The time is now 11:06 am
You last visited
June 5, 2026, 12:00 pm
All times shown are
Eastern Time (GMT-5:00)
X-Mas Wish List
Midday 12-16-08 Midday
** until 12-24-08 **
016 026 036 046 056 076 086 107 127 137 147 157 167 187 208 218 238 248 258 268 278 309 319 329 349 359 369 379 389 610 620 630 640 650 670 680 701 721 731 741 751 761 781 802 812 832 842 852 862 872 903 913 923 943 953 963 973 983 006 066 117 177 228 288 339 600 660 711 771 822 882 933
Long Shots for Midday & Evening
** until 12-21-08 **
1370, 1371, 1372, 1373, 1374, 1375, 1376, 1377, 1378, 1379
0247, 1247, 2247, 3247, 4247, 5247, 6247, 7247, 8247, 9247
Court allows lawsuits over ‘light’ cigarettes
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that lawsuits may proceed against tobacco companies for allegedly deceptive marketing of “light” cigarettes.
In a 5-4 split won by the court’s liberals, the court said that smokers may use state consumer protection laws to sue cigarette makers for the way they promote “light” and “low tar” brands.
The decision was at odds with recent anti-consumer rulings that limited state regulation of business in favor of federal power.
The tobacco companies argued that the lawsuits are barred by the federal cigarette labeling law, which forbids states from regulating any aspect of cigarette advertising that involves smoking and health.
Justice John Paul Stevens, however, said in his majority opinion that the labeling law does not shield the companies from state laws against deceptive practices.
People suing the cigarette makers still must prove that the use of ’light’ and ’lowered tar’ actually violate the state anti-fraud laws, but those lawsuits may go forward, Stevens said.
He was joined by the other liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, as well as Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decides cases where there is an ideological division.
The conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, dissented.
Three Maine residents sued Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA Inc. subsidiary under the state’s law against unfair marketing practices. The class-action claim represents all smokers of Marlboro Lights or Cambridge Lights cigarettes, both made by Philip Morris.
The lawsuit argues that the company knew for decades that smokers of light cigarettes compensate for the lower levels of tar and nicotine by taking longer puffs and compensating in other ways.
A federal district court threw out the lawsuit, but the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it could go forward.
The companies were hoping that the court would send a clear message that would essentially end dozens of such lawsuits that have been filed around the country.
Not just super rich caught up in Madoff case
NEW YORK - The list of investors who say they were duped in one of Wall Street’s biggest Ponzi schemes is growing, snaring some of the world’s biggest banking institutions and hedge funds, the super rich and the famous, pensioners and charities.
The alleged victims who sunk cash into veteran Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff’s investment pool include real estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, the foundation of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, and a charity of movie director Steven Spielberg, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Among the world’s biggest banking institutions, Britain’s HSBC Holdings PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Man Group PLC, Spain’s Grupo Santander SA, France’s BNP Paribas and Japan’s Nomura Holdings all reported that they had fallen victim to Madoff’s alleged $50 billion Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme.
The 70-year-old Madoff (MAY-doff), well respected in the investment community after serving as chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme to defraud investors. Some investors claim they’ve been wiped out, while others are still likely to come forward.
“There were a lot of very sophisticated people who were duped, and that happens a great deal when you’ve had somebody decide to be unscrupulous,” said Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory agency in charge of monitoring investment funds like the one Madoff operated.
The extent of the potential damage prompted a leading fund manager in London to lash out at U.S. regulators for failing to detect the fraud earlier.
“I think now it is very difficult for people to invest in things that are meant to be regulated in America, because they haven fallen down in the job,” Nicola Horlick, the manager of Bramdean Alternatives, which has 9 percent of its funds invested in Madoff’s scheme, told the British Broadcasting Corp.
“All through the credit crunch this has been apparent,” Horlick added. “This is the biggest financial scandal, probably, in the history of the markets.”
Among U.S. investors, the Boston-based Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, a charity that financed trips for Jewish youth to Israel, let go of its staff after revealing that the money for its operations was invested with Madoff.
New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, entrusted his family’s charitable foundation to Madoff. Lautenberg’s attorney, Michael Griffinger, said they weren’t yet sure the extent of the foundation’s losses, but that the bulk of its investments had been handled by Madoff.
Lautenberg’s foundation handed out more than $765,000 to at least 100 recipients in 2006, according to the most recent listing on Guidestar, which tracks charitable organization filings.
The foundation helps support a variety of religious, educational, civic and arts organizations in New Jersey and elsewhere, and its contributions range from a gift of more than $300,000 to the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey to a $2,000 donation to a children’s program at the Hackensack Medical Center.
