J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson Sees Pay Package Cut By 97 Percent

J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson Sees Pay Package Cut By 97 Percent:

NEW YORK (AP) — The CEO of struggling department store J.C. Penney saw his 2012 compensation package plummet nearly 97 percent to about $1.9 million without a sizeable stock award he got last year and no bonuses.



Ron Johnson, 54, received a base salary of $1.5 million, up from $375,000 which he received for a partial year after joining the company in August 2011, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday. He did not receive any stock or option awards, compared with a stock award worth $52.7 million on the date it was granted in 2011. The award was given to Johnson after he was named CEO and made a $50 million personal investment in the company.

He also received $388,587 in other compensation, including contributions to savings plan and perks like personal use of company aircraft, home security systems and information technology services.

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truth be told: The USA is Rolling into Fascism - Rodney Shakespea...

...: Richard Shakespeare explains why America is falling into Facism. The world is not going to forgive the USA for its warring and Torture ...

Facebook falls to half of public offering price

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook's stock fell to $19 for the first time on Friday, losing half its market value since the company's initial public offering in May.

Do You Want to Get Invested into the Next big Social Media Network before any body else gets the chance.

The stock dipped 87 cents, or 4%, to briefly hit $19, just minutes before it closed the trading day at $19.05. Facebook's shares ended the week down nearly 13%.

Facebook (FB) hit the $19 milestone a day after the expiration of a lock-up period that had previously prevented some early investors and insiders from selling their shares. Stakeholders who owned a combined 271 million Facebook shares before Thursday can now sell their holdings.

A breakdown of just how many major Facebook Inc. shareholders sold their stock this week won't be available until next week at the earliest, when sellers must disclose such transactions.

Facebook's stock has struggled since the company's mid-May IPO. It closed its first day of trading barely above its initial offering price of $38. It has been below that level since.

The stock has been down on 38 trading days, up on 25 days and unchanged on one since its initial public offering.

Investors have been concerned about the social network's ability to increase revenue and make money from its growing mobile audience. Many analysts, however, hold positive opinions of the company's long-term prospects.

Here's how Facebook's stock has traded since the IPO: Click Here!

Dear Rand Paul, WTF were you thinking?

Dear Rand Paul,

Your Dad knows he can still win the nomination, right? We have spent the last Seven months getting elected as delegates all over this country to win at the Convention... That has been the plan this entire time. What changed?? They told you both something!! Well regardless of what you, your dad, or the biased mainstream media tells us, rest assured we will Nominate your father at the convention!

If you think your cute, because you may get the VP spot along the campaign, you better look over the man you'll be standing next to, and what he represents. Greed, Money, and Banker Buddy Bail-outs. Now ask yourself if you can side with him on any of his platform topics? The Answer is NO! Do not committ political suicide, if you haven't already. You're Father has earned your endorsement by raising you and being your idol still to this day, not Mitt!

Rand this is probably the worst decision you will ever make in your entire life. You have endorsed the most flip-flopping Presidential Candidate Americans have ever seen. He wrote Obama-care, and now wants to get rid of it? How can you stand behind him even for a moment, without him trying to play you for a fool.... YOU CAN'T!

I know the globalists have done everything possible to keep your dad out of the oval office, and you're okay with that?? Stand up for the cause you two have begun, or we'll finish it by adding you both to the list of puppets. This country is sickening, I got cheated out of the mayor's seat here in Stockton, CA. But I will continue to get by any and all of the walls standing in my way! Not by changing direction, but by overcoming them either by hurdling, or breaking them down! You have no sympathy for US Citizens, because you are now running with the devil! Not the thing to do, being christian and all, please rescind your endorsement, and put it towards your father's movement, because it is now too big to be stopped.

Best wishes,
Greg Pitsch (oh zee)
Leader of the "Free World"

EXCLUSIVE: Ron Paul Shocks Campaign Staff With New Position On Israel

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul revealed this week that he would support moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a surprising position that contradicts conventional wisdom about Paul's stance toward the Jewish state.

Paul first made this position known Wednesday night, during a private meeting with evangelical leaders interested in helping the Texas Congressman reach out to the conservative Christian community.

According to a transcript of the meeting obtained by Business Insider, the leaders started off the meeting by asking Paul whether he would sign an Executive Order to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a major policy objective for Israeli hardliners and many leaders in the Christian Right.

