Making Money Program

The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:

HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)

The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.

...

Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 

Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.

This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 

"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.

Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:

See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:

So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.

Edsall described the Terps’ opening as a “Dream Job.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the move surprised college football fans on every end of the spectrum.



Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

  There was a general consensus that Oklahoma was going to win the Fiesta Bowl. That being said, it wasn’t like UCONN rolled over. The Huskies rallied late in the season, winning four straight and entering their first BCS bowl in school history. They were playing in honor of the late Jasper Howard, who dreamed of making it to a BCS game.

Obviously, the loss left UCONN heavy hearted. They were simply outclassed by a bigger, faster, and significantly more talented Oklahoma team. One would think a loss of that magnitude would give Head Coach Randy Edsall a lot to think about. But apparently, he digested all the facts pretty quickly; leaving the Huskies for the University of Maryland literally 24 hours after losing in the Fiesta Bowl.

Edsall described the Terps’ opening as a “Dream Job.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the move surprised college football fans on every end of the spectrum. First, Maryland spent more than two million dollars just to terminate the contract of Ralph Friedgen. With that kind of money spent on the firing of a coach that went 8-4; the overwhelming assumption was that Maryland was getting a major coach. Names tossed around included Chris Petersen and Mike Leach.

But perhaps more interesting is where Maryland stands in the ACC. Maryland does not make nearly as much money from their football program as the rest of the ACC (sans Duke and Wake Forest). If anything, Edsall made a lateral move, to a strikingly similar modern program. The only real difference is the conference. And this is something the Big East has had a lot of trouble getting used to.

In 2006, Bobby Petrino led the Louisville Cardinals to a BCS game for the first time in the school’s history, and then unceremoniously left to coach the Atlanta Falcons (who he also departed from in controversial fashion). The next year, Rich Rodriguez led West Virginia, an offensive juggernaut with White and Slaton into the BCS, before ditching his alma mater for another maize and blue team. Last year, Brian Kelly literally left the Bearcats coach-less for their BCS game, in order to fill the void at Notre Dame.

So let’s add this up. In the last five years, four teams have won the Big East. All four of those teams’ coaches left, resulting in absolute chaos throughout the conference. And even though all of these coaches are doing it to seek greener pastures, there are two things that are worth mentioning. First, with the exception of Bobby Petrino, who somehow landed on his feet in Arkansas, the departed Big East coaches have had significant problems in their new environments, both on and off the field. Second, and more important, is the rate of exchange.

Since the 2005 departure of football powerhouses Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech, there is no other conference that has experienced coaching turnover quite like the Big East. In a country where football is the money sport, the Big East is literally the only major conference that has built itself around basketball success. Interestingly enough, the ACC’s decision to acquire BC, Virginia Tech, and Miami, were part of initiative to make the ACC a football conference again.

Try as they may, the Big East is not in a position to do that. Notre Dame has flat out refused to join the conference, so the Big East instead reached out to TCU, a school more than halfway across the country. TCU’s departure officially spells doom for the Mountain West, but also doesn’t do anything for the Big East. Because instead of moving to a conference where you can be a BCS team at-large with such a successful season, TCU has put themselves in a position where they can lose five regular season games, and still make the BCS. Hell, if an undefeated Cincinnati couldn’t get National championship consideration, you can be certain that TCU won’t either. And it’s simply because the focus is not on football.

Now, the truth is, that’s not always a huge problem. Football is literally six times more expensive to operate than the next most expensive college sport. So if you are the Big East, and basketball is the big ticket, it’s probably not a terrible idea to ride the basketball wave. The only problem is, coaches know that too.

Yesterday, I spoke to a former National Champion Football player at Boston College about the series of Big East exits, and his response was simple. “If you put every Head Football Coach from the Big East in a room and asked them to air grievances, the first thing they’d all say is, ‘we can’t get top talent here because we are a basketball conference.”

But if the understanding is that they aren’t a football conference, why is there an illusion that these are real football coaches? UCONN football was literally the only head coaching position that Edsall ever knew. And unlike Jim Harbaugh, who literally need one recruiting class to turn a 1-11 team into a national powerhouse in the Pac 10, Edsall needed 12 years, a lost of losing seasons, and three of the most significant athletic defections of the new millennium.

