Odd Alliance: Business Lobby and Tea Party

But a Tea Party group in the United States, the Institute for Liberty, has vigorously defended the freedom of a giant Indonesian paper company to sell its wares to Americans without paying tariffs. The institute set up Web sites, published reports and organized a petition drive attacking American businesses, unions and environmentalists critical of the company, Asia Pulp & Paper.

Last fall, the institute?s president, Andrew Langer, had himself videotaped on Long Wharf in Boston holding a copy of the Declaration of Independence as he compared Washington?s proposed tariff on paper from Indonesia and China to Britain?s colonial trade policies in 1776.

Tariff-free Asian paper may seem an unlikely cause for a nonprofit Tea Party group. But it is in keeping with a succession of pro-business campaigns ? promoting commercial space flight, palm oil imports and genetically modified alfalfa ? that have occupied the Institute for Liberty?s recent agenda.

The Tea Party movement is as deeply skeptical of big business as it is of big government. Yet an examination of the Institute for Liberty shows how Washington?s influence industry has adapted itself to the Tea Party era. In a quietly arranged marriage of seemingly disparate interests, the institute and kindred groups are increasingly the bearers of corporate messages wrapped in populist Tea Party themes.

In a few instances, their corporate partners are known ? as with the billionaire Koch brothers? support of Americans for Prosperity, one of the most visible advocacy groups. More often, though, their nonprofit tax status means they do not have to reveal who pays the bills.

Mr. Langer would not say who financed his Indonesian paper initiative. But his sudden interest in the issue coincided with a public relations push by Asia Pulp & Paper. And the institute?s work is remarkably similar to that produced by one of the company?s consultants, a former Australian diplomat named Alan Oxley who works closely with a Washington public affairs firm known for creating corporate campaigns presented as grass-roots efforts.

For the institute, the embrace of a foreign conglomerate?s agenda is a venture into new territory ? and distinguishes it among Tea Party advocacy groups. The issue, Mr. Langer asserted, is important to working Americans who might have to pay more for everything from children?s books to fried-chicken buckets made of coated paper from Asia. He said the institute had not accepted money directly from Asia Pulp & Paper, though it was possible the company had paid others who then contributed to the institute.

?I suppose it could be,? he said, but added, ?I don?t know about anybody else who may have gotten money from Asia Pulp & Paper who?s given money to us.?

Those on the receiving end of the institute?s attacks ? strange bedfellows like Greenpeace, Staples and Asia Pulp & Paper?s American competitors ? are unified in their skepticism of its motives.

?If you can spend as much money as you want and remain anonymous, then it doesn?t matter if you?re an overseas company or the Koch brothers, you pay the same network of anti-regulatory front groups,? said Scott Paul, director of Greenpeace?s forest campaign.

Seeing Tea Party Potential

Like many other nonprofit organizations on the Tea Party bandwagon, the Institute of Liberty predates the movement. It was created in 2005 by Jason Wright, an author of best-selling inspirational novels who had worked for Frontiers of Freedom, a conservative policy group.

In his three years at the institute, Mr. Wright said in an interview, he was often approached by public relations consultants pitching projects for clients. Typical, he said, were overtures from two consultants who wanted him to advocate for opposing positions on the regulation of ?payday? loans, widely criticized for usurious terms that hurt low-income borrowers.

?A P.R. firm in D.C. offered me a ton of money to take the wrong side of that issue,? he said. ?I did end up taking some corporate donations from the side of the issue I believed in ? that the industry had completely lost control and had to be reined in.?

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Energy: A Special Section: An Energy Plan Derailed by Events Is Being Retooled

IN just over two years in the White House, President Obama has seen the major elements of his energy and climate-change strategy demolished by a succession of economic, political, technical and natural disasters.

Mr. Obama came into office promising to enact a market-based system to combat global warming and encourage development of alternative energy sources. He endorsed a cap-and-trade system in his first State of the Union address and budget and began pushing for comprehensive legislation to place the nation on a path to a future less addicted to imported oil and more reliant on clean energy alternatives.

The plan?s complex structure depended on an expansion of offshore oil drilling and nuclear power generation, creation of a trillion-dollar market in carbon pollution credits, billions of dollars of new government spending on breakthrough technologies and a tolerance for higher energy prices by consumers and businesses, all in the service of a healthier atmosphere and a more stable climate in future decades.

But one after another the pillars of the plan came crashing down. The financial crisis undercut public faith in markets. The Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill set back plans for offshore drilling by several years. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which led to a major release of radioactivity at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor complex, raised fears about nuclear power.

