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Friendship is a kind of human
- From: bestlaptopbattery
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Friendship is a kind of human relations. It is a human instinct to make friends.When in trouble, we need friends to offer us help, support and encouragement. With success achieved, we also need friends to share our joys.
Friendship is also one of the greatest pleasures that we can enjoy. It implies loyalty, cordiality, sympathy, affection,and readiness to help. No man can make the most of his life without carefully and conscientiously striving to win the right kind of friends as he goes along. Knowing how valuable friendship is,Dell latitude d400 battery we should be very careful in making friends. Real friends are those who have good character, superior ability and kindness of heart. Real friends can share all our sorrows and double all our joys.While making friends, we should take care to select those who have such fine qualities. Then we should treat our friends with courtesy, be careful not to interfere unreasonably with them,and not to ridicule their proceedings. We should forgive their failures and do our best to help them. In short, when we have established friendship, we ought to cherish and treasure it by means of words and deeds. Only thus, can we develop real friendship and keep the sacred lamp of friendship burning all our life.
become healthier and stronger. Medical researchers have proved that what people eat affects their health. They advise people to eat more fruit and vegetables and less meat such as beef and pork because meat contains more fat than poultry and fish. Fat can build up in the arteries, block the flow of blood, and cause a heart attack or stroke.Dell original inspiron 1525 battery cheap laptop battery Getting rid of bad habits like smoking and drinking alcohol is also an important way to keep healthy. Smoking and drinking alcohol injure one's health a great deal, and therefore should be given up. Unfortunately few people follow this advice. If people follow these three ways of keeping fit, they greatly improve their health. - Blog post
- 1 day ago
- Views: 29
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C# Video Tutorials - 56 Hours
- From: wini1956
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Description:
This post provides you with 56 hours of video tutorials on C-Sharp. These videos are divded into three video collections. One of the collections is delivered by Dr. Joe Hummel. This video series consists of 15 videos. The videos in this collection are entitled Modern Software Development: Architecting Solutions in C#. Another collection consists of 10 videos on Microsoft's Chief Architect for C-Sharp, Anders Hejlsberg. There is also a collection of 26 hours of videos by Bob Tabor on C-Sharp.Be sure to click on the following link to look at a related post: c# thread
History: C# is an object-oriented programming language. Anders Hejlsberg is the chief architect for C#. C-Sharp has an object-oriented syntax that was derived from C++. The most recent variant of the language is 3.0, and it was published in conjunction with the .NET Framework 3.5 In 2007. The next proposed variant, 4.0, is in development.
In 1999, when Anders Hejlsberg formed a team to create the language, they originally planned to call it COOL, which stood for C-like Object Oriented Language. However, there were copyright problems with that name, and it was renamed C#. In music, C-Sharp means a half of a pitch higher, and, in programming, C-Sharp indicates that it eveolved out of C++.
According to Anders Hejslberg, it was the problems in other major programming languages, like Java, Delphi, and Smalltalk that guided the design of the Common Language Runtime (CLR), and the design of the CLR, in turn guided the design of C-Sharp.
Versions:
- C# 1.0 - introduced 2000 / published January 2002
- C# 1.2 - released April 2003
- C# 2.0 - published November 2005
- C# 3.0 - released November 2007
- C# 4.0 - in development
Major Design Goals:- C# is supposed to be a modern, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language.
- Array bounds checking
- Detection of attempts to use uninitialized variables
- Automatic garbage collection
- Software robustness
- Durability
- Programmer productivity
- Strong type checking
C# needs to support:
- The language is for developing software parts suitable for deployment in distributed environments.
- The most important features are programmer portability and source code portability, primarily for those programmers already familiar with C and C++.
- Internationalization is very important.
- C# is intended to be suitable for writing applications for embedded and hosted systems
Main Features of C#- No global variables or functions. All methods and members must be declared within classes. Static members of public classes can substitute for global variables and functions.
- Local variables cannot shadow variables of the enclosing block, unlike C and C++.
- Managed memory cannot be explicitly freed; instead, it is automatically garbage collected.
- Multiple inheritance is not supported, although a class can implement any number of interfaces.
- C# is more typesafe than C++.
- C# supports a strict Boolean datatype, bool. Statements that take conditions, such as while and if, require an expression of a boolean type. While C++ also has a boolean type, it may be freely converted to and from integers
- In C#, memory address pointers can only be used within blocks specifically marked as unsafe, and programs with unsafe code need appropriate permissions to run.
- Blog post
- 1 week ago
- Views: 138
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Microsoft Robotics 2008 - 15 O
- From: wini1956
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Description:
Here is a assembly of 15 free webcasts on MRDS. The Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio is a Windows-based environment for robot control and simulation. You can Download Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Express Edition Without paying a cent.
Please click on the following link to view a library of videos: Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio
Note: If you want to "deep dive" into robotics theories and concepts, you may want to check out Stanford's Introduction to Robotics.
4 Divisions of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio:
* CCR (Concurrency and Coordination Runtime) - makes asynchronous programming simple. The CCR makes it simple to write up programs to handle asynchronous input from multiple robotics sensors and output to motors and actuators. With the use of CCR, we don't need to do any manual threads management. This can be peculiarly splendid in handling concurrency and partial failure. CCR has a failure handling mechanism called Causalities. This is basically a generalization of Try / Catch for multiple threads. But this is for many machines and processes working in synchronous fashion. This is the base of Robotics architecture by Microsoft. You can even use this component for the applications running on a PC instead of a robot. CCR is available in the form of a dynamic link library which may be used by any .net language.* DSS (Decentralized Software Services) Is the services architecture, and it is a companion to CCR. This is based on Service Oriented Architecture. This makes it possible to write down applications that are very distributed and modular. This allows you to execute your code in the processing work horses and use anywhere in the distributed environment. The DSS makes it simple to access, and respond to, a robot's state using a Web browser or Windows-based application. This allows real-time monitoring of robotics sensors and real-time response to motors and actuators.
* VPL (Microsoft Visual Programming Language) Is a visual programming tool that is used for creating and debugging robot applications, web-based and windows-based interfaces.
* VSE (Visual Simulation Environment) Allows one to simulate the behavior of robots in a virtual world using NVIDIA PhysX technology (3D engine) that includes advanced physics.
The Runtime environment Consists of two elements: the CCR and the DSS. The runtime is based on a lightweight REST-oriented services model. Making it REST based has made the services and applications to be independent of each other. They may be on the same machine or distributed across several machines connected through several methods. When we talk about REST based, This means that the resources should be available by query strings. These services are available as resources to the other services, applications or User Interfaces. This is, in reality, how Microsoft is able to promise low coupling between services. The Runtime supports from 8-bit to 32-bit robots. These robots may range from Toy Robots to Industrial Robots.
Microsoft Visual Programming Language Robotics programs . Just drag and drop blocks that represent services, and connect them. It is also possible to take a collection of connected blocks and reuse them as a single block elsewhere in the program. VPL follows the Observer Pattern. This implies that it is not based on Control flow but on data flow which allows some program elements to get executed when some data arrives. VPL provides a model-driven approach to develop and coordinate services.