Perhaps coaches are doing what anyone else would do. They are striking while the iron is hot.

robert shumake detroit

Pink Floyd Re-Signs With EMI: Good <b>News</b> for the Band or the Label?

Progressive rock legends Pink Floyd have re-signed with their longtime record label EMI.

Great <b>news</b>: New Obama chief of staff might be … William Daley <b>...</b>

On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, “true” Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with ...

Apple&#39;s iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

robert shumake detroit

Pink Floyd Re-Signs With EMI: Good <b>News</b> for the Band or the Label?

Progressive rock legends Pink Floyd have re-signed with their longtime record label EMI.

Great <b>news</b>: New Obama chief of staff might be … William Daley <b>...</b>

On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, “true” Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with ...

Apple&#39;s iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

robert shumake detroit

The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:

HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)

The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.

...

Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 

Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.

This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 

"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.

Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:

See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:

So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.

Edsall described the Terps’ opening as a “Dream Job.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the move surprised college football fans on every end of the spectrum.



Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

  There was a general consensus that Oklahoma was going to win the Fiesta Bowl. That being said, it wasn’t like UCONN rolled over. The Huskies rallied late in the season, winning four straight and entering their first BCS bowl in school history. They were playing in honor of the late Jasper Howard, who dreamed of making it to a BCS game.

Obviously, the loss left UCONN heavy hearted. They were simply outclassed by a bigger, faster, and significantly more talented Oklahoma team. One would think a loss of that magnitude would give Head Coach Randy Edsall a lot to think about. But apparently, he digested all the facts pretty quickly; leaving the Huskies for the University of Maryland literally 24 hours after losing in the Fiesta Bowl.

Edsall described the Terps’ opening as a “Dream Job.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the move surprised college football fans on every end of the spectrum. First, Maryland spent more than two million dollars just to terminate the contract of Ralph Friedgen. With that kind of money spent on the firing of a coach that went 8-4; the overwhelming assumption was that Maryland was getting a major coach. Names tossed around included Chris Petersen and Mike Leach.

But perhaps more interesting is where Maryland stands in the ACC. Maryland does not make nearly as much money from their football program as the rest of the ACC (sans Duke and Wake Forest). If anything, Edsall made a lateral move, to a strikingly similar modern program. The only real difference is the conference. And this is something the Big East has had a lot of trouble getting used to.

In 2006, Bobby Petrino led the Louisville Cardinals to a BCS game for the first time in the school’s history, and then unceremoniously left to coach the Atlanta Falcons (who he also departed from in controversial fashion). The next year, Rich Rodriguez led West Virginia, an offensive juggernaut with White and Slaton into the BCS, before ditching his alma mater for another maize and blue team. Last year, Brian Kelly literally left the Bearcats coach-less for their BCS game, in order to fill the void at Notre Dame.

So let’s add this up. In the last five years, four teams have won the Big East. All four of those teams’ coaches left, resulting in absolute chaos throughout the conference. And even though all of these coaches are doing it to seek greener pastures, there are two things that are worth mentioning. First, with the exception of Bobby Petrino, who somehow landed on his feet in Arkansas, the departed Big East coaches have had significant problems in their new environments, both on and off the field. Second, and more important, is the rate of exchange.

Since the 2005 departure of football powerhouses Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech, there is no other conference that has experienced coaching turnover quite like the Big East. In a country where football is the money sport, the Big East is literally the only major conference that has built itself around basketball success. Interestingly enough, the ACC’s decision to acquire BC, Virginia Tech, and Miami, were part of initiative to make the ACC a football conference again.

Try as they may, the Big East is not in a position to do that. Notre Dame has flat out refused to join the conference, so the Big East instead reached out to TCU, a school more than halfway across the country. TCU’s departure officially spells doom for the Mountain West, but also doesn’t do anything for the Big East. Because instead of moving to a conference where you can be a BCS team at-large with such a successful season, TCU has put themselves in a position where they can lose five regular season games, and still make the BCS. Hell, if an undefeated Cincinnati couldn’t get National championship consideration, you can be certain that TCU won’t either. And it’s simply because the focus is not on football.

