AFP - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates named General James Mattis on Thursday ...

Filed under: Private Equity, Best Buy (BBY), RadioShack Corp (RSH)

Earlier this week, we took another big step forward in the Obama Administration’s efforts to encourage more sustainable development as we announced $100 million for our new Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program to encourage regions to integrate economic development, land use, and transportation investments – which will help to tie the quality and location of housing to broader opportunities such as access to good jobs, quality schools, and safe streets. 

For all the implications of “sprawl”—from job loss, economic decline and segregation, to obesity, a...

Congressional candidate Tracey Mann, R-Salina, doesna t have anything against his opponents in the Kansas 1st District primary, but he doesna t favor electing career politicians, he told 13 people at a campaign stop Thursday in Hillsboro.

Old and new intersect at First Parish Church in Massachusetts, which holds 18th-century timber in its walls and displays proof of its 21st-century energy efficiency with an "Energy Star" plaque by the door.

Filed under: Stocks to Sell

Missouri's strip clubs and adult stores will need to keep their employees partially clad, minors out and doors closed after midnight under legislation signed Friday by Gov.

Mailbag Day! We decided to make episode thirteen of West Wing Week a chance to respond to some of your letters and emails. This week, find out if the White House composts, learn which direction the eagle on the Presidential seal faces, and examine the process by which the flag flying over the White House is lowered to half-staff.

Click here to see the video.

<...

Reuters - Apple fans queued overnight by the hundreds outside stores in the United States, Europe and Japan to snap up the latest iPhone, setting a new benchmark in the fast-growing smartphone market.

Reuters - President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Tuesday defended her decision to limit military recruiting at Harvard and rejected Republican charges she would be a liberal judicial activist...

Filed under: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Technical Analysis

Many may find it surprising that the Tea Party favors striking down the so-called "Defense of Marriage" Act , the anti-gay federal law signed by Bill Clinton in 1996 that allows states to ignore marriages performed elsewhere and that also expressly forbids any federal recognition of gay and lesbian families.

Just sharing some photos and audio from the first-ever Momentum Summit, held last Wednesday at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

The objective was to gather some of the founders, CEOs, and senior execs from the most successful Massachusetts companies of the past decade, and have them talk about how they grew from start-up to major player. (Disclosure: I was involved as an organizer.) Speakers included TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer; Constant Contact CEO Gail Goodman; Rue La La/Retail Convergence CEO Ben Fischman; and, surprisingly, Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith, whose company filed for an initial public offering a few weeks before the event — which often means an e...

An appeals court tossed out the first federal death sentence given in New York in five decades Wednesday, finding that prosecutors improperly advised a jury after it convicted a man of killing two undercover police detectives who were posing as gun buyers.

A tea party group that wants Ohio exempted from the national health care law says it won't be able to get the issue on this fall's statewide ballot.

Filed under: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO)

I wrote an article

BP has paid the government its first $69 million bill for the Gulf oil spill recovery efforts.

Massachusetts clinical testing lab is accused of defrauding the state Medicaid program out of $10.6 million by using a kickback scheme to steer drug screening business to the company.

Today, the Associated Press takes a look at the first stages of the Affordable Care Act and finds that millions will benefit from the new protections in the new law. The story notes:

“The first stage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is expected to provide coverage to about 1 million uninsured Americans by next year, according to government estimates… Many others - more than 100 million people - are getting new benefits that improve their existing coverage.”

And, here are a few of the provisions identified by the Associated Press ...

AFP - US President Barack Obama unveiled new measures Tuesday implementing the landm...

Filed under: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Stocks to Buy, U.S. Bancorp (USB)

How to Unclog a Drain the Green Natural Way from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Every once in a while, it pays to go back to school. Even investors who’ve been around the block a time or two need a refresher in some time-tested lessons.
That especially goes for us editors here at Taipan Publishing Group.…

Reuters - A judge refused on Thursday to put on hold his decision that blocked the Obama administration from enforcing its six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

It's critical that you put your best face forward when you prepare your AMCAS application or your Combined MB/PhD application. The essays in your application need to be coherent, thoughtful, and extremely well-written—a difficult task for someone who's in school or working full-time.

Purchase Accepted's NEW AMCAS Comprehensive Package or

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Best 0% APR on Balance Transfers Credit Cards

IF you have any kind of chronic medical condition and you've been shopping for health insurance, you know how insanely difficult it is to find an insurer that will cover you at all, let alone at an affordable rate.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

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Elena Kagan kicked off her week-long hearing today with about 12 minutes of opening remarks -- take a look and read some excerpts below:

“Mr. Chairman, the law school I ha...

July 1st marks the official start of the summer schmoozing slow-down: as everyone heads off on vacation, there are far fewer workshops, conferences, and networking events on the calendar until September arrives.

But a few events worth knowing about in July:

- The monthly Mass Innovation Night gathering on July 14th brings together a hand-chosen group of companies — this time focused on energy and sustainability — to show their stuff at the IBM Innovation Center in Waltham. The presenters will be talking about energy-efficient timber frame homes, "green" house cleaning, hybrid electric bikes, and more.

- On

The Toledo veterinarian who is overseeing the treatment of the family dog that was allegedly shot by his owners' neighbor said Friday he expects the animal to recover.

Smart Money 2010 Best Online Brokers from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

Click here to see the photo gallery.

This week, the First Lady traveled to Panama City Beach, Florida, to meet with business and community leaders in the area. The past few months have been especially challenging for families and businesses in the Gulf Coast region. The BP Oil Spill is the worst environmental disaster our nation has ever seen, and the effects of the spill are evident not only in the oil washin...

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Turn Off Your Air Conditioner and Save Summer Money

Filed under: Walt Disney (DIS), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Business of Sports

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Podcast 64: Taking Control of Your Fina...

