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Lawsuit: Facebook for Debt Collection – A woman in Florida is suing after a debt collector used Facebook to try to collect. This could be a significant case because, currently, Facebook as a debt collecting method is a gray area of the law. Facebook doesn’t like this type of activity and said it appears to violate their policies against, “any kind of threatening, intimidating, or hateful contact from one user to another.”

Reports: Accel Sells Part of its Stake in Facebook — TechCrunch and VentureBeat are reporting that early investor Accel has sold some minority portion of its stake in Facebook, with a possible valuation of around $34 million. Details, like the size of the stake, and where this positions Accel versus other investors, is still not clear. Technology Crossover Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz may be among the stock purchasers.

Mark Zuckerberg Gets Animated – Mark Zuckerberg and the saga of Facebook’s founding will be retold in an animated film form, adapted from a comic book called ”Mark Zuckerberg and the Found.” The books will be in stores in December at a cost of $6.99.

Facebook Writes UK Govt for Free Speech – Facebook and other tech companies have written an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron and the justice minister asking them to change libel laws to reflect the Internet age. One problem is that, “there is a one-year limit for bringing a defamation claim after an offending remark is published, but every time an online comment is viewed it counts as a new publication and a potential new cause for a defamation lawsuit.”

Facebook Accounts Disabled, Being Restored – A bug hit Facebook this week that disabled an untold number of accounts; Facebook says it is in the process of restoring access to those affected, and most seem to have been by this point.

U.S. Military Warned About Facebook’s Places – The U.S. Air Force sent an internal memo out recently advising troops to be careful when using Facebook’s location service, Places. Checking into certain places could compromise U.S. forces in war zones.

Plastic Jungle Raises $10M – Plastic Jungle raised $10 million this week in a third round of funding led by Jafco Ventures, and bringing the company’s total to $23.4 million, according to VentureBeat. We’ve written previously about Plastic Jungle’s work with Credits more than once.

Facebook Sells Cars – Facebook is becoming an ever important part of the auto industry, as reflected by the fact that almost every new release at the L.A. Auto Show was featured on Facebook. More at the link.

LivingSocial Invests $5M in Jump On It - LivingSocial invested $5 million to gain a majority stake in the Australian social shopping site Jump On It, according to a press release. The site will incorporate LivingSocial’s Daily Deals, opening up its money saving services to 10 million people in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Oodle Acquires Grouply – Social commerce company Oodle has acquired Grouply, an online hub for social groups; the Grouply platform and its hosted groups will continue to operate on that site, according to a press release.

Zuckerberg’s FaceMash Sold for $30K – We previously wrote about Mark Zuckerberg’s original web site, FaceMash, and the fact that it was up for auction. Well, it was sold for $30,000 to an anonymous buyer last month, according to a press release.

OpenSocial 1.1 Published – The OpenSocial Foundation published version 1.1 of its specification.

Facebook Integration for TSA Body Scans - The Transportation Security Administration announced a Facebook integration for its fully body scans, allowing passengers to share their semi-nude scans with all of the world (actually, this is a joke, but almost too real given everything else the TSA is doing).

Vin Diesel, Facebook’s Sexiest Man – People Magazine nominated its sexiest man alive recently, but they took to Facebook to see what the difference would be. Turns out Vin Diesel was named the “Sexiest Man Alive on Facebook,” and according to our PageData service, he has 18.5 million Likes.

Kmart, Sears Sell eGift Cards on Facebook – Sears and Kmart have begun to sell egift cards, from $5 to $25, on Facebook. Once purchased they may be delivered either by being posted on the recipient’s Wall or sent to their email.

Facebook Influences Teen Relationships – Seventeen Magazine released the details of a survey of 10,000 people aged 16 to 21 to see how Facebook influences romantic relationships. Turns out:  79% friend a crush within a week; 60% check a crush’s profile once a day and 40% more than once a day; 72% say talking online brings real life relationships closer; 10% have been dumped on Facebook; 10% change their status to single; 27% change their connection after a breakup; 73% keep their exes as friends.

Kids Under 12 Love Facebook – Smarty Pants published a study this week that found Facebook among the favorite brands of first through sixth graders from a list of 270-plus; Facebook was number 126 for children 6 through 12 and 91 among 9 through 12 year-olds.

Hang a left on over to your local NASA swap meet and garage sale because NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is setting an auction up for exclusive lisence to five patents for automated software development. This happens in a little over a week on November 11, 2010, and includes patents which encompass a new method for auto-creating software code which is verifiably equivalent to “user requirements specified in natural language, graphic formats, or other formats with a known semantic structure.” Why is this important? Because you were the one who funded the research that lead up to these patents in the first place.

