Here comes the drama: On Wednesday, former reality star Jon Gosselin officially filed legal papers asking a Pennsylvania judge to grant him primary custody of his eight children with ex-wife (and accused “absentee mother”) Kate Gosselin, TMZ.com said this afternoon.

His attorney Anthony List says that Kate’s recent appearances on ABC’s ballroom dance talent show Dancing with the Stars — albeit them awful — has turned the former nurse’s attention away from her brood.

Kate currently has primary custody of the Gosselin children and the unemployed Jon is required to pay her an astounding $20,000 a month in child support — something he has also asked the judge to review.

We suggest the Court does what’s best for these kids and promptly hands them over to be raised by a pack of wolves — they’ll undoubtedly be better off!

Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Budget, Hatchback, Volkswagen

The Volkswagen New Beetle hasn’t exactly been, well, “New,” for many years now. However, a report from AutoWeek states that the Bug will get a much-needed overhaul later this year, with a concept car expected to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show near the end of 2010. Following the show car debut, the production New Beetle should be hitting U.S. dealers in May of 2011.

AW reports that design sources within Volkswagen indicate that the new New Beetle will take styling cues from the 2005 Ragster concept (pictured). What’s more, the next-generation car will have a stronger focus on driving dynamics, rather than overall retro style. As for powertrains, the U.S. can expect both the 2.5-liter five-cylinder and 2.0-liter diesel four-cylinder mills to be under-hood, with a twin-charged 1.4-liter gasoline/electric hybrid reportedly in the works. Five- and six-speed manual transmissions will be offered, as well as an optional seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

But while all this is well and good, will a styling and dynamic overhaul be enough to revive the New Beetle’s momentum here in the U.S., or will it simply go the way of the original Beetle in just a few years time? Have your say, in comments.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Report: VW New Beetle successor timeframe and details come into focus originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jerry’s home built commuter car took eco-friendly to the next level. It discouraged tailgating, too.

Source: That Will Buff Out

(This guest post previously appeared at NewDeal2.0)

The financial crisis that first broke out in the US around the summer of 2007 and crested around the autumn of 2008 had destroyed $34.4 trillion of wealth globally by March 2009, when the equity markets hit their lowest points. On October 31, 2007, the total market value of publicly-traded companies around the world reached a high of $63 trillion.  A year and four months later, by early March 2009, the value had dropped more than half to $28.6 trillion.  The lost wealth, $34.4 trillion, is more than the 2008 annual gross domestic product (GDP) of the US, the European Union and Japan combined. This wealth deficit effect would take at least a decade to replenish even if these advanced economies were to grow at mid single digit rate after inflation and only if no double dip materializes in the markets.  At an optimistic compounded annual growth rate of 5%, it would take over 10 years to replenish the lost wealth in the US economy.

In the US where the crisis originated in mid-2007 after two decades of monetary excess that encouraged serial debt bubbles, the NYSE Euronext (US) market capitalization was $16.6 trillion in June 2007, more than concurrent US GDP of $13.8 trillion. The market cap fell by almost half to $7.9 trillion by March 2009. US households lost almost $8 trillion of wealth in the stock market on top of the $6 trillion loss in the market value of their homes. The total wealth loss of $14 trillion by US households in 2009 was equal to the entire 2008 US GDP.

As the financial crisis broke out first in the US in July 2007, world market capitalization took some time to feel the full impact of contagion radiating from New York which did not register fully globally until after October 2007. In 2008 alone, market capitalization in EAME (Europe – Africa – Middle East) economies lost $10 trillion and Asian shares lost around $9.6 trillion.

Government Bailouts, Stimulus Packages and Jobless Recovery

As a result of over $20 trillion of government bailout/stimulus commitments/spending that began in 2008 worldwide, the critically impaired global equity markets finally began to show tenuous signs of stabilization only two years later by the end of 2009. Yet total world market capitalization was still only $46.6 trillion by the end of January 2010, $16.4 trillion below its peak in October 2007. The amount of wealth lost worldwide in 2009 still exceeded 2009 US GDP of $14.2 trillion by $2.2 trillion. The NYSE Euronext (US) market capitalization was $12.2 trillion in January 2010, recovering from its low at $7.9 trillion in March 2009, but still $4.4 trillion below its peak at $16.6 trillion in June 2007.

US GDP in first quarter 2009 fell 6.3% annualized rate while fourth quarter of 2009 surged 5.7% mostly as a result of public sector spending equaling over 60% of annual GDP. The US government bailout and stimulus package to respond to the financial crisis added up to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90% of the nation’s home mortgages, calculated at $10.5 trillion by the Federal Reserve. Yet home foreclosure rate continued to climb because only distressed financial institutions were bailed out, but not distressed homeowners. Take away public sector spending, US GDP would fall by over 50%. This is the reason why no exit strategy can be expected to be implemented soon in the US.

