We’ve seen plenty of stories of “astroturf” campaigns by lobbyists looking to influence public policy by pretending that there’s grassroots support for some corporate position. And, we’ve seen stories of virtual goods scams taking place on various social networks, which are used to get unsophisticated social gamers to sign up for subscriptions to things that they don’t want. But what happens when you combine the two?

Nicholas Carlson has an astounding story about a health insurance astroturf group that is using those social gaming “offer” services to get gamers to contact their elected officials to oppose health care reform in exchange for virtual currency in games. Yes, health insurance companies are basically trying to bribe a bunch of Farmville and Mafia Wars players on Facebook to send messages to their representatives, that say: “I am concerned a new government plan could cause me to lose the employer coverage I have today. More government bureaucracy will only create more problems, not solve the ones we have.” In exchange, you get some virtual currency to spend.

The group behind this virtual bribery astroturfing effort is backed by a who’s who of insurance trade associations… and when Carlson tried to contact them for comment, the email bounced. Nice to see that some of the scammiest lobbying groups out there have found some of the scammiest marketing techniques out there as well.

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Rates will be rising across most of the world, but from absurdly low and stimulative levels.

Thus to call it a year of interest rate tightening might be an overstatement.

According a 2010 economic piece from Morgan Stanley's global economics team, this will be a dominant theme for the coming year.

Thus the 'Triple A Liquidity Cycle' will continue!

Rising Rates Will Dominate The Market In 2010 >>>

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See Also:

• Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Group Partying Wednesday Night At Exclusive Chelsea Nightclub
• Morgan Stanley: Yen Intervention Risk Rising
• Morgan Stanley: The Dollar Has Bottomed, Time To Play The Yen Carry Trade

Employees at a pizzeria in Ireland were fired for watching porn on the job. Isn’t that disgusting? Irish people attempting to make pizza!

What isn’t disgusting is the number of mortgage companies which are interested in expanding. For example, First Centennial Mortgage, out of Illinois, is sending out e-mails looking for originators. First Priority Financial, a retail shop out of California, announced that they were buying Austin Perry Financial, a wholesaler also based in California. CMG Mortgage has been expanding, as has Opes Advisors, Stearns Lending, American Pacific, etc., etc. (just a small sample from here in CA) – the list goes on. This is an interesting trend, as perhaps small to mid-size bankers are indeed seeing the origination “pie” shrinking in 2010, and are looking to maintain volumes and increase market share. And the hiring is not only taking place in the loan officer arena, but also operations and back office support.

Unfortunately rates were not the mortgage banker’s friend yesterday. The 10-yr auction was not the best, with a bid/cover ratio slightly less than other recent auctions, less foreign demand, and one trader said it was “somewhat sloppy”. This morning we’ve seen Jobless Claims and the Trade numbers – and that does it for news.

more on economic news, fed funds futures, HUD Mortgagee Letter 2009-51, GMAC Correspondent, B of A Correspondent, Freddie Midanet, Flagstar, US Bank, and joke of the day … <<< CLICK HERE

Filed under: Europe, Crossover, Volkswagen, UK, Luxury

Another dressed up offering has landed on that island haven for special editions, the UK. This time, it’s the Volkswagen Tiguan Track & Avenue. Called a “very expressive off-roader,” English types will be able to buy it in either “Oryx White Pearl Effect” or “Island Grey Pearl Effect.” Not that you’d take those pretty 19-inch Savannah alloys off-road, but there’s a specially angled front end with a silver skid plate so you can look like you would.

Inside is lots of amaranth-colored leather in “Heavy Waxy” grade (it looks better than it sounds), along with sport seats and a high-end stereo. Engine choices number four, in both petrol and diesel, topping out at the 200 horsepower 2.0-liter gasoline variant. It will start at €38,225 (a princely $56k USD, but remember – U.K. prices are still higher than that of their U.S. counterparts) for the 2.0-liter TSI diesel with a manual transmission and 170 hp. Read about it in the press release after the jump, and have a look at our gallery of high-res photos below.

[Source: Volkswagen]

Continue reading Forbidden T&A: Volkswagen introduces Tiguan Track and Avenue for U.K.