To find out more about the technology, shoot on over to SpaceREF and read their article on how neato it is and how much people are going to want to buy it. This sort of auctioning off of research-cum-patents is, to some, a spit in the face of copyright law that decided that all federal government documents released are release into the public domain. In some other countries, this type of information is covered by crown copyright which holds it back from the public.

If released into the public domain, this Automated Software Generation could very possibly be used to benefit both commercial and non-commercial projects headed by the people who technically payed for its generation: the taxpayers. Instead, as TechDirt says it so eloquently, “By auctioning off a patent monopoly, it will almost certainly be using taxpayer-funded research to stifle innovation.”

What do you think? Is this how copyright was supposed to work? Or is this a special situation where it makes more sense to generate cash for the government group to do more research?

[Via TechDirt]

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We generally leave news on electric cars to our sister site, Gas2.org, but from time to time it seems necessary to cover such news here on Cleantechnica as well. UK clean energy company Ecotricity has been working for years on developing an electric car that gets all of its power from wind energy. The car, called the Nemesis, was unveiled last week, and will apparently try to break the British land speed record of 139 mph in 2011, a record that has been sitting in place since 2000.

The Nemesis is reportedly a 170mph electric sports car that gets its energy from Ecotricity’s 51 UK wind turbines.

Dale Vince commissioned the car and intends to “blow the socks off Jeremy Clarkson and smash the stereotype of electric cars” with it. He has blogged about the development of this unique car regularly on Zero Carbonista.

“We wanted to prove electric cars can be quick to develop, beautiful to look at, cheap to run, and run entirely on wind power,” said Vince. “I was not looking for something ecological, worthy and a bit self-sacrificial, far from it. I wanted to create something exotic and desirable. Something that would turn heads and challenge stereotypes.”

Of course, we are all eagerly awaiting news on the development and availability of cool new electric vehicles, but if these electric vehicles are being charged from coal power plants, that doesn’t really do us much good. The Nemesis and Ecotricity address that issue and Vince  claims that this is a really practical technology option.

“What will our transport look like, post oil and post carbon? The answer has to be wind-powered vehicles, charged using renewable energy for the ultimate in sustainability – zero pollution, from fuel sources like the wind and sun that will never run out… we could power all of the UK’s 30 million cars with 10,000 of today’s windmills – or just 5,000 of tomorrow’s.”

Looks like a cool idea. If you have any more info or views on this vehicle, share below.

Photo Credit: Ecotricity

Sadly, Aldi’s not the only smoking kid in Indonesia. The south Asian country has one of the worst problems with child smokers in the world. Government figures estimate that 25% of kids over the age of three have tried cigarettes, and 3% are regular smokers. 3% might not sound like much, but remember, these are kids over the age of three. That means some kids are lighting up before they even start school.

My team had no trouble finding smoking kids in Jakarta. We came across a group sitting near a river bank enjoying an after school cigarette break. One of the kids, nine-year old Ipan, has been smoking a year. “I feel good when I smoke”, he told me. The youngest kid we met was Cipto, five-years old. His mother doesn’t only know he smokes, she does it with him. When we met Cipto he was sitting right next to her, both puffing away.

So why is this happening? Mainly because of a lack of regulation. While I was doing research for this story, one of my contacts described Indonesia as the “Wild West” of tobacco regulation. There are virtually no restrictions on cigarette advertising on TV, radio, in print or on billboards. Tobacco companies sponsor all kinds of cool things believed to appeal to kids and teens, from sporting events to music concerts. Cigarettes are cheap (about $1 per pack), and easy to get; we saw a ten-year old walk right into a store and simply buy them, no questions asked.

The largest tobacco company in Indonesia is American-owned Philip Morris. For this story I spoke with their External Communications Director, Anne Edwards, about the problem. She said Philip Morris doesn’t want kids to smoke, they only want to lure adult smokers from their competitors. She also said that the company supports stronger regulations and restrictions in Indonesia. She seemed genuinely disturbed by the footage I showed her (you can see some of it in the video piece here).

For it’s part, the Indonesian government passed a health law in 2009, with some good elements of tobacco control. But a year later, the measures haven’t been implemented yet.

Aldi continues to be smoke free, though he’s gained a whopping 13 pounds since quitting, and still has cravings. The boy who’s still learning the most basic words knows these well: “Mom, I want a cigarette.”

WATCH

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That Post topic is Car auction

A Japanese production car since 1955, early Skyline models were not manufactured for the U.S. auto market and did not meet domestic safety and environmental regulations, according to federal officials. Interest in the sports car skyrocketed after the vehicles were featured in “The Fast and the Furious” movies.

Investigators alleged the cars were imported in two shipments, one that included the body and the other the drive-train.

"After arriving at Kaizo’s warehouse, several of the car bodies were then mated back with their original drive-trains and sold to the public," ICE officials said in a statement.