Huge Republican gains in the midterm elections also dashed hopes for big new spending programs for energy technology. The upheaval in the Middle East has led to higher fuel prices and opposition to costly new regulations for the oil industry. And continuing high unemployment and sluggish economic growth have made raising energy costs for any reason a political nonstarter.

So what is left of the Obama administration?s energy ambitions?

Cap and trade has morphed into a ?clean energy standard,? under which 80 percent of electricity in the United States would be generated from clean sources by 2035. Mr. Obama laid out the goal in this year?s State of the Union address and has promoted it at several events since.

In a speech at Georgetown University on Wednesday, the president went further to try to recapture the initiative on energy policy that Republicans seized after their midterm election gains. In response to rising oil prices, the turmoil in the Middle East and a growing chorus of criticism from Congress that he has choked off domestic oil exploration, Mr. Obama set a new goal ? to reduce American oil imports by one-third over the next decade.

He said that while there were no quick fixes to the nation?s oil addiction, the United States needed to take a series of immediate steps to cut oil usage.

He called for producing more electric cars, converting trucks to run on natural gas, building new refineries to distill billions of gallons of biofuels and setting new fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. He also said that the United States would continue to rely on nuclear power for decades and would have to find a way to burn coal with fewer climate-altering emissions.

Congress has been debating these measures for years.

?The only way for America?s energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil,? he said. ?We?re going to have to find ways to boost our efficiency so that we use less oil. We?ve got to discover and produce cleaner, renewable sources of energy that also produce less carbon pollution that is threatening our climate. And we have to do it quickly.?

The president acknowledged that his energy proposals would require legislation and new money for innovative technologies and that getting either would be difficult in the current political climate. In the Georgetown speech, he noted that political gridlock had stymied the nation?s energy policy since the first Arab oil embargo in 1973.

?That has to change,? he said.

Some early efforts toward the president?s plans are now under way in Congress, although for every step forward there appears to be at least one step back. Senate Democrats are trying to write legislation to meet part of the president?s goal, but the Republican majority in the House seems determined to thwart any energy policy that does not begin with a major expansion of domestic coal production and oil and gas exploration.

So the administration has fallen back on a two-pronged strategy of discouraging dirty, old energy sources through regulation and encouraging clean, new technologies by heavy spending on innovation.

?It is true, a comprehensive energy bill is not going to be in the cards for this Congress,? Steven Chu, the secretary of energy, said in an interview. ?That?s why the president came up with this proposal for a clean energy standard.?

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On Internet Privacy

I?m starting to get frustrated by the way in which the debate about internet privacy is currently being waged. There appears to be a constant media buzz about how we?re all at terrible risk from hawkish advertisers who are just waiting to swoop in, steal our browsing history and then make millions from it.

I hope I?m not alone in my disdain for this alarmist and arguably ignorant view of how the Internet works.

I should be clear of course; I?m not against internet privacy. Neither am I advocating any kind of Big Brother-esque government monitoring of internet traffic. My beef lies with the panicky reactions we?ve seen from the media, governments, the EU and many internet users in regards to internet privacy.

Barely a month goes by without a story about how Facebook is planning to sell customer details to advertisers. This then sparks inevitable outrage from users who feel they?ve been wronged in some way before Facebook backs down again, forced to go back to the drawing board and work out how it can actually make money from its social media machine.

The Facebook example is a particularly good case study, actually. I find it constantly amazing that people will be splashing around drunken photos of themselves on it one week, and then the next week will denounce Facebook for telling an advertiser they?ve listed fashion in their interests. Granted they?ve made the choice to put up the pictures but haven?t had a say in whether Facebook has shared their details or not, but is the value of what Facebook is sharing really so great to them?

On Internet Privacy on privacy in facebook


It gets even more paradoxical when you point out that Facebook can?t share information it doesn?t have; users have to make the choice to upload personal information such as their interests, location and relationship status. I know that this information is then only available to friends, but I find it?s those with a friends list numbering in the high hundreds or even thousands that often complain the loudest when they feel their privacy has been violated. How much privacy did you think you had exactly while you were broadcasting every status update, photo and even your location to every person you?ve ever met?

The fact that Facebook has always been and will always be free also seems to be forgotten, lost in the backlash at Facebook?s audacity at actually trying to make some money while keeping its service free.

The majority of the fuss centres on the cookies that get downloaded to consumers' PCs that can track their movements and report back on what they've been viewing. Advertisers can then use this information to better target adverts at that particular PC, hopefully improving their effectiveness and their relevance to the user.