Forbidden T&A: Volkswagen introduces Tiguan Track and Avenue for U.K. originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s face it PS3 motion controller is not a verbally convenient thing to say…or type. Sony still hasn’t made an announcement about what they’re gonna call that thing. At least Microsoft gave us a working name

Two days ago we highlighted Moody’s full report on sovereign AAA ratings, in which the rater was highlighting its own impotence of knowing full well that both the US and UK are unworthy of AAA ratings, yet unable to do anything about this, as a downgrade of either would set of a chain of events that could potentially undo the last year of house of card building by both key governments, who have set off on creating the biggest ponzi scheme in the history of the world, and whose collapse would result in the same social unrest that was expected to happen in the UK if RBS and HBOS were to fail (which presumably was averted by literally last minute action).

Today, none other than glass house inhabitant Citigroup, which would not be in existence if the true state of financial and economic affairs was disclosed in even one tenth of its magnitude, bashes Moody’s as being, gasp, too optimistic. Citi analyst Mark Schoefield says “in our view the pre-budget report leaves us significantly closer to a negative ratings action by virtue of having done nothing to slow the current pace of deterioration in the fiscal position.”

Read the whole post at Zero Hedge >>

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See Also:

• Developed Countries Rapidly Blowing AAA Ratings And Entering Debt Crisis Danger Zone
• Moody’s Says US And UK "Test" The Limit Of Their AAA Ratings — Pound Tanks .4%
• The Pound Tanks After Fitch Warns About UK’s AAA-Rating

Personal Care at Home Bill

Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham said:

“There are still huge challenges in the care and support system. The Green Paper sought people’s views on how we resolve those and create a sustainable system for the long term. In our view, those with the greatest needs cannot wait, and we cannot stand still in meeting the challenge of rising costs. Currently, an estimated 80,000 older people in the highest need receive free personal care, but 40,000 pay part of their costs, and 50,000 pay all their costs.

“Among younger adults, an estimated 90,000 receive free care, while 20 per cent pay all or part of their own costs, so we want to start now with reform, by helping people to live independently for longer in their own homes for free, which is something they tell us they really want.

“Our Bill will do just that. It will end the postcode lottery in care for those most vulnerable members of our society. Let us not forget that many have already paid significantly out of their own pockets to fund their own care. We are putting forward reforms that support people in their entirety – support for older and disabled people.

“The crux of what we are building is the power and control that people get in cash benefits-that is at the heart of the national care service.

“We want to go further. In the Personal Care at Home Bill, we want to build a system that does all it can not just to pick up the pieces when people need help, but that has prevention at its heart. We want to invest resources in re-ablement-services to get people back on their feet and to give them intensive support after illness, an operation or a fall, so that they can live independently at home.

“Surely the best way forward for care is to invest in prevention, to give people support to live independently at home and, at all times, to support them to live in their home. That is what they tell us that they want.”

The National Care Service and the NHS

“It is my judgment that, whatever happens, more money from the health budget will have to be spent closer to the line with social care. That is just the way things will have to go, and that is why I am talking about finding resources from within my Department to fund re-ablement services – intense support to get people back on their feet after a vulnerable or low moment in their lives. Because we do not provide such support at the moment, people end up at the door of the NHS or asking for support from local authorities. We want to expand the level of support.

“We should also be less precious about spending health resources on equipment and telecare to help people to live in their own homes. That is all part of my vision. We have to break down the approach of the past that has said, “The health service pays for this and councils pay for that”, and we argue about the bit in the middle.

“This is an ambitious vision and it will not happen overnight. It raises complex and difficult questions that this House needs to consider carefully before proceeding with any reform.

“The Prime Minister has committed to making social care our top domestic priority in the next Parliament. That shows that we have the ideas, the courage and the confidence to tackle the big issues that the country faces. I believe that the national care service could be a major social reform that will stand alongside some of the major reforms of the last century. It would be easy to say that it is too difficult.

“We will see this through. If we fail to act, we will make the choices more difficult. The unfairnesses will grow year on year and this post-war generation – it includes people who own their own properties and who will live longer, which is a good thing – will face ever more unfairness than their parents did. These are big challenges. The Government believe that we have the right ideas to address them.”

The National Care Service and Carers

Disability Benefits

Workforce and Quality

Read the Green Paper here.

For a full transcript of the debate click here.

Google may be a leader in Internet technologies, but its success has allowed the company to redirect some of its resources to fund environmental or philanthropic projects through its non-profit arm Google.org. One of its latest projects was revealed today at the International Climate Change Conference (COP15) which is underway in Copenhagen. The project aims to help countries and organizations with interest in the field visualize and measure the extent of deforestation in problematic areas all over the world.