Now, the truth is, that’s not always a huge problem. Football is literally six times more expensive to operate than the next most expensive college sport. So if you are the Big East, and basketball is the big ticket, it’s probably not a terrible idea to ride the basketball wave. The only problem is, coaches know that too.

Yesterday, I spoke to a former National Champion Football player at Boston College about the series of Big East exits, and his response was simple. “If you put every Head Football Coach from the Big East in a room and asked them to air grievances, the first thing they’d all say is, ‘we can’t get top talent here because we are a basketball conference.”

But if the understanding is that they aren’t a football conference, why is there an illusion that these are real football coaches? UCONN football was literally the only head coaching position that Edsall ever knew. And unlike Jim Harbaugh, who literally need one recruiting class to turn a 1-11 team into a national powerhouse in the Pac 10, Edsall needed 12 years, a lost of losing seasons, and three of the most significant athletic defections of the new millennium.

Perhaps coaches are doing what anyone else would do. They are striking while the iron is hot.

robert shumake

robert shumake

Pink Floyd Re-Signs With EMI: Good <b>News</b> for the Band or the Label?

Progressive rock legends Pink Floyd have re-signed with their longtime record label EMI.

Great <b>news</b>: New Obama chief of staff might be … William Daley <b>...</b>

On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, “true” Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with ...

Apple&#39;s iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

robert shumake

Pink Floyd Re-Signs With EMI: Good <b>News</b> for the Band or the Label?

Progressive rock legends Pink Floyd have re-signed with their longtime record label EMI.

Great <b>news</b>: New Obama chief of staff might be … William Daley <b>...</b>

On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, “true” Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with ...

Apple&#39;s iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

robert shumake

So many people have the dream of making money working from home. The reasons vary. For some it is more of a necessity while for others it's more of a want.

A former housewife may find herself a newly single Mother and the job she landed in a hurry barely covers the rent and utilities. A second income is must to survive and will determine whether she and the kids have to move in and crowd in a room with her Mother or whether they can stay in their own place.

Other people simply hate a boring routine of going into work everyday and working to make someone else rich. They don't need to work from home but they have a need deep inside themselves to do their own thing and be their own boss and not be stuck in a boring routine everyday.

Some people may find themselves laid off from good jobs in our uncertain economy, some people want to save up for that vacation or new car, some have a big pile of debt to pay off, some working Mother's want to stay home with their kids but can't afford to not have an income and the list goes on and on.

The problem most every one faces who wants to start working from home is how to start? The truth is, it is overwhelming. It will usually take a lot of searching to find out what is right for you.

The most common trap people face when starting is falling for scams and hype. The hype is everywhere. Do an internet search on make money from home and there's no shortage of websites and hype to tell you exactly what to do. There are infomercials all over TV. If John Doe can make thousands of dollars working a few days a month why can't you?

There are all sorts of programs that promise easy and quick money if you just sign up for their program for a certain amount of money. There are some opportunities which you have no clue what you are supposed to do, but whatever it is, you are sure to make a ton of money. There's no shortage of testimonials of common everyday people who are now living a life of luxury. You get excited and imagine all your money worries are over and you are living in a nice beach house.

The truth is, these so called opportunities full of hype are just people getting rich off of the hopes and dreams millions of people have to work from home. Don't fall for it.

If you really want to make money from home, the first thing to do is realize it will actually take time, work, and investment and don't fall for anything that promises easy money or never, ever sign up for anything where you don't know exactly what you will be doing first.

The hardest part of being your own boss may be deciding what to do. There's so much out there to choose from and it will most likely take a lot of searching to find what is right for you.

What works for one person may not work for another. Several factors determine what will work or not. Two of the most common factors are location and personality. What works in one area doesn't mean it will work in another. The only way to find out if something will work in your area is to try. Some areas may be oversaturated with the business you are interested in and will not do good. Another area will not have this business available and will do well. You may be highly successful with a certain business in one area, but in another, you may do terrible. That's just the way it is. Know when to fold 'em. If you have put your very best effort into a business, if you have advertised and gotten your name out there and promoted yourself like crazy, but you still can't get customers or make a profit, then you either have to move or try something else. It's better just to get out than to keep losing money every month. It will be disappointing, but take it as a learning experience.