Easily Simulate Robotics applications using realistic 3D simulated models. Since testing with real robots is often expensive, it saves money to start out in a simulated environment first and then move to real robots once the concepts have been proven to work. Microsoft Visual Simulation Environment (VSE) is based on Microsofts XNA Framework and the rendering engine uses AGEIA PhysX Technology from AGEIA Technologies Inc.. AGEIA Technologies Inc. Is a pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics, enabling real-world physics simulation for robot models. PhysX simulations can also be accelerated using AGEIA hardware. These simulations can be recorded and saved as XML files and played back over and over again.
You need to click on this link to view a related post: Microsoft Robotics
Main Highlights of MRDS:
* Reuse Modular Services Using a Composable model
Set up high-level functions using simple components, providing for reuse of code modules as well as better reliability and replaceability. For example, a lower-level sensor service might be integrated into a navigation service.
* Supports both remotely connected (PC-based) and robot-based (autonomous) application scenarios
Remotely connected scenarios enable communication from a PC to the robot through a serial port, Bluetooth®, 802.11 (WiFi), or RF modem. Programs may also execute natively on PC-based robots running one of the Microsoft Windows operating systems, enabling fully autonomous operation.
* Develop using a generous assortment of programming languages
MRDS permits one to access the runtime services using the following programming languages: C# and Visual Basic .NET, JScript, and IronPython
* Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio allows one to use assorted packages to add other services to the suite.
Those other services include:
O Soccer Simulation
O Sumo Competition by Microsoft
O a community-developed Maze Simulator which is a program to create worlds with walls that can be explored by a virtual robotSupported Robots:
- Blog post
- 1 month ago
- Views: 158
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Madoff's Mansions on the Marke
- From: austinrealestatenews
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Description:
Marshalls are preparing to put Madoff's mansions on the market, and victims of his ponzi scheme are hoping to cash in big time. Based on court records, the FBI is revving up to sell an estimated $30 million in real estate and property, all of which will go to his victims. The three homes on the way to market are a penthouse in Manhattan, a Montauk beach house on Long Island and a waterfront Palm Beach retreat.
Vacation real estate Madoff owned in Côte d'Azur that was seized by the feds back in March has since been sold. The chic three-bedroom Cap d'Antibes home netted $1.48 million noted the Justice Department. Funds from the sale are being held at the U.S. Marshall's office.
Marshalls opened the doors to Madoff's Manhattan luxury penthouse earlier in September giving the public a glimpse into the lifestyle of the previously rich rip-off artist. The two-story apartment was the location of Madoff's confinement during his house arrest.
Four fireplaces, a baby Steinway piano, antique rugs, custom-made furniture and other fine furnishings must have made Madoff quite comfortable while carrying out his Ponzi scheme. U.S. Marshall Roland Ubaldo said that the Manhattan penthouse was the crown jewel of all Madoff's properties seized by the government. It's easy to see why with all the lavish decorations and furnishings.
A wraparound terrace provides a stunning view of southern Manhattan. His and her closets contain Madoff's handmade Belgian shoes and boxes of designer clothing that are all packed away and awaiting auction. His den does not disappoint, either, with cherry paneling and a leather bull - his personal trademark.
According to court filings, the apartment was valued at $7.5 million by the FBI. One New York appraiser has his doubts about the appraisal. Miller Samuel appraiser, Jonathan Miller, said that what he'd seen of it so far would be considered fairly modest, in his opinion. He cited that it was not actually a Park Avenue duplex, which is what the press coverage had been calling it. Its address is on 64th Street and it sits a block east on the corner of Lexington.
The Montauk beach house with 3,000 square feet of living space sits on a one-and-a-half acre prime lot atop a bluff overlooking an ocean beach. It sits closer to the water's edge than would be allowed today due to earlier more lax zoning regulations.
Feds estimate its worth at $7 million, but tax assessments indicate its value at $3.3 million. Regardless, one real estate agent noted that the history and high-profile of the home may cause it to sell for as much as $10 million. Purchased in 1980, the Madoffs originally only paid $250,000 for the home.
Listed under Madoff's wife's name, the Palm Beach hideaway is valued at $7.5 million. Featuring a pool, 8,753 square feet of living space, five-bedrooms and seven-bathrooms, the two-story home sits on a waterfront half-acre plot. Included in the property is a boat dock where Madoff parked his now-seized yacht, the Bull. It is a 55-foot fishing vessel reportedly worth $1.5 million.
Well shaded by lots of large trees and a large second-floor veranda, the house sits just down the shore from a location where Madoff lured in many of his victims, the Palm Beach Country Club.
Madoff is making amends in his not-so-luxurious jail cell and the hope is that the victims he left as carnage will be reimbursed for some of their loss and suffering.
Ki lives in Central Austin. He works in the Austin real estate market. His website lets people search the Austin MLS. His site also has information on Austin real estate as well as a search for Homes in Pflugerville - Blog post
- 2 months ago
- Views: 115
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paulsampson1782
- Views: 53
- Since: 2 months ago
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Obama Lies As Usual
- From: rbb50
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Description:
Obama now says the republicans are blocking the health care bill without regard that the republicans are not in charge of the house and senate and Democrats are which of course shows Obama to be a bold face liar again
The only politicians trying to block the health care bill regardless of if they are republicans or democrats are the ones that want to keep their job after the 2010 elections plain and simple
New polls are showing up to 80% of all voting Americans in a unbiased poll do not want government run health care at all and already disapprove of all the lies Obama and his thugs in congress tell on a daily basis like Nazis working for Hitler
Just like Hitler I am sure Obama has a bunch of yes men working for him that tell him a different story and being the dimwit he is he probably believes everything they say just as a few liberals that never learned to read or write who make up the other 20% of the poll believe everything Obama says without question.
Of course everyone remembers what happen to Hitler for being a dimwit that is if they still teach that in the government run propaganda centers they call schools now days.
- Blog post
- 2 months ago
- Views: 103
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House Extension
- From: ArthurMasons999
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Description:
Adding an extra kids' play room to your house? Or are you planning a study for yourself? Such home extensions can require a lot of planning and research. Paying heed to the legal side of the matter is also important to save you from fines and penalties. Here are some instructions to help you with your venture.
Permits And Regulations
Home extensions generally need you to obtain a permit before you can go forward with the job. Especially, for a new extension to the old plan of your house, it is mandatory to seek a permit from the local authority. Standards set out in the 'Building Regulations' need to be followed and met. This is precisely what is checked by the authority when you present them your new home extensions plan. They inspect the plan and confirm it meets the building regulation standards. Upon the receipt of the planning permission you will then need to apply for the Building Regulations. It is necessary to obtain the planning permission before proceeding with the further actions.
Consider Your Neighbours
When planning house extensions, make sure it does not cause trouble for your neighbours. Do not construct any structure that may have adverse effects on their lives, like block their driveway or sunlight. The best practice is to consult your neighbours before going for any house extensions. This will prevent any problems arising later on and also maintain a healthy relationship between your family and your neighbourhood.
It may reduce your expenses in case the neighbour is looking to do something similar, e.g. building a wall around the property. Such a consultation with your neighbours can sometimes prove beneficial to you. Special permits and agreements are required for building walls and constructions for semi detached or terraced houses or flats.
Contracting The Trades
Different tradesmen are required for your home extensions. You may have to employ an electrician, a plumber, a gas fitter, to name a few. How do you find them? Some people believe the best way to look for a tradesman is to ask friends and family for proper recommendations. These generally prove to be the safest avenues to get hold of a good choice. However it is recommended to only go for a licensed builders company. This ensures the trade is qualified to the required standards to do the job. However it is recommended to employ one company only to undertake the whole project. This would help to take the stress off you organising different trades.
