NPR : Subprime Loans: One Woman's Story
Economy
Subprime Loans: One Woman's Story
Listen to this story... by Renee Montagne
Morning Edition, March 16, 2007 · Jennie Halliburton, a 77-year-old widow from Philadelphia, answered an ad offering to "consolidate her debt." She soon found herself with a "subprime loan" that she can't afford and may cost her the home she refinanced. Her lawyer, Allan White, says Halliburton should never have been granted the loan.
16 March 2007
NPR : Urban Poor Cope with Help from Informal Economy
NPR : Urban Poor Cope with Help from Informal Economy
Sharelle, 43, lives in subsidized housing in Harlem. She hasn't had a job in years – but she works all the time. She runs an after-school day care in her apartment, where children are laughing and playing cards. She also looks after an elderly woman in her Harlem neighborhood twice a week.
"I do the housekeeping, clean her bedroom, do the kitchen," said Sharelle, who didn't want her last name aired.
Sometimes she gets a few extra dollars helping her neighbors fill out state tax forms or babysitting. If Sharelle reported this income to the government her rent would go up, so almost all the work she does is under the table.
"Miss Hinxson is off the books, their mother is off the books, the little girl Courtney that I went to pick up is off the books," she said. MORE
Sharelle, 43, lives in subsidized housing in Harlem. She hasn't had a job in years – but she works all the time. She runs an after-school day care in her apartment, where children are laughing and playing cards. She also looks after an elderly woman in her Harlem neighborhood twice a week.
"I do the housekeeping, clean her bedroom, do the kitchen," said Sharelle, who didn't want her last name aired.
Sometimes she gets a few extra dollars helping her neighbors fill out state tax forms or babysitting. If Sharelle reported this income to the government her rent would go up, so almost all the work she does is under the table.
"Miss Hinxson is off the books, their mother is off the books, the little girl Courtney that I went to pick up is off the books," she said. MORE
Transcending the Organization
Transcending the Organization - Schambra Trust Authenticity and Community
The nonprofit sector is identified with small, immediate community and compassion; government is viewed as distant, alienating and unresponsive. It’s been that way for decades, incidentally, through administrations from both parties. Skepticism about big government is often thought to be the hideous spawn of the Reagan Revolution. But in fact, the first shift toward skepticism came from the New Left back in the ’60s, when it attacked Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society as a manipulative, inhumane monstrosity, and opted instead for local, participatory democracy. And participatory democracy is exactly what the nonprofit sector provides, when it’s at its best—it provides immediate, face-to-face civic engagement. You shouldn’t compromise that by attaching your reputation for local democracy and community—your credibility—to a hulking derelict of an institution that Americans have long since decided doesn’t care about them and can’t do anything to address their anxiety and unsettledness. MORE
The nonprofit sector is identified with small, immediate community and compassion; government is viewed as distant, alienating and unresponsive. It’s been that way for decades, incidentally, through administrations from both parties. Skepticism about big government is often thought to be the hideous spawn of the Reagan Revolution. But in fact, the first shift toward skepticism came from the New Left back in the ’60s, when it attacked Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society as a manipulative, inhumane monstrosity, and opted instead for local, participatory democracy. And participatory democracy is exactly what the nonprofit sector provides, when it’s at its best—it provides immediate, face-to-face civic engagement. You shouldn’t compromise that by attaching your reputation for local democracy and community—your credibility—to a hulking derelict of an institution that Americans have long since decided doesn’t care about them and can’t do anything to address their anxiety and unsettledness. MORE
15 March 2007
Getting Teens to Pay Attention
Advertising Age - MediaWorks - Getting Teens to Pay Attention
The aim of the Teen Road Safety campaign was to get teenagers to pay more attention when they were on or near the road. The problem was telling them in a way that didn't come across as simply more adult grief.
The insight that drove the campaign was the issue of friends. If death was too heavy a concept to consider, how about the impact on your circle of friends?
A 30-second ad was created by real teenagers and shot on their medium of choice, the mobile phone. It showed a group of friends larking around by the road before one of them walks into the road without looking and pays a terrible price.
The ad was then distributed via an unbranded website -- notlooking.co.uk -- as well as via mobiles to seed the message prior to its official launch. A week later it was unveiled as a government message in a cinema ad in key movies.
MORE
The aim of the Teen Road Safety campaign was to get teenagers to pay more attention when they were on or near the road. The problem was telling them in a way that didn't come across as simply more adult grief.
The insight that drove the campaign was the issue of friends. If death was too heavy a concept to consider, how about the impact on your circle of friends?
A 30-second ad was created by real teenagers and shot on their medium of choice, the mobile phone. It showed a group of friends larking around by the road before one of them walks into the road without looking and pays a terrible price.
The ad was then distributed via an unbranded website -- notlooking.co.uk -- as well as via mobiles to seed the message prior to its official launch. A week later it was unveiled as a government message in a cinema ad in key movies.
MORE
13 March 2007
The Electronic Product Environmental Asssessment Tool
Welcome to EPEAT©
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
What is it?
EPEAT is an environmental procurement tool designed to help institutional purchasers in the public and private sectors evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebook computers and monitors based on their environmental attributes. At the same time it helps manufacturers promote environmentally preferable products. EPEAT is the implementation of the IEEE 1680 Standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer products (including laptop and desktop computers, and monitors).
Why is it important?
Electronic products are a part of everyday life, and continued and expanded use of electronic information and communications technologies is likely a key to achieving global sustainability. However, with our current industrial technology and infrastructure electronic products also have unacceptably high social and environmental impacts. Electronic products often:
a. Are very resource intensive to manufacture;
b. Contain significant amounts of toxic and environmentally sensitive materials;
c. Use electricity inefficiently;
d. Have a relatively short useable lifespan;
e. Are inefficiently and/or ineffectively recovered and recycled.
To help alleviate these problems, many organizations are striving to purchase environmentally preferable products and they are using their purchasing power to make products greener. However, until recently it has been very difficult for most purchasers to determine what products are environmentally better than others. EPEAT is an easy-to-use system to help purchasers deal with the technical complexities of determining which products are actually preferable.
How Can I find an EPEAT product?
A searchable listing of EPEAT registered products is maintained on a Product Registry. See http://www.epeat.net
More information?
EPEAT is a project of the Green Electronics Council. For more information, just contact us.
The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
What is it?
EPEAT is an environmental procurement tool designed to help institutional purchasers in the public and private sectors evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebook computers and monitors based on their environmental attributes. At the same time it helps manufacturers promote environmentally preferable products. EPEAT is the implementation of the IEEE 1680 Standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer products (including laptop and desktop computers, and monitors).
Why is it important?
Electronic products are a part of everyday life, and continued and expanded use of electronic information and communications technologies is likely a key to achieving global sustainability. However, with our current industrial technology and infrastructure electronic products also have unacceptably high social and environmental impacts. Electronic products often:
a. Are very resource intensive to manufacture;
b. Contain significant amounts of toxic and environmentally sensitive materials;
c. Use electricity inefficiently;
d. Have a relatively short useable lifespan;
e. Are inefficiently and/or ineffectively recovered and recycled.
To help alleviate these problems, many organizations are striving to purchase environmentally preferable products and they are using their purchasing power to make products greener. However, until recently it has been very difficult for most purchasers to determine what products are environmentally better than others. EPEAT is an easy-to-use system to help purchasers deal with the technical complexities of determining which products are actually preferable.
How Can I find an EPEAT product?
A searchable listing of EPEAT registered products is maintained on a Product Registry. See http://www.epeat.net
More information?
EPEAT is a project of the Green Electronics Council. For more information, just contact us.
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