Another factor is personality. Different people have different strengths, weaknesses and passions. What works for Tina may not work for Jodie. Some people are outgoing natural sales people while others are shy. Different people have different skills and interests and should use those when looking for a business to start.

Never start something just because it worked for your friend unless you are genuinely interested in it. If you are not interested in doing something, don't do it. Why work a business you hate? You will be happier and make more money if you do something you enjoy.

Don't put everything you have into starting your own business. Some businesses fail. Actually, a lot do unfortunately. Try testing it out before you really go all out and see what the response is and do your research. Figure out your costs. How much will it cost to advertise? How much will supplies and anything else you need cost? Check out your competition.

Some people can get started right away into a business with a little investment and start making money right away. Some people. This is the exception and not the rule. Some people can join a direct sales company for little or no cost, buy a bunch of catalogs, have home parties and pass them out to everyone and start seeing good profits right away.

Whatever you decide to do, it will definitely take work. You can't just pay a fee and start making a large amount of money right away for doing almost nothing no matter what those people on TV say.

After you know what you want to do, it will take time and a lot of work to get your name out there and to get business and start making profits. If you can get a loyal customer base, you can find that working from home can be very profitable and lucrative.

What it will cost to work from home depends on several factors. There are some opportunities you can start for a very nominal fee and others will require quite a large investment.

If you decide to join a direct sales company, where you get paid a percentage of what you sell and also make a percentage off of people you recruit in the business, there are some companies where it is completely free to join. Many however require you buy a starter kit which will contain products and some business supplies. Even if you find a company that is free to join, you still will have to invest money into catalogs, business cards, and advertising.

If you want to offer your own service, your investment will be the products/equipment required as well as the basics of advertising. Some businesses will require that you be licensed and insured. Some businesses to start from scratch are your own craft business, cleaning business, baby newspaper business, pet sitting, computer repair, graphic design, home daycare, sewing/alterations, and tutoring.

An exclusively online business is great for shy people who are uncomfortable selling, but this is a whole different ball park. Profits usually come quicker and easier in the real world than online. If you want an exclusive online business, that will require a lot of research. You will need to spend hours and hours educating yourself to avoid costly mistakes and disappointment.

Don't get me wrong, if you can learn how to do it, that's great. Nothing beats waking up in the morning and finding out you just made money while you were sleeping. But you will need a theme to build a website on that isn't oversaturated, something to make it stand out, and most importantly you have to learn how to get traffic. Without traffic, your website will be worthless. Remember you will have fierce competition so that's why educating yourself is important.

Once you know what you want to do, you will have to either build yourself a website or have it built for you (which is usually expensive). Then you will have to find a host and pay for hosting. And last, you will need to do a lot of marketing to drive traffic and hopefully customers to your site.

Many people who really need money, desperately, look to making money from home. They may invest money they can't afford thinking they will make it back plus a lot of profit, just to find themselves more broke and disappointed. They probably just fell for some hype and wrongly thought it would be quick and easy to make money.

If you are desperate for money, or are looking to make money fast, then it's not a good time to actually start your own business. If you are unemployed then you should spend your time looking for a regular job as disappointing as this sounds, so you can have a steady paycheck, then try working from home on the side. For fast money, there are ways you can still make some money from home.

You can have a yard sale. If you enjoy children, put out ads and flyers offering to watch children in your home. There is always a big demand for childcare. If you have furniture or any bigger items you don't need, sell them. Put out flyers or ads in a local (small) paper offering services you can provide such as house cleaning, pet sitting, ironing, sewing, cooking, painting, or handy man jobs. Ads like these usually work best in small town papers and are cheaper but don't do so well and are more expensive in big city areas.

