Whip It
Safety Dance
Der Kommissar
Dance Hall Days
Hard to believe all four of these songs are nearly thirty years old. Seems like only yesterday.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
No new trial for US woman in Hong Kong 'milkshake' murder trial
An American woman sentenced to life in prison in Hong Kong in the death of her high-flying banker husband lost her bid Monday for a new trial in a case known widely as the "milkshake murder."
Nancy Kissel was convicted in 2005 of giving her husband a milkshake laced with sedatives before fatally beating the wealthy banker on the head with a metal ornament during an argument in 2003.
Kissel said she did it in self-defense.
Prosecutors argued she planned the attack in the couple's luxury apartment.
The three-judge court rejected Kissel's request, but the 44-year-old Minnesota native's attorney said he would ask the Court of Final Appeal to hear her case.
The case made headlines worldwide because of allegations of drug abuse, kinky sex and adultery in the wealthy world of ex-patriots in this Asian financial center.
Defense attorney Simon Clarke said he was "very disappointed" with Monday's decision, but added that he expected "a better hearing at the Court of Final Appeal."
Kissel said her 40-year-old husband, Robert, an investment banker for Merrill Lynch, was an erratic whiskey-swilling workaholic who also snorted cocaine and forced her to have sex.
She testified that she killed him as he was threatening her with a baseball bat in a quarrel.
During the appeal hearings, Kissel's defense lawyer said the woman suffered an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired her self-control.
But prosecutors argued that Kissel was a cold-blooded, scheming woman who plotted to kill her husband.
They said Robert Kissel of New York had been angry about his wife's affair with a repairman who worked on the couple's vacation home in Vermont.
He had planned to seek a divorce just before she killed him, they said.
Robert Kissel's estate was worth $18 million in life insurance, stocks and properties, prosecutors said.
Nancy Kissel was convicted in 2005 of giving her husband a milkshake laced with sedatives before fatally beating the wealthy banker on the head with a metal ornament during an argument in 2003.
Kissel said she did it in self-defense.
Prosecutors argued she planned the attack in the couple's luxury apartment.
The three-judge court rejected Kissel's request, but the 44-year-old Minnesota native's attorney said he would ask the Court of Final Appeal to hear her case.
The case made headlines worldwide because of allegations of drug abuse, kinky sex and adultery in the wealthy world of ex-patriots in this Asian financial center.
Defense attorney Simon Clarke said he was "very disappointed" with Monday's decision, but added that he expected "a better hearing at the Court of Final Appeal."
Kissel said her 40-year-old husband, Robert, an investment banker for Merrill Lynch, was an erratic whiskey-swilling workaholic who also snorted cocaine and forced her to have sex.
She testified that she killed him as he was threatening her with a baseball bat in a quarrel.
During the appeal hearings, Kissel's defense lawyer said the woman suffered an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired her self-control.
But prosecutors argued that Kissel was a cold-blooded, scheming woman who plotted to kill her husband.
They said Robert Kissel of New York had been angry about his wife's affair with a repairman who worked on the couple's vacation home in Vermont.
He had planned to seek a divorce just before she killed him, they said.
Robert Kissel's estate was worth $18 million in life insurance, stocks and properties, prosecutors said.
Damn, there is a god!
The dreadful never-right right-wing "comedy" by David Zucker, An American Carol, out-grossed Bill Maher's slam of organized religion Religulous this weekend, by a mere $300,000 or so, according to Box Office Mojo.
However, it is interesting to note that Zucker's movie was on shown more than 3 times as many screens as Maher's flick. and yet Religulous out performed Carol 3 to 1 on a per-screen basis: Religulous grossed $6972 per theater, while Carol brought in a mere $2325 on each screen.
However, it is interesting to note that Zucker's movie was on shown more than 3 times as many screens as Maher's flick. and yet Religulous out performed Carol 3 to 1 on a per-screen basis: Religulous grossed $6972 per theater, while Carol brought in a mere $2325 on each screen.