"The real issue here is not what America wants, but what does Israel want," Paul told evangelical leaders, according to a transcript of the meeting obtained by Business Insider. "If Israel wants their capital to be Jerusalem, then the United States should honor that."

"How would we like it if some other nation said 'We decided to recognize New York City as your capital instead, so we will build our embassy there?'" he added.

Even Paul's senior campaign aides were surprised by his response.

"We were floored," senior advisor Doug Wead told Business Insider. "It sounds like pure Ron Paul, but it still caught us off guard...If someone would have asked him that in a national debate, I suppose it would have popped right out, but nobody did!"

Wead added that Paul's position "makes sense after the fact," noting that the candidate has frequently emphasized Israel's sovereignty.

Still, Paul's stance will likely come as a surprise to GOP leaders, most of whom view Paul's non-interventionist foreign policy ideas — and particularly his stance towards Israel — as his greatest weakness. The septuagenarian Congressman has largely been snubbed by the right-wing Jewish community, and was even excluded from a December presidential candidates' forum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition because of his "misguided and extreme" foreign policy views.

"I appreciate what he said about Israel — as a matter of fact, I was pleasantly surprised," Brian Jacobs, a Texas pastor who attended Wednesday's meeting, told Business Insider. "It helped answer a lot of questions that I had."


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MY QUOTE FOR STOCKTON CALIFORNIA

" Take whatever you want out of life, Just don't take MINE."

California Court of Appeals Hears Facebook Privacy Case

Lonnie Wong
FOX40 News
6:30 p.m. PDT, March 23, 2012


SACRAMENTO—
Attorneys made arguments before a three judge panel today in Sacramento on whether postings on Facebook are constitutionally protected.

The case involves a jury foreman on a case in which five men were convicted in a gang beating. That juror posted observations during jury deliberations, which were seen by another juror on the trial that he befriended on Facebook.

During a court hearing in which the juror was given immunity, he admitted to the posts, one of which he said the proceedings were "boring."

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Facebook refused to comply with a subpoena seeking his posts, and another court ruled that a subpoena of the information from the juror's attorney was “overbroad." The trial judge then ordered the juror himself to turn over the posts.

The juror's attorney, FOX40 legal analyst Ken Rosenfeld, argued the Stored Communications Act protects online communications on social media sites like Facebook. He also asserted that the request by the judge was a violation of First and Fourth Amendment rights to free speech and privacy.

When Rosenfeld was asked by one justice if the federal law even applied because Facebook was not forced to turn over the material, he contended that the law applies both to Facebook and the individual using it.

"We have to have a fair system in which jurors can feel comfortable knowing that their private lives are not going to be intruded upon in reaching verdicts and making decisions," Rosenfeld told FOX40.

But attorneys for the five men who were convicted say their clients also have a constitutional right to a fair trial. They say the juror disregarded daily instructions not to communicate anything about the case and there was other evidence that he acted to prejudice the decision. Justice Louis Mauro asked if there shouldn't be some balance in the rights of the juror and those of the defendants.

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New Ron Paul Ad: Etch A Sketch

Candidate: In this troubled city, inexperience a plus

By Scott Smith
Record Staff Writer
March 22, 2012 12:00 AM

STOCKTON - Gregory Pitsch has no political experience, but he believes his successes, failures and close calls as a small businessman make him a prime candidate to become the city's next mayor.

And, no, Pitsch, 26, said he's not too young to lead Stockton.

"Look at the experienced politicians, what they have done," he said. "If that's what experience gives you, we're better off with someone who's inexperienced."

Pitsch is among seven candidates seeking the city's top elected office in the most crowded mayoral race in years. The city faces staggering crime and teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

Promoting small business and jobs is the key to turning around the city, said Pitsch, an online retailer who sells T-shirts and electronics. He also dreams of growing his small music-production company.

But running his fleeting storefront clothing business has given him a taste of how perilous it can be to work in downtown Stockton. In June last year, Pitsch said, four armed men robbed him.

One put a knife to his throat, while two others pressed pistols to his head and rib cage. They stole money he needed to pay his rent, but he was not physically hurt.

"We were trying to bring something new," he said. "It was a bad experience."

He now works from his home in Weston Ranch and makes most of his living by designing and producing screen-print T-shirts in the business that has succeeded through word-of-mouth sales, he said.

Pitsch said he has dreamed of entering politics since he was in grade school. Born in San Mateo, he graduated from East Union High School in Manteca and has attended San Joaquin Delta College.

