NEW YORK, March 30 - As U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gets ready to unveil plans on overhauling the regulation of markets on Monday, one group is already lining up in the opposition camp: state insurance commissioners.
One of the items on the treasury department’s blueprint for a massive shake-up of U.S. financial market regulations calls for the creation of a federal insurance regulator.
States currently have the authority to oversee insurers, and although efforts have been made to standardise forms and other requirements, many differences persist between states.
“I think we’ve demonstrated over the years that state-based regulation is the most effective way to protect our consumers,” Sandy Praeger, president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, said in a telephone interview.
“Efficiency at the cost of consumer protection is I don’t think where we want to go.”
Praeger, who said she was speaking on behalf of all state insurance commissioners, said it was important to have people at the state level who could ensure that products were appropriate and could explain them to customers.
“You want consumers to understand what they are buying … You want someone to make sure the rules are easy to understand and appropriately represent the product being sold,” she said.
Under the treasury department’s proposal, a new federal insurance regulator would have oversight of insurance firms that chose an “optional federal charter”.
The next couple of weeks are going to be completely amazing. First off, my parents are going out of town over the weekend and it will be nice to have the house to myself and a select few friends. Being one of eight kids I rarely ever get any peace and quiet. My parents come home on Sunday and then Monday we leave for a much needed vacation. We are taking a cruise to Cozumel and the Cayman Islands. I have not been on a cruise since I was 10, so I am super excited about being of age in Mexico. So after that week, hopefully I am not too burned, my friend invited me to my old high schools prom to see everyone that I left behind. Plus on top of that I have a beautiful date and we get to take a strecth Hummer. The next free write that we have I will probably talk about these events after the fact, so we will see if the events live up to my expectations.
Unfortunately, I was unable to see the entire movie. I did see the first half of it in class and researched a little on what went on throughout the rest of the movie. I really enjoyed what I watched and I am very interested in watching the movie all the way through. I did not find the movie to be that ethical. Stephen Glass did everything for himself and did not care about who or what he hurt. He looked for a short cut to fame by creating interviews, stories, sources, and things of that nature. No one on his team ever questioned him, the only thing they would ever ask is “Do you have sources?” Stephens answer would then be yes and that was the end of it. Throughout the movie, Stephen plays the innocent guy and makes you think that the editor is sort of the bad guy. This was a really interesting true story that shows what some people will do for fame.
The death knell of Jazz sounded when it became formally institutionalized in academia. With that it ceased being a music of the streets and relevant to the people. Instead, it became something lofty and exclusive. Wynton Marsalis is but one example of the mindset inculcated into the minds of the beneficiaries of ‘higher education’.
This was a comment made in response to this alarming post. Aside from the ubiquitous Kenny G joke, this article told nothing new at the time of its writing and only furthers the trench-digging of those in the jazz community who refuse to be a part of the new musical economy.
This does not have to be “us vs. them.” Wynton’s got a great thing going on. As long as I don’t let him define jazz for me (and I know I’m not the only one), he can only harm those looking for him to harm them. As for academia, I’m still on the fence.
Why do people get so obsessed over stadiums? Why are they so beloved? It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense really. Just yesterday, Al Lang Field, a home for Spring Training, was closed down for the final time after the Rays lost to the Reds in their final spring training game of the season. What made it so sentimental? Why do people like retaining memories of stadiums? It’s just a stadium. The only thing that should matter there is how loud you can make it and how well your team does. The stadium itself should not mean a thing.
I’m so happy Leisa posted the link to this in her Twitter stream. I think I had heard of this project through the Open Society Institute, but never got a chance to read more or watch the student-produced videos until now.
The Katrina Media Fellows’ mission is stated as follows:
Through stories and images, the fellows aim to deepen public understanding of the government’s long-term response to Katrina; failures of public policy; use or misuse of public funds; the role of private contractors; the effectiveness of clean-up and rebuilding efforts; the psychological impact on residents, now more than two years after the storm; and lessons that should inform the handling of future disasters.
One of the most powerful videos, considering the subject of my dissertation research, is the one entitled “Not As Seen on TV.” Not only does it let locals speak for themselves, it shows the pain that permeates the city still today. (However, I actually wish less edits were made because I think some interviewees were on the verge of sharing more and, while that may be uncomfortable to watch, how else can their grief be honestly represented and understood?) Still, heavy emphasis is also made on the music, culture, and humor of New Orleanians, with one interview subject stating it quite plainly, “New Orleans is not just a place, it’s our soul.”