Fifty Ways to Boost Your Energy
What do booze, an aching back, and a bad mood have in common? They all suck away your energy. But you can fight back. We mined hundreds of scientific studies and interviewed dozens of experts to compile 50 of the very best tips to rev your engines—right now!
Read more from 50 Ways to Boost Your Energy
Four Nevada teens arrested after dress code violation
From the "They have gone way too far, now!" Department:
Four Nevada high school students have been arrested after one of them refused to adhere to the dress code.
Churchill County High School Principal Robbin Pedrett says a 17-year-old refused to turn over his bandana to a staff member Friday.
Officials say the student turned aggressive when a police officer asked for the article.
Three other students stepped in and were arrested on suspicion of interference with a public officer.
The 17-year-old was charged with resisting arrest and assault on a peace officer.
The school was locked down for more than an hour.
Dress codes are for the birds and it looks like the Gooney Birds are in charge of the 'code'
Four Nevada high school students have been arrested after one of them refused to adhere to the dress code.
Churchill County High School Principal Robbin Pedrett says a 17-year-old refused to turn over his bandana to a staff member Friday.
Officials say the student turned aggressive when a police officer asked for the article.
Three other students stepped in and were arrested on suspicion of interference with a public officer.
The 17-year-old was charged with resisting arrest and assault on a peace officer.
The school was locked down for more than an hour.
*****
Dress codes are for the birds and it looks like the Gooney Birds are in charge of the 'code'
Five police held in deadly clash at Mexican ruins
Five state police officers were arrested Sunday in connection with the deaths of four villagers during a raid on protesters who had seized the entrance of a Mayan archaeological site.
The five officers led an operation on Friday to remove hundreds of mostly indigenous villagers who had occupied the entrance of the Chinkultic ruins in southern Mexico for nearly a month, the Chiapas Justice Department said.
The officers were being investigated on possible homicide charges.
The villagers, most of them from the Mayan Tzeltal and Tzotzil cultures, had been protesting excessive entrance fees and the failure to reinvest those fees into the area's infrastructure and environment.
They were demanding a role in the administration of the ruins.
Protesters fought the raid with sticks, rocks and machetes.
They wrested 75 guns from the officers and poured gasoline on others, threatening to set them on fire, the department said.
State Justice Secretary Amador Rodriguez Lozano said four villagers were killed and two are missing.
Two dozen other people were injured, including 16 police, the justice department said.
Indigenous leaders say the two missing protesters were found dead, bringing the toll to six.
Another 295 police who had been held for questioning had been released by Sunday.
But the Justice Department said more could be arrested as investigations continue.
Villagers had agreed to return the stolen weapons for the release of 30 detained protesters, Lozano said, adding that authorities will discuss their offer.
The protesters have also said they won't try to retake the entrance while negotiations are under way.
Chinkultic is a Mayan archaeological site about 1,200 years old located near the Montebello lakes near the Guatemalan border.
The villagers drove administrative workers off the site on Sept. 7, but allowed the archaeologists to keep working.
During their takeover of the ruins, protesters charged visitors 20 pesos (US$1.80) for entrance rather than the official 35 pesos (US$3) and said they would use the money to fix roads and make other infrastructure improvements.
The five officers led an operation on Friday to remove hundreds of mostly indigenous villagers who had occupied the entrance of the Chinkultic ruins in southern Mexico for nearly a month, the Chiapas Justice Department said.
The officers were being investigated on possible homicide charges.
The villagers, most of them from the Mayan Tzeltal and Tzotzil cultures, had been protesting excessive entrance fees and the failure to reinvest those fees into the area's infrastructure and environment.
They were demanding a role in the administration of the ruins.
Protesters fought the raid with sticks, rocks and machetes.
They wrested 75 guns from the officers and poured gasoline on others, threatening to set them on fire, the department said.
State Justice Secretary Amador Rodriguez Lozano said four villagers were killed and two are missing.
Two dozen other people were injured, including 16 police, the justice department said.
Indigenous leaders say the two missing protesters were found dead, bringing the toll to six.
Another 295 police who had been held for questioning had been released by Sunday.
But the Justice Department said more could be arrested as investigations continue.