You should also prepare a legal contract between you and the people on the job. This is to prevent any unpleasant situation that may arise just in case there is any disagreement or problem later on.
Some More Planning
Some more planning before you finally start your home extensions project are as follows. You need to understand if you are looking at an extension or a major conversion and plan accordingly. This will save you a lot of space and money. E.g., instead of building a new room, try and convert the garage you never use. The other thing to consider is the time frame within which you want to complete the project. And obviously, budget is a very important factor. So, for the best results, plan your home extensions carefully considering all that has been discussed above.
- Blog post
- 2 months ago
- Views: 150
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Medical Med - Medical news fro
- From: shkarkomp3
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http://www.MedicalMed.info - In this website you can learn about medicine , and see health information. - 2 months ago
- Views: 41
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Hackers Expose popular sites
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
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A powerful new type of Internet attack works like a telephone tap, except operates between computers and Web sites they trust.
Hackers at the Black Hat and DefCon security conferences have revealed a serious flaw in the way Web browsers weed out untrustworthy sites and block anybody from seeing them. If a criminal infiltrates a network, he can set up a secret eavesdropping post and capture credit card numbers, passwords and other sensitive data flowing between computers on that network and sites their browsers have deemed safe.
In an even more nefarious plot, an attacker could hijack the auto-update feature on a victim's computer, and trick it into automatically installing malware pulled in from a hacker's Web site. The computer would think it's an update coming from the software manufacturer.
The attack was demonstrated by three hackers. Independent security researcher Moxie Marlinspike presented alone, while Dan Kaminsky, with Seattle-based security consultancy IOActive Inc., and security and privacy researcher Len Sassaman presented together.
They reached essentially the same conclusion: There are major problems in the way browsers interact with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates, which is a common technology used on banking, e-commerce and other sites handling sensitive data.
Browser makers and the companies that sell SSL certificates are working on a fix.
Microsoft Corp., whose Internet Explorer browser is the world's most popular, said it was investigating the issue. Mozilla Corp., which makes the No. 2 Firefox browser, said most of the problems being addressed were fixed in the latest version of its browser, and that the rest will be fixed in an update coming this week.
VeriSign Inc., one of the biggest SSL certificate companies, maintains that its certificates aren't vulnerable.
Tim Callan, a product marketing executive in VeriSign's SSL business unit, added that the "tap" won't work against so-called Extended Validation SSL certificates, which cost more and involve a deeper inspection of a company's application for a certificate.
The attack falls into a class of hacks known as "man-in-the-middle," in which a criminal plants himself between a victim's computer and a legitimate Web site and steals data as it moves back and forth.
Jeff Moss, founder of the Black Hat and Defcon conferences who this summer was appointed to the Homeland Security Department's advisory council, said the fact a hacker has to actually break into a victim's network for the attack to work can limit its usefulness.
"That's the nice mitigating thing," he said.
But he warned that "for targeted attacks it's absolutely deadly. This is the way you can get everything. If you can get in the middle, you can get everything. It's a big, giant wake-up call for the industry."
SSL certificates are a critical technology in assigning trust on the Web.
Sites buy them to encrypt traffic and assure visitors it's OK to enter confidential information. Companies that sell SSL certificates verify that someone trying to buy a certificate actually owns the site that certificate will be attached to.
The presence of an SSL certificate on a site is designated by a padlock in the address bar. But many people don't pay attention to whether a padlock is present or not.
Browsers do care, though, which is why this week's talks were significant.
Browsers are programmed to block sites that don't have a valid SSL certificate, or have a certificate displaying a Web address that doesn't match the address a Web surfer was trying to reach (which can indicate someone has hijacked a person's Internet session). If the sites aren't blocked, users are warned about potential danger, and have the option to click through.
The problems outlined by researchers center on a quirk in the way browsers read SSL certificates.
Many SSL certificate companies will allow people to attach a programming symbol called a "null character" into the Web address onto the certificates they receive. Web browsers generally ignore that symbol. They stop reading at that symbol when they're checking the Web address on a certificate.
The trick in the latest type of attack is that all a criminal would need to do is put the name of a legitimate Web site before that character, and the browser will believe that the site it's visiting — which is under the criminal's control — is legitimate.
The criminal could then forward the traffic onto the legitimate site and spy on everything the victim does on that site. It's a complicated attack, but it highlights a significant weakness in the very technology widely used to assure people it's safe to navigate sensitive sites.
Jon Miller, an SSL expert and director of Accuvant Labs, said he expects significant attacks against corporations using this technique in the coming months. Criminals who run "phishing" scams, in which people are tricked into visiting phony sites, will also likely latch on.
"What kind of makes this earth-shattering is these aren't the most sophisticated attacks in the world," he said. "This is going to become a huge problem."
There are signs it's already starting.
VeriSign's Callan said within hours of the talks, his company got a number of applications for SSL certificates featuring null characters, but they were denied.
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 177
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Aquino Pres. Phillipines Dead
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
MANILA, Philippines – Former President Corazon Aquino, who swept away a dictator with a "people power" revolt and sustained democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts in six years, died on Saturday, her son said. She was 76.
The uprising she led in 1986 ended the repressive 20-year regime of Ferdinand Marcos and inspired nonviolent protests across the globe, including those that ended communist rule in eastern Europe. Aquino rose to power after the 1983 assassination of her husband, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.
She was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer last year and confined to a Manila hospital for more than a month. Her son said the cancer had spread to other organs and she was too weak to continue chemotherapy.
For the past month, supporters have been holding daily prayers for Aquino in churches.
"She was headstrong and single-minded in one goal, and that was to remove all vestiges of an entrenched dictatorship," Raul C. Pangalangan, former dean of the College of Law at the University of the Philippines, said earlier this month. "We all owe her in a big way."
But Aquino struggled in office to meet high public expectations. Her land redistribution program fell short of ending economic domination by the landed elite, including her own family. Her leadership, especially in social and economic reform, was often indecisive, leaving many of her closest allies disillusioned by the end of her term.
Still, the bespectacled, smiling woman in her trademark yellow dress remained beloved in the Philippines, where she was affectionately referred to as "Tita (Auntie) Cory."
Her son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, said she died at 3:18 a.m. Saturday (1918 GMT Friday). Requiem Masses were scheduled for later Saturday, and yellow ribbons were tied on trees around her neighborhood in Quezon city.
Aquino's body will lie in state at the De La Salle Catholic school in Manila from Saturday evening to Monday morning, and she will be buried beside her husband at the Manila Memorial Park in a private ceremony Wednesday, her son told reporters.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is on an official visit to the United States, remembered Aquino as a "national treasure" who helped lead "a revolution to restore democracy and the rule of law to our nation at a time of great peril.
"She picked up the standard from the fallen warrior Ninoy and helped lead our nation to a brighter day," Arroyo said.
The Philippines will observe 10 days of national mourning, she said. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would accord full military honors during Aquino's wake, including gun salutes and lowering flags to half-staff.
TV stations on Saturday ran footage of Aquino's years in power together with prayers while her former aides and supporters offered condolences.
"Today our country has lost a mother," said former President Joseph Estrada, calling Aquino "a woman of both strength and graciousness."