He worked in construction until the economic downturn left him without a job. That's when Pitsch said his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and he began launching his small businesses.

"I believe people should go after the career they want," he said. "You really can be whatever you want to be."

Pitsch has been married for more than a year to his wife, Brittany, an American Sign Language interpreter at an elementary school in Manteca.

Gregory Pitsch said the only mark on his record is a driving under the influence of marijuana case at age 19. Pitsch, a medical marijuana card holder, said he learned his lesson from that experience.

Contact reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or ssmith@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/smithblog.


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Mitt Romney: 'I'd vote for RON PAUL'

Ron Paul - Vote 2012

Ron Paul deserves a chance to be heard! www.knkt.me

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Ron Paul's New Ad: "Is This Dude Serious"

Obama To Congress: 'Keep Going' On Economy Front

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relishing a political victory, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Congress "did the right thing" by extending payroll tax cuts for millions of Americans. He urged lawmakers to push forward on more measures, from assistance to struggling homeowners to increased taxes on the wealthy, saying the looming election was no excuse for inaction in Washington.

"Don't stop here. Keep going,'" Obama said during a White House event marking the passage of the tax cuts. "Keep taking the action that people are calling for to keep this economy growing. This may be an election year, but the American people have no patience for gridlock," he said.

Obama was celebrating a tax cut that is already in place, but due to expire at month's end. He said the extension of the tax cut for the rest of the year will have a spillover effect: More people will spend money and more businesses in turn will be prodded to hire workers, and so "the entire economy" gets a boost.

Congress overwhelmingly passed the $143 billion measure on Friday. The bill extends both a 2 percentage point reduction in the tax that funds Social Security and extends jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. The measure also averts a big cut in the reimbursements doctors get for treating Medicare patients.

But Tuesday's event was not a bill-signing because the bill is not yet in Obama's hands. Not knowing when the legislation will come down from Capitol Hill, the White House decided to go ahead and hold its event now, while the victory is still fresh in people's minds. No major event is planned for the actual bill-signing.

The payroll tax cut was a centerpiece of the jobs plan Obama unveiled last year — and of a re-election strategy that seeks to cast his GOP foes as protectors of the rich out of touch with the worries of working families.

Obama never mentioned that a real driver of the deal Congress approved Friday was the political fallout on Republicans if they didn't give ground. Having endured a debacle in December, when they were seen as holding up the tax cut before caving, Republicans this time went along, and without demanding that the cost be paid for, either.

The White House said the average family would have lost $40 per paycheck had the tax cut not been extended. Throughout the payroll tax debate, the White House encouraged people to write in on social networking sites about how losing that money would affect their lives. Several members of the public who submitted their thoughts were invited to join Obama at events promoting the tax cuts, including his remarks Tuesday.

"This got done because of you," Obama said. "Because you called, you emailed, you tweeted your representatives and you demanded action. You made it clear that you wanted to see some common sense in Washington."

White House officials have called the payroll tax cut the last "must-do" legislation Obama has to work with Congress on ahead of the November presidential election. Still, Obama made a push Tuesday for several other priorities outlined in his jobs bill and last month's State of the Union address, including legislation to assist small business owners and struggling homeowners.

Obama earlier this month proposed a vast expansion of government assistance to homeowners that would make lower lending rates a possibility for millions of borrowers who have not been able to get out from under burdensome mortgages. The proposal has special resonance in election battlegrounds such as Nevada and Florida that have faced record foreclosures.

Obama wants Congress to pass legislation that would make it easier for more borrowers to refinance their loans, creating a new program through the Federal Housing Administration that would have the government assume the risk for the new mortgages. The proposal faces a difficult path in Congress.

Obama also said he wants Congress to pass the so-called Buffett rule, which seeks to ensure that people making more than $1 million a year pay at least 30 percent of their incomes in taxes.

___ Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

YouTube enlists big-name help to redefine channels

By Ryan Nakashima, AP Business Writer | Associated Press – 7 hours ago
CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) -- YouTube is enlisting Hollywood's help to reach a generation of viewers more familiar with smartphones than TV remotes. The online video giant is aiming to create 25 hours of programming per day with the help of some of the top names in traditional TV. The Google-owned site is spreading its wealth among producers, directors, and other filmmakers, using a $100 million pot of seed money it committed last fall. The fund represents YouTube's largest spending on original content so far.