"The defendants allegedly put bogus 17-digit Vehicle Identification Numbers on the cars in place of the actual Nissan VIN plate," the statement read. "To avoid California’s stricter registration and emission requirements, many of the cars were registered out of the state and sold to California residents with Florida and Arizona plates."

Federal and state investigators seized three Nissan Skylines last year after executing a search warrant at Kaizo Industries. The cars did not meet U.S. environmental and safety standards. 

They confiscated nine other vehicles in connection with the probe, including what federal officials described as the “hero” car from the fourth installment of "The Fast and the Furious” movie series.

– Andrew Blankstein

Via UBS Financial Services:

Assets Go Their Merry Way Yet Again – The U.S. dollar got dinged pretty hard, Thursday, as confusion about the scope and efficacy of QE2 continued to bubble. The reaction to the dollar dip among other asset classes was anything but uniform. Gold went up but stocks went down. Treasuries rallied but oil was flat to soft.

It didn’t start out in that confusing fashion. At the opening, stocks were firm responding to the weak dollar, a dip in initial claims and some decent earnings reports.

The opening rally took the S&P straight into the 1188/1191 resistance band. Ten minutes into trading, the S&P hit 1189.53 and stopped dead. Bids began to disappear and stocks began to sell off. The selling accelerated after 10:00 with stocks quickly and sharply moving into negative territory.

Stocks stayed in negative territory from early morning into late afternoon.

In the final 90 minutes, the techs got back into mild plus territory but the Dow never quite made it.

Volume dipped, which hinted that markets may have turned cautious and indecisive in front of next week’s election and FOMC meeting. We’ll know better if the same wishy-washy action continues today.

Ghoulies And Ghosties And Tax Sales That Go Bump In The Night – Sunday is Halloween and that means next week the “sell in May and go away” cycle is replaced by its bullish opposite.

Traders, however, will also note that it marks the beginning of a new tax sale fiscal year for mutual funds. Traditionally, trading profits taken by mutual funds before Halloween result in a taxable event for the fund holder in the same year. Profits taken after Halloween are not taxed until the following year.

So, are mutual funds sitting on a batch of profit-taking sales starting next week? There may be more to think about than elections and QE2.

Speculating On Terror – In the days after the 9/11 attacks, there was much speculation around the U.S. as to whether there would be another “event”. What shape would it take? When might it occur? One of the consequences was the “Halloween note” rumor.

A story swept the nation that a young lady had been dating a young man from Saudi Arabia. On the afternoon of 9/11, she reportedly returned to their apartment to find the young man, and his belongings gone. The only thing she found was a note.

Supposedly, the note expressed his love, said he could not explain what was going on and said they might not meet again. But, because he loved her, he begged that she not go out in public on Halloween. The story of the note went viral and swept the nation via email.

At the time, we pointed out the long history of such stories in fearful societies. By signaling out a specific date – Halloween – it removed the “randomness” of the potential threat. If you believed the story, you would be safe until Halloween. And, if you stayed home, you’d be safe – even then.

According to the buzz we’re hearing, a new speculation on terror may be evolving. We suspect that the seed may come from warnings from the authorities that a future attack might be “Mumbai style”. That reintroduces a sense of randomness. You’re not safe by staying out of airports or tall buildings. You’re not sure what will be safe.

Apparently, folks are trying to address the Mumbai style randomness by finding an anchor or a signal. The speculation has seized on the botched car bombing in Times Square. It has been merged into a new theory that car bombings or car fires will be used a diversion. They can attract large crowds – fire, police, press and the curious. The large crowds would be vulnerable targets.

A second version suggests the car bombs are to divert authorities and leave other targets vulnerable. They even have a Halloween aspect – but Halloween is too near. So, since the first was on 9/11 – how about 11/9. And you thought you had to go to school to study creative writing. Happy Halloween!

Cocktail Napkin Charting – As noted above, the napkins were spot on again yesterday as the 1188/1191 resistance band for the S&P was a virtual brick wall for the opening rally.

The recent narrow closing range on the indices and some minor internal divergences suggest a significant breakout move is at hand. As usual, the direction is not totally clear. Traders assume the move may wait for next week’s key event.

For today, napkins see resistance at 1188/1191 followed by 1197/1200 and then 1207/1210. Support remains at 1170/1173 with fallbacks at 1162/1165 and the critical 1156/1159.

And the usual history lesson

EDITOR’S NOTE – SINCE THE MEDIA IS AWASH WITH ANNIVERSARY OF “THE ’29 CRASH” SPECIALS, WE’LL SKIP THE TOPIC

On this day (+2) in (approx.) 823 B.C., the most inventive, charming and clever people ever to grace God’s green earth came up with yet another ingenious idea. They were, of course, the Irish (at this time A/K/A the Celts). Being bright they did not labor upon the obvious. So they let somebody else invent fire, the wheel, iron, astronomy, writing, calendars, etc. These they figured they could copy – - and boy did they. These clever folks, well, they tended to save their strength for what was really important.