Villagers had agreed to return the stolen weapons for the release of 30 detained protesters, Lozano said, adding that authorities will discuss their offer.
The protesters have also said they won't try to retake the entrance while negotiations are under way.
Chinkultic is a Mayan archaeological site about 1,200 years old located near the Montebello lakes near the Guatemalan border.
The villagers drove administrative workers off the site on Sept. 7, but allowed the archaeologists to keep working.
During their takeover of the ruins, protesters charged visitors 20 pesos (US$1.80) for entrance rather than the official 35 pesos (US$3) and said they would use the money to fix roads and make other infrastructure improvements.
Obama accuses McPain of looking for distractions
Sen. Barack Obama speaking today (Sunday, October 5, 2008) charged that Sen. John McPain's campaign is launching "Swift boat-style attacks" on him instead of addressing the country's problems.
"Sen. McCain and his operatives are gambling that they can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up," Obama said at an event in Asheville, North Carolina.
"That's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time," he said.
Obama also continued his heightened attack on McPain's health care plan, calling it "radical" and "out of line with our basic values," reiterating criticisms he made Saturday in Virginia.
Obama's health care plan includes the creation of a national health insurance program for individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who do not qualify for other existing federal programs. His plan does not mandate individual coverage for all Americans, but requires coverage for all children.
Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan called Pale-lyn's comments over the weekend "offensive" and "not surprising" given the McPain campaign's statement that "they would be launching Swift boat-like attacks in hopes of deflecting attention from the nation's economic ills."
In a new ad that begins airing Monday, the Obama campaign calls the new McPain campaign attacks a "dishonest, dishonorable assault on Barack Obama".
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said she found Pale-lyn's attack on Obama "shocking."
"He's leading in the polls. He's leading in most of the battleground states. And this is going to be a month, I think, of character assassination. And so the repugican position is to try to assassinate Barack Obama's character and try to place him in a position where the trust that he has built dissipates, the credibility that he has dissipates," Feinstein said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
*****
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Joe Biden, Obama's running mate, said Sunday that the Delaware senator would be canceling campaign events Monday and Tuesday in the wake of his mother-in-law's death Sunday.
Bonny Jacobs, Jill Biden's mother, had been sick for a long time and was living in a hospice.
Wade announced Saturday that Sunday and Monday's events were canceled after doctors told the family to stay close by.
The death comes the same day Biden's son, Beau, deploys with his National Guard unit to a mobilization station in Texas before a tour in Iraq.
(Editor's Note: McPain campaign - that "deflecting attention from the nation's economic ills" thing ... t'aint working McGee)
Police blow up suspicious backpack at Texas mosque
You spew fear and hate as the wing-nut Hate (oops, I mean, talk) Radio heads do ... and at High Volume, to boot!
You get this ...
Police have blown up a suspicious backpack outside a Texas mosque and arrested a man who claimed it contained a bomb.
Austin police Lt. Cedric Hudson says 46-year-old Azzam Baytie threatened the North Austin Muslim Community Center on Sunday.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that police said Baytie also claimed to have a gun.
Authorities X-rayed the backpack and found electronic parts inside.
They destroyed it as a precaution.
Hudson says Baytie was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and terroristic threat.
Police do not know if he has an attorney.
(Who cares ... the nut threatened terrorism.)
This and the recent gassing of children in a Mosque by a some idiots swallowing the tripe belched up on a video entitled Obsession by a 527 PAC pushing for McPain/Pale-lyn and acting upon it show the depth of the depravity of the right wing (as if the underage and same sex scandals and the corruption scandals and fraud scandals and the ... oh, you get the idea ... weren't enough).
Something McPain/Pale-lyn have NOT disavowed, nor will they disavow it.
These morons are just the tip of the iceberg - a mall iceberg, but an iceberg none the less - of the underground network of fanatical lunatics who believe every vile thing spitted their way and regurgitate such refuse and offal and act upon their 'marching orders' from the neo-con demagogues they bow down to.
You get this ...
Police have blown up a suspicious backpack outside a Texas mosque and arrested a man who claimed it contained a bomb.