It took $20 trillion of public funds over a period of two and a half years to lift the total world market capitalization of listed companies by $16.4 trillion. This means some $3.6 trillion, or 17.5%, had been burned up by transmission friction. Government intervention failed to produce a dollar-for-dollar break-even impact on battered markets, let alone generating any multiplier effect which in normal time could be expected to generate a multiplying effect of between 9 and 11 times. In the mean time, the real global economy, detached from the equity markets, with the exception of China’s, continues to slide downward, with rising unemployment and underemployment.

This massive government injection of new money managed to stabilize world equity markets by January 2010, but only at 73.5% of its peak value in October 2007. Still it left the credit markets around the world dangerously anemic and the real economy operating on intensive care and life support measures from government. This is because the bailout and stimulus money failed to land on the demand side of the economy which has been plagued by overcapacity fueled by inadequate workers income masked by excessive debt, and by a drastic reversal of the wealth effect on consumer demand from the bursting of the debt bubble. The burst of the debt bubble had destroyed the wealth it buoyed, but it left the debt that had fueled the bubble standing as liability in the economy.

Much of the new government money came from adding to the national debt, for which taxpayers would still have to pay back in future years. This money went to bail out distressed banks and financial institutions which used it to profit from global “carry trade” speculation, as hot money that exploited interest rate arbitrage trades between economies. The toxic debts have remained in the global economy at face value, having only been transformed from private debts to public debts to prevent total collapse of the private sector. The debt bubble has been turned into a dense debt black hole of intense financial gravity the traps all lights from appearing at the end of the recovery tunnel.

Much criticism by mainstream economists in the US has been focused on the controversial bailout of “too-big-to-fail” financial institutions that have continued to effectively resist critically needed regulatory reform by holding the seriously impaired economy hostage. Some critics have complained that government stimulus packages are too small for the task at hand. Only a few lonely voices have focused on public spending being directed at wrong targets. Yet such massive public spending has left many economies around the world with looming sovereign debt crises.

For more, please visit HenryCKLiu.com.

Roosevelt Institute Braintruster Henry C.K. Liu is an independent commentator on culture, economics and politics.

Join the conversation about this story »

According to intel received today by Engadget Mobile, Sprint plans to launch the EVO 4G sometime in June.  While the date is still said to be up in the air, the 6th and the 13th are the favored dates, with the 13th being the frontrunner (at the moment).

What’s more, the tipster claims that the Mobile Hotspot service will be a $10-$20 plan add-on versus being included in the “Everything Data” pricing scheme.  Should the rumor come to fruition, I’m not quite sure how well it will bode for Sprint.  With Verizon offering free Mobile Hotspot on the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, it throws off the playing field a bit.  Then again, mobile broadband is $59.99 with everyone else (including Verizon’s MiFi), so I could be completely wrong.

Pricing aside, who’s planning to rock Mobile Hotspot on their EVOs?

Via Engadget Mobile

Riding Honda’s U3-X personal mobility prototype is easy. Very easy. Gut-fatteningly, motivation-drainingly, muscle-atrophyingly easy. More »

There is a reason why lawyers go through year of school and tests to get to the jobs that they get paid so much to do – law is a complicated beast that takes a special breed to understand all the ins and outs of it. When entrepreneurs and venture capitalists meet at the bartering table to talk over the terms of their agreement, there is often too much or too little negotiation that goes on, so here’s some advice I came across that can help startup founders find the “sweet spot” for negotiations.

Sponsor

Matt Bartus, a Silicon Valley-based lawyer who mainly aids startups and VCs, wrote last week on his blog A View from the Valley warning entrepreneurs new to the negotiating table to not damage their relationship with their investors by over-negotiating. According to Bartus, a surplus of startup and legal advice from blogs has clogged the minds of new entrepreneurs who think they need to nit pick over every detail of a term sheet.

“They sometimes feel the need to optimize every individual provision in the term sheet according to the guidelines found online,” writes Bartus. “For example, a founder recently expressed his shock to me that a VC wanted an 8% non-cumulative dividend preference on the preferred stock given the historical lows of current interest rates. He didn’t realize that dividends in fast growing companies are almost never paid, thus making this provision essentially irrelevant and just a relic of past practice.”

Bartus says that while over-negotiating and creating needless tension is a common misstep, it is just as bad to not push back enough and to accept the terms of the agreement without any discussion. When you roll over and take what they give you, you show them that you don’t stand up for yourself, damaging both your credibility and the possibility of future investments. To avoid this, he provides a few suggestions for topics that are worth debating with VCs that won’t necessarily damage your relationship.

Of the dozens of issues that could arise between VCs and entrepreneurs, Bartus provides a list of six important issues that could be discussed during negotiations, of which three he suggests actually focusing on. These include valuation and dilution, liquidation preference, board of directors and voting provisions, founder vesting, antidilution protection, and finally, exclusivity. By knowing these important issues, you can boost your credibility with the VCs and you ensure that you can get the best results from the term sheets for you, the founder.

