Friday, January 27, 2012
These Tiny Snails Are So Small They Look Like Cute Little Boogers [Bugs]
SKorea staging artillery drills at border island (AP)
SEOUL, South Korea ? South Korea staged live-fire drills Thursday from a front-line island shelled by North Korea in 2010, the first such exercise since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died last month.
Marines at Yeonpyeong Island and nearby Baengnyeong Island fired artillery into waters near the disputed sea border during the two-hour-long drills, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. The drills were routine exercises and there haven't been any suspicious activities by North Korea's military, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.
South Korea last held artillery drills at the front-line islands on Dec. 12, five days before Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack, the official said. Similar drills at Yeonpyeong in November 2010 triggered a North Korean artillery bombardment that killed four South Koreans.
Ties between the two Koreas remain frosty with North Korea vowing to retaliate against South Korea over its decision to bar all of its citizens, except for two private delegations, from visiting to pay respects after Kim's death.
The two sides are still technically at war because their conflict in the early 1950s ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Tension between the countries sharply rose in 2010 in the wake of North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong and a deadly warship sinking blamed on Pyongyang. North Korea has flatly denied its involvement in the sinking that killed 46 sailors.
South Korean and U.S. troops regularly conduct joint military drills, drawing angry responses from North Korea, which consider them as a rehearsal for a northward invasion.
On Sunday, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency blasted South Korea and the United States over reports they plan a large-scale amphibious drills in March. A KCNA dispatch said the planned drills showed the allies' "wild design to stifle (North Korea) by force of arms."
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Okay, this one is cool. I promise!
Okay so this idea I dreamed up and I thought it was so awesome I'd share it with you guys! The setting is somewhat cyberpunk but has the 'reclaimed tech' feel of panzerdragoon orta to make an example, think about that for a second, watch a few videos. Got the idea? Great!
The basic plot will probably be something around the people of a small island getting brought into the conflict of two bigger countries who are vying for control of the whole world obviously. They're trying to accomplish this with the use of 'mex' living creatures of organic metal who were created by a far superior civilisation before the fabled 'fall of the world' some hundreds of years ago. At the roleplay start you'd ether be from one country, the other, or the neutral island and forced to pick sides eventually, you'd also start off with a mex or get found by one in need of a rider, even if you think you don't have the talent to ride one. Neutral people don' start off with one since they've been out of the loop.
Also to avoid people going all dragon wars on this I'm thinking of limiting the amount of dragons, maybe giving better options. Good idea? All mex are winged regardless after all.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/7-a4FYi9jAM/viewtopic.php
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Rebel leader demands new Papua New Guinea gov't
FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, veteran leader Sir Michael Somare, second right, attends a press conference after claiming to have been reinstated as Papua New Guinea's prime minister in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Post-Courier, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2011 file photo, veteran leader Sir Michael Somare, second right, attends a press conference after claiming to have been reinstated as Papua New Guinea's prime minister in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Post-Courier, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2011 file photo, Peter O'Neill, center, addresses his supporters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, as controversy on who is the legitimate prime minister continues. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Sir Michael Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Post-Courier, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
In this April 21, 2010 photo, former Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Michael Somare receives a traditional taiaha at an official welcome ceremony for him in Rotorua, New Zealand. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor, Somare. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Ben Fraser) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT
FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2011 file photo, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill addresses the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York. Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor. The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Sir Michael Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) ? Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor.
The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Michael Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month.
"Both Sir Michael Somare and O'Neill have seven days to implement the Supreme Court's orders to resolve the current political impasse or I will be forced to take actions to uphold the integrity of the Constitution," Sasa told reporters in Port Moresby.
The government called on Sasa and his supporters to surrender and said the mutiny did not have support from the broader military.
Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah told reporters that about 30 soldiers were involved in the mutiny and 15 of them have been arrested. Namah said Sasa could be charged with treason, which carries the death sentence.
The new crisis comes during a turbulent period for the South Pacific's most populous island nation, where both O'Neill and Somare claim to be the rightful prime minister.
Rebel soldiers overpowered guards at the Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby before dawn. They then moved to the military headquarters at Murray Barracks and placed the head of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, under house arrest. There were no reports of bloodshed.
Sasa, who last served as Papua New Guinea's defense attache to Indonesia before retiring from the military, told reporters he had been legitimately appointed defense chief by Somare.
Somare's spokeswoman Betha Somare told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that his ousted cabinet had confirmed Sasa's appointment several days ago. Betha Somare, who is also Michael Somare's daughter, did not immediately reply to The Associated Press' request for comment on Thursday.
Namah said Somare had "no sanity" and was using "rogue soldiers to pursue his own greed and selfishness."
O'Neill had told Australia ? Papua New Guinea's former colonial master and main provider of foreign aid ? that "authorities were taking steps to manage the situation," Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
Somare was Papua New Guinea's first prime minister when it became independent in 1975, and was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Papua New Guinea's Parliament replaced him with O'Neill in August, while Somare was getting medical treatment outside the country.