By this stratagem, just a 1000 years earlier, while pagan types were grappling with such mediocrity as pyramids, irrigation and geometry, the Celts had learned to distill grain. This miracle medicinal cure (which would maintain mankind for over 3000 years) they called Usquebah. The amazed and very indebted rest of the world mis-translated the name as “whiskey”.

So for a millennia these wise and whiskey-witty folk enjoyed good health and good fellowship. Then as this particular day approached (circa 823 B.C.), possible gender conflict arose. The women began expecting the men to hang out close to the cave as the evening came earlier each fall. If civilization were to progress this would never do!

So the Celtic elders came up with the second great invention. They called it “Samhain” or end of summer. They explained to the women that as the season changed, ghosts, goblins and evil spirits came forth to threaten all humans. In order to protect the women and children, the men folk selflessly would have to put on old clothes, take some jugs of the magic Usquebah (possible snake bite you know) and go into the hills and light fires.

For nearly 1000 years the tradition held. Then came the good St. Patrick who was wise enough to keep the Usquebah but drove out the snakes.

Conveniently, his Christian teaching did say that November 1st was the Feast of All Saints. So it only seemed logical that if the saints were coming out, the devils would have one last fling. So, snakes or no, we needed old clothes, bonfires and booze on the eve of “All Hallows” or Hallow’s Evening or Halloween.

To celebrate stop by “The Bog on the Moor” and fortify yourself against snakebite, but stop when ye begin to see the little people. For to go beyond will surround you with all kinds of devilment like – banshees and ghoulies and even mothers-in-law.
The markets vacillated between trying to trick and trying to treat all day Thursday. If indecisiveness were an Olympic sport, traders would have nailed the gold yesterday.

h/t London Dude Trader

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When it comes to auto insurance, most people try to obtain the lowest price possible, whether that be a charge per month, quarterly or per year. That is certainly understandable, for auto insurance can be a very costly necessity for adults over age sixteen, these days. However, individuals should realize that sometimes you get what you pay for when it comes to this type of insurance. If an auto insurance quote is extremely low, it is very wise for consumers to examine the details of the plan closely before purchasing. For spending a little extra on your insurance for a better contract sometimes far outweighs paying a very low amount for a raw deal. One needs to look at the benefits he or she will receive from the auto insurance in the long run.

One major inclusion that some auto insurance agencies offer is management in the incidence of theft. While it would be nice to believe that we are excluded from the possibility of being a grand theft auto victim, due to our place of residence or area of employment, or simply due to extra precautions we may take to protect ourselves from such a crisis, auto theft can happen to anyone. Even people who properly secure their autos in a garage at night or who have the most top notch, high class security locks. People need to be aware that they could be an auto theft victim at any time and thus, select an auto insurance carrier accordingly.

So what does one look for in a potential auto insurance carrier in terms of theft management? Each auto insurance company offers varying agreements but here are some questions to ask the sales agent when inquiring about the particular auto insurance quotes:

1) Find out how serious the auto insurance company takes car theft.
Ask the sales representative the general policy of his or her auto insurance agency when it comes to handling a policy holder’s stolen car. The goal here is to guage how much emphasis and dedication the auto insurance company places in regards to one of these dire situations. When your auto is stolen, you want to know you have the most devoted experts on the case. You also want to know that the auto insurance employees take great concern in your situation. All auto insurance companies offer different services but pry a little into the happenings behind the scene of your auto agency. You may hear that auto agency A assigns individual case managers to each theft file; you may learn that Agency B has an entire department strictly devoted to auto theft; or you may be disappointed to find out that your once favorite Company C has a very vague procedure for dealing with the theft of your auto and therefore, seems likely to leave your paperwork in the dust and/or leave your voicemails unreturned in the crucial moments following your auto disaster. Basically, the rule in finding the proper information out about auto theft and your auto insurance agency is just to not be afraid to bombard the representative with questions and use your intuition depending on how well they are able to answer this concern to ascertain whether or not auto theft is an important matter to the agency.

2) Determine the auto agency’s policy on rental cars in case of auto theft.
If your car gets stolen, you are obviously going to need a new form of transportation right away. Be sure before choosing auto insurance agencies that you are fully aware of how long it would take to receive a rental car that is covered by your auto insurance policy in case of theft and any requirements that exist around the ability to be eligible for one. Car rentals are expensive and some auto insurance agencies only cover a few days. Consider the length of time it might take to buy another auto while you explore this factor.