Austin police Lt. Cedric Hudson says 46-year-old Azzam Baytie threatened the North Austin Muslim Community Center on Sunday.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that police said Baytie also claimed to have a gun.
Authorities X-rayed the backpack and found electronic parts inside.
They destroyed it as a precaution.
Hudson says Baytie was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and terroristic threat.
Police do not know if he has an attorney.
(Who cares ... the nut threatened terrorism.)
*****
This and the recent gassing of children in a Mosque by a some idiots swallowing the tripe belched up on a video entitled Obsession by a 527 PAC pushing for McPain/Pale-lyn and acting upon it show the depth of the depravity of the right wing (as if the underage and same sex scandals and the corruption scandals and fraud scandals and the ... oh, you get the idea ... weren't enough).
Something McPain/Pale-lyn have NOT disavowed, nor will they disavow it.
These morons are just the tip of the iceberg - a mall iceberg, but an iceberg none the less - of the underground network of fanatical lunatics who believe every vile thing spitted their way and regurgitate such refuse and offal and act upon their 'marching orders' from the neo-con demagogues they bow down to.
Farmer carves out California record with huge pumpkin
That's a lot of pumpkin seeds.
A Canadian farmer has won a contest in California with a pumpkin that weighs more than 1,500 pounds.
Jake van Kooten of British Columbia collected more than $9,000 in prize money Saturday at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin and Harvest Festival.
Festival spokesman Steve Capps says the entry set a new California record - by just 1 pound.
Zip it!
Adrenaline junkies hitch themselves to a steel cable and go whirring across panoramic views of mountain scenery.
The High Country boasts some of the best autumn views in the Southeast: Every fall, flocks of folks drive up for slow cruises of oohs and ahhs to see the blazing colors and feel the crisp mountain air.
But if it's a bird's-eye view – and a more adrenaline-filled experience – you want, I've got just the place.
Scream Time Zip Line crisscrosses about 100 feet above a former Christmas tree farm that's nine miles outside Boone. Hawk's Nest, Sugar Mountain and the top of Grandfather Mountain perch on the horizon, and a valley of lazy cows and country churches makes a picturesque view below.
Scream Time, which opened this year, offers six zip lines across the valley ranging from 450 feet to 800 feet. One three-man Super Zip line runs 2,000 feet down the length of the valley. Cost is $89 for six runs and an additional $29 for the Super zip. You can also do the Super Zip alone for $47.
“We've had people on the zip line from 15-month-olds – riding tandem with the moms – all the way up to 90 years old,” said Scream Time owner Monie McCoury. “We really didn't know what our demographics would be, but it has turned out to be singles, couples, families … anyone looking for a fun, low-impact adventure. They're all looking for that thrill and sense of flight.”
Seasonal surge expected
Many people envision zip lines running through the jungle, whether it's from “Tarzan” or the Sean Connery movie “Medicine Man.” Canopy tours are a popular tourist attraction in the rainforests of Hawaii, Belize, Costa Rica and some Caribbean islands.
McCoury had never been on a zip line or even seen one in operation when he dreamed of zipping on a cable across the High Country.
“As a kid, we'd use a bar to slide on a cable between two trees,” he said. “When I had my own children, I built a rinky-dink one in the backyard. But here I envisioned an elaborate path with long runs zipping across the sky.”
McCoury teamed with Experience Based Learning, of Rockford, Ill., to design, engineer and inspect the course, as well as train the staff. The course was built last fall and opened in January.
“We were hugely busy this summer, but it slowed down in mid-August when kids went back to school,” he said. “We expect the next surge when leaf season arrives and again in December when people come up for the holidays.”
Scream Time will close January through late March.
Folks who've zipped in Central America or other rainforests can expect a few differences at Scream Time. All but one of the lines run across or down the valley, offering panoramic views of mountain scenery.
At Scream Time, only one line zips through the woods.
Staffers at Scream Time also “brake the line” – slow you down at the end of your flight. In Central America, you do it yourself by grabbing the steel cable with a heavy leather glove.