Google says that deforestation in tropical areas is one of the major sources of carbon emissions greater than the cars, trains, planes and ships in the world. Studies in the field have show that stopping large scale deforestation is an easy and cheap way of cutting down on emissions worldwide.

“The United Nations has proposed a framework known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) that would provide financial incentives to rainforest nations to protect their forests, in an effort to make forests worth “more alive than dead.” Implementing a global REDD system will require that each nation have the ability to accurately monitor and report the state of their forests over time, in a manner that is independently verifiable,&rdquo… (read more)

Workforce and Quality

Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham said:

“Although there are good examples around the country, and many councils are doing their best, the system is stretched and – if we are honest – it is not systematically providing quality to people across the country. Many people who work in social care earn at, or close to, the national minimum wage, so in some parts of the country it is difficult to recruit care staff to provide the services that are so desperately needed.

“For all those reasons, and to put quality at the heart of the work force, we need to pick up the work on strategy in social care being done by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope), who has responsibility for care services. If we can do what we did successfully for the NHS work force, we shall develop a clear career structure, putting money behind training and development to ensure we have a high-quality, motivated work force. For all those reasons, the debate is important and complicated.

“We have had a detailed debate on our Green Paper and the consultation has attracted a huge number of replies. Overwhelmingly, people support the principle that the system has to be reformed. Of course there are difficult views about the nature and shape the reform should take, but people are agreed that worst of all would be to leave the system as it is, with more and more people’s needs unmet as we go into a future with an ageing population.

“Everything in our Green Paper depends on those professional voices in social work. Helping people to unlock the benefits of personalisation and steering them through the system is crucially dependent on a motivated social work profession in adult services. Young people today want to make a difference. One of the biggest differences they can make is to go into social work, be it for children or adults. On both sides of the House, we need to work hard to communicate that message very strongly indeed.

“Our Green Paper set out a vision of a national care service that is fairer, simpler and more affordable, underpinned by national rights and entitlements and personalised to individual needs. It set out a system with quality at its heart, whereby people get the care and support that they need.

“People would know exactly what to expect, what they were entitled to and what they needed to do to get it. The national care service is about helping people to live their lives the way that they want to. It is about putting the person’s needs and wishes first, and helping them to keep up relationships with family and friends, to live in their own home for as long as they can and, where possible, to continue to work and contribute to their community.”

The National Care Service and Carers

Disability Benefits

Personal Care at Home Bill

Read the Green Paper here.

For a full transcript of the debate click here.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how the 40 HyCUTE:FLEET buses mostly in Europe had transported over 8.5 million passengers in their demonstration and testing phase. In the U. S. right now there are 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses operating in six locations.

If we include the 20 H2 fuel cell buses being built for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, this brings the North American total to 30 buses.

But, yesterday the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) issued a report that in 2010 and 2011, this number will rise to a total of 58 hydrogen fuel cell buses in operation in North America, almost doubling the current total.

According to the NREL there are three steps in bringing fuel cell buses to commercialization including: phase 1 operational field testing; phase 2 full-scale operational demonstration and fleet ready reliability testing; and phase 3 limited production and full operation.

Right now, the U. S. has been in phase 1, but next year the fuel cell bus program will move into phase 2. The three groups that are driving this effort are the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) National Fuel Cell Bus Program, Zero Emission Bay Area (ZEBA) Group Demonstration and BC Transit Fuel Cell Bus Demonstration.

Part of the funding for this project also comes from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. Continuing to build, demonstrate and test hydrogen buses in phase 2 will create high tech green jobs, from those who build the fuel cells and hybrid systems to those who build the H2 fueling stations. It will also create jobs as we get ready for commercialization of buses as fuel cell longevity needs to be increased, better hydrogen storage methods developed and the building of H2 fueling pumps standardized.

The U. S. is starting to catch up to what other countries are already doing and green jobs will be one of the side benefits of this endeavor. For the full text, read this report.

Canada’s LeaderPost has an excellent article about the coming oil price surge and the need for uber-aggressive efficiency projects.

LeaderPost.com:

Chinese consumers are buying more than a million cars a month — and in India when the US$2,500 Nano went on sale, more than 200,000 were ordered in the first two weeks. Adding millions of cars a month to roads will inevitably drive up oil prices.