This is exactly why hiring a lawyer with startup experience is key to doing things right. Yes, the job of the lawyer is to explain to terms to the entrepreneur so they know what they are signing up for, but mostly, that lawyer is there to take the burden of legal worries off their back. As with any position within your startup, lawyers should be chosen on merit, not based on their reputation to the founders. He recalls an issue he had when representing a VC who was dealing with a lawyer who was the father of the founder with no startup experience and who slowed the whole process down, damaging the relationship between the two parties.

Just remember the real important part of a VC/entrepreneur relationship: building and growing a great product. Hire a great lawyer with startup experience and let them do the grunt legal work so as to not divert your energy and focus from your ideas and your business.

For more legal resources geared at startups, check out our list compiled earlier this year.

Discuss

Now that most of us are essentially swimming in 3G signals on a daily basis, it’s easy to forget that a solid percentage of the world still has to make do with GPRS. Telecom giant Vodafone hasn’t forgotten though, and they’re taking a novel approach to making sure the developing world gets their mobile internet fix: they’ll pre-load Opera Mini on 20 low-end phone models.

Just a quick recap on how Opera Mini works: it uses server-side compression to strip out the unnecessary bloat from websites users visit, and in turn reduces the amount of bandwidth necessary to display a page. That means, among other things, lower incurred data costs and faster page loads. This particular flavor of Opera Mini will also feature a number of tweaks to make it more accessible to those who either can’t read, or can’t read very well.

Vodafone obviously isn’t doing it out of the goodness of their hearts; the developing world represents a huge untapped market for data penetration. Revenue will be generated from the string of “highly affordable data tariffs” they have in the works, which (if it turns out to be as popular as they hope) could result in some serious cash flows. Still, it’s always nice to see an intersection between corporate interests and providing people with a valuable service.

The initiative will go live in India, South Africa, Turkey, Tanzania and Egypt first, with other markets to follow.

[via mocoNews]

There are two shave ice places called Jo Jo’s in Waimea on Kauai. One, on the main street, will be busy and is full of tourists. The other, just off the main street and about 100 feet away from the first shop, will also be busy but it will be packed with locals. The latter is the one you want to go to. Jo-Jo’s Anuenue Shaved Ice is a hole-in-the-wall shop that makes delicious shave ice. Shave ice (often said in Hawaii without a “d” on “shaved”) starts out with a big block of ice (not ice cubes) that is run over a sharp blade to create powder-fine ice that is the perfect vehicle for fruity, tropical sauces. The syrups at Jo Jo’s are homemade and come in every flavor you could want, from cappuccino to coconut, from blue raspberry to li hing mui.

According to my guidebook, the shave ice shop down the street from this one was originally owned by Jo Jo herself. She sold it to some (again, according to the book, non-locals) without including her secret syrup recipes. That location remains popular with tourists, but Jo Jo opened this new shop and, since locals know who runs it, it is busy with fans who know the real thing. That story in the guidebook was enough to have me double checking the location and I wasn’t disappointed.

The shave ice was great, and the syrups were fantastic. I got a scoop of macadamia nut ice cream topped with mango, guava and coconut shave ice and dusted with Li Hing Mui powder. The fruit flavors were vibrant and fresh, and the ice cream was a nice match for them – especially when the last of the shave ice was gone and I was left with ice cream in fruity syrup. Li Hing Mui is a salty-sweet dried plum that is popular in Hawaii, often ground into a powder and sprinkled on sweets or fruits. I always make sure to get some when I have a chance, and I liked the savory element that it added to my shave ice, as well as the way it made the ice look like a little volcano.

Remy just wants to remind everyone that we are hosting a happy hour tomorrow (Thursday) to celebrate Leonor Tomero’s move to the Hill.

The Big Hunt
1345 Connectiuct Ave. NW
After Work (say 5:30 or so).

If you thought Google’s Street View was ambitious, or even Google Earth, then the companies latest efforts to “fill in the ‘blue’ part of the planet” on Google Earth puts the rest to shame. That “blue part”, after all, comprises more than 70% of the planet’s surface.

Google started mapping the ocean last year and today is announcing that the ocean layer “will become part of the default set of annotations seen by all Earth users”.

Sponsor

Over the past year, the company has worked with more than 100 partners adding hundreds of placemarks to more than 20 ocean layers. Google has worked with National Geographic, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as the Mission Blue Foundation.

The Mission Blue Foundation is working to create a series of protected marine areas called Hope Spots, all of which will be included in today’s release.

Google is also offering a “narrated tour” of eight of the proposed locations for “Hope Spots”.

