http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0928/1224324532192.html BUSINESS INTERVIEW: As executive vice president of digital media for MTV's music brands, Dubliner Dermot McCormack is confronting head-on the challenges all media companies face in an ever-changing digital landscape IT'S HARD TO know what to envy Dermot McCormack for most - his 17th-floor, corner office (the sign, in America, at least, that you have truly arrived) overlooking Times Square, or the fact that Bono has a nickname for him: Digital Dermot from Dublin.To be fair, he has earned it.

PowerPoint Presentation: In my previous life as a paid promotion site, I got to see any number of companies and sectors pushed and promoted that didn't deserve to be! It seemed that every week I was doing an Oil and Gas Play. Alternative energy plays were very popular...biofuels and solar, too. BUT, the clear winner over the past year has been the Lithium mining sector. I saw a succession of mining plays like LIEG, AMEL, LTUM, BHWX and AMLM parade across the paid promotion universe. They did just want "pump and dumps" should do...they skyrocketed and then fell. They all has slick, professional websites that touted that Lithium was the "energy source of the future". It may well be, but these companies are very far away from being viable companies. The truth is I did alerts on all of these companies at one time or another over the past year. I just ran across LIEG the other day and have added it to my list since it is in the lithium mining business and it is a paid promotion stock, too. PowerPoint Presentation: Is Lithium the energy source of the future? It certainly is when it comes to batteries for electric cars. Greentech Media published an article by Mark Boslet called "Lithium Battery Oversupply Debate Rages" ( click here to read ). It was an entertaining article that makes a case that the future demand for Lithium batteries will be extremely strong. Certainly Obama's multi-billion dollar investment in Lithium battery technology should bear some fruit for the domestic battery and electric car industry. Here are just a few facts that I have gleaned about Lithium: The Obama administration's Energy and Environmental plan requires increased lithium production because the plan calls for ONE MILLION hybrid/electric vehicles on American roads by 2015 and is investing BILLIONS to jumpstart a domestic electric battery industry. It may play a vital role to the future of the automotive industry. In fact, According to a new report from Pike Research, this market growth will

The former owners of a Milan car dealership pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges during a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court, Rock Island. Jens Hirsch, 45, and Pamela A. Hirsch, 55, of Rock Island, the former owners of Blackhawk Auto, pleaded guilty to one count each of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and making a false statement to a bank. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 14. According to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois, the Hirsches admitted that with Jens as president and Pamela as vice president and secretary of Strategic Enterprises Inc., doing business as Blackhawk Auto, they defrauded Milan Bank in 2008. Blackhawk Auto, located at 1920 E. 1st Ave., had an agreement with the bank for a line of credit of $1.5 million, which would be used to purchase vehicles for reselling. Upon sale of the vehicles, Blackhawk Auto was to repay the bank the outstanding balance for the respective vehicle. The Hirsches admitted they used the proceeds from sales for other uses and failed to repay the bank. The loss to the bank was more than $400,000, but less than $1 million. The penalty for each of the offenses is a prison sentence of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million. However, the plea agreements in the case will determine the final sentence, according to the news release.