This sounds like a win-win situation to me, but for those who don?t like the sound of it then privacy controls have existed in web browsers for years. There are even privacy-specific browsers out there, free to download for whoever wants them. These options have been consistently ignored by consumers, though, who only seem to take net privacy seriously when it?s accompanied by a scare mongering headline.

On Internet Privacy on privacy in facebook


It's also ironic that internet privacy will often make news headlines right next to articles about the latest celebrity relationship gossip, or paparazzi snaps of the royals. We love to pry into other people?s lives but don?t like it so much when the boot is on the other foot and it?s our own details being shared.

A part of the problem is down to the fact that companies are still trying to work out how best to make money from the Internet, especially in the current economic climate. This is forcing companies to investigate other revenue streams beyond the traditional advertising model; a strategy that's going to lead to a number of conflicts as companies attempt to find where the line of acceptability lies.

Unfortunately for us, though, public opinion needs to change too. The opinion that the Internet is free seems commonplace, but behind most news stories, articles or online services is someone who needs to earn a wage. The first moves have been made in changing this perception - the recent move by The Times of charging for online content is the obvious example - but it'll be a long hard road to get people to pay for what has been free for so long.

How successful the approach adopted by The Times has been will only become known with time, but changes are definitely afoot on the big old World Wide Web. Regardless of what shape these changes take, it?ll be an interesting place to watch for the next ten years. Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

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Foreclosure Aid Fell Short, and Is Fading

Officials unveiled a $1 billion program to offer loans to help the jobless pay their mortgages until they could find work again. It was supposed to take effect before the end of the year, but as of today, the program has yet to accept any applications.

?We wait and wait, and they keep saying it?s coming,? said James Tyson, 50, a Philadelphia homeowner who lost his job a year ago.

That could be an epitaph for the administration?s broader foreclosure prevention effort, as tens of billions of dollars remain unspent and hundreds of thousands of homeowners have been rejected. Now the existence of the main program, the Home Assistance Modification Program, is in doubt.

Saying it is a waste of money, the Republican-controlled House voted on Tuesday night to kill the foreclosure relief program. The Senate, which the Democrats control, will pursue a rescue. But Democrats, too, consider the program badly flawed.

The effort has failed to stanch a wave of foreclosures and a decline in home prices, which have fallen for six consecutive months and are now just barely above their recession low, according to a key index updated on Tuesday. All of this threatens the fragile economy, which is also being buffeted by foreign crises.

?The banking industry fought us tooth and nail, and we ended up with a program that is failing homeowners,? said Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California. ?The administration doesn?t give us real enforcement or answers; we just get the old yokey-doke.?

Yet the need remains great. There were 225,000 foreclosure filings in February, according to RealtyTrac. About 145,000 homeowners are in trial modifications under the Obama program. An examination of federal documents and lawsuits, and interviews with legislators, state attorneys general, housing counselors, homeowners and regulators, reveal a federal mortgage modification program crippled by weak oversight, conflicts of interest, mind-numbing complexity and poor performance by many participating banks.

For example:

¶Congress set aside $50 billion for foreclosure prevention, amid administration projections that three million to four million homeowners would benefit from modifications. So far, the Treasury Department, which oversees the program, has spent slightly more than $1 billion, and just 607,000 homeowners have received permanent loan modifications (of those, 11 percent have defaulted).

¶The companies that service mortgages, typically large banks, continually lose homeowner paperwork and incorrectly tell homeowners that they must be delinquent to qualify.

¶Treasury officials have not fined any servicers, and the government-controlled company hired by the Treasury to oversee the program has expressed reluctance to crack down on banks.

Interviews with a dozen homeowner applicants in four states reveal a familiar pattern: Banks deny many who, by income and credit scores, appear to qualify. And homeowners end up weighed down by legal fees and facing foreclosure.

?I call constantly, they lose all my paperwork, and the same guy never gets on the phone,? said Ada Caceres, 53, who owns a modest home in Staten Island.

Ms. Caceres has struggled to make mortgage payments since her hours as a bartender were cut. She applied for relief, and her bank, JPMorgan Chase, twice granted temporary modifications. She made every payment.

Last August, Chase promised a permanent modification. Then it rescinded the offer, documents show.

?I love my house,? said Ms. Caceres, who is still negotiating. ?It?s a good neighborhood. But oh my God, you want to just give up.?

Homeowners can appeal denials, but the odds are not in their favor, says the program?s inspector general. A first step is a hot line providing counseling, from an agency created by mortgage servicers.

Treasury officials argue that the mortgage program has kept more than half a million American homeowners out of foreclosure and has pressured banks to offer in-house modifications. These private modifications, however, typically offer terms significantly less favorable to homeowners than what the government program offers.