While we support the efforts of Google Earth to increase awareness, we have to chuckle, ever so slightly, at one phrase in today’s announcement:

One of the greatest things about Earth is that it allows everyone to see and experience the fullness of their planet, from revisiting places they know well to venturing out to formerly unknown mountain peaks, desert vistas, and increasingly, the blue heart of life on Earth.

We know, for some of you out there, for whatever valid reason, you might not be able to get out there and see the world, but for the rest of you, get off your duff and go climb a mountain in person. Go get you some woods, don’t let Google do it for you “via satellite”.

Discuss

Knoxville Father Wants Biology Book Banned

A Tennessee father says a biology textbook should be banned from his son’s curriculum because of it’s ‘bias’ against Christians.

Kurt Zimmermann is appealing a Knoxville school district’s decision to keep the book. He says the textbook used in his son’s biology class cites creationism as a “biblical myth.” According to reports, he requests, ‘non-biased’ textbooks be used. In his words, the current textbook’s phrasing misleads, belittles and discourages students in believing in creationism and calls the Bible a myth.

Knoxville County School superintendent Jim McIntyre says the committee’s finding to keep using the book is appropriate. However he asks the board to hear Zimmerman’s appeal Wednesday, April 7.

Melissa Copelan, the board’s director of public affairs tells Fox News, “when there is a concern about education materials there is a process that is followed… Now it is up to the board.”

She referred to procedure listed on the school board’s Web site. When there is a complaint about curriculum board members put together a committee- six members, including the high school’s principal, a biology teacher, a parent and a student.

Even though a few of the members thought the material was “questionable,” the committee ultimately said it’s “appropriate for an honors level biology course.”

Local papers report Zimmerman pulls a quote from page 319 in the book, Asking About Life, where creationism is described as, “the biblical myth that the universe was created by the Judeo-Christian God in 7 days.”

Former Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan is suing the creator of the show, Marc Cherry, for assault and wrongful termination. Sheridan claims Cherry slapped her face and eventually killed off her character after the pair got into a heated argument over a script in Sept. 2008. So how are the other Housewives handling the drama? American Idol’s Ryan got Eva Longoria to dish on the fracas.

CLICK Here To Listen To Eva’s Interview With Ryan…..

“It’s a big lawsuit, it’s a big deal, I love the show so much, that I would hate for anything to really tarnish the reputation of the show,” she said during an interview with Ryan’s “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” on Wednesday. “I really would like all of it to go away.”

Eva said she was not on set when the alleged incident occurred , but noted that it is hard for her to imagine Marc being violent.

“He’s funny and sweet… and probably could not harm a fly. He’s just so sweet. I do know they had a thing on set, I guess it was a couple of years ago,” Eva said, referring to Nicollette’s claims that her former boss struck her “across the head and face” on set.

Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today.  These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended.  

State News  

School officials take hassle out of writing legislators
Evanston Review – The Web site also urges constituents to “join the Illinois Education Association’s Back Home Lobby Days” and contact lawmakers before they return to … 

State fiscal woes forcing more school layoffs
Streator Times-Press – In recent years, school administrators have had to wait for state funding or grants for transportation, special education and childhood education. This year, those problems have worsened and been compounded by a potential $1.3 billion cut to state education funding, causing the layoff of teachers and other school employees.

Mautino: Illinois educators can expect state budget woes to continue  LaSalle News Tribune – The state gave governor Pat Quinn free reign to make whatever cuts and adjustments he thought necessary to the budget. “He was sent lump sums and given the …  

ISBE scrutinizing local schools financial profiles
Belleville News-Democrat – As if they needed another reminder of their precarious financial condition, in recent weeks some local school districts have been notified by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) that their financial profiles are under scrutiny.  Both O’Fallon Township High School District 203 and O’Fallon District 90 find themselves on the financial early warning list. And Central District 104 has been placed in financial review status, according to ISBE’s recently released annual financial profile of the state’s public schools. Shiloh District 85 has been given financial recognition. 

State’s IOU to U46 now $20M
Elgin Courier News – only to find out when he arrived the meeting had been cancelled. U46 board member Karen Carney said that “everything that we’ve used hasn’t worked” to get money from the state. That proves that “education funding in this state is broken,” board President Ken Kaczynski said. Which is why, Ally said, the district made about $30 million in “real cuts” from teachers to sports for next school year  

U-46 official: District now $50 million in the red
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Ron Ally says he feels like a “bit of a broken record these days.” For the past several months, Elgin Area School District U-46’s Chief Financial Officer has reported a similar story to the school board – millions in missing state funds and a growing deficit. Only the picture’s getting bleaker with each report.   