I’m in the midst of revising my own narrative which deals with my denial during the week of August 29, 2005, and watching this only reminds me of how my parents could have also been part of those people left behind had the storm not hit the magic number 5. I truly think that’s the only thing that convinced them to evacuate at the last minute. While they were lucky and never had to live in a FEMA trailer, I know we are all still trying to deal with the loss, the gutting & buy-out of our home, and the feeling of “not knowing when this was going to end.”
Even though I blog about this quite often, it’s not something I voice out loud much, probably because I’m still suffering from the pain and anger of things being forever changed by the levee breaches. Because I’m not living in NOLA now, and because when I visit I see friends who seem genuinely happy with the way their lives are going, it’s easy for me to purposefully forget how traumatic it must be to cope with the many changes that have occurred the past three years.
All I can do though is write my story, share the blogs of those living there now, and try to remain as involved in the city’s recovery as possible.
In fact, next week when I am there for the Conference on College Composition and Communication I’ll have a chance to meet again with fellow New Orleans bloggers and have my first ever “tweetup” with eve11 who I’ve connected with through Twitter. Her blog is wonderfully written and I’m looking forward to both talking to her about a term she introduced me to called “naked blogging,” and donating my OLPC XO laptop to her proposed children’s social media project!
Watch this space for updates on this next week. Til then, go watch the videos at the Soros site.
I really wish I had the time to get up to Harvard for “The Future of the Internet” conference May 15-16, 2008, but now that I’m 80 days away from my anticipated defense date, I have to focus on things like producing pages, making edits, and figuring out where I’ll be living in July!
The planned breakout sessions described here sound amazing, so I can’t wait to read the liveblogging, wiki edits, and Twitter streams that come out of them!
Also, I’m hearing things are really moving along on the inside. The grand staircases are in, tile is going in and lots of other things are moving along.
The story I wrote a mini-blog on was one in which a woman was harrassed into taking out her nipple piercings by airport security before she was able to get on a flight. The link for the article is
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/flier-blasts-tsa-over-piercings-removal/20080327192709990001#cmntbgn.
Here is what I wrote on this issue:
This is wrong on so many levels! I definitelty believe this is a violation of rights. It is really sad that in todays society someone can’t even get past security with just a pat-down, especially since they did not even offer. They degraded her enough making her show them but then, to add salt to the wound, they make her remove them with pliers! This is ridiculous! I have a lot of friends with this done and not one of them has ever had any problems going through security! Why was this woman pinpointed?! Soon you will see something along the lines of “Man has to remove penis piercing to board airplane”. What has our society come to today?
This is a little old, but truly remarkable. If you can’t tell, I’m on a bit of a Seth Godin kick right now. I’m reading his book “Small Is the New Big” and it’s very inspiring. I became aware of TED by way of Thomas Dolby, the music director for the show.
This is a great video of Seth’s presentation at the 2003 TED. It happens to mention my favorite architect as well.
It’s that time of year again when the department gives out its Graduate Awards. I couldn’t be more honored! Now that I’m dissertating and have a job lined up, it kinda feels like senior year for me, and this tops it off quite nicely.
Joseph Bentley Teaching Fellowship: Taylor Joy Mitchell
Estelle J. Zbar Award for Teaching & Academic Excellence in English: Patrick McGowan
Harry S. Newman Award for Academic Promise: Ginna Wilkerson
Dorothy Newman Linton Award for Academic Promise: Bob Batchelor
Irving H. Rubin and Mollie M. Rubin Award for Outstanding Graduate Student: Ann Basso
Alice Hearne Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Candidate: Daisy Pignetti
Jack B. Moore Memorial Scholarship: Taylor Joy Mitchell
Irving Deer Memorial Scholarship: Patrick McGowan
John Iorio Award for Outstanding Graduate Student: Cameron Hunt-Logan
Alma Bryant Award for Outstanding Graduate Student: Daisy Pignetti
The Awards Ceremony will be held in a few weeks, so I’ll post pics then. If I get a nice chunk of change from my tax returns, I may even provide video. FYI: Thanks to IJustine’s SXSW coverage, my latest tech-object of desire is this FlipVideo.
I want to graduate from college so I can get myself a really good paying job so I am able to support a family and be able to do a lot of other things with my life. Right now college is a little bit hard and I am not sure if I am going to be able to continue my college experience next year because of money issues. Hopefully things will turn out the way that I want them to. I think that graduating from college is something very important and everyone needs to do it because when you graduate from college, a lot of doorways will open for you and you will be able to do many things with your life. This is what I argue about for myself and for other people because I really feel strongly about this and also because of looking at all of the facts, college can make a really big difference in your life. How else do you think people become doctors, lawyer, engineers, etc.? They want go to college and they “bust their behinds” in order to become something better in life. To me, if you don’t go to college and try to make a difference in this world, you can still get regular jobs, but a lot of them wouldn’t be as good if you got a job with a college degree. This is why I want to graduate from college. I also want to know what anybody thinks of this, or if they have stronger arguement related to this topic.