A record number of children were rescued from paedophiles prowling the internet last year, a specialist police unit has said.

Surprising news in this SEC filing today: Waltham's Polaris Venture Partners, one of the more active local firms investing in tech, cleantech, and life sciences, is planning to raise $400 million for its next fund. That's less than half the value of the $1 billion fund Polaris raised in 2006.

That'll obviously lead to a change in the pace (and/or size) of new investments that Polaris makes, but I'm not expecting there to be any radical reductions in Polaris' line-up of investors, or its commitment to its Dogpatch Labs incubator space in Boston, San Francisco, or New York. So f...

Early this morning the President signed H.R. 3962, which prevents a 21-percent pay cut for doctors participating in Medicare. Had Congress failed to act, some physicians would have been forced to stop taking Medicare patients. That’s not an outcome that the President can accept.

The pay-cut fix is retroactive to June 1, and it doesn’t just undo the cut: it actually represents the highest update since 2001.

And to make sure that doctors see relief right away, the President also signed a directive to the Department of Health and Human Services instructing them to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and implement these changes immediately.

The bottom line: with...

AP - Craning their necks and clapping to Appalachian music, West Virginians bid farewell Friday to Robert C. Byrd, their beloved senator who rose from childhood poverty in a coa...

"Do you suppose the governor will leave the state at the end of her term?" a dear friend of mine asked this week.

Filed under: Apple Inc (AAPL), Adobe Systems (ADBE), Lowe's Cos (LOW), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP)

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is in full swing with new episodes every Sunday. Listen and subscribe now!

Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension

Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), Stocks to Buy

The shares of Coca-Cola (KO), first discussed here on February 20, 2009, at a price of $42.68, have misbehaved in the last three months, falling from $55 to about $51, but the calculation is to stick with the trade. Here's why:

Look...

Federal prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the trial of two people accused of plotting to extort $680,000 from actor John Stamos after investigators explained how they arrested the pair and found no unflattering photos during a search of a house.

Filed under: Earnings Reports, DJIA

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Alcoa Inc (AA)

When Alcoa (AA) issued its first-quarter earnings report back in April, I wasn't impressed. I felt the shares weren't a buy, and I wanted a pullback. Well, we got one. In fact, the stock closed Monday's regular session at $10.87, not far from the ...

Pete Souza and the White House Photo Office just dropped a new set of behind the scene photos from the month of June. Look inside the President's meetings on the response to the deepwater BP oil spill, get an aerial view of more than 600 chefs gathered on the South Lawn for a Let’s Move! event, see Reggie Love, President Obama’s personal’s aide, hit the water in a dunk tank, and about 20 more you don't want to miss.

A Denver couple has been charged with child abuse for allegedly running a marijuana growing operation in their home where they lived with three children.

SF 278 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure reports for White House officials are now available.  Interested parties may request online those reports they would like to review.  Through this streamlined distribution process, each report is available in pdf form for transmission via email once the electronic form has been filed.  Requested reports will be emailed as quickly as possible.  Please call the press office if you have any questions.

The application form to access the SF 278s is available here.

Bob Bauer is Counsel t...

The Obama administration on Tuesday rolled out an ambitious five-year plan for moving doctors and hospitals to computerized medical records, promising greater safety for patients and lower costs.

AFP - The Pentagon on Wednesday said it ...

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a landmark overhaul of financ...

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL)

Picture a neighborhood block somewhere in your town.  It might have single-story homes for 10 families -- complete with front porches, sidewalks and green lawns. Or instead that block might have a single apartment building that houses 50 families over five floors.  What we know is that each of the families -- whether they're living in a detached house or a mid-rise apartment --  pays away some of their hard-earned dollars to pay for energy.  And for many low-income Americans, these energy bills absorb a significant amount of the family income. 

Now imagine that teams of trained experts come down that block and install measures to help those familie...

Below find all of the resources, and several photos from the second day of the G8 Summit and the G20 in Canada.

• After losing hundreds of jobs in April, the legal sector gained 300 jobs in May, according to New York Lawyer. Nevertheless, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has still been a loss of 400 legal jobs since March, and a total of 22,200 since May 2009.
• The Law School Admissions Council, which administers the LSAT, has a new online guide that will “walk potential law school applicants through the LSAT itself and the process of requesting special accommodations for taking 

AFP - US President Barack Obama's pick to fill a second US Supreme Court vacancy, Elena Kagan, faces her first conf...

If you are a rising high school senior, there is a good chance that the Common Application website is bookmarked on your web browser, or printed, sitting on your desk.  An ominous reminder of the promise that you made to yourself:  I will write my college essays this summer. 

 With more than 300 colleges and universities, including many of the nation’s most selective post-secondary institutions, accepting the Common Application, there’s a good chance that you’ll be addressing one of its broad ranging ...

A panel of state lawmakers is examining the federal health care overhaul and Minnesota's efforts to provide health care to more people.

First Lady Michelle Obama and First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva of Russia attend a performance at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington, D.C.

“Just in this performance, you hav...

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

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Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is trying to block the state from becoming involved in a lawsuit over the federal health care overhaul.

According to the Businessweek blog Getting In, only 4% of applicants to top MBA programs decided to submit GRE scores. Only 5% of applicants to Harvard Business School and to Yale SOM submitted GRE scores, while UVA Darden received less than 2%. Washington Olin received a whopping 7%, while Stanford G...

Ed. Note: Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama joined kids from the Washington, DC area to launch the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and introduce the 2010 Council, including Co-Chairs Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, and guest blogger Dominique Dawes, three-time Olympian and former U.S. national champion in women’s gymnastics. 

In conjunction with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, this year President Obama has broadened the scope of the Council t...