Aquino's successor, Fidel Ramos, who was the military's vice chief of staff when he broke with Marcos and embraced Aquino, said the former leader "represented the best of the Filipino of the past and the future."
Exiled Communist Party founder Jose Maria Sison, whom Aquino freed from jail in 1986, paid tribute from the Netherlands.
President Barack Obama was deeply saddened by Aquino's death, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
"Ms. Aquino played a crucial role in Philippines history, moving the country to democratic rule through her nonviolent 'people power' movement over 20 years ago," Gibbs said. "Her courage, determination, and moral leadership are an inspiration to us all and exemplify the best in the Filipino nation."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wrote to Aquino last week, and Sen. Richard Lugar from Indiana also praised Aquino's courage. Lugar headed a team of American poll monitors who declared the February 1986 elections flawed, a significant turning point in Marcos' ouster.
Aquino's unlikely rise began in 1983 after her husband was gunned down at Manila's international airport moments after soldiers escorted him from a plane on his arrival from exile in the United States to challenge Marcos, his longtime adversary.
The killing enraged many Filipinos and unleashed a broad-based opposition movement that thrust Aquino into the role of national leader.
"I don't know anything about the presidency," she declared in 1985, a year before she agreed to run against Marcos, uniting the fractious opposition, the business community, and later the armed forces to drive the dictator out.
Maria Corazon Cojuangco was born on Jan. 25, 1933, into a wealthy, politically powerful family in Paniqui, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Manila.
She attended private school in Manila and earned a degree in French from the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York. In 1954 she married Ninoy Aquino, the fiercely ambitious scion of another political family. He rose from provincial governor to senator and finally opposition leader.
Marcos, elected president in 1965, declared martial law in 1972 to avoid term limits. He abolished the Congress and jailed Aquino's husband and thousands of opponents, journalists and activists without charges. Aquino became her husband's political stand-in, confidant, message carrier and spokeswoman.
A military tribunal sentenced her husband to death for alleged links to communist rebels but, under pressure from U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Marcos allowed him to leave in May 1980 for heart surgery in the U.S.
It was the start of a three-year exile. With her husband at Harvard University holding court with fellow exiles, academics, journalists and visitors from Manila, Aquino was the quiet homemaker, raising their five children and serving tea. Away from the hurly-burly of Philippine politics, she described the period as the best of their marriage.
The halcyon days ended when her husband decided to return to regroup the opposition. While she and the children remained in Boston, he flew to Manila, where he was shot as he descended the stairs from the plane.
The government blamed a suspected communist rebel, but subsequent investigations pointed to a soldier who was escorting him from the plane on Aug. 21, 1983.
Aquino heard of the assassination in a phone call from a Japanese journalist. She recalled gathering the children and, as a deeply religious woman, praying for strength.
"During Ninoy's incarceration and before my presidency, I used to ask why it had always to be us to make the sacrifice," she said in a 2007 interview with The Philippine Star newspaper. "And then, when Ninoy died, I would say, 'Why does it have to be me now?' It seemed like we were always the sacrificial lamb."
She returned to the Philippines three days later. One week after that, she led the largest funeral procession Manila had seen. Crowd estimates ranged as high as 2 million.
With public opposition mounting against Marcos, he stunned the nation in November 1985 by calling a snap election in a bid to shore up his mandate. The opposition, including then Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, urged Aquino to run.
After a fierce campaign, the vote was held on Feb. 7, 1986. The National Assembly declared Marcos the winner, but journalists, foreign observers and church leaders alleged massive fraud.
With the result in dispute, a group of military officers mutinied against Marcos on Feb. 22 and holed up with a small force in a military camp in Manila.
Over the following three days, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos responded to a call by the Roman Catholic Church to jam the broad highway in front of the camp to prevent an attack by Marcos forces.
On the third day, against the advice of her security detail, Aquino appeared at the rally alongside the mutineers, led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramos.
From a makeshift platform, she declared: "For the first time in the history of the world, a civilian population has been called to defend the military."
The military chiefs pledged their loyalty to Aquino and charged that Marcos had won the election by fraud.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, a longtime supporter of Marcos, called on him to resign. "Attempts to prolong the life of the present regime by violence are futile," the White House said. American officials offered to fly Marcos out of the Philippines.
On Feb. 25, Marcos and his family went to the U.S.-run Clark Air Base outside Manila and flew to Hawaii, where he died three years later.
The same day, Aquino was sworn in as the Philippines' first female leader.
Over time, the euphoria fizzled as the public became impatient and Aquino more defensive as she struggled to navigate treacherous political waters and build alliances to push her agenda.
"People used to compare me to the ideal president, but he doesn't exist and never existed. He has never lived," she said in the 2007 Philippine Star interview.
The right attacked her for making overtures to communist rebels and the left for protecting the interests of wealthy landowners.
Aquino signed an agrarian reform bill that virtually exempted large plantations like her family's sugar plantation from being distributed to landless farmers.
When farmers protested outside the Malacanang Presidential Palace on Jan. 22, 1987, troops opened fire, killing 13 and wounding 100.
The bloodshed scuttled talks with communist rebels, who had galvanized opposition to Marcos but weren't satisfied with Aquino either.
As recently as 2004, at least seven workers were killed in clashes with police and soldiers at the family's plantation, Hacienda Luisita, over its refusal to distribute its land.
Aquino also attempted to negotiate with Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines, but made little progress.
Behind the public image of the frail, vulnerable widow, Aquino was an iron-willed woman who dismissed criticism as the carping of jealous rivals. She knew she had to act tough to earn respect in the Philippines' macho culture.
"When I am just with a few close friends, I tell them, 'OK, you don't like me? Look at the alternatives,' and that shuts them up," she told America's NBC television in a 1987 interview.
Her term was punctuated by repeated coup attempts — most staged by the same clique of officers who had risen up against Marcos and felt they had been denied their fair share of power. The most serious attempt came in December 1989 when only a flyover by U.S. jets prevented mutinous troops from toppling her.
Leery of damaging relations with the United States, Aquino tried in vain to block a historic Senate vote to force the U.S. out of its two major bases in the Philippines.
In the end, the U.S. Air Force pulled out of Clark Air Base in 1991 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo forced its evacuation and left it heavily damaged. The last American vessel left Subic Bay Naval Base in November 1992.
After stepping down in 1992, Aquino remained active in social and political causes.
Until diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2008, she joined rallies calling for the resignation of President Arroyo over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption.
She kept her distance from another famous widow, flamboyant former first lady Imelda Marcos, who was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991.
Marcos has called Aquino a usurper and dictator, though she later led prayers for Aquino in July 2009 when the latter was hospitalized. The two never made peace.
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
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Universitys hit by budget CA.
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
California's crisis continues while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders inch slowly toward agreement on the deep cuts necessary to close California's massive $26 billion budget shortfall. Now, even as the state continues to pay its bills with IOUs, the University of California, the nation's leading public university, is being forced to cut its budget by $813 million - or 20%. It is highly unlikely that these cuts will be reduced by a budget agreement in Sacramento.
UC Berkeley will see recruitment of faculty drop from the normal 100 positions a year to 10. At 28,000-student UC San Diego, also ranked with Berkeley and UCLA among the world's top 20 research universities, recruitment has been halted. More than 300 UC scientists have issued a white paper warning Schwarzenegger that the sharp reduction endangers the 10-campus system's position as the premier public university in the United States and could have a negative impact on California's future economic growth. According to UC officials, the cut in state funding brings the "amount of state investment in the University down to $2.4 billion - exactly where it was in real dollars a decade ago." During the same time period, spending on state prisons has more than doubled to $11 billion. (Read a story about the struggle to find a way out of California's budget crisis.)