2 top officials, 6 principals leaving U46
Elgin Courier News –  Excellent Schools to open a charter school in the Chicago area. Currently, O’Connor oversees programs in U46 that address barriers to learning, including programs for students who are in special education, and for non-native English-speaking students. O’Connor joined U46 in July 2009 after spending several years as the founding principal of KIPP Ascend Charter School in Chicago   

Farnham faces layoff fallout at Elgin forum
Chicago Daily Herald – State Rep. Keith Farnham faced the music for the state’s budget disaster Tuesday night during a town-hall meeting, vowing to fight future attempts to cut pensions of current teachers and pushing for the state to contract its spending instead of relying on tax increases to make ends meet. “People don’t trust government right now. Somehow we’ve got to earn that trust back,   

Dist. 300 cuts 27 more positions; 51 may be called back
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – by which it must notify teachers they will be dismissed; they allow the district to work toward balancing its 2010-11 budget; and they ensure the district is not overstaffed next year. While the teacher layoffs – 180 in total to date – will pose challenges for the district’s class sizes and leave many young teachers without a job, there are a couple of bright spots. 

Second round of school cuts approved
Oswego Ledger Sentinel – forced to make because the State of Illinois is behind in making its General State Aid and Categorical Grant payments to the district. He said the recommended cuts will be needed if Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed 17 percent cut in school funding goes through. He could not say when the state might make a decision, but said the legislators can act quickly if they decide to. 

2011 Looking Rough for District 205
Rockford WIFR (CBS) – the district is not planning on any layoffs. They will instead borrow $41 million from the district’s savings account and will rehire most of the hundreds of non-tenured teachers who received a pink slip “We have not just randomly fired all of our staff, what we have done is given principals the chance to pick their staff 

Chop the salaries of ‘public servants’
Chicago Tribune – It’s bad enough to suggest that “public servants” forgo raises, even when pay increases in the private sector are as rare as, well, pay increases in the private sector. But imagine the din that will be aroused when someone, in all seriousness, exhorts public servants to take pay cuts.  It makes sense. Reductions in pension benefits for future state workers do nothing to pull Illinois out of its financial sinkhole 

Schools bracing for budget hit
Champaign News Gazette – Last week, in a pre-emptive act of financial self-defense, the Champaign school board took the ax to its employee roster, laying off 149 employees including 96 teachers. Board members’ action came after an earlier, much publicized decision to cut $2.3 million in spending from the budget for the school year beginning in fall 2010.  

Second round of school cuts approved
Oswego Ledger Sentinel –  He could not say when the state might make a decision, but said the legislators can act quickly if they decide to. The cuts include the release of 49 first-year teachers, but O’Donnell said, “We want to make it perfectly clear that we want to bring those teachers back. Their release is primarily for our purposes to allow us to staff and move people around  

Teachers, parents plead: Save music in D204 :: Beacon News :: Local News
Suburban Chicago News –  Greg Lyons comforts his girlfriend, Gretchen Pearson (center right), an orchestra teacher at Hill Middle School, after Pearson spoke during the Indian Prairie School District 204 special board meeting Monday night to discuss cuts to the district’s music program.  

ROWVA board cuts 23 jobs, closes school
Galesburg Register Mail – saying that going to the extreme you are is a leap right now. Being conscientious is one thing but this is another,” said Deb Tuttle, who made another budget presentation on behalf of the Illinois Education Association using many of the same figures as Little, but with a different conclusion. “That’s why you have rainy day fund.”  

District 303 prepares more than $4 million in new cuts
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – solved their budget problems in January by instituting $5.5 million worth of cuts, but a tumultuous state budget will force the district to plan for an additional $4 million in belt tightening. The school board’s Business Services Committee has its first look at the cuts tonight. The majority of the expense reductions come in the form of delaying the update of science textbooks for one year  

District 186 spokeswoman resigns over plagiarism flap
Springfield State Journal – said late Sunday they either were not aware of Watson’s resignation or could not comment because it is a personnel matter. Attempts to reach Watson today were unsuccessful. The school board is expected to take up the matter at its meeting tonight. According to WMAY radio, Watson said she was told she could either resign or be fired.

News-Gazette: Schools bracing for budget hit  The (Champaign) News-Gazette – It’s fair to say that education, both K-12 and higher education, is at the core of the state’s mission when it comes to funding public services. Despite that, education, particularly higher education, has seen its state support coming under increasing pressure in recent years – all this in a state where, until recently, revenue increases were a staple of the state’s budget picture. 

Public school district sued over transport fees
Chicago WBBM 780 Radio – Northeastside parochial students claims Indiana law requires public schools to transport nonpublic school students for free. It seeks an end to the transportation charge. The Lawrence Township school board decided in November to start charging $1 per mile per student to transport 122 students to St. Simon the Apostle School and St. Lawrence schools.  

Letters to the Editor: Leadership at state level is ludicrous
Springfield State Journal Register – Dear Illinois state leaders,
I would like to express my thanks to the General Assembly, the governor, courts, and the Illinois State Board of Education. All of you have been setting a fine example for the people of Illinois. As a result of your example, the students and people of Illinois could learn to never think about what something is going to cost before voting to mandate it.  