I’ll start this semi-regular series with a non-bassist. Part of this shot has been the banner for AllAboutJazz.com’s photo section as long as I’ve been noticing. I found the full photo at Jorrit Dijkstra’s website. John Hollenbeck is the crazy guy with the death ray behind the drumset. I saw Hollenbeck with his large ensemble at IAJE 2007 and was hooked. I’ll have to check this recording out.
Marc Myers writes a blog called JazzWax and I have to admit that I rarely read his serialized interviews. I’m reading his Ron Carter interviews right now (he’s on #3) and have been enjoying them. I admit to taking serious issue with a statement made at the beginning of part 1.
The history of the acoustic jazz bass starts in the hands of hard-charging 1930s swingers like Jimmy Blanton, John Kirby, Moses Allen and Walter Page. The band bassists were followed in the 1940s by boppers Oscar Pettiford, Curley Russell, Tommy Potter and Nelson Boyd. Next were the cooler, more “cerebral” 1950s bassists Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Percy Heath, Paul Chambers, Milt Hinton, George Morrow, Doug Watkins and Scott LaFaro. Then in the early 1960s, Ron Carter transformed the upright instrument from metronome to equal creative partner.
Scott LaFaro? Was LaFaro a living metronome? I love and respect Ron’s work. The work he did with Miles is stuff I’m trying so hard to digest as I type, but let’s not deny Scotty’s impact. Now, If you didn’t know your jazz calendar, you could say that Carter was doing this thing before Scotty did, but Scotty passed away in ‘61; Carter didn’t join Miles until ‘63. I’ve always considered the Bill Evans trio with Scotty to be the epitome of round-table jazz. Again, I mean this as no slight to RC; I just think adding Scott’s name to that list undermines the credibility of the rest of the article.
All that unpleasantness aside, it always intrigues me to encounter luminaries who are uninterested in reliving, or even revisiting, the glorious past. So many people cling so desperately to their laurels that they cannot move forward. It’s at least a bit interesting to hear of so many musicians, including Miles himself, uninterested in their past accomplishments. Carter continues to churn out amazing music. Ron’s Golden Striker and Dear Miles are absolutely stunning works.
If the business world could continue to look towards the future (think Apple) instead of resting on their accomplishments (American automotive, anyone?), the world would be a much more productive place.
Thanks to Nat Adderly (what a bad Wikipedia entry!), a Tampa resident until his passing, the festival always included a stellar roster of top musicians who didn’t even know where Lakeland, Florida was until they got the call from Nat. Larry Willis and Jimmy Cobb were stalwart participants of the festival. During its heyday, I understand Child of the Sun took place in downtown Lakeland on the Promenade and lasted several days.
I only had the privilege of attending twice and regret the other opportunities I had to attend, but didn’t. It’s easy to lament the state of The Art when things like this happen, but I consider it a call to action for jazz musicians and fans to make a new scene happen. That’s the direction I am heading. How about in your community? Do you complain about the closing of a great club or musicians moving away to a better scene? Why not turn that frustration into work - and positive change?
Thanks to Nat Adderly (what a bad Wikipedia entry!), a Tampa resident until his passing, the festival always included a stellar roster of top musicians who didn’t even know where Lakeland, Florida was until they got the call from Nat. Larry Willis and Jimmy Cobb were stalwart participants of the festival. During its heyday, I understand Child of the Sun took place in downtown Lakeland on the Promenade and lasted several days.
I only had the privilege of attending twice and regret the other opportunities I had to attend, but didn’t. It’s easy to lament the state of The Art when things like this happen, but I consider it a call to action for jazz musicians and fans to make a new scene happen. That’s the direction I am heading. How about in your community? Do you complain about the closing of a great club or musicians moving away to a better scene? Why not turn that frustration into work - and positive change?
So my favorite show of all time now has every episode online for free. I only wish I could place the video in this post and share with you what I feel is a great episode.
I guess the following will have to do Guitar Queer
Assignment was to participate in a forum discussion. I chose a Rays fan board.
gorays: The Yankees lose 7-5, still tied for 1st in Grapefruit League play
dan: And this falls under the most useless information category
michray:
Agreed Wins and losses in Spring Training are just about the most meaningless things on earth
raysgows: Yup, right up there with whomever is elected president.