Or, if you are a good salesperson and know a lot of people, a direct sales business is probably a fast way to make money. Find a company that offers a good percentage, find a company that is free to join or offers a plan where you can get started for free and buy the required kit later. Then buy some catalogs and sell away to everyone you can. This way, your only cost will be the catalogs and you can make a profit on the very first day. This of course is for an outgoing person who is good at selling.

If you have a green thumb, grow flowers, herbs and plants and then sell them. If you are good at crafts, sewing, or knitting, make and sell your crafts. You can do this through newspaper ads, flyers, word of mouth, and online at www.etsy.com.

Online, you can set up a blog for free and put Google Adsense on the blog. Everytime someone clicks on an ad, you get paid. The hard part about this is actually getting traffic to your blog. You can do it, but it does take time and effort.

If you enjoy writing you can also write articles for Associated Content, (like I'm doing now). If you article is accepted, you get paid. What you get depends on what they decide your article is worth.

You can also be a freelance writer. There is a great need for writers with the explosion of websites and people looking for original website content for better search engine rankings. Be prepared for fierce competition however and be prepared to work for low amounts in the beginning until you get established.

Whatever you decide to go with, the truth is there is no secret to getting rich from home. There are two ways to really make an income from home. Good old fashioned hard work and effort or scamming people with a get rich quick scheme. So I am sorry to disappoint anyone who thought they could learn how to start making a thousand dollars a week instantly working only a few hours. But if you have a valid credit card, there are several guys willing to sell you ebooks promising some sort of secret to getting rich easily and quickly.

The moral of the story is, it takes time, effort and hard work to make a decent income from home. It's not easy and it doesn't happen overnight regardless of the hype that's out there. If you aren't willing to work hard at it, it probably won't happen. You need to have determination to make it work and you have to keep at it. You reap what you sow and if you put the time and work into it, you will be rewarded once it pays off.


robert shumake

Pink Floyd Re-Signs With EMI: Good <b>News</b> for the Band or the Label?

Progressive rock legends Pink Floyd have re-signed with their longtime record label EMI.

Great <b>news</b>: New Obama chief of staff might be … William Daley <b>...</b>

On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, “true” Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with ...

Apple&#39;s iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET <b>News</b>

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

robert shumake detroit

robert shumake

The Weekly Standard blows the lid off another non-scandal -- and, in the process, all but begs House Republicans to conduct a wasteful and inane investigation:

HHS is Paying Google with Taxpayer Money to Alter 'Obamacare' Search Results (Updated)

The brazenness of the Obama administration never ceases to amaze. Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.

...

Using taxpayers' money to alter the results of search engines and to control the flow of information is disturbing on multiple levels. It's particularly disturbing when it's done to promote a massive expansion of government power, like Obamacare. And one wonders how – or if – it's even legal. 

Perhaps the new House of Representatives will want to ask the unelected Secretary Sebelius to explain how, or why, she thinks such use of taxpayers' money to promote a particular -- and highly unpopular -- political agenda is legally or substantively justifiable.

This is dumb, even for the Weekly Standard (though not too dumb to get Townhall in a lather.) 

"Obamacare" isn't a "political agenda," it's a government program, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. The government has a natural and appropriate interest in making sure the public knows how a new government program works. The public, quite obviously, has such an interest as well.

Buying ads on Google isn't "control[ing] the flow of information," it's buying ads. It isn't a nefarious bribe to get Google to alter search results; it's how Google ads work. Here's the first example that popped into my head:

See what happened there? I typed "the weekly standard" into Google's search box, and Google put an ad for the Weekly Standard atop my search results. That's exactly what happened with the www.healthcare.gov ads in question. Here's a screenshot, from Politico's Ben Smith:

So, this is nothing more than the government buying ads, exactly -- exactly -- like The Weekly Standard does. Is that a scandal? Of course not. The government buys ads all the time. Like those military recruitment commercials you probably see a few hundred times a year. I haven't seen the Weekly Standard denounce that as an illegal use of taxpayer money to promote a political agenda by controlling the flow of information. Good thing, too: Such a complaint would be stupid.

Edsall described the Terps’ opening as a “Dream Job.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the move surprised college football fans on every end of the spectrum.



Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

  There was a general consensus that Oklahoma was going to win the Fiesta Bowl. That being said, it wasn’t like UCONN rolled over. The Huskies rallied late in the season, winning four straight and entering their first BCS bowl in school history. They were playing in honor of the late Jasper Howard, who dreamed of making it to a BCS game.

Obviously, the loss left UCONN heavy hearted. They were simply outclassed by a bigger, faster, and significantly more talented Oklahoma team. One would think a loss of that magnitude would give Head Coach Randy Edsall a lot to think about. But apparently, he digested all the facts pretty quickly; leaving the Huskies for the University of Maryland literally 24 hours after losing in the Fiesta Bowl.

Edsall described the Terps’ opening as a “Dream Job.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the move surprised college football fans on every end of the spectrum. First, Maryland spent more than two million dollars just to terminate the contract of Ralph Friedgen. With that kind of money spent on the firing of a coach that went 8-4; the overwhelming assumption was that Maryland was getting a major coach. Names tossed around included Chris Petersen and Mike Leach.

But perhaps more interesting is where Maryland stands in the ACC. Maryland does not make nearly as much money from their football program as the rest of the ACC (sans Duke and Wake Forest). If anything, Edsall made a lateral move, to a strikingly similar modern program. The only real difference is the conference. And this is something the Big East has had a lot of trouble getting used to.

In 2006, Bobby Petrino led the Louisville Cardinals to a BCS game for the first time in the school’s history, and then unceremoniously left to coach the Atlanta Falcons (who he also departed from in controversial fashion). The next year, Rich Rodriguez led West Virginia, an offensive juggernaut with White and Slaton into the BCS, before ditching his alma mater for another maize and blue team. Last year, Brian Kelly literally left the Bearcats coach-less for their BCS game, in order to fill the void at Notre Dame.

So let’s add this up. In the last five years, four teams have won the Big East. All four of those teams’ coaches left, resulting in absolute chaos throughout the conference. And even though all of these coaches are doing it to seek greener pastures, there are two things that are worth mentioning. First, with the exception of Bobby Petrino, who somehow landed on his feet in Arkansas, the departed Big East coaches have had significant problems in their new environments, both on and off the field. Second, and more important, is the rate of exchange.

Since the 2005 departure of football powerhouses Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech, there is no other conference that has experienced coaching turnover quite like the Big East. In a country where football is the money sport, the Big East is literally the only major conference that has built itself around basketball success. Interestingly enough, the ACC’s decision to acquire BC, Virginia Tech, and Miami, were part of initiative to make the ACC a football conference again.

Try as they may, the Big East is not in a position to do that. Notre Dame has flat out refused to join the conference, so the Big East instead reached out to TCU, a school more than halfway across the country. TCU’s departure officially spells doom for the Mountain West, but also doesn’t do anything for the Big East. Because instead of moving to a conference where you can be a BCS team at-large with such a successful season, TCU has put themselves in a position where they can lose five regular season games, and still make the BCS. Hell, if an undefeated Cincinnati couldn’t get National championship consideration, you can be certain that TCU won’t either. And it’s simply because the focus is not on football.

Now, the truth is, that’s not always a huge problem. Football is literally six times more expensive to operate than the next most expensive college sport. So if you are the Big East, and basketball is the big ticket, it’s probably not a terrible idea to ride the basketball wave. The only problem is, coaches know that too.

Yesterday, I spoke to a former National Champion Football player at Boston College about the series of Big East exits, and his response was simple. “If you put every Head Football Coach from the Big East in a room and asked them to air grievances, the first thing they’d all say is, ‘we can’t get top talent here because we are a basketball conference.”

But if the understanding is that they aren’t a football conference, why is there an illusion that these are real football coaches? UCONN football was literally the only head coaching position that Edsall ever knew. And unlike Jim Harbaugh, who literally need one recruiting class to turn a 1-11 team into a national powerhouse in the Pac 10, Edsall needed 12 years, a lost of losing seasons, and three of the most significant athletic defections of the new millennium.

Perhaps coaches are doing what anyone else would do. They are striking while the iron is hot.

robert shumake

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