Our Opinion: School voucher pilot program deserves support  Springfield State Journal Register – On the first day of the 2008-09 school year, Meeks protested funding inequity at Illinois public schools by busing 1,000 students from Chicago public schools to the wealthier New Trier school district in suburban Northfield. The students were not successful in their attempt to enroll in New Trier schools, but Meeks’ effort brought ample attention to a state funding system that links a school district’s budget to the property values in its community.   

Letters to the Editor: Leaders lack backbone to fix pension problems
Springfield State Journal Register – State pensions are not being paid by taxpayers.  When a person is employed by the state, 4 percent of the employee’s salary is automatically deducted for his or her pension. The employee doesn’t have a choice.  The state is then supposed to match that with its 4 percent. However, the state hasn’t funded its share in years   

Students with Diabetes act endangers school nurse jobs, schoolchildren
Chicago Tribune – Letter to Editor – Encourage your State Senator to vote “NO” to HB 6065/SB 3822 – Care of the Student with Diabetes Act – which allows an unlicensed person, without liability in schools to care for diabetic students including administering insulin, in essence alters state statue to replace the need for a school nurse. HB 6065 SB 3822 language will define a new low for all Illinois school children by removing the requirement for a licensed nurse to administer medications in schools.   

U. of I. narrows presidential candidates to 10
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – University of Illinois trustees say a list of potential new presidents for the university has been narrowed to 10 people, five of them presidents at other schools. Trustee Pam Strobel said Monday after a closed-door meeting that the board is on schedule to name a new president by May. Trustees oversee the three university campuses run by the president. 

GSU awarded $7.1 million teacher training grant
Chicago Daily Southtown – Governors State University has been awarded a $7.1 million grant to place future teachers in an intense training program at some of the poorest schools in the south suburbs. The U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to Governors State and 11 other universities nationwide   

Knox College president to step down
Decatur WAND (NBC) 17 – The president of a western Illinois college says he’ll step down. Knox College President Roger Taylor tells WGIL Radio he wants to spend more time with his family. He adds that the Galesburg-based school will soon start planning for its next 10 years and so it’s a good time to start thinking about new leadership. It’s not clear when Taylor might actually leave.

Political News

Bill Brady Leads Pat Quinn By 10 Percent In Latest Poll Of Illinois Governor’s …  Huffington Post (blog) – In another disheartening poll for Illinois Democrats, incumbent governor Pat Quinn fell well behind his Republican challenger Bill Brady in a recent survey. …   

IL-Gov: Brady Posts a Big Lead Over Quinn  Swing State Project – ?The scariest number, though, is this one: Pat Quinn’s job approval rating is 25-53. Those are some true toilet bowl numbers. It’d be an amazing feat for an …   

Brady’s Bunch: Leads Quinn by 10pts in New Poll  NBC Chicago (blog) – ?In a new poll from Dem-leaning Public Policy Polling, Brady’s leading Quinn 43-33 and garnering 80% of the GOP vote. Quinn, meanwhile, has just 53% of the …   

Republican leads in Illinois governor’s race  The Hill (blog) – Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) trails his Republican opponent by 10-points in a poll released Wednesday. State Sen. …   

Poll Shows Brady Leading Quinn In Race For Gov.  CBS2 Chicago – ?Incumbent Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn (left) is running for his first elected term in 2010 after replacing ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Republican State Sen. … 

Quinn mum on radical letter  Chicago Daily Herald – Pat Quinn is keeping mum on whether he received one of dozens of foreboding letters sent to governors throughout the country threatening to remove them from … 

Gov mansion needs $12M in repairs  ABC7Chicago.com – ?Governor Pat Quinn’s budget proposal allows for just $75000 in repairs, which is far short of what’s needed to complete the job. 

Gov. Quinn Dismisses Blagojevich’s Radio Comments  MyFox Chicago – ?Pat Quinn is dismissing the comments Rod Blagojevich made while filling in on a Chicago radio show, calling the former governor “yesterday’s tomatoes.    

Blago and brother in conflict
Chicago WLS (ABC) 7 – Lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother have asked a federal judge to bar prosecutors from playing FBI wiretap tapes at their corruption trial. The request filed Tuesday on behalf of the impeached governor’s businessman brother, Robert Blagojevich, appears to set up a direct clash between the two Blagojevich’s at the trial scheduled to get under way   

The Watcher: Blagojevich done with TV after ‘Apprentice’? Don’t count on it  Chicago Tribune – Is Rod Blagojevich done with television? Don’t count on it. In a conference call with members of the media on Tuesday, Blagojevich, who was ejected Sunday from “The Celebrity Apprentice,” said he’s got another “potential” reality show in the works and he’s said he’s also participating in a documentary.  