3) How much?
This is an obvious one, but definitely something not to be neglected. How much money will your auto insurance company give you toward a new car? Be sure to inquire thoroughly about this ahead of time. Ask your agent detailed scenarios such as “What if I left my doors unlocked?” or “What if I opted out of the security alarm function?” Auto insurance agencies try to reduce their own payouts as much as possible so things like consumer mistakes very often cause them to happily withhold money. Make sure you are fully aware of these contingencies.

These are only a few of the factors to consider when it comes to choosing an auto insurance agency according to the way they deal with auto theft, but they are crucial points. Overall, individuals should simply use common sense and do extensive research with many questions to a auto insurance representative before making an auto insurance agency commitment. Just as individual humans have their own specialty and niche areas of expertise, so do all companies and auto insurance agencies are no different. Don’t be afraid to investigate each and every option until you find the right auto agency for you.

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A Japanese production car since 1955, early Skyline models were not manufactured for the U.S. auto market and did not meet domestic safety and environmental regulations, according to federal officials. Interest in the sports car skyrocketed after the vehicles were featured in “The Fast and the Furious” movies.

Investigators alleged the cars were imported in two shipments, one that included the body and the other the drive-train.

"After arriving at Kaizo’s warehouse, several of the car bodies were then mated back with their original drive-trains and sold to the public," ICE officials said in a statement.

"The defendants allegedly put bogus 17-digit Vehicle Identification Numbers on the cars in place of the actual Nissan VIN plate," the statement read. "To avoid California’s stricter registration and emission requirements, many of the cars were registered out of the state and sold to California residents with Florida and Arizona plates."

Federal and state investigators seized three Nissan Skylines last year after executing a search warrant at Kaizo Industries. The cars did not meet U.S. environmental and safety standards. 

They confiscated nine other vehicles in connection with the probe, including what federal officials described as the “hero” car from the fourth installment of "The Fast and the Furious” movie series.

– Andrew Blankstein

Is the Chevy Volt an electric wannabe?The Chevy Volt makes its debut in showrooms next month, but it is already being rolled out for test drives by journalists. And that’s stirring up the debate over whether it’s the real deal, as GM insists, or just an electric car wannabe.

It has a little gas: Sure, the Volt can travel 50 miles on its lithium battery and while doing so, emit no pollution. But when you’re asking $41,000 for a car, you can’t have people worried about running out of juice without a plug in sight. So GM has added a small gasoline engine that would help maintain the charge on the battery as it starts to run down. That, according to the carmaker, extends the Volt’s range to 350 miles. But doesn’t that kinda make it a hybrid? The New York Times wrestles with that thorny question and others about the new plugmobile. For at least one question, though, there is a clear answer. Will the Volt get the 230 miles per gallon that GM once predicted? Ah, no.

When you wish upon a car: The coming of the electric car — pseudo or not — does raise another broader question: Can electric car batteries feed power back into the grid thus making a power system run on renewable energy more viable? If the answer is yes, that, in theory at least, could help compensate for the fact that the wind and sun don’t do our bidding. [Yale's e360]

And in other green news:

Cheney days are here again: The New York Times weighs in with an editorial today pointing out how all those Republican climate zombies running for Congress are pretty much replaying the denial strategy orchestrated by Dick Cheney when he was vice president.  

A few may genuinely believe global warming is a left-wing plot. Others may be singing the tune of corporate benefactors. And many Republicans have seized on the cap-and-trade climate bill as another way to paint Democrats as out-of-control taxers. In one way or another, though, all are custodians of a strategy whose guiding principle has been to avoid debate about solutions to climate change by denying its existence — or at least by diminishing its importance. The strategy worked, destroying hopes for Congressional action while further confusing ordinary citizens for whom global warming was already a remote and complex matter. It was also remarkably heavy-handed.

Mountain stew: The battle over mountaintop mining in West Virginia is heating up. Now an EPA regulator is recommending that permits be revoked for the largest mountaintop mining operation in the state. This comes on the heels of the state’s lawsuit against the EPA for cracking down on mountaintop mining [Wall Street Journal], and of confirmation that a powerful House committee chair won’t push forward a bill banning mountaintop mining even though 170 House members support it. [The Hill]

Power to the purple: A study in Britain suggests that a big reason bats, birds, and insects get killed by wind turbines is that the giant spinning blades are the wrong color. Most of them are white or gray, which apparently attracts animals at night. Purple is apparently less appealing, and safer.

Put a stalk in it: Or you could lose the blades altogether. There’s a new option out there called windstalks, giant metal sticks 180 feet high that generate power when they sway in the wind. [Discovery News]

Freedom’s just another word: Does Big Oil have too much influence over academic research? A new study by the Center for American Progress reveals that while oil companies have shelled out $880 million to universities in the past decade, they haven’t really bought into the concept of academic freedom.