Jeff Rubin, the former chief economist for CIBC World Markets, predicts that the price of oil will rise to US$225 a barrel by 2012. For readers who dismiss Rubin, think about this:We are in the midst of the biggest recession since the Great Depression and oil has already risen above US$80 a barrel. In 2003, few pundits would have thought US$80 oil was possible. (And Rubin’s past predictions have proven deadly accurate: In 2006, he predicted oil would hit US$150 a barrel in 2008.)

Continue reading here.

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See Also:

• Cnooc Doubles Down On Oil And Gas Production Off South China Sea
• Analyst: Oil Is Off Its Rocker

Disability Benefits

Secrertary of State for Health Andy Burnham said:

“With the introduction of direct payments, we have seen council support beginning to replicate the benefits system, and the two systems have been slowly merging. Reform would continue and deepen that process, placing individuals with the most need in control of their budget so that they can draw down the support and care that they need.

“Every citizen would stand to benefit under that new system. As well as helping people who need care, the national care service is about changing the lives of the friends and relations who support them. Many carers in this country have told us about the daily battle they face to get the support that they need, and we want to end that battle by providing a reliable, transparent and accessible system that makes it easier for them to manage their responsibilities. We intend to publish a White Paper in the new year, setting out our proposals for the future of care and support, based on the replies that we have received to our consultation.

“The current care and support system is provided through a combination of local and central Government funding, personal contributions and benefits. It is complicated, it is not clearly targeted at levels of greatest need and it is not sustainable. In each case, the amounts are increasing. Local government expenditure on adult social care has gone up by more than 50 per cent since 1997; and the total fees paid by people who use the services have increased significantly over the same period. Today, there are more than 1.5 million recipients of Attendance Allowance, amounting to expenditure of more than £5 billion a year; and there are more than 790,000 Disability Living Allowance recipients who are over 65 years old, totalling expenditure of some £4 billion a year.

“By 2026, we can expect that 1.7 million more adults will need care and support than is the case today, and the cost of disability benefits for the elderly could rise by almost 50 per cent in real terms. Demographic and financial pressures on that scale cannot easily be met within the current unreformed system, so we have to find a better way to provide support to older and disabled people, and there may be a case for bringing together some disability benefits within adult social care. That is the argument that we are putting forward.

“It is true that many people today do not get help from the state towards their care costs. However, that is precisely why this Government are showing leadership and looking at how we can best support care and reform services. As I said in my intervention, it is completely wrong to suggest that all those who currently receive disability benefits but do not receive support from social care services would lose out under a new system.

“It is completely wrong to say that people will lose out under a new system. This is not about using benefits to support the existing system. We want to create a new care and support system that goes beyond that and is fit for the 21st century. We accept that that means we need to carry people with this reform. We also need to protect people in the interim. We have therefore categorically ruled out using disability living allowance for the under-65s. No other decisions about benefit reform have yet been taken.

“However, we have been absolutely clear that if disability benefits are reformed as part of delivering the national care service, those currently receiving benefit will not lose out financially. To put it simply, there would be no cash losers from this reform. That will remain the case for life. Existing benefits recipients will keep the cash and keep the control – it could not be clearer.

“People like disability benefits because they provide a universal entitlement, they provide a cash budget that can be spent on the services that people want, and they support lower-level needs that help people to stay well for longer. Those three principles will all be important features of the new care and support system that we seek to introduce.

“We are saying that, in future, we propose having a new system of support for people with care needs, but it is not correct to say that that means that support will be withdrawn. Our whole aim in this reform is to give more help and support to the people who need it most. We believe that at the moment the money in the system is not properly targeted at those who need most support.”

The National Care Service and Carers

Workforce and Quality

Personal Care at Home Bill

For a full transcript of the debate click here.

Read the Green Paper here.

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Japan, Videos, Crossover, Nissan, Specialty

We’re not apologizing to Nissan, but we were pretty flippantly dismissive of both the 40th Anniversary Z and the Rogue S Krom Edition. Why? Because both struck as as badge jobs. When we think of special edition Nissans, we think of V-Spec, and that typically entails more power and/or pumped up handling. But not with these two cars. Though at least the Krom gets a new front end, which sadly isn’t nearly as eye-catching as the nose of the not-for-us 2010 Qashqai.