National News

DA to teachers: New sex ed course could get you arrested  A district attorney in Juneau County, Wisconsin, warned teachers in a memo sent to schools that if they teach the new sexual education curriculum mandated under state law, they could be arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a child.  Because the law requires teachers to instruct children not only about contraceptives but about how to use them, Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth said, schools are forced to encourage students to “engage in sexual behavior, whether as a victim or an offender.”   

Study: Calif. pensions underfunded by $500 billion
Belleville News-Democrat – says California’s public pension funds are underfunded by as much as $500 billion.  The estimated shortfall applies to the retirement systems for California state and local government workers, teachers and University of California employees.  Analysts at those funds estimated their unfunded liabilities to be much lower. But a Schwarzenegger economist says they have been underreporting 

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories   

Can the Tea Party Movement Take the Next Step?

The challenge now is to move beyond rallies and e-mails to real political action. But that won’t be so easy

Obama’s Nuclear Strategy: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t

The Nuclear Posture Review, released this week by President Obama, marks a shift in U.S. nuclear policy. On some points, however, things remain very much the same

 U.S. Cashes In on Corporate Corruption Overseas

The U.S. Government has ramped up efforts to uncover corrupt practices of companies abroad. The moves have enriched government coffers and made executives more cautious

 Judging American Idol: The Final Nine

The nine remaining Idol finalists sang their way through the Lennon-McCartney songbook in this week’s competition. Did they take sad songs and make them better? What would you think if they sang out of tune?

 A New Website for Taking Shots at Your Boss

A new website is betting you’re willing to comment about your co-workers’ job performance just as you would a Netflix movie or an Amazon purchase

  Most Viewed Articles on washingtonpost.com

1) Wanted: A few good parents

At South Hadley High, kids went wild. But where were the parents?

2) Top aide to Steele resigns post amid RNC spending controversy

The Republican National Committee’s chief of staff resigned under pressure Monday, which Chairman Michael S. Steele described as an effort to reassure wavering donors in the wake of a controversy over its most recent expense accounting.

3) 25 dead in W.Va. mine blast, worst since 1984

Rescuers suspended efforts early Tuesday to find four missing coal miners in West Virginia after a mine explosion killed 25 others in the deadliest such disaster in the United States in decades.

4) Redskins are April’s fools

By trading for Donovan McNabb, the Redskins show that they remain addicted to the idea that the Lombardi Trophy is just one player away.

5) D.C. streetcar effort may go down to the wire

The District is putting down the first miles of track for a planned 37-mile streetcar network, a throwback of a kind popping up in many cities that advocates hope will bring back Washington’s still-languishing neighborhoods.

6) McNabb plans to stay for a while

As the Redskins embark on contract negotiations to lock quarterback Donovan McNabb into a long-term deal, they apparently haven’t ruled out the possibility of Jason Campbell returning for one more season.

7) Obama to discuss needs of black community

President Obama will sit down Tuesday with about 20 black religious leaders, including representatives of the major African American denominations, in the second White House meeting in three months to discuss the needs of the black community.

8.) The forgotten District

Where’s the help for the black underclass?

9) New nuclear policy takes middle course

A year after his groundbreaking pledge to move toward a “world without nuclear weapons,” President Obama on Tuesday will unveil a policy that constrains the weapons’ role but appears more cautious than what many supporters had hoped, with the president opting for a middle course in many key areas.

10) Obama’s first pitch: Wild, to the left

Yes, they booed President Obama at Nationals Park on Monday. And he deserved it.

Word of the Day for Wednesday, April 7, 2010

megrim \MEE-grim\, noun:

1. A migraine.
2. A fancy; a whim.
3. In the plural: lowness of spirits — often with ‘the’.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is frequently belittled for being slow to develop the latest smartphones and touchscreen devices, and its market share in the U.S. stinks, too.

But this morning, UBS analyst Gareth Jenkins saw something the rest of us may be missing, and raised his rating on the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and increased his price target to $19.55 from $14.16 a share, reports Barron’s. The stock is currently trading down 7 cents at $15.50 a share.

He said there’s two primary reasons why Nokia’s underrated. First, he said Nokia will be able to leverage its global market share as more people adopt smartphones. Second, he said they should be able to leverage their market share to sell services in addition to devices. “Nokia is one of few vendors who can profitably offer lower priced smartphones for the emerging markets,” he wrote, adding that “we believe Nokia’s current valuation implies no value to its ability to transition consumers into Nokia service subscribers.”

Both points are valid, however, the company faces a number of challenges. It is still waiting for their Symbian and MeeGo operating systems to be significantly updated in order for the phones to have a competitive look and feel. Those are coming this year, and will be updated again next year. On the services front, Nokia has been trying for some time to offer things, like email and mapping and navigation. But it faces steep competition from Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and others. It may have a better chance to win consumers over in countries where online habits are not yet formed. Still, Nokia had to stop charging for its mapping services after Google started offering theirs for free. Since then, it successfully recorded millions of downloads, which they hope will translate to paid downloads as people become aware of other services.