YouTube believes it is laying groundwork for the future. While the number of traditional TV watchers has leveled off in recent years, more and more people are watching video on mobile phones, tablets and computers, especially the 18- to 34-year-old age demographic that advertisers covet. The idea is to create 96 additional YouTube channels, which are essentially artists' home pages, where viewers can see existing video clips and click "subscribe" to be notified when new content goes up.

Well-funded videos by a select roster of stars are likely to be more watchable than the average YouTube fare of cute cats and webcam monologues. YouTube is betting that a solid stream of good content will attract more revenue from advertisers, bring viewers back frequently and bolster its parent company's fledgling Web-connected-TV platform, Google TV.

The cash has enticed some of TV's biggest stars, including "Fast Five" director Justin Lin, who directs episodes of "Community," ''CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker and Nancy Tellem, the former president of CBS entertainment.

Zuiker is teaming up on a horror series for YouTube after observing his own family's behavior. His three pre-teen sons spend more time on phones, iPads and computers than watching TV these days.

"We want to jointly take the risk with YouTube and roll the dice on the future," Zuiker says. "The old regime is going to falter because everybody thinks the TV is the only device that really counts, and that's just not the case."

For producers, it's a chance to create shows that are completely free of meddling from major studios. They can also stay relevant with a younger crowd whose viewing is moving increasingly online.

Several new channels such as the extreme sports-focused Network A and Spanish-language Tutele have launched already. YouTube hopes to have them all up and running by this summer.

"This was really about galvanizing the ecosystem at large," says Alex Carloss, global head of original programming for YouTube. "We see the portfolio (of funded channels) really representing the best of TV meeting the best of the Web."

YouTube isn't the only Web video service that has started to pay for original content. Netflix Inc. recently launched the original series "Lilyhammer," while Hulu premiered "Battleground." But YouTube videos tend to be under 10 minutes, instead of fitting into traditional half-hour or hour-long TV slots. And aside from a few guidelines, ultimate control is given over to the artist, including what is uploaded and when new episodes appear. YouTubers also get away with far edgier stuff than the middle finger that rapper M.I.A. flashed during the Super Bowl halftime show.

Although YouTube's entire investment is less than half of what some studios spend on one blockbuster movie, about a third of the new channels were awarded to scrappy YouTube veterans who already know how to make it big online while keeping production costs low.
YouTube expects to recoup what it spends on the grants by sharing ad revenue the new videos generate.

At Maker Studios, which received money for three new channels, the funds have turbo-charged an already teeming operation that has about 160 full-time staff spread across several buildings crammed with props and computers in the west Los Angeles suburb of Culver City.

On a recent visit, two scenes were being shot in an alley. One was for a parody of a Christmas movie trailer. The other was for a new series about a crime-fighting van called "Si, Es I, Pepe."

Maker cranks out about 300 YouTube videos each month at a bare-bones cost of about $1,000 each.

The studio's videos generate a whopping 500 million views each month, thanks largely to established hits that include Ray William Johnson's roundup of crazy videos and such viral giants as "Epic Rap Battles of History."

Advertisers pay up to $10 per thousand views for video ads that precede the featured content, according to TubeMogul, a major buyer of YouTube ads for the nation's biggest advertisers including Proctor & Gamble Co. and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox movie studio. Established YouTube partners share roughly half of their revenue with the site. So if Maker videos generate $1 or $2 in ad revenue per thousand views, it would just be scraping by.

Maker co-founder Danny Zappin, who quit film school to buy a high-end camera to start a career on YouTube, says it's a "tricky balance" to keep the studio's share of ad revenue higher than the cost of video-making. The undisclosed amount it got from YouTube, on top of the $4 million venture capital it received about a year ago, lets Maker put up more videos without waiting for the views and cash to roll in. "It gives us resources and runway that we wouldn't otherwise have," Zappin said.

For other less-established players in online video, the money has given them an added reason to get involved.

Former CBS executive Tellem teamed up with TV entrepreneur Brian Bedol to create Bedrocket Media Ventures, an upstart production company behind several new YouTube channels, including Network A. The funding "allowed us, or caused us, to focus on YouTube ahead of other platforms," Bedol says.

Analysts believe YouTube has made a wise investment at a time ad rates for online video are rising.

YouTube can be successful with just a few big hits — think of Rebecca Black's "Friday" — even if thousands of videos fall flat. It's similar to the hit-or-miss approach to traditional TV and movies.

