of 30 days in early 2009, Richard Roeper risked more than a quarter million dollars on practically every method of gambling currently available in America. Chronicling his wild ride in a breezy, humorous manner, this entertaining exploration both celebrates and details the many pitfalls and lures through Roeper's stories about his lifelong affair with gambling. With insight and aplomb, the narrative answers the questions What is it like to bet money you don’t have, knowing that if you lose, you’re in serious trouble? What is it like to play in a poker tournament alongside celebrities and world champions? and What are the 10 best gambling movies of all time? This delightful dalliance proves that the true national pastimes aren’t baseball, basketball, or football, but instead fantasy football, March Madness, poker, slots, the lottery, craps, blackjack, church raffles, and bingo. (Barnes and Noble) > View article

NYT Magazine Profiles Lockhart Steele

03.23.2010

Lockhart Steele > View profile

In February 2001, a Brown University graduate with the improbably suave name Lockhart Steele took up occupancy in a one-bedroom third-floor walk-up apartment on Rivington Street, near the intersection with Ludlow. The Lower East Side could still claim, just barely, to be a marginal neighborhood. Storefront synagogues and housing projects were still more typical than bars with ostentatiously unmarked doors. The neighborhood was a good fit for Lockhart Steele: they were both, as they say, in transition. (NY Times Magazine) > View article

Ellerbee's Nick News Tackles Cheating Culture

03.12.2010

Linda Ellerbee > View profile

Cheaters suck. They ruin the playing field for honest kids who do not use iPods, hand helds and other high tech gadgets, along with old school crib notes and other tried and true methods that allow those who refuse to do the work a leap frog over those who hit the books and learn the material.

No surprise then that cheating in school is easier and more popular than ever. (Monsters and Critics) > View article

Zandi: Hiring Tax Credit Can Create 250K Jobs

03.05.2010

Mark Zandi > View profile

Despite doubts among many lawmakers that the measure will create many jobs, the House passed legislation yesterday giving companies that hire the jobless a temporary payroll tax break.

The measure passed, 217-201, on a mostly party-line vote. The bill also extends federal highway programs through the end of the year.

Some Democrats think the approximately $35 billion bill - blending $15 billion in tax cuts and subsidies for infrastructure bonds issued by local governments with $20 billion in transportation money - is too puny, while others say the tax cut for new hires won't generate many jobs.

However, the pressure is on to address jobs and deliver a badly needed win for President Obama and a Democratic Party struggling in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 2 midterm elections. Further jobs measures are promised.

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com said the new hiring tax credit could spur creation of about 250,000 jobs. The economy has shed 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. (Philly.com) > View article

Scott's “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” Gets an Update

02.25.2010

David Meerman Scott > View profile

Two and a half years ago, the first edition of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” hit the shelves. David Meerman Scott’s guide to using social media and other online tools for marketing was a game changer. It provided an education for anyone wanting to build connections online, whether they were marketing products and services or just wanting to drive more traffic to a blog. Last month, the second edition of the book came out. I received a review copy and I’ve been going through it. (WebWorker Daily) > View article

Nathaniel Frank's DADT Op-Ed on Huffington Post

02.17.2010

Nathaniel Frank > View profile

To a degree that has caught even longtime advocates off guard, the substantive debate about whether to end "don't ask, don't tell" has rather suddenly been resolved. The impassioned statement by Adm. Mike Mullen, the first sitting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to call for an end to the ban, reflects a sea change in military culture that some have been expressing for years: the young, professional troops of the U.S. military simply don't care that much if their unit mates are gay. In 1993, Bill Clinton, Gen. Colin Powell, and Sen. Sam Nunn were confronted everywhere they went with angry troops demanding to be reassured that gays would not be allowed to foist their lifestyles on their pristine fighting force; but this week Adm. Mullen was so taken aback by the silence of troops in the wake of his call for repeal that he raised the issue himself in recent conversations, prompting crickets from service members and a change of subject to matters far more pressing to them. (Huffington Post) > View article