Sunrise, sunset: This has been the best year ever for solar energy in U.S. But the glory days could be fleeting because developers are having a hard time getting financing for billion dollar projects, not to mention that the Energy Department hasn’t exactly been the model of efficiency when it comes to processing grants and loan guarantees. [The New York Times]

Tumblin’ ice: There’s more evidence global warming is starting to cause landslides and avalanches in high mountain ranges as glaciers and permafrost, the glue that holds steep mountain ranges together, melt. [New Scientist]

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I’m not convinced:

For its next governor, California is in dire need of a dynamic and optimistic grownup, one with the personality, perspective and presence to remind voters that theirs is a fabulously wealthy state and not the downward-spiraling mess that national media reports delight in comparing to Greece or Portugal. We need someone with a Reaganesque talent for revealing to ourselves our own exceptionalism and dismissing the self-doubt of the last decade. We need a Pat Brown or Earl Warren-style focus on our future, with investment in education and infrastructure. And we need a leader deft and clever enough to move Californians away from a three-decade pattern of undermining our own government, checking and counterchecking ourselves with selfish initiatives to lock up special program spending, lock out political decision-making and accountability and lock in a perpetual and destructive budget standoff, year after year.

Fate presents the state instead with two candidates who fall well short of our current needs. They come to us from the partisan political version of Central Casting. Republican Meg Whitman, utterly devoid of background or experience in state government or policymaking, rarely deigning to cast a vote, moves toward the Nov. 2 election on the power of millions of dollars of personal wealth. Whitman argues that her role as chief executive of the online auction website EBay somehow makes her the right person to govern the nation’s most populous state, yet her slate of policy positions is seemingly more calculated to win the approval of angry voters and profit-seeking business leaders than to address the actual problems facing the state. Then we have Democrat Jerry Brown, the governor of California’s baby-boom youth, now seeking the office again more than 30 years after his first run, having advanced on a personal and public journey that made him at times a gadfly outsider, a stolid party leader, a spiritual seeker, a presidential candidate, a nuts-and-bolts mayor of a troubled city and the senior statesman of Sacramento.

We will have to wait for the governor with the talent and courage to shake the state loose from the structural dead-ends into which voters continue to push it. In the meantime, we must choose between Whitman, with her disappointing and empty policy approaches and her assertion that having no experience in government is the best experience, and Brown, whose nonlinear, unscripted style sometimes leaves his listeners wondering what exactly they’re going to get. Again, Brown is not the ideal candidate for California, but what he does bring is the reality-based, seen-it-all-before wisdom of a political veteran, and of the two candidates before voters in November, The Times endorses him without hesitation.

More at the link. I’m still not sure if I’ll vote in the governor’s race. I don’t like Meg Whitman, although she’s hammered Jerry Brown for months with a string of killer ad buys:

It is deja vu all over again. To little media fanfare the dire financial situation in Ireland is nothing less than a repeat of the Lehman collapse in those dark days of September 2008. With the recent nationalization of half of the country’s six big banks, and the blanket guarantee over the rest of them, the Irish government has effectively made sure that bondholders in all banks, even those which such as long insolvent Anglo Irish bank will be made whole by the long-suffering Irish taxpayers. And despite rumors of haircuts for at least sub debtholders, actual facts validating this possibility remain unseen. Which begs the question why is everyone in the world so terrified of taking mark to market losses on even a few billion in debt? Simple: as all of the world’s banks, but Europe more so than anyone else, are now caught in the biggest circle jerk ever imaginable, with one entity’s liabilities making up another’s assets, which in turn are someone else’s liabilities, and so forth in a MC Escher (or is that HR Giger?)-esque flow chart of the surreal (as can be seen here), even one dollar of write downs can spiral and affect tens if not hundreds of billions of downstream assets (and thus liabilities). Which explains why the ECB and everyone else in Europe is so intent on preventing a failed auction in Ireland (we previously disclosed that virtually every September auction of Irish bonds was purchased by the ECB, either directly and indirectly): should the banks that are on the hook actually validate their impairment, Europe is one step away from activating its own $1 trillion TARP package. Yet what is amusing is that inbetween the cracks of exclusively European-bank based senior and subordinated bondholders in such bankrupt banks as Anglo-Irish, a familiar name emerges: Goldman Sachs.

Yes, nested quietly inbetween the €4,034,756,880 in face value of Anglo Irish bondholders is the name that managed to pull the strings (via its puppet Hank Paulson) and get bailed out when AIG threatened to make Goldman management and investors insolvent. Is Goldman, via its UK-based Goldman Sachs Asset Management Intl. subsidiary, currently petitioning Brian Lenihan to be the only US-based bank to receive a direct bailout on its Anglo bond position? Or is it, as always behind the scenes, negotiating on behalf of 80 other European banks, among which Lombard Odier, Rothschild, and Deutsche, and achieve what it always succeeds in: escaping scott free, and stuffing taxpayers with the bill? We are confident Irish taxpayers, and drivers of cement trucks, would be fascinated in getting the correct answer.

