Mark Pincus Blog

Banks that need loans but won't make them

Gretchen morgenson (the great cynical replacement for my favorite curmudgeonly nytimes reporter) writes today about big banks taking billions in assistance that are still tightening credit - ie. Refusing new loans and tightening terms on existing. The worst case is bank america which took in $15 billion and then invested $7 billion in a chinese bank while refusing loans at home because it says there's a recession and its tough to find 'good loans' to make. My favorite part...robert strickler, a spokesman, had the nerve to say that none of the TARP money was used in the investment! Who's the bigger idiot? A. The govt for lending money to these banks, B. Us for watching quietly, or C. Mr strickler for working in a bank and trying to imply that one pot of money is different from another.

Did goldman get bailed out?

Its outrageous that goldman sachs got $10 billion in govt bailout funds. Just heard this on npr. If this is true its the biggest looting of the american population so far.

Barak rocks!

Listening to barak on 60 minutes.

Love that he reiterates that america doesn't torture. I have blogged for yrs about how shameful it is for a modern civilization to allow denying anyone of their human rights. Love that he is shutting down guantanamo which represents a lot of wrong acts on our side.

Barak sounds like a leader. He sounds level headed and thoughtful. He projects humility.

I'm soo happy we are not listening to mccain and palen. Oy!

Sounds like a straight shooting, hard working ceo. Pragmatic, common sense.

Ridic that we think this is 1930s when 25 pct of people were out of work and nearly homeless.

Supports free market system. Find something that works from fdr to reagen. Test a lot. Drive action. Explain what you're doing to the people.

Recreate trust from people to president.

Billion for obama

Obama should announce his reelection campaign web site now and a stated goal fo raising a billion dollars. This would get massive pr and allow him to continue accepting money now while the iron is hot.

The site could show a ticker with how much has been raised and publish names as they come in.

Tribe deal

NEW SYSTEMS ASSOCIATES EXECUTES OPERATING AGREEMENT TO MANAGE AND GROW TRIBE.NET

November 10th, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO - Utah Street Networks and New Systems Associates today entered into an operating agreement to manage Tribe.net (http://www.tribe.net), add competitive social networking features to the site, and revitalize the Tribe community.

The first priorities for New Systems Associates are to stabilize the platform and improve the site's performance. To accomplish these goals, the company is committing substantial resources to upgrade Tribe's hardware and application. The hardware migration will begin immediately, resulting in better performance and stability users expect from a world-class social network. New Systems Associates will also add new features to improve connections within the Tribe community and to other social networks and widgets.

In the longer term, New Systems Associates will grow the Tribe community by developing features including advanced privacy features, profile control, regional relevancy, personal discovery, and free-range connectivity. The company is committed to strengthening Tribe's alternative community and the unique ways in which users interact.

Utah Street Networks, Inc. is the owner of Tribe.net, one of the oldest social networking sites on the Internet and pioneers of social graphing.

New Systems Associates is an LLC formed by long-time Tribe members who believe in protecting and expanding Tribe's unique culture.

Tribe deal is done

Announcement was supposed to go out yesterday.

Quick thoughts on election

I have to say that the fact we elected obama makes me feel proud to be an american.

While I don't agree with some of his poilitics, this election feels like the most democratically open in history. This guy was not the party's chosen candidate. She lost. And the amount of money raised through the internet (averagine less than $100) is staggering.

While mccain tried to complain about how unfair it was to compete with such a war chest, you just had to laugh. Here is this super wealthy career politician whining about getting out spent by a guy with no money or connections, no favors to call in.

I have no idea what kind of president obama will be. I will admit that I thought clinton would be horrible and ended up liking him a lot. Clinton was the most mainstream president since reagan.

I do find myself hoping again for the chance to see real leadership in the whitehouse and as a country and that's fun and different.

I hope obama will be a great ceo. I hope he we will unite and challenge us all with a great positive vision of where we can go in the next 20 yrs.

Tribe update

Hoping there is something to announce today. Worst case monday.

my dad's account of obama speach

great first hand report from my dad on obama speach...

I just want to take a minute to share with you the feeling Sherri and I had standing there in Grant Park, amid more than a million people hysterical with joy, as a skinny guy with oversized ears suddently transformed from an earnest freshman senator into the most powerful human being on earth.

While we watched this metamophosis over the past 22 months, this single moment was electric. You felt like the nation had undergone a catharsis, and tons of compressed fresh air had exploded into a room filled with stale cigar smoke. It was far more than just another election outcome and a routine change of command. It signalled a new dawn for America. It signalled a long-awaited release from anti-ness...the Neanderthal mentality of binding us all to 19th century thinking...anti-abortion...anti-stem-cell-research...anti-same sex partnerships...anti-gun control...anti-universal healthcare...and all the other negativism that has stunted our growth for eight years.

Few of us expect Obama to be a miracle man. He has meager track record and is untested. And considering the monumental economic meltdown at home and the unprecedented threats festering abroad, the mood of the country seems to be unbridled hope mixed with weariness and wariness.

So for all of us, this is a classic leap of faith. Unfortunately,we don't have dieties available as presidential candidates, only a choice of above-average individuals none of whom are ever truly prepared for this. We made a decision based on gut feeling alone. But that collective instinct has often proven to be prescient in the past. Let's hope it is this time, when keen judgment and decisive action will determine the kind of future our children face.