The UC Board of Regents on Thursday approved an emergency budget plan that would force 80% of the system's 180,000 employees to take unpaid furloughs of 11 to 26 days over the next year. UC President Mark Yudof said the furlough plan was preferable to layoffs in an enormous system that includes five medical centers, three national laboratories, and 225,000 graduate and undergraduate students. UC officials have yet to secure agreement on the furlough plan from the unions that represent 35% of university employees. (See pictures of the career of California's first lady Maria Shriver.)
But furloughs will only cover approximately a quarter of the UC deficit. The rest will come from a 10% increase in tuition, debt refinancing and dramatic budget cuts at the individual UC campuses, as testimony to the Board of Regents from the systems chancellors revealed on Wednesday. At UC Berkeley, according to Chancellor Robert Birgenau, campus libraries will be closed on Saturdays and no longer stay open 24 hours during final exams (a long-time campus tradition). He said UC is "the only university among our competitors whose faculty are taking a furlough," adding that faculty salaries already lag some "$25,000 behind our peers." In the past, even with this gap, UC Berkeley has been able to entice top faculty to leave Harvard and Yale for the Bay Area. The UC System as a whole has won 55 Nobel Prizes.
The retrenchment at the individual campuses will mean fewer student jobs, few teaching assistants, a virtual elimination of lecturers who often teach up to 30% of the undergraduate classes in some departments, and the risk that top faculty will flee for more lucrative - and stable - ivory towers.
At UCLA, the campus is projecting 165 fewer courses for the fall quarter, a 10% drop compared to fall 2008, Chancellor Gene Block said. There will be larger classes, which are expected to exceed an average of 60 students each. "We've already seen a 20% increase in the average class size over the last three years, due to increases in student enrollment not covered by state support," Block explained. At UC San Diego, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said, "Our student-faculty ratio is so high that students may not be able to graduate on time."
In Sacramento, Schwarzenegger and Republican legislators have blocked all attempts by Democrats to cover any portion of the current $26 billion state shortfall with a tax increase. Tuition has more than doubled at the University of California in the last decade, rising to more than $8,700 for in-state students in fall 2009. Many of the state budget cuts being negotiated behind closed doors in Sacramento will primarily affect the poor and working class - health coverage for the poor and the CalWORKs welfare-to-work program, for example. But the severe funding reductions to the public schools and to the state university system - not only the University of California but also hundreds of thousands of students attending the 23-campus Cal State University system and the community college system - will strike California's large middle class in a fundamental way.
In a July 9 "Open Letter to UC alumni and friends," Richard Blum, the Regents' immediate past chair, Russell Gould, the current chair, Sherry Lansing, the vice chair, and UC President Yudof wrote, "The UC model - providing universal access to a top-notch, low-cost education and research of the highest caliber - continues to be studied around the globe among those who would emulate its success. And yet, this model has been increasingly abandoned at home by a state government responsible for its core funding."
- Blog post
- 4 months ago
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Iran streets get Quiet
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
Each evening, the protest cries still come from rooftops in Tehran. They began weeks ago as a display of defiance and unity. Now they echo something else: a chorus that bemoans the suffocating crackdown but also signals that the confrontations with Iran's Islamic regime may be far from over.
A month that began with the world watching the giddy all-night campaign parties for Mir Hossein Mousavi is closing with Iranian forces in full lockdown mode — blanketing the streets, censoring the Web, detaining Mousavi's backers and showing few hints of compromise after the worst internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But — like the nightly shouts of opposition and prayer — the crackdown cannot easily stamp out the anger and frustration left by claims that fraud handed the June 12 election to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Many predict it won't end here. The groundswell of opposition was too great, experts say, and the Islamic regime is left too embattled to keep the lid on indefinitely.
Another flare-up came Sunday when police used tear gas in clashes with up to 3,000 protesters near a mosque in north Tehran, witnesses told The Associated Press. The gathering came during commemorations for a prominent cleric who was killed in a major 1981 bombing. It was the first public demonstration in Tehran since Wednesday.
Within hours of the clashes, police had set up patrols and cordons outside the mosque.
"The regime hasn't won just because there are fewer people on the street," said Reza Aslan, an analyst on Iranian and regional affairs.
For the third time in a decade, serious unrest flared against Iran's establishment and was put down by force. This time, however, was nothing like the student-led skirmishes before. The ruling clerics have watched the fallout from the disputed elections mushroom into a size and scope they have never confronted.
What unsettles the regime is probably less about the violence and more about the broad cross-section of protesters: Middle-class shopkeepers and conservative chador-covered women marched alongside fist-pumping hipsters with Che Guevara T-shirts and fake iPhones. Ironically, the last time such a wide coalition of demonstrators joined forces in Iran was the Islamic Revolution.
And, perhaps even more startling, were the taboo-shattering denunciations of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose hard-line followers believe is only answerable to God.
It all suggests a sweeping reordering of what it means to challenge the system. The protest tent has expanded to cover people who normally wouldn't stand alongside the liberal ranks of activists and students. The goals, meanwhile, could become bolder to directly question the highest levels of the theocracy.
The huge rallies — drawing more than 1 million marchers through Tehran over a few epic days — also rattled the regime-promoted myth that dissent was mostly limited to campuses and the liberal enclaves in north Tehran. The same factors that made Mousavi the surprise hero of reformists also fed the backlash after disputed balloting: grumbling about Iran's sinking economy and angst over Ahmadinejad's bombastic style and Iran's increasing international isolation.
"I think a crisis was waiting to happen and it was triggered by the election, which we can assume was flawed," said Robert Hunter, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO and head of Middle East affairs in the Carter administration. "I think a lot of people said, 'Enough is enough' — not because they wanted Mousavi but because they were fed up."
But the theocracy, too, has stressed it's in no mood for challenges. One of its top envoys, Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami, said during Friday prayers that protesters should receive harsh sentences, including execution for those linked to deaths. The official death toll is at least 17 protesters and eight security officials, but restrictions on street reporting block foreign media from independently checking the tally.
Khamenei tried to cool the rhetoric Sunday by calling on both sides "not to stoke the emotions of the young."
Many are left reeling by emotional whiplash — from sky-high hopes for Mousavi's "green" movement to a deep gloom after protest marches were crushed. Mousavi, too, disappointed backers by saying he will now seek official permission for any further rallies. On Sunday, Mousavi again demanded that the election results be nullified.
It seems a futile gesture. The theocrats have endorsed the result and say Ahmadinejad will be sworn in for a second term as early as July 26.
A prominent Farsi blogger, Roozbeh Mirebrahimi, wrote shortly before the election that "the process of change has already begun in Iran."
Then an entry after security forces smothered the remaining street protests last week:
"These days are hard days."
Despite the stunning post-election outrage, it still buckled the same way as past flare-ups in Tehran University in 1999 and around various campuses in late 2002.
Security forces — including the powerful Revolutionary Guard and its network of civilian vigilantes — have hammered down hard in every case. Protesters, meanwhile, still have no serious counterweight on their side. The regular police or military have never shown an inclination to break ranks with the forces directly controlled by the ruling clerics.