Guido Fawkes, who managed to obtain the Anglo Irish bondholder list, shares the following commentary:

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Swedish Champions!

Volvo Polestar won the STCC Team Championship title. The green C30 is now Volvos most successful race car to date.

In front of over 30,000 spectators at Mantorp Park, Volvo and Polestar secured the 2010 STCC Team Championship title after a must-do win through Tommy Rustad in the second heat. Robert Dahlgren made the podium too with a second place finish in the first heat. This was enough to put Dahlgren in an overall second place in this year’s STCC driver’s championship to go along with his Scandinavian title for drivers he claimed just two weeks ago.

Four out of five possible titles the last two years

The ethanol powered Volvo C30 DRIVe STCC car has now secured the top spot as Volvos most successful race car to date. Developed locally with Polestar, the car begun claiming poles and victories already in its maiden season in 2008. In the last two STCC-seasons, the car has claimed 70% of all poles, 40% of all race wins, two STCC Team titles, one STCC Drivers title and one Scandinavian Drivers title.

“This is a very proud moment for everyone at Volvo and Polestar. We have achieved this because the C30 is a very good car to begin with and because we have worked as a team and kept pushing forward both when challenged and when successful” said Derek Crabb, Volvo Cars Motorsport Director.

STCC and WTCC in 2011

Volvo and Polestar are now busy preparing for next season which actually starts in less than a month. Polestar will participate in the World Touring Car Championship in Okayama, Japan on October 31. This race is an introduction to the full 2011 WTCC season Volvo recently requested Polestar to do in order to evaluate the series. Parallel, Volvo and Polestar is also set to defend and chase new STCC titles in 2011.

1. The First Train Robbery in the West

Although Jesse James popularly gets credit for committing the first train robbery, the following robbery actually predates his: On November 5, 1870, just west of Reno, NV, a Central Pacific passenger train was overtaken by a gang of robbers who’d been tipped off that the train was carrying gold worth $60,000. The conductor was forced to apply the brakes and separate the engine, tender, baggage and express cars from the rest of the train. The engineer was then taken to the express car to request admittance. When the door opened, the expressman was greeted three sawed off shotguns. By prying open boxes in the express car, the gang was able to uncover $41,000 in gold coins. The spoils weighed over 150 lbs. However, the robbers inadvertently left behind $8,000 in silver, $15,000 in hidden gold bars, and piles of bank drafts. (Keep in mind that an acre of land cost about $5 at the time.) All of the robbers were apprehended or killed before being able to enjoy their bounty.

2. Jesse James’ first Train Robbery

The notorious gang leader, Jesse James, is a Wild West legend. He and his colleagues the James-Younger gang, had already established a local reputation for crime before the legendary robbery. Former confederate guerillas, the gang dressed in KKK garb. They then loosened part of the track and attached a rope to it near the Adair, Iowa station. As the Rock Island train approached the station on July 21, 1873, the engineer saw the rope tied to the rail. He attempted to back the train up to avoid the hazard, but was unsuccessful. The engine, tender, and baggage cars were derailed and the engineer killed. Jesse and his brother Frank, approached the expressman with cocked 44’s. The James-Younger gang rode off with nearly $3,000—worth about $51,000 today.

3. Gads Hill Missouri Great Train Robbery

Jesse James may not have been the first to rob a train in the West, but he was the first to rob one in Missouri. On January 31, 1874, the James-Younger gang rode into the small town of Gads Hill, population 15. They were again dressed in KKK masks and sent shock waves through the small community. They lit a bonfire within sight of the station platform and had one member to the gang stand on the platform holding a red signal lamp. The train did not normally stop at the Gads Hill station but was scheduled to do so that day in order for State Rep. L.M. Farris to meet up with his son. As the train neared the station, the conductor jumped off the train to see what was going on, he was seized and the train was switched to a siding. The gang members boarded the train, raided the express/mail car and then systematically relieved the passengers of their jewelry and currency.

_flossy fact: They spared any man who had calloused hands, because they didn’t wish to steal from the working class. All except one woman, who had $400 in gold coins, were also spared.

4. The Wilcox Robbery

The Wild Bunch, with infamous members Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, went out with a bang for their final train robbery. On June 2, 1899 around 2:30 AM, the Union Pacific Overland Flyer No. 1 was flagged down by two men with warning lights. The men overtook the first engine and made the engineer disconnect the second part of the train, which had its own engine. Then they blew up a small wooden bridge after the first engine had passed over, to prevent anyone in the second section from following. Forcing the trainmen over to the mail car to begin their raid, three of the bandits blew the door off of the car with dynamite. Not satisfied with what they found, the gang continued on to the express car. There they found the express car messenger. When he refused to open the door for the robbers, they opened it themselves with more dynamite. The blast left the messenger stunned and unable to relay the combination, so they blew the safe open with more dynamite, using such an excessive amount of the “giant powder” that the entire car was destroyed. They escaped on horses they had hidden nearby with over $50,000 in loot.