(me): I see us winning in spring training as a great deal. It is good for the team itself and the owners of the team. A lot of fans often judge how well a team is going to be depending on how they do in spring training. If we win the majority of our games I think it will help attendance greatly. Also winning gives the team ’swagger’. Last year when we lost all those games I think we lost a bit of our competitive nature a little. CC running into the catcher today was a great example, we are not playing like it is spring(besides for all the subs) the guys want to win now.
bill: I agree, winning in ST is great momentum to carry into the regular season.
rays31: I think winning is more important after the day off in the middle of the month than it is now.
The Internal Revenue Service has handed investors and second-home owners a new gift in the form of a safety net that provides a “safe harbor” for taxpayers who wish to swap the property via a Section 1031 tax-free exchange even though they have enjoyed personal use of the property.
Revenue Procedure 2008-16, which went into effect March 10, allows limited personal use of an investment property and will not prevent a dwelling unit from qualifying as property held for trade or business or investment use for purposes of the tax-free exchange rules.
Many “second homes” are actually investment properties because their owners rent them out a majority of the year. The IRS has steered clear of any personal-use language regarding a tax-free exchange, but a new court case sparked a need for clarity “in the interest of sound tax administration.”
In Moore vs. Commissioner, the taxpayers exchanged one lakeside vacation home for another. Neither home was ever rented. Both were used by the taxpayers only for personal purposes. The taxpayers claimed that the exchange of the homes was like-kind under Section 1031 because the properties were expected to appreciate in value and thus were held for investment.
The tax court held, however, that the properties were held for personal use and that the “mere hope or expectation that property may be sold at a gain cannot establish an investment intent if the taxpayer uses the property as a residence.”
Personal residences can’t be exchanged tax-free under Section 1031 because they aren’t held for productive use in a trade, business or investment.
“While the IRS is fully aware that many people use their investment properties for their own vacations, the agency is now saying it will not challenge a 1031 exchange just because there was personal use of an investment property,” according to Rob Keasal, real estate tax specialist in the Northwest accounting firm of Anderson ZurMuehlen.
In the wake of the Moore case, the IRS has taken a more lenient approach to exchanges. It provides taxpayers with a safe harbor under which a dwelling will qualify for Section 1031 purposes even though the owners occasionally use the dwelling unit — as long as other exchange rules are met.
Strict personal-use rules of the investment property as a “second home” still apply. The period of the taxpayer’s own use cannot exceed the greater of 14 days or 10% of the number of days during the 12-month period that the dwelling unit is rented at a fair market value.
The Moore case flunked the Section 1031 tax-free exchange test for a variety of reasons, according to the tax court. Among them, the taxpayers never rented or attempted to rent the properties. In addition, they failed to claim any tax deductions for maintenance expenses or depreciation connected with the properties and claimed interest deductions on both properties as home mortgage interest rather than as investment interest.
“Although the taxpayers hoped that both properties would appreciate, the tax court found in Moore that the taxpayers’ primary purpose in acquiring and holding the properties was to provide personal vacation retreats for their family,” Keasal said. “You will not pass the exchange test by banking on appreciation alone. While the new guideline does provide for personal use, the IRS is clear that property has to qualify as an investment to be a candidate for a tax-free exchange.”
So don’t be afraid to use your lake place, or ski condo, even though it’s an investment property and you plan to exchange it for another investment property down the road. If you limit your personal use, you will be sailing into the IRS’ new safe harbor.
Part 6 of the information series is up. This installment discusses the lounges, study rooms and computer lab. Throughout the building there will be several lounges - ranging from large to small, intimate lounges. There will also be a Serenity Room which will be a quiet place for students unwind, meditate and relax. The computer lab will be two-stories in the new building and will have the ability to have its own hours, separate from the main building of the new Marshall Student Center.
On the 2nd floor there will be four study rooms available on a first-come, first-served basis for group work. The rooms will feature a conference table and dry erase board and will be open whenever the building is open.
There will be quiet lounges, television lounges, lounges with views and more in the building; it will be a great place to meet up with friends and relax or study.
I have apparently just joined the 21st Century and discovered FeedBurner. My Google Analytics stats have not accurately reflected my readership to this point because GA cannot (to my knowledge) analyze feed traffic. Enter FeedBurner. If you like me enough to care about my self-esteem, please click here to re-subscribe to my feed. It’s now set up through FeedBurner and will give me access to RSS statistics. Just another way to make this website better.
I have apparently just joined the 21st Century and discovered FeedBurner. My Google Analytics stats have not accurately reflected my readership to this point because GA cannot (to my knowledge) analyze feed traffic. Enter FeedBurner. If you like me enough to care about my self-esteem, please click here to re-subscribe to my feed. It’s now set up through FeedBurner and will give me access to RSS statistics. Just another way to make this website better.
Marc Myers
I have apparently just joined the 21st Century and discovered 