However, the truth of the matter is that our favorite ever special Nissan was the legendary Black Gold 10th Anniversary Datsun 280ZX (and the even rarer Black Red – only 500 made, as opposed to 3,000 Black Golds). And that car was little more than a plaque and a coke habit paint job. Our point? Nissan had better produce a theme song for this new car.

Anyhow, the prices of both the 40th Z and the Rogue Krom have just been announced. The Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition will set you back $38,860. Some of you might be asking why not spend the extra $330 and get the better-than-a-regular-370Z NISMO for $39,190? Well, Nissan will only be producing 1,000 40th Anniversary Zs. Other than that, we can’t think of any reason. The Rogue S Krom Edition comes in at $23,940 for the front-wheel drive version, $25,140 if you want all-wheel drive. The 40AZ will be available in Q2 of 2010, the Krom in late Q3. Press release(s) can be found after the jump, along with a little surprise.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan announces pricing on 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, Rogue S Krom Edition [w/VIDEO]

Nissan announces pricing on 370Z 40th Anniversary Edition, Rogue S Krom Edition [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s the report latest from Martin Armstrong — courtesy of Nathan’s Economic Edge — in which he predicts new highs in stocks and gold. In particular, he focuses on the nature of international fund flows.

The Dow & the Future–Theory & Myth 12-6-09

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See Also:

• REPORT: Martin Armstrong Moved To High-Security Facility, Prevented From Publishing Research
• Martin Armstrong Explains Why The Gold Standard Is Implausible And Useless (GLD, SLV)
• Martin Armstrong: Gold Headed To $5,000 And Beyond!

Automates Wall Thickness Measurement And Offers Connectivity with Existing Plant Asset Management Platforms

Billerica, MA. – 9 November, 2009. Rightrax HT, the latest on-line wall thickness monitoring system from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, provides accurate and reliable wall thickness data of pipes and vessels operating at extremely high temperatures. Corrosion monitoring is extremely important for users in the oil & gas industry to elevate inspection productivity, provide significant cost savings and help ensure plant safety & integrity.

“It is estimated that the cost of corrosion equals 3% of US GDP, while the overall cost relating to oil and gas, power generation and other key industries exceeds $150 billion annually,” explains Jim Costain, Oil & Gas Segment Marketing Leader, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, “Industry estimates that 20 to 25% of these costs can be avoided by better use of existing monitoring technologies. Rightrax HT is a technology that can make a significant contribution to these cost savings.”

Rightrax HT has applications in the oil and gas sector in many upstream, midstream and downstream situations, where corrosion and erosion monitoring is necessary to ensure plant integrity or to maximize plant function and operational life. Typically, it can help an oil refinery process opportunity crude by accurately monitoring the corrosion rates as a function of added control inhibitors. In a standard configuration, the new system features groups of four high-temperature sensors, which are clamped directly to the pipe or vessel to be monitored and connected to a single-sensor interface.

As with all GE Rightrax thickness-monitoring systems, the new high-temperature version provides an ultrasonic, non-intrusive, on-line solution to corrosion and erosion monitoring for permanent installation on pipelines and process plant components. Once fitted, there is no need to remove insulation, erect scaffolding, excavate pipes or shutdown units to check equipment integrity. Sensors are simply clamped to the surface of the pipe or vessel to be monitored. The ease of system connectivity with existing plant asset-management platforms allows users to significantly extend their use beyond on-line rotating asset management into the on-line monitoring of fixed assets and trend long-term corrosion data.

Rightrax HT’s current temperature capability extends to 350ºC with an accuracy and resolution that is significantly higher than that achievable with current systems. In common with all GE on-line corrosion monitoring systems, this new high-temperature addition, which leverages GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms Proficy® HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY technology, a multi-functional software platform for monitoring several types of industrial asset, has been designed to allow easy connectivity to existing plant asset-management platforms such as GE System 1. It can also be used to complement pigging systems, specifically to monitor critical spots and non-piggable areas.

The STREAMTEK Air Knife Drying System is the most efficient and energy saving method to deliver compressed air for large drying, cleaning, or cooling applications.

All Air Knives Available in Aluminum or Stainless Steel with an effective length of 3″ (76 mm), 6″ (152 mm), 9″ (229 mm), 12″ (305 mm), 18″ (457 mm), 24″ (610 mm), 30″ (762 mm), 36″ (914 mm), 42″ (1067 mm), 48″ (1219 mm), and 54″ (1372 mm). Custom sizes Upon request!