Last month, the country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Michael Ogio backed Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed. But Ogio changed his mind days later, saying bad legal advice had led him to incorrectly reinstate Somare.
Australia, which has the largest diplomatic mission of any country in Port Moresby, called for Agwi to be reinstated.
"We urge that the situation be resolved as soon as possible, and that the PNGDF chain of command is restored," the foreign affairs department said in a statement.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Exclusive peek: B.H. 'Housewives' wedding finale
Bravo
By Anna Chan
A fairy tale scene in the backyard of a mansion. Smoking drinks. Fancy food. Giant invites featuring white flowers and a price tag of $15,000. Fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" have seen all this and more as star Lisa Vanderpump planned daughter Pandora's lavish wedding this season.
Did we say "lavish"? We really meant "simple," as Lisa has insisted during multiple meetings with fab wedding planner Kevin Lee. ("It's Beverly Hills, dahling! It has to be over the top!" he often reminded her.)
Now, viewers will finally see just how "simple" Pandy's August nuptials to long-time love, Jason,?were. The happy celebration is set to cap off the second season of Bravo's hit reality show Monday, which has been filled with allegations of domestic violence and possible drug abuse.
And though Lisa may have insisted on not going over the top, fellow co-star Camille Grammer reveals in an exclusive clip of the finale? provided to us by Bravo that "it definitely looked like a million-dollar wedding." Check it out:
According to our pals at Us Weekly, two of the "Housewives" weren't in attendance. One was Taylor Armstrong, whose husband, Russell, committed suicide just weeks before, and the other was Kim Richards. Seeing as how Kim has created quite a bit of drama this season with her regular tardiness and loopy behavior, we doubt the bride missed her presence.
While planning her wedding, Pandy admitted to mom Lisa that she wasn't sure the "Housewives" would behave on her big day. "Every single time your friends get together, it's a battle," she pointed out in an earlier episode.
In addition to what could be a drama-free wedding for the bride and groom, the ceremony might also bring the gift of?a second straight week of?good news for the show. Last Monday's episode, which featured the opening of Lisa's SUR lounge, was the highest-rated episode in the series' history.
"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" finale airs at 9 p.m. on Bravo Monday.
Think the "Housewives" will keep the drama to the minimum without Kim and Taylor there? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Romney paid $3M in federal income tax in 2010 (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments and making him among the wealthiest of American taxpayers.
At the same time, Romney gave nearly $3 million to charity ? about half of that amount to the Mormon Church ? which helped lower his effective tax rate to a modest 14 percent, according to records his campaign released early Tuesday.
For 2011, he'll pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said. Those returns haven't yet been filed yet with the Internal Revenue Service.
The former Massachusetts governor had been under pressure in recent weeks to release his tax returns, his GOP opponents casting him as a wealthy businessman who slashed jobs in the private sector. Rival Newt Gingrich made public his returns on Saturday, showing he paid almost $1 million in income taxes ? a tax rate of about 31 percent.
Romney's campaign confirmed the details of his tax information after several news organizations saw a preview of the documents. He had said planned to release his returns in full Tuesday morning, and campaign officials would be prepared to discuss them in detail with reporters.
"You'll see my income, how much taxes I've paid, how much I've paid to charity," Romney said during Monday night's debate in Tampa. "I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. I don't think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes."
Romney's 2010 returns show the candidate is among the top 1 percent of taxpayers. The returns showed about $4.5 million in itemized deductions, including $1.5 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Before the tax records were released, Romney's old investments in two controversial government-backed housing lenders stirred up new questions at the same time his campaign targeted Gingrich for his work for Freddie Mac.
Gingrich earned $1.6 million in consulting fees from Freddie Mac even though Romney has as much as $500,000 invested in the U.S.-backed lender and its sister entity, Fannie Mae.
The dimensions and the sources of Romney's wealth, which he has estimated to be as much as $250 million, have become pivotal issues in the roiling GOP primary campaign. For months, Romney dismissed calls to release his personal income tax records. But after mounting criticism from his rivals and others, coupled with his stinging weekend loss to Gingrich in the South Carolina primary, Romney agreed to release his 2010 return and 2011 estimate.
Romney already has acknowledged that his current tax rate is about 15 percent, a level far lower than standard rates for high-income earners and similar to the capital gains rate. "I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes," Romney said.
The current lowest rate for long-term capital gains is 15 percent, but a higher rate of 20 percent had been in effect since 1981 until President George W. Bush signed into law a massive tax cut program in 2001.
Romney's vast investments contain other funds than the ones he profited from as a Bain Capital executive. But it was unclear whether he had any direct role in handling the investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that appear on his 2012 presidential disclosure.
One investment, listed as a "Federated Government Obligation Fund" and worth between $250,000 and $500,000, was a mutual fund that included both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assets among a larger pool that included other government securities.
The holding was not listed in Romney's blind trust, which led some Democratic Party activists to suggest that the investment was under his direct control.