"The investor community does not look at this as money wasted," Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter says.

Since promising to share ad revenue with its most popular uploaders in 2007, YouTube has invested in original content mainly by paying for equipment and training new artists, but it was never as big as this.

Backing up its new strategy, YouTube also revamped its homepage to prioritize channels and recommendations above just the most-viewed videos. The revamp allows advertisers to target popular channels or categories of content more easily.

YouTube's funding plan takes a page from Apple Inc.'s playbook. When the iPhone maker launched its App Store in 2008, a $100 million seed fund created by Silicon Valley investor John Doerr spawned hundreds of thousands of new apps.

"Our developers are not software engineers," YouTube's vice president of global content partnerships, Robert Kyncl, told a convention in January. "Our developers are Hollywood stars, are online stars, are regular folks like you and I."

If nothing else, the injection of funds will spawn content never before been seen on any screen, large or small.

"Fast Five" director Lin, who is teaming up with YouTube stars Ryan Higa and Kevin "KevJumba" Wu on the "YOMYOMF" channel, said his focus is not to try to find audiences with stereotypical Asian-American content. Rather, the idea is to give a platform to people who have unique voices but haven't been heard yet.

He says Higa and Wu didn't follow any set rules when they jumped to popularity with a mix of oddball humor, brutal honesty and rap. "They just did what they loved, and people came," Lin said. "If we're going to fail, I would rather go out with that philosophy."
___ Online: KassemG's parody of Christmas movies, http://bit.ly/yzTt5i Si, Es I, Pepe, http://bit.ly/AquLL8 Epic Rap Battles of History, http://bit.ly/xsjKks Ray William Johnson, http://bit.ly/wYDiaC YOMYOMF, http://bit.ly/ygxnuH Network A, http://bit.ly/wDeiZY Anthony Zuiker's partner, BlackBoxTV, http://bit.ly/yQFM13

Ron Paul Attracts More Than 1,200 Voters at Tri-Cities Town Hall Meeting

Ron Paul Attracts More Than 1,200 Voters at Tri-Cities Town Hall Meeting

(NOBODY BUT) RON PAUL ATTRACTS 2,300 VOTERS AT A SPOKANE, WASHINGTON CAMPAIGN RALLY

OVERFLOWS CITY’S CONVENTION CENTER, CONTINUING A MEMORABLE PACIFIC NORTHWEST CAMPAIGN TOUR

BELLEVUE, Washington – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul attracted an astonishing 2,300 voters at his Spokane, Washington campaign rally today, ending this day of campaigning in the Pacific Northwest with an uncharacteristically large display of support.The 12-term Congressman from Texas’ rally took place at 7:30 p.m. PST at the Spokane Convention Center. Taken together, Dr. Paul’s Pacific Northwest campaign visit has so far resulted in his having reached thousands of supporters and undecided voters in candidate appearances alone. Tomorrow, Dr. Paul heads to Boise, Idaho for another large rally.

RON PAUL ATTRACTS MORE THAN 2,400 VOTERS TO BOISE RALLY

ENDS PACIFIC NORTHWEST CAMPAIGN TOUR IN THE GEM STATE WITH SENTIMENT THAT WASHINGTON AND IDAHO ARE FERTILE GROUND FOR STRONG CAUCUS SHOWING

BOISE, Idaho – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul ended his Washington-Idaho campaign tour in the Pacific Northwest’s eastern enclave of Boise, a city that greeted him by turning out over 2,400 supporters to his rally. The 12-term Congressman from Texas’ rally took place at 12:30 p.m. MST at CenturyLink Arena, 233 South Capitol Boulevard, Boise, ID 83702.

FBI Could Take Down Internet For Millions March 8th

The Federal Bureau of Investigation may soon be forced to shut down a number of key Domain Name System (DNS) servers, which would cut Internet access for millions of Web users around the world, reports BetaBeat. The DNS servers were installed by the FBI last year, in an effort to stop the spread of a piece of malware known as DNSCharger Trojan. But the court order that allowed the set up of the replacement servers expires on March 8.

In November of last year, authorities arrested six men in Estonia for the creation and spread of DNSCharger, which reconfigures infected computers’ Internet settings, and re-routes users to websites that contain malware, or other illegal sites. DNSCharger also blocks access to websites that might offer solutions for how to rid the computer of its worm, and often comes bundled with other types of malicious software.

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2012: What They Don't Want You To Know