There also is very little stomach among demonstrators to put themselves on the line without a clear leader and goal.
Mousavi has not stepped up in that role. Despite his momentary flash as the reformist icon, he always has been a man of the system since serving as prime minister for much of the 1980s. He said he has no interest in directly battling the Islamic status quo.
The question now looms: Does anyone? No one with any national credentials has offered to take the baton from Mousavi. Instead, the aftermath has tapered to internal political intrigue with most eyes on former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is both fabulously rich and deeply influential.
Rafsanjani heads a cleric-run group, the Assembly of Experts, that has the power to remove the supreme leader. Such an act is still considered improbable, but it could give him considerable leverage over Khamenei — who has the last word in all major policy decisions. Rafsanjani is considered a moderate who could see advantages in President Barack Obama's offer for groundbreaking dialogue.
But the protesters of the past month seem left out in the cold.
"We have no one to lead us," said a 30-year-old man from Isfahan who took part in the demonstrations. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals.
"People are angry and afraid," he continued. "They are afraid of the future and angry because they failed to achieve change with their ballots."
The legitimacy of the Iran's election system has been reduced to a punch line on Twitter jokes and blogs for many Mousavi supporters.
"Anyone can make one mistake," says a message next to a calendar page of Ahmadinejad's election in 2005.
"But only fools repeat their mistake" — next to the date of the June 12 election.
The next moves are anyone's guess. Some experts who have studied civil unrest movements, however, foresee a long and simmering opposition that could splinter into various forms of dissent — such as seeking more political allies, appeals to Germany and other Western nations with financial stakes in Iran and nonviolent disobedience such as sit-ins and general strikes.
"In order to succeed, Mousavi's followers almost certainly need to take their protests and opposition activities outside Tehran into other Iranian cities where they can outflank security organizations," said Eric Rosenbach, executive director at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
A well-known Iranian poet, Simin Behbahani, offered verse that touched both the sense of smoldering resentment and the threats that it's not going to fade.
One of the lines say: "Stop this extravagance, this reckless throwing of my country to the wind."
It ends:
"You may wish to have me burned or decide to stone me.
"But in your hand, match or stone will lose their power to harm me."
- Blog post
- 5 months ago
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Shelter Dogs - 7 Ways To Impro
- From: iolaire1
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Description:
There are many dogs out there that are, for several reasons, left without a home and end up being displaced at a shelter. If you are thinking about helping these homeless dogs but aren't sure what to do, the best way to improve the lives of shelter dogs is to adopt one.
Giving these dogs a good home is the most important thing that you can do. But if adopting a dog is just not an option right now, there are other things that you can do to better the lives of shelter dogs. Below are several suggestions to keep in mind.
1. Visit your local shelter and spend some time with a dog like a Labradoodle. Donating some of your time to simply hang out and play with these canine residents can make a huge difference to their lives. Most of the time, shelter staff are very busy with their work and they do not have the extra time to interact with the dogs. Shelter employees can always use the help of others to come and play and socialize with their residence. They are more than happy to show you around and figure out what you can do to help out.
As a volunteer, you can take the dogs for a walk around the block, give them a little pampering by brushing their coats, or just be there and hang out with them. Shelter dogs get very little attention, and a short visit with them does a lot to improve their well-being.
2. You may volunteer to take these dogs to an obedience class that will better their chances for an adoption.
3. Take one day of the week to help wash and groom the dogs and then bring them to adoption fairs.
4. Sponsor a fund raising party and donate the cash to your local rescue organization. You may also ask for donations of items that you can bring to the shelter. These include blankets, food and treats, collars, leashes, toys, kennels, etc.
5. You may also volunteer to be a foster parent and keep the rescued dog at your house until he or she finds a permanent home.
6. Inform people about Labradoodle rescue and being a shelter volunteer by placing an ad in your local paper or putting up signs on bulletin boards and at dog parks.
7. And last but not the least, keep in mind that the best way to prevent shelter overcrowding is to spay or neuter your pets and to spread the word about the benefits of getting these house pets fixed. - Blog post
- 5 months ago
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Teen anti smoking Bill
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
No more "light" cigarettes or candy-flavored smokes. Bigger, scarier warning labels. Fewer ads featuring sexy young smokers.
Historic anti-smoking legislation sped to final congressional passage on Friday — after a bitter fight lasting nearly a half-century — and lawmakers and the White House quickly declared it would save the lives of thousands of smokers of all ages. Even more important, they said, the measure could keep countless young people from starting in the first place.
President Barack Obama, admittedly still struggling with his own nicotine habit, saluted passage of the bill, which he will soon sign. He said, "For over a decade, leaders of both parties have fought to prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children and provide the public with the information they need to understand what a dangerous habit this is."
Specifically, the measure for the first time will give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate what goes into tobacco products, demand changes or elimination of toxic substances and block the introduction of new products.
Will it matter as much as supporters say? Smokers lighting up outside Washington offices had mixed reactions.
Government researcher Reginald Little, 47, who said he swiped his first cigarette from his grandfather at age 15, thought regulation was needed "because you don't know exactly what's in it."
But Becky Cook, a 22-year-old program analyst, said that, while she supported limits on ads aimed at children, "I already know it's bad for me, so I don't think knowing how much is really in one cigarette is really going to make a difference."
And nonsmokers?
Yan Meek, 42, a finance analyst from Jacksonville, Fla., who was visiting the nation's capital with her 8-year-old son, Jesse, doesn't smoke and suggested the legislation would lead to "too much government control over personal lives, personal choices."
Lionel Richardson, 26, an electrical engineer visiting from Huger, S.C., is a a nonsmoker, too, but called the legislation a good thing. "It's a drug," he said, and "the FDA plays a big part in what drugs are sold." As for restricting advertisements, he said, "They make it sexy so kids think it's the cool thing to do."
The thousand health and consumer groups that endorsed the bill say that, combined with other anti-smoking efforts, it can significantly reduce the 400,000 deaths and $100 billion in health care costs attributed every year to smoking in the U.S.
Under the legislation:
• Cigarette packages will have warning labels that cover 50 percent of the front and rear. The word "warning" must be included in capital letters.
• Any remaining tobacco-related sponsorships of sports and entertainment events will be banned, as will giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of a tobacco product. A federal ban will be imposed on all outdoor tobacco advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds.
• Point-of-sale advertising will be limited to adults-only facilities, and remaining vending machines will disappear except in places restricted to adults. Retailers who sell to minors will be subject to federal enforcement and penalties.
• Smokers, particularly the younger crowd, will find they can no longer buy cigarettes sweetened by candy flavors or any herb or spices such as strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon or vanilla. Cigarettes advertised as "light" or "mild," giving the impression that they aren't as harmful to health, will no longer be found on store shelves.
With an estimated 3,500 young people smoking their first cigarette each day, the ban on flavorings alone could have significant health benefits, said Dr. Adam Goldstein, director of the University of North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program.
In the longer run, aggressive FDA efforts to reduce nicotine content — the bill prohibits an outright ban on nicotine or cigarettes — could "stimulate as dramatic a change in the product as anything we've seen in the last 50 years."
He said it was not inconceivable that adult smokers, now more than 20 percent of the population, could be reduced to less than 5 percent in 20 years.