The 2,000-foot-long Super Zip is especially fun – and worth the extra bucks. The longer run builds more speed and gives you plenty of time to spin around and check out the scenery as you fly down the hill. An added plus: three riders can race at one time.
“It's the total feeling of flight,” McCoury says of zip lining's allure. “You're above the ground, suspended in the air and it sounds like you're on your own private Lear jet. You don't really realize how high up you are because you're focused on getting to the other side. But once you relax, you look around and enjoy it. It's the best view in the High Country.”
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
(on the side of a hill in the deep forest green)
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
(tracing a sparrow on snow-crested ground)
Without no seams nor needlework
(blankets and bedclothes a child of the mountains)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
(sleeps unaware of the clarion call)
Tell her to find me an acre of land
(on the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsely, sage, rosemary, & thyme
(washes the grave with silvery tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand
(a soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
(war bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
(generals order their soldiers to kill)
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
(and to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
CARE Rejects US Food Aid
Number 22 in Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009
*****
In August 2007, one of the biggest and best-known American charity organizations, CARE, announced that it was turning down $45 million a year in food aid from the United States government. CARE claims that the way US aid is structured causes rather than reduces hunger in the countries where it is received. The US budgets $2 billion a year for food aid, which buys US crops to feed populations facing starvation amidst crisis or enduring chronic hunger.
The organization’s announcement prompted argument about the forms and objectives of the aid given by the US and other big powers to third world countries and the role that most charity organizations are playing. The reasoning behind CARE’s decision is part of a years-long debate that has influenced everything from US trade and domestic legislation to the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization talks.
CARE’s 2006 report, “White Paper on Food Aid Policy,” points out that the current food aid program is motivated by profit rather than altruism. The policy, which dictates that donated money be used to purchase food in the home country, results in a program driven by “the export and surplus disposal objectives of the exporting country” and not the needs of people in hunger.
The US policy implements the practice of monetization, a food aid policy in which the US government buys surplus food from American agribusinesses that have already been heavily subsidized, and ships it via US shipping lines (generating transport costs that eat up much of the $2 billion annual food aid provided by the US government) to aid organizations working around the world. The aid organizations then sell the US-grown crops to local populations, at a dramatically reduced cost. The aid organizations use proceeds from these sales to fund their development and anti-poverty programs. But several groups, with CARE at the forefront, have pointed out that this policy has the effect of undermining local farmers and destabilizing the very food production systems that aid organizations are working to strengthen.
A policy that puts local farmers out of commission and undermines agriculture in developing countries becomes part of a process by which those countries lose the means to develop—and thus grow more dependent on the stronger and more dominant nations. These countries become more vulnerable in every sphere, not only economically but politically as well. The result is likely to be more hunger and less sovereignty as countries are tied ever more tightly to the world market.
“We are not against emergency food aid for things like drought and famine,” CARE spokeswoman Alina Labrada said, “but local farmers are being hurt instead of helped by this mechanism.”
The European Union has also been critical of the US food aid program. European countries all but phased out the practice of monetization in the 1990s. Only 10 percent of their budgeted food aid is reserved for crops grown in Europe. Suspicions remain that the US uses monitized food aid programs to avoid limits on its universally contested farm subsidies.
The UN World Food Program, the largest distributor of food aid in the world, has rejected the practice of monetization and does not allow its grain to be sold by NGOs.
The past two US congressional farm bills presented proposals to shift portions of the food aid budget from grain to cash donations, to be made available for people in need to buy locally grown crops. Both attempts were voted down.*****
Sources:Inter Press Service, July 23, 2007
Title: “Mutiny Shakes US Food Aid Industry”
Author: Ellen Massey
Title: “Starvation, Aid Agencies and the Benevolence of the Imperialists”
Author: Revolution Cooperative
Think You’re Multi-tasking? Think Again!
“Don’t believe the multitasking hype, scientists say. New research shows that we humans aren’t as good as we think we are at doing several things at once. But it also highlights a human skill that gave us an evolutionary edge. As technology allows people to do more tasks at the same time, the myth that we can multi-task has never been stronger. But researchers say it’s still a myth — and they have the data to prove it.