Related

• Analyst: Nokia Is Prepping An iPad Rival, Too
• Nokia Seals Handset Deals With China Worth $2 Billion
• Nokia Predicts 10 Percent Growth For Mobile Phones In 2010
• Nokia Unveils Smartphones For The Masses

Aston Martin has announced that it will return to the legendary Nordschleife circuit for the 5th consecutive year at the 38th ADAC Nurburgring 24 hour Race with it’s new four-door sports sedan – the Aston Martin Rapide.

Aston Martin said that the Rapide will see little changes for the race besides some of the mandatory changes required to compete in the demanding race and will be driven by a team of engineers from the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, England.

“This race represents the ultimate final engineering durability test for any sports car – it subjects the car to the toughest possible assessment under public scrutiny, said Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez who will lead the Rapide driver team. “The Rapide has the capability to carry four people in comfort but first and foremost it is a sports car and we will subject it to the same tests we would our other sports cars. We already have a proven track record at the Nurburgring racing our road cars with limited modification and in recent years we have enjoyed success in winning the SP8 class both in 2008 and 2009.”

The Aston Martin Rapide race car will see some race safety modifications, interior trim removed to reduce weight, re-tuned suspension and will run on slick tires designed for track use.

The 38th ADAC Nurburgring 24 Hour Race will take place on May 15/16 2010.

Click here for more news on the Aston Martin Rapide.

Refresher: Power for the Aston Martin Rapide comes from a 6.0L V12 engine making 470-hp and a peak torque of 443 lb-ft. Mated to a Touchtronic 2 6-speed gearbox with electronic shift-by-wire control system, the Aston Martin Rapide can go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds with a top speed of 188 mph.

Aston Martin Rapide Race Car:

Aston Martin Rapide:

– By: Omar Rana

According to the latest data from analytics firm Hitwise, Ask managed to grow an astonishing 21% last month (from 2.84% to 3.44%), while Microsoft’s Bing actually lost 1%. After a long period of slow but steady decline, the total number of U.S. searches on Yahoo grew about 3% last month, while Google lost about 1% and fell under 70%. Alternative search engines only accounted for 1.93% of all U.S. searches.

Sponsor

Verticals

Even though Bing lost some ground in the overall search market, it did quite well in the verticals it already specializes in. Year-over-Year, the percentage of upstream traffic from Bing to automotive, health, shopping and travel sites grew more than 100%. Month-to-month, Bing also saw double-digit growth according to Hitwise.

Google, of course, remains the most important source of traffic for these verticals and it’s worth noting that even though Bing’s important is growing, it only delivers between 2 and 4% of the upstream traffic for these key industries. To some degree, though, Bing isn’t really interested in delivering this traffic to outside sources and would rather serve its customers by giving them answers right on its own site.

Discuss

The Apple iPad has joined the list of Apple products which have some hardware issues. Engadget recently took a poll on how many users are facing Wi-Fi related issues with their brand new iPad and a lot of people reported Wi-Fi related issues. Apple today acknowledged that the iPad does have Wi-Fi connectivity issues but they also mentioned that its not a problem with their device. Apple said that these issues are common with some 3rd party dual-band WiFi routers.

Apple says that the iPad drops the Wi-Fi connectivity if multiple networks use the same name or different security settings. Apple suggested that users should use different names for different Wi-Fi networks and same security settings. Many users reported success after trying the remedy suggested by Apple. Aside from the Wi-Fi connectivity problem, some users are even reporting that their iPad heats up and gives a warning message “iPad needs to cool down before you can use it.” This problem was even faced by PC World Editor, Zach Honig. Apple has not yet commented about this issue.

On a serious note, Apple seriously needs to improve the testing standard and quality of its devices. All of Apple’s product that have been released in the last couple of years has had some sort of issues. The newer iMacs launched by Apple had an issue of display flickering, the refreshed line-up of Mac book Pro had poor hard disk drive performance issue etcetera.

Don’t miss these Related Posts:

• Apple Ties Up With Amazon To Sell iPad At A Discount
• iPad Details and Specifications – All You Want To Know About the Apple Tablet
• Apple Says New iPad Orders to Ship after April 12th
• Apple Says Sunlight Causes iPhone To Overheat
• First Glimpse of the Apple iPad | Apple iPad Picture Gallery

Join Techie Buzz on Your Favorite Social Networking Sites

• Become a Techie Buzz fan on Facebook
• Follow Techie Buzz on Twitter

Calling all MSFT enthusiasts… We will be launching our new Microsoft Investor newsletter soon.

What is it?  The Microsoft Investor offers a daily compilation of important news and trends affecting Microsoft, along with our own analysis and commentary. 

Signing up is quick and easy.  Use the form below to enter your information then click the “Sign Up” button.

Join the conversation about this story »