Other factors that could cut into tobacco use include the sharp rise in prices — Congress earlier this year approved a 62-cent a pack increase in the federal cigarette tax to pay for a children's health program — and measures by the states to ban smoking in public places. Goldstein noted that even North Carolina, the nation's biggest tobacco grower, recently moved to ban smoking in public areas.
Paul Billings, vice president at the American Lung Association, agreed that pricing, education and laws are all needed to drive down smoking and reduce the health consequences. FDA regulation has been "a huge missing piece in the arsenal against tobacco," he said.
New FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said the agency was ready to "roll up our sleeves" to meet the new obligations. "We really do feel, by being able to regulate tobacco and tobacco products, we can reduce the burden of disease," especially by preventing teen smoking, she said.
The Senate passed the FDA bill on Thursday by a 79-17 vote and the House followed suit on Friday, with a 307-97 vote. Despite those one-sided tallies, the bill has been years in the making.
The FDA tried to exert authority over tobacco products in the 1990s, but the industry fought back and the Supreme Court in 2000 ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that the agency did not have regulatory powers over tobacco under then-existing law. Several efforts by lawmakers since then had fallen short, victims of industry lobbying and opposition from the Bush White House.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., sponsor of the bill and chairman at a memorable 1994 hearing where tobacco industry executives denied that nicotine was addictive, relished the long-sought victory.
"I think we are today at the last gasp of the tobacco industry's efforts to protect their profits at the expense of the health and lives of the American people and to get children to take up this habit," he said.
Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company, came out in support of the bill, saying it was behind tough but fair regulation. Its chief rivals were opposed, saying that FDA restrictions on new products would lock in Philip Morris' share of the market.
Costs of the new program will be paid for by a new user fee imposed on the industry. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that assessments could rise from $235 million in 2010 to $712 million in 2019.
There was some opposition from Republicans who questioned the ability of the FDA to handle tobacco regulation and criticized what they said was another Democratic-led intrusion of the federal government in private business. North Carolina Republican Howard Coble said the bill is unpopular in his state, with its 12,000 tobacco farmers. "Their fear is tobacco today, the family farm tomorrow."
- Blog post
- 5 months ago
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Chrysler sells to Fiat
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
NEW YORK – With opponents of Chrysler's planned partnership with Italy's Fiat having exhausted their appeals, the Obama administration-backed sale could close early Wednesday — putting the automaker close to its goal of a speedy exit from bankruptcy protection.
Late Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the sale of the bulk of Chrysler LLC's assets to Fiat Group SpA, rejecting an appeal by a trio of Indiana pension and construction funds, consumer groups and others to block the transaction.
The deal will likely close early Wednesday, according to a person briefed on the company's plans who declined to be named ahead of an official announcement by the automaker. Chrysler released a statement late Tuesday saying it expects the sale to close "very shortly."
The high court's action came on the heels of statements by Chrysler and Fiat that their deal would automatically expire if the sale didn't close by June 15 and a White House warning that there was no guarantee a new agreement could be brokered in time to save Chrysler from liquidation.
The sale of Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler's assets to Fiat had been expected to close more than a week ago, but Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg decided Monday to delay the sale while studying the appeals.
A federal appeals court in New York had earlier approved the sale, but gave opponents until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. The Indiana funds, which hold less than 1 percent of Chrysler's secured debt, claimed the sale unfairly favors Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders such as the union ahead of secured debtholders like themselves.
Justice Ginsburg ordered a temporary delay just before a 4 p.m. deadline on Monday. Chrysler, Fiat and the Obama administration warned that the high court's intervention could scuttle the sale.
Early Tuesday, the pension plans seized on comments from Fiat officials that they would not walk away from the deal even if June 15 were to pass without completing the sale. The plans tried to persuade the justices that there was no reason to rush to meet that deadline. But Chrysler, Fiat and the Obama administration stressed in response that Chrysler was losing $100 million every day its plants remain closed and that the deal would automatically terminate in less than a week, with no guarantee that a new agreement would be reached.
If the closing is delayed by more than 10 days, the government will need to "either to increase its overall funding to the detriment of taxpayers, or abandon its role in the transaction," the administration said.
Late Tuesday, the Supreme Court turned down the opponents' last-ditch bid. The court issued a brief, unsigned opinion explaining its action. To obtain a delay, or stay, someone must show that at least four of the nine justices find that the issue raised is serious enough to warrant hearing a full appeal and that a majority of the court will conclude the lower court decision was wrong.
"The applicants have not carried that burden," the court said.
The court did not consider the merits of the opponents' arguments, only whether to hear their full-blown appeal.
Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock expressed disappointment with the decision and said options seem limited for opponents of the sale.
"Obviously the supreme court of the land is the supreme court of the land," Mourdock said. "The United States government has, I continue to believe, acted egregiously by taking away the traditional rights held by secured creditors."
"The Chrysler-Fiat alliance can now go forward, allowing Chrysler to re-emerge as a competitive and viable automaker," the White House said in a statement applauding the decision.
Chrysler has passed swiftly through about five weeks of bankruptcy proceedings, partially as a result of the involvement of the Obama administration's auto task force, which provided billions in financing and helped negotiate a deal with the company's stakeholders.
Also Tuesday, a bankruptcy judge approved Chrysler's plan to terminate 789 of its dealer franchises.
U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez's order says the franchises, which represent about 25 percent of the company's dealer base, can no longer act as authorized Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers, effective immediately. A written ruling explaining the decision was expected to be filed later.
Earlier in the day, more than 25 attorneys representing hundreds of dealers from across the country argued in court that little would be gained by terminating the franchises, while Chrysler maintained that the move is a necessary part of its plan to cut costs and quickly emerge from Chapter 11.
Many of the dealers were trying to sell the last cars on their lots and preparing to shut their doors for good at the end of the day, while others planned to sell used cars or other brands after severing ties with Chrysler.
At Tuesday's hearing, Chrysler attorneys also said the automaker would extend until Monday its program to help the affected dealers send any unsold vehicles to other dealers.
Under the agreement brokered in the days leading up to Chrysler's April 30 Chapter 11 filing, Fiat will receive up to a 35 percent stake in the automaker, in exchange for sharing the technology Chrysler needs to create smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The United Auto Workers union will get a 55 percent stake that will be used to fund its retiree health care obligations, while the U.S. and Canadian governments will receive a combined 10 percent stake.
Meanwhile, the automaker's secured debtholders would get $2 billion in cash, or about 29 cents on the dollar, for their combined $6.9 billion in debt. Some of the debtholders balked at the deal, saying as secured lenders they deserved more. The Indiana funds involved in the Supreme Court appeal hold about $42.5 million of Chrysler's $6.9 billion in secured debt. They bought it in 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.
The funds have also challenged the constitutionality of the Treasury Department's use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to supply Chrysler's bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.
Consumer groups and individuals with product-related lawsuits also contested a condition of the Chrysler sale that would release the company from product liability claims related to vehicles it sold before the asset sale to Fiat. Compensation for such claims would have to come from the parts of the company not being sold to Fiat. But those assets have limited value and it's unlikely there will be anything to pay out.
"The Chrysler and GM bankruptcy plans will take away the the public's right to hold these companies accountable for when their defective cars injure and kill people, which is the incentive that has forced such car companies to recall defective vehicles," said Joanne Doroshow, of the Center for Justice & Democracy, in a statement.