Humans, they say, don’t do lots of things simultaneously. Instead, we switch our attention from task to task extremely quickly. A case example, researchers say, is a group of people who focus not on a BlackBerry but on a blueberry — as in pancakes.
Diner Cook: A Task Master:
To make it as a short-order cook, you must be able to keep a half-dozen orders in your head while cracking eggs, flipping pancakes, working the counter, and refilling coffee cups. And at a restaurant like the Tastee Diner, in Bethesda, Md., the orders come in verbally, not on a ticket. Chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled with sausage, order of french fries, rye toast — they’re small tasks. On a busy day, though, they add up to a tough job for Shawn Swinson. “My first month here, I was ready to walk out the door,” he said. Asked what it feels like when he’s in the middle of rush hour, Swinson said, “Like you’re in an insane asylum. It’s almost unbearable.”
“It’s singularly the most difficult job in this type of operation,” Long said. “Four cooks. Five waitresses. Bus staff. Host. Getting them in and out.” Speed and accuracy are at a premium — especially when the customers are multitasking, too. Lunchtime is the worst, Long said. “People may have an errand to run. Maybe go to the bank and pick up dry cleaning, and eat. All within an hour, whatever time they have.” It’s all part of life these days. We answer e-mails while yapping on the phone. We schedule appointments while driving and listening to the radio. And it seems as if we’re focusing on all these tasks simultaneously, as if we’ve become true masters of doing 10 things at once. But, brain researchers say, that’s not really the case.”
From NPR
Panthers Maul Chiefs
DeAngelo Williams scored three times ... the Panthers notched their first shutout in nearly two years ... and recorded the largest victory margin in franchise annals. Those statistics defined the day, and illustrated a 34-0 whitewashing of the Kansas City Chiefs at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday.
Female fan's kiss ends music concert in Kuwait
From the "You're joking, right?!" Department:
A Kuwaiti official says authorities abruptly ended a music concert by an Egyptian singer in the conservative Muslim country when a young female fan jumped on stage, hugged the male singer and gave him a kiss.
Qanas al-Adwani, who heads the government department that monitors public entertainment, says the girl's behavior at Friday's concert "defied the conservative traditions" of Kuwait.
Al-Adwani also said Sunday that the fan's behavior broke controls on public entertainment, which were imposed by influential Muslim fundamentalists after they failed in 1997 to ban concerts altogether.
Concerts have to be licensed by the government, and monitors from the Information Ministry watch the crowd to make sure nobody stands up to dance.
Well, we know where Percy and Prunella Prigsnif are living, now don't we?!
"Defied the conservative traditions," my sore arse ... defied Machiavellian repressions is a more appropriate phrase.
A Kuwaiti official says authorities abruptly ended a music concert by an Egyptian singer in the conservative Muslim country when a young female fan jumped on stage, hugged the male singer and gave him a kiss.
Qanas al-Adwani, who heads the government department that monitors public entertainment, says the girl's behavior at Friday's concert "defied the conservative traditions" of Kuwait.
Al-Adwani also said Sunday that the fan's behavior broke controls on public entertainment, which were imposed by influential Muslim fundamentalists after they failed in 1997 to ban concerts altogether.
Concerts have to be licensed by the government, and monitors from the Information Ministry watch the crowd to make sure nobody stands up to dance.
*****
Well, we know where Percy and Prunella Prigsnif are living, now don't we?!
"Defied the conservative traditions," my sore arse ... defied Machiavellian repressions is a more appropriate phrase.
Judge blocks Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal
A judge has temporarily blocked Wells Fargo's acquisition of Wachovia, according to a news release by Citigroup, which previously had a deal with Wachovia.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos issued the order, saying that Citigroup and Wachovia must appear before him on Friday, the news release said.
Citigroup has been pressing Wachovia and Wells Fargo to abandon their merger plans, arguing that it had entered into an exclusivity agreement with Wachovia.