Michael S. Barr, who was a top Treasury official involved with the program, says the Obama administration sought to help homeowners and encourage banks even as it protected taxpayers.

?We tried to bring some order out of the chaos,? said Mr. Barr, now a University of Michigan law professor. ?Taxpayer money was only used for successful modifications. I think that was directionally the right thing to do.?

Trouble at the Start

In the winter of 2009, the Obama administration?s urgency to address foreclosures was palpable. Hundreds of thousands of families had lost homes, and in towns from Florida to California to Nevada, foreclosure slums took root, marked by boarded-up homes and uncut grass.

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Parkopedia helps you find parking spaces in over 5700 towns in 20 countries

Ever found yourself in a situation where you need to drive around the block looking for a decent parking spot? Here?s a great free service to help you with your parking woes. Parkopedia is a nifty service that?s touting itself as the ?Wikipedia for parking?.

The service has been co-founded by Anthony Eskinazi (who?s also behind ParkatmyHouse) and has been around for quite some time now, although it only recently underwent a makeover.

The free service features an extensive and impressive database of over 15 million parking spaces spread across 5759 towns in 20 countries.

Searching for a parking spot? Just enter where you?d like to park in the search bar and the service lists all available spots on an interactive map, complete with filters, street-view, information and even reviews. At the bottom of the map, Parkopedia lists the addresses of each spot, its distance, operating hours and the pricing.

Parkopedia also features a nifty price calculator on the left that tells you exactly how much you need to pay based on the From/To values you enter. There?s also a ?Places Nearby? tab that lists interesting places to visit in the area.

Parkopedia has also made it extremely easy to access its database on the move by offering an iPhone app as well as a mobile version of the website. Apps for the other mobile platforms are currently in the works. Alternative, the service also has a SMS system for UK folks.

The service also lets you embed its maps on your websites and is even licensing out its parking data.

Try Parkopedia out here.

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Gaming 23 - The Touch of Gordon

Gaming 23 - The Touch of Gordon

Posted on 21st Mar 2011 at 11:43 by Podcast with 9 comments

This weeks gaming podcast sees Harry, Paul, Joe and Clive sit down to discuss some of the games we've been playing and reviewing lately. First up for the bit-tech treatment is the Crysis 2 demo which Harry has been playing. It's only a small part of the multiplayer portion of the game but it's an interesting window into what direction the rest of the game will take.

We also discuss Clive's review of Shogun 2: Total War and what he liked and disliked about the game. After that Joe takes us through his experiences with Dragon Age 2 and why he doesn't like the game, but still gave it a 7/10.


As always, we've also set up our weekly competition too, the lucky winner of which will walk away with a Mionix Propus 380 mousepad. This beast of a mouse mat should provide the perfect tracking surface, whichever mouse you choose to use.

As ever, the bit-tech hardware podcast features music by Brad Sucks, and was recorded on Shure microphones. This edition of the podcast was also sponsored by Darkspore. You can download the podcast direct, listen in-browser or subscribe through iTunes using the links below. Also, be sure to let us know your thoughts about the discussion in the forums.

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TechSpot Laptop Buying Guide: First Half of 2011

Amazon Beats Apple to Music Streaming

Amazon has launched a service that lets you store music on its cloud servers and access it from anywhere through a Web browser or app. The service marks the first time a major digital music retailer has allowed users such flexibility.

Amazon Cloud Drive offers users five gigabytes of storage for free with the option to upgrade (the highest level is 1,000 gigabytes of storage for $1,000 dollars per year). Music stored in the Cloud Drive can be accessed via a Web browser, or using a Cloud Player app for Android mobile devices.

Amazon describes Cloud Drive as a music platform, but the service can also be used to store photos and video. That said, there are benefits for users who buy mp3 music files from Amazon, including a free upgrade to the 20-gigabyte plan, and the right to store Amazon mp3s without having them count against the user's allotment.

Experts say that Amazon's new service will herald a wave of similar services from major companies. "It's about time," says Aram Sinnreich, an assistant professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University and the author of Mashed Up, a new book about digital music. "Cloud music services have been a mythological beast for a decade."

Sinnreich says many other companies will follow Amazon's lead. "This is the first mainstream credible effort in this direction," he says, but he expects Apple and Google to follow suit soon. In fact, both companies are already rumored to be working on their own cloud music services.

Many expected Apple to be the first to offer this type of service?especially after the company bought the music-streaming startup Lala, which already had much of the required technology in place, in December 2009.

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