Congress continues to scrutinize the Obama administration's restructuring of Chrysler and GM. The Senate Banking Committee said it planned to call Ron Bloom, a senior adviser to the auto task force, and Edward Montgomery, who serves as the Obama administration's director of recovery for auto communities and workers, to a hearing Wednesday.
- Blog post
- 5 months ago
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38 Kids Die in Fire
- From: CRYSTALCHRIS
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Description:
HERMOSILLO, Mexico – Sobbing relatives waited outside a morgue Saturday to claim the bodies from a day-care fire that killed 38 children in northern Mexico despite desperate attempts to evacuate babies and toddlers through the building's only working exit. A father crashed his pickup truck through the wall in an effort to rescue his child.
The family of 2-year-old Maria Magdalena Millan held a funeral for her, dropping white roses onto her tiny coffin and attaching a Dora the Explorer balloon to the cross marking her grave. One woman held a framed picture of her.
"I love you and I don't want to leave you here!" her mother screamed.
President Felipe Calderon arrived late Saturday with his health minister and interior secretary to visit victims in two hospitals. He wished the children a speedy recovery and promised families a full investigation to determine the cause of a tragedy he said was painful to all Mexicans, according to a statement from his office.
The death toll rose to 38 after three more children died Saturday, Sonora state health secretary Raymundo Lopez Vucovich told a news conference. Most of the victims had died of organ collapse caused by smoke inhalation, he said.
Delfina Ruelas, 60, said her grandchild German Leon died of his burns Saturday morning, three days after his fourth birthday. She and her husband saw television news reports that the ABC day care was on fire Friday and rushed over that evening.
"I thought he wasn't that burned and that we would find him OK, but he was very burned," said Ruelas, dissolving into tears outside the morgue in the northern city of Hermosillo, where she waited along with 30 other relatives. "They operated on him yesterday, and he held on, but today he couldn't hold on."
Firefighters carried injured children through the front door — the building's only working exit — and through large holes that a civilian knocked into the walls before rescue crews arrived, according to a fire department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the fire.
Noe Velasquez, an employee at a nearby auto parts store who helped pull out five toddlers, said the father of one of the children rammed his pickup truck through a wall. Velasquez did not know if the man's child survived.
"I didn't sleep last night. I've never gone through anything like that in all my life," he said.
The tragedy in Hermosillo, capital city of the northwestern state of Sonora, population about 560,000, again raised questions about building safety in Mexico. Officials cracked down on code violations last year following a deadly stampede at a nightclub that killed 12 and a deadly disco fire nine years ago that killed 21. Both clubs were in Mexico City.
There were an estimated 142 children in the day care at the time of the fire, their ages ranging from 6 months to 5 years, and six staffers to look after them, Sonora state Gov. Eduardo Bours said at a news conference.
The ratio is in keeping with legal standards, said Daniel Karam, the director of Mexico's Social Security Institute, which outsourced services to the privately run day care.
A May 26 inspection found that the day care building — a converted warehouse with a few windows mounted high up — complied with safety standards, Karam added.
Asked if the single functioning exit constituted a safety code violation, Karam only repeated that the building had passed the inspection, although he conceded that the security requirements might have to be re-evaluated.
"We always have to be open to improvements, especially when we have a tragedy that has so moved us," Karam said.
Guadalupe Arvizu, who was visiting her injured 2-year-old grandson at a hospital, said the building has an emergency exit but it could not be opened on the day of the fire. She did not know why.
"The place is in bad condition. It's a warehouse. There are no windows in the classrooms," said Arvizu, whose daughter — the boy's mother — is a caretaker at the day care but was not injured in the fire.
Some of the children had third-degree burns, the Hermosillo fire department official said.
"As a doctor I have confronted death on many occasions," said Lopez, the state health secretary, his voice cracking. "But I'm seeing so much misfortune and suffering now, it breaks my heart."
Thirty-three children remain hospitalized, 23 of them in Hermosillo, including 15 who are in critical condition, Lopez said. One of them is brain dead.
Nine children have been transferred to other Mexican hospitals, eight of them to the western Mexican city of Guadalajara that has a special burn unit, and one to Ciudad Obregon in Sonora, he said.
A 3-year-old girl with burns over 80 percent of her body was sent by military transport to be treated at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California, said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Consul General for Mexico based in Sacramento, California.
The girl's injuries could require months of treatment, which will be free of charge, Gonzalez Gutierrez said. One parent is traveling with the girl, and will be housed nearby.
"It's going to be challenging. The survivability is about 50 percent. A lot of it is how deep the burn is and where it's located and how bad is the smoke inhalation," said Dr. Tina Palmieri, assistant chief of burns for Shriners'.
Four children have been released from the hospital, along with two of six adults who had been admitted, Lopez said. The hospitalized adults included five of six women who took care of the children at the center, plus a security guard. The four still hospitalized are in stable condition, Lopez said.
Lopez encouraged citizens to donate blood because he said many of the children are going to need it.
Velasquez said he and several other people rushed to the day care when they saw smoke. Teachers already had lined up some of the children outside but the very smallest were trapped inside, some of them in their cribs. Velasquez said he pulled out limp toddlers without knowing if they were dead or alive.
The fire started at an adjoining tire and car warehouse leased by the state government, Bours said. The blaze eventually spread to the roof of the day care, sending flames raining down on the children, according to the fire department official.
Firefighters took two hours to control the blaze, the cause of which was still unconfirmed. Police trucks cordoned off the block surrounding the cavernous salmon-and-blue day care, while forensic investigators gathered material, searching for clues to what started the blaze
- Blog post
- 5 months ago
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Where the Pretty Is in Austin
- From: Former member
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Description:
If you get the chance to roam around during SXSW, Austin offers excellent street art and murals—even the city's ads are charming. Here are a couple of good streets to check out.
Your first stop should be Cesar Chavez Street, just east of the highway. Formerly known as First Street, it was renamed after the venerated activist and reformer in 1993. Since then, the neighborhood has seen some gentrification—the entire east side of town has established a pretty high standard for their signage. One tire shop is adorned on all sides with massive paintings of Mayan warriors. Chavez himself turns up on another mural that manages to celebrate his legacy—and promote a car dealership—with considerable gusto.
Next, check out the section of Guadalupe by the western side of the University of Texas at Austin campus, generally referred to by students as The Drag. You'll find a number of murals here—one at the University Baptist Church at 22nd, was done by a former apprentice of Diego Rivera. This strip also has special appeal for pop culture mavens. At 24th Steet there is a massive, sun-bleached painting which celebrates many of the stars whose films played The Varsity, a long-gone off-campus movie theater. (The biggest of them all? Why, Jimmy Cliff from The Harder They Come!) Tower Records planned to paint over it when they took over they space; but now Tower's gone, and the mural remains.Keep walking just one block past the church, to 21st Street, and you'll find the corner once occupied by Sound Exchange, a notoriously discerning indie record store. The shop was name-checked in a Spoon song, but you probably recognize it as the home of "Hi, How Are You?"—a simple, wall-sized painting of a frog by Daniel Johnston, the troubled Austin musician and artist who was featured in 2005's documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. (You might also recognize the painting from old photos of Nirvana. Kurt Cobain was a big Johnston fan, and often wore a t-shirt featuring the design.)
Like the Varsity, "Hi, How Are You" outlasted the business it originally helped to promote—largely via rabid public support, which says a lot about the way this city handles the inevitable path to progress: If it ain't broke... - Blog post
- 5 months ago
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