David M. Scott in SES Webcast Interview

02.10.2010

David Meerman Scott > View profile

Internationally known Internet marketing strategist and author David Meerman Scott will be featured in a free Search Engine Strategies (SES) webcast. Scott is the author of the recent hit book “World Wide Rave” in which he describes the concept of a particular business or brand becoming known worldwide through online buzz, which in turn results in increased sales and recognition. The second edition of his BusinessWeek bestseller (published in 24 languages), “The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly,” was published in January. (PR Web) > View article

Lt. Dan Choi featured in NY Times

02.01.2010

Lt. Dan Choi > View profile

WASHINGTON — President Obama and top Pentagon officials met repeatedly over the past year about repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the law that bans openly gay members of the military.

But it was in Oval Office strategy sessions to review court cases challenging the ban — ones that could reach the Supreme Court — that Mr. Obama faced the fact that if he did not change the policy, his administration would be forced to defend publicly the constitutionality of a law he had long opposed. (NY Times) > View article

Gary V: A Guru Who Can Get You Rich

01.22.2010

Gary Vaynerchuk > View profile

It's happening— can't help it. Gary Vaynerchuk is getting me all worked up. In his spartan office in lower Manhattan, I'm getting the Crush It! religion. "Can I tell you why it's huge?" he asks. "Because it's real. Seriously, I mean, like, I'm getting goose bumps." He holds out his arm, and for a moment I'm actually surveying his flesh for evidence of just how exciting this all is! (Details) > View article

John Yoo: No Terror Trials in NYC

01.22.2010

John Yoo > View profile

John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice during George W. Bush's first term, sat down with me last week prior to his talk before a Manhattan audience of the Federalist Society to promote his new book, Crisis and Command. He told me this interview was his first and only "blogger interview" as part of his book tour. (Huffington Post) > View article

The NY Times on Crisis and Command

01.22.2010

John Yoo > View profile

In “Crisis and Command,” his sweeping history of presidential prerogatives, John Yoo argues that national security crises inevitably ratchet up the power of the president at the expense of Congress. “War acts on executive power as an accelerant,” he writes, “causing it to burn hotter, brighter and swifter.” In “Bomb Power,” Garry Wills argues much the same thing, adding that the advent of atomic weapons has made this concentration of power in the White House even greater. “The executive power increased decade by decade,” he writes, “reaching a new high in the 21st century — a continuous story of uni­directional increase.” Where the two authors disagree is on whether this trend should be celebrated or denounced. Yoo finds increased executive power appealing and in accord with the Constitution. (NYT) > View article

David Meerman Scott: Social Media All-Star

01.14.2010

David Meerman Scott > View profile

Marketing strategist and author. Scott was well ahead of the curve in 2007 with his best selling book, "The New Rules of Marketing & PR." He appears to have another winner in the book, "Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs" -- as a contributing author and editor. Scott is very generous with his time and is an active contributor across the Web and on the speaking circuit. (Clickz) > View article

Lt. Dan Choi To Appear At Iowa LGBT Youth Conference

01.04.2010

Lt. Dan Choi > View profile

Lt. Dan Choi has been scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Iowa’s 5th Annual Governor’s Conference on LGBT Youth on February 18th, 2010 at Drake University. (Lezgetreal) > View article

Ray Kurzweil Reinvents the Book

12.29.2009

Ray Kurzweil > View profile

Ray Kurzweil, who thought up pretty much everything, ever, has entered the e-book fray. Due to debut at CES in Las Vegas next week, Kurzweil’s Blio comes from a completely different angle than the current e-ink readers.

Blio is not a device. Rather, it is a “platform” which could run on any device, but would be most obviously at home on a tablet. The software will be free and available for phones, netbooks and so on. (Wired) > View article

David Meerman Scott is a NY Times must-read

12.28.2009

David Meerman Scott > View profile

Regarding books to read in the coming year, I have many Wish Lists at Amazon.com. What I really need is more time, not more titles. Regardless, here are a handful of books that top my ever-expanding reading list... (NY Times) > View article

 

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