In a deal struck with the assistance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Monday, Citigroup had offered to take over the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank for $2.2 billion. However, four days later, Wells Fargo said it was buying Wachovia for $15.1 billion.
A Wells Fargo victory would transform the company, whose operations and bank branches are largely located in the Midwest and on the West Coast, into a dominant presence along the East Coast and in the Southeast.
It would also put the San Francisco, California-based bank squarely in competition with the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
If Citigroup prevails, it would represent a huge step forward for the company's retail banking aspirations, whose footprint has lagged many of its biggest rivals.
Investors cheered Citigroup's decision last week to buy Wachovia's banking assets. However, some observers had wondered whether Citigroup could pull off the deal since it is in the process of a major restructuring after posting close to $18 billion in losses over the past three quarters.
In the past month, the nation's banking industry has undergone a dramatic facelift, including the failure of Washington Mutual and its subsequent purchase by JPMorgan Chase, as well as Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
*****
Citigroup needs to get a clue you aren't going to 'steal' a Southern company for 2.2B when we're offered 15.1B to be bought ... contrary to what some think - Southerners are quite adept at mathematics and no Yankee company is going to hoo-doo them.
Palin'sToxic Paradise
As governor of a state with a birth-defect rate that's twice the national average, and which has the gloomy status as repository of toxic chemicals from around the world, Palin has pursued environmental policies that seem perfectly crafted to swell the ranks of special-needs kids.
It's true that Alaska's top leaders have placed industry wishes over environmental protection for years. but, instead of correcting this problem, she's compounded it.
Peer into her environmental record, and Palin ends up looking a lot like George W. Bush.
In the past 20 years, research has shown that exposure to some metals and to chemicals such as pesticides, flame retardants, and polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) can cause birth defects and permanent developmental disorders both prenatally and in the first years of childhood.
And Alaska is vulnerable to some of the worst environmental pollutants out there.
In a state whose wealth depends on the exploitation of its natural resources, the toxic byproducts of mining and energy development, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead, are particular problems.
It's true that Alaska's top leaders have placed industry wishes over environmental protection for years. but, instead of correcting this problem, she's compounded it.
Peer into her environmental record, and Palin ends up looking a lot like George W. Bush.
In the past 20 years, research has shown that exposure to some metals and to chemicals such as pesticides, flame retardants, and polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) can cause birth defects and permanent developmental disorders both prenatally and in the first years of childhood.
And Alaska is vulnerable to some of the worst environmental pollutants out there.
In a state whose wealth depends on the exploitation of its natural resources, the toxic byproducts of mining and energy development, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead, are particular problems.
Read the rest in the new republic
March of the Penguins
Between the bronzed bodies in skimpy thongs soaking up the rays on Copacabana beach, a tiny black and white bundle of feathers struggles to emerge from the surf. exhausted and emaciated, its bones poking through the blubber, the young penguin finally collapses on the sand.
It has strayed thousands of miles from home, one of more than 1,000 penguins to have washed up on the Brazilian coast this year
No one is really sure what has caused the Brazilian exodus – at the moment, the focus is on saving the penguins rather than explaining how they have ended up in this predicament – but the prevailing theory is that changes in water temperatures have caused confusion on the migratory routes.
Fish like cold water and so South American penguins in search of food usually ride the cold Malvinas current north, gobbling as they go. when they hit the warmer Brazil current, they know it's time to stop and head back.
Only this year, the Malvinas current has been warmer than usual, meaning the penguins couldn't appreciate the difference.
It has strayed thousands of miles from home, one of more than 1,000 penguins to have washed up on the Brazilian coast this year
No one is really sure what has caused the Brazilian exodus – at the moment, the focus is on saving the penguins rather than explaining how they have ended up in this predicament – but the prevailing theory is that changes in water temperatures have caused confusion on the migratory routes.
Fish like cold water and so South American penguins in search of food usually ride the cold Malvinas current north, gobbling as they go. when they hit the warmer Brazil current, they know it's time to stop and head back.
Only this year, the Malvinas current has been warmer than usual, meaning the penguins couldn't appreciate the difference.
Read the rest in the London Independent
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