5. The Largest Train Robbery in the United States

On June 14, 1924, the Newton gang stole the largest sum ever from a United States train. The Newton boys, all brothers, were known for never killing anyone. They also never stole from women and children. Still, they were still the most successful bank robbers in the United States. For this big heist, they recruited postal inspector William J. Fahy, one of the best investigators at the time, to help them plan it. Also in their employ were several local gangsters. Instead of horses, the Newton gang boasted fast cars. Taking hold of a mail train in Roundout, IL, just outside of Chicago, using homemade tear gas bombs of formaldehyde, the gang rounded up $3 million dollars in cash, jewelry and securities. One of the gang members accidentally shot Dock Newton during the heist. This slip up led to the capture of the gang members. Within 7 months of the heist, all suspects were apprehended and sentenced.

6. The Great Gold Robbery

The Wild West was not the only stage for train robberies. In 1855, a train carrying gold bars from London to Paris was the victim of an “invisible” robbery. The gold was stored sealed, bound by iron bars, and secured in double key safes. The highly guarded bars were weighed after completing its traverse of the English Channel via boat, but two of the safes weighed slightly more and one slightly less than the original weight. In Paris, it was discovered that the gold had been replaced by lead shots. Masterminds William Pierce and Edward Agar, with the help of a railway clerk, had boarded the train with carpet bags and shoulder satchels full of lead shots. They disembarked in Dover with £12,000 worth of gold. That would be worth approximately $1,253,962 today. All were quickly caught and jailed.

7. Another Great Train Robbery?

On the evening of August 7, 1963, the Traveling Post Office “Up Special’ train left Glasgow for London. It consisted of 12 carriages where postal workers sorted, picked up, and dropped off mail along the trip. The second carriage behind the engine was known as the HVP (High Value Package) and it was carrying a record £2.6 million due to a bank holiday in Scotland—worth more than $62 million in today’s currency. Just after 3am, the driver brought the train to a stop at a tampered, red signal. When he tried to call for more information, he found the lines cut. The train was then boarded by a 15 member gang who took the train to an overpass bridge where they loaded the loot of used £1, £5 and £10 notes into their ex-army dropside truck. The gang had cut all phone lines in the vicinity, but authorities where still hot on their trails. Fingerprints had been left all over the crime scene and the culprits were quickly identified.

8. The Bezdany Raid

This was no normal train robbery! No, this was an attempt to free Poland from Russian and Austro-Hungarian occupation. In 1908, Józef Piłsudski organized and trained a group he called Bojówki, 20 revolutionaries—16 men and four women that included Pilsudski’s future wife, three future prime ministers and other notable members of the future Second Republic. The plan was to overtake a train and station at Bezdany. After a short firefight, where one Russian solider was killed and five injured, the gang blew open the mail car, gathered the money into bags and fled. They ran off with 400,000 rubbles—equivalent to more than $4 million in today’s currency. The money was used to fund the revolutionary’s cause and free Poland!

9. The Great Train Robbery of British Columbia

Bill Miner, a notorious outlaw who was upstaged only by Jesse James, moved to British Columbia after being released from a California prison. Three years later, he stopped a Canadian Pacific Railway train in Mission, B.C., about 70 kilometers east of Vancouver. He managed to walk away with $10,000. Miner was known as “a gentleman and a bandit.” He was always polite and well liked within the community and never forgot to bid his victims, “Good day.” He is credited with being the first outlaw to use the phrase, “Hands up!” Two years after his first CPR robbery he stopped another train but wasn’t so lucky. His mask was accidentally knocked off and the train was only carrying $15. He was captured and sentenced to life at the British Columbian Penitentiary, but managed to tunnel out and was never seen again!!

10. Gold Special

In the 1920s, train robberies had started to decline in the United States due to tighter security and the advent of traveler’s checks from American Express. People no longer had to carry gold with them when they traveled. However, in 1923 the D’Autremont brothers attempted to pull off a large scale train robbery in a get rich quick scheme. The brothers planned to board the Southern Pacific “Gold Special” at Tunnel No. 13 in Ashland, OR. Once aboard, the brothers set off dynamite to open up the mail car. However, they wound up using too much dynamite and succeeded only in killing the mail clerk and destroying anything of value. hey then shot and killed the brakeman, fireman, and engineer in the confusion that followed. The ensuing investigation was one of the most elaborate in United States history and laid the foundation for modern criminal forensics.

Phat ride customs