"He is relentlessly attacking Newt Gingrich over his ties to Freddie Mac despite the fact that he personally invested up to a half a million dollars in both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," said Ty Matsdorf, a senior adviser with American Bridge 21st Century, a PAC associated with Democratic Party and liberal causes.
Former GOP Rep. J.C. Watts, a Gingrich supporter, said Monday that Romney was on a slippery slope calling his opponent a lobbyist and raising doubts about Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac. But he did not directly address Romney's investments with the lender or with Fannie Mae.
"Some might see it as splitting hairs. But Newt Gingrich was not walking the halls of House and Senate," Watts said on a conference call arranged by the campaign. "He was never doing the hand-to-hand combat doing the lobbying, consulting, whatever you want to call it."
A Romney campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss that investment in greater detail said that Romney's trustee had bought the government investment fund in 2007, before the housing crisis broke.
The Romney official said that the government fund was purchased through a charity trust that does not appear in Romney's presidential disclosure but will show up on his income tax return for 2010. That trust, called a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, is a standard tax strategy among the wealthy that provides investors with a fixed payout each year. What remains in the account at a later date, or when the investor dies, is turned over to charity, the official said.
Romney does not directly control the investment account, Romney campaign senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said earlier on Monday. "His investments are controlled by a trustee," Fehrnstrom said.
Separately, Romney's IRA retirement account lists both a Fannie Mae and a Freddie Mac security, each worth between $100,000 and $250,000. But because those are in Romney's IRA, they also appear to be under control of the trustee.
Tax experts said Romney's income tax returns may contain other charity structures and tax strategies designed to both boost his income and charity donations, while minimizing his involvement because of his presidential ambitions.
___
Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt and Brian Bakst in Tampa contributed to this report.
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Wall Street rests after rally; bellwether earnings ahead (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks finished almost flat on Monday as investors took a break from a recent rally, awaiting earnings from bellwethers such as Apple later in the week.
The S&P 500 is up nearly 5 percent so far this year as an improving U.S. economy has bolstered investor optimism. The Dow and the S&P 500 both had their best weekly performances in a month last week.
"Investors are reserved after a mixed bag of results. Many companies have announced sluggish results, portraying a cautious environment going forward," said Robert Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts.
"The expectations are very moderate in the market, so a little bit of good news could lead to a significant pop in a stock."
According to Thomson Reuters data, 15 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, and just 59 percent posted results above Wall Street's expectations. That percentage trails the average of about 70 percent, though the rate is expected to improve as the earnings season gathers steam.
Among the 117 S&P 500 companies expected to report earnings this week is tech company Apple Inc (AAPL.O), due after the closing bell on Tuesday.
The euro-zone crisis remained in the background for the market but has had less of an effect on stocks lately. Germany and France pushed for a deal between Greece and its private creditors, and the two said they still were dedicated to a new bailout that Athens needs by March to stave off default.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) slipped 11.66 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 12,708.82. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) inched up 0.62 point, or 0.05 percent, to close at 1,316.00. And the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dipped 2.53 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 2,784.17.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS UP LATE
After the bell, Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.O) shares rose 2.5 percent to $34.00 after reporting higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue.
In addition to Apple, a number of Dow components are due to report earnings on Tuesday, notably Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), Travelers Companies Inc (TRV.N), McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), DuPont (DD.N) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N).
Wall Street's agenda includes the Federal Reserve's first policymaking meeting of the year, which will begin on Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday with a statement. The Fed is likely to say that it will not start raising interest rates again until the first half of 2014, more than five years after cutting them to near zero, a Reuters poll of leading Wall Street economists showed.
The U.S. central bank will begin a new practice of announcing policymakers' interest-rate projections when this week's meeting ends on Wednesday.
During Monday's regular session, Halliburton Co (HAL.N) shares fell 2.1 percent to $35.44 after the world's second-largest oilfield services group warned that the deep slump in U.S. natural gas prices could cause near-term disruptions that pinch first-quarter earnings.
On a positive note, Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N) gained 6.3 percent to $22.28 after it said it will reduce dry gas drilling and cut production in response to natural gas prices falling below "economically attractive" levels. Natural gas companies' shares were among the day's best performers, with an index of those stocks (.XNG) rising 3.6 percent.
Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) fell 8.5 percent to $15.56 as analysts were skeptical about the resignation of the BlackBerry maker's co-chief executives.
Sears Holding Corp (SHLD.O) fell 3.3 percent to $47.39 after rising as high as $54.76 in what analysts said could be a short squeeze.
The stock is the most shorted stock in the S&P 500, according to Data Explorers, with 94 percent of shares available used to sell short. The retailer has been the best-performing stock in the index for the year, up more than 50 percent.
"That is a classic short squeeze. There have been headlines all over the name now for the better part of a month or so, and it's largely been quite negative," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Trading volume was at about 6.6 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, in line with the daily average of 6.68 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of about 3 to 2. In contrast, on the Nasdaq, about six stocks fell for every five that rose.
(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry and; Jan Paschal)
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