Reports from Florida to Minnesota included profiles of ordinary investors who gave Madoff their money. Some had been friends with him for decades, others were able to invest because they were a friend of a friend. They told stories of losing everything from $40,000 to an entire nest egg worth well over $1 million.
They join a list of more powerful investors that have come forward, all worried about the extent of their losses. The roster of names include former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and J. Ezra Merkin, the chairman of GMAC Financial Services, among others.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, said Mortimer Zuckerman, the chairman of real estate firm Boston Properties and owner of the New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report, had significant exposure through a fund that invested substantially all of its assets with Madoff.
The Journal also said the Steven Spielberg charity, the Wunderkinder Foundation, in the past appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Madoff. It said the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, founded by the famed Holocaust survivor and writer, was hard hit by losses, citing two people familiar with the organization’s investments.
Messages were left with the Zuckerman fund and Wunderkinder foundation. The Wiesel foundation said it was looking into the matter.
The Journal also reported potential investors and firms exposed to the alleged fraud included: Carl Shapiro, founder and former chairman of women’s apparel company Kay Windsor Inc.; Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. co-founder Leonard Feinstein; Yeshiva University; EIM Group; UBS AG; Fairfield Greenwich Advisors; Tremont Capital Management; Maxam Capital Management and Ascot Partners.
Among those overseas confirming exposure on Monday, Banco Santander, the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization, said its clients have 2.33 billion euros ($3.07 billion) in exposure with Madoff, mostly through a fund called Optimal Strategic US Equity.
HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, said a “small number” of its institutional clients had exposure totaling some $1 billion in Madoff funds.
It added that it has custody clients who have invested with Madoff, but it did not believe those “custodial arrangements should be a source of exposure to the group.”
Royal Bank of Scotland — Britain’s second-largest bank, which is now 58 percent owned by the British government — said it could lose around 400 million euros pounds through exposure in trading and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds invested with Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded fund manager that reported exposure of around $360 million on Monday, said “it appears that a systematic and comprehensive fraud may have been committed, evading a range of structural controls.”
Japan’s Nomura Holdings said it has 27.5 billion yen ($306 million) in exposure, but added that any losses were likely to be limited compared to its capital base.
French banks foresee nearly 1 billion euros in potential losses as indirect victims of the alleged fraud.
Natixis, France’s fourth-largest bank, set its maximum indirect exposure at about 450 million euros. A statement by the investment bank said it made no direct investments in hedge funds managed by Madoff. However, it said that some of its clients’ money was invested in funds managed by “first class custodians,” which in turn entrusted those securities to Madoff’s investment securities company.
Both Societe Generale and Credit Agricole said they had “negligible” exposure of below 10 million euros each. However, the euro zone’s largest bank, BNP Paribas, has estimated its risk exposure to hedge funds managed by Madoff at up to 350 million euros.
In a statement Sunday, BNP Paribas said it has no investment of its own in Madoff’s hedge funds, but “does have risk exposure to these funds through its trading business and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds.”
Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privee indicated it had hundreds of millions of dollars in client assets invested under the management of Madoff. The Geneva bank, one of Switzerland’s largest, did not disclose a total amount invested, but did say the exposure of its clients “represents less than 1 percent of the total assets under management of the bank.”
UBP’s announcement Monday followed weekend disclosures by Swiss banks Reichmuth & Co. of Lucerne, Benedict Hentsch of Geneva and Neue Privat Bank of Zurich that they had millions of dollars worth of client assets at risk in the case.
Unicredit, Italy’s largest bank, said its exposure to Madoff’s company is about 75 million euros, representing amounts the bank invested directly and not funds belonging to its clients, said spokesman Andrea Moreschi. Unicredit has a separate, indirect exposure through Pioneer Investment, its asset management division.
In Germany, Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG and Commerzbank AG declined to comment on the matter.
On Friday, representatives from major U.S. banks — Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. — declined to comment on whether they had exposure to Madoff’s company. Both BlackRock Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said they had no exposure.
Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Comerica Inc. and U.S. Bancorp did not return calls seeking comment.
Monday 12-15-08
851, 751, 058, 825, 164, 317, 273, 605, 526
596, 572, 291, 861, 962, 598, 307, 680, 459
4801, 3313, 1648, 0333, 3013, 5148, 4718
Midday 12-15-08 Midday
** until 12-18-08 **
012 017 018 021 023 027 028 032 037 038 047 048 057 058 062 067 071 072 073 074 075 078 081 082 083 084 085 087 201 203 207 208 210 215 217 218 219 230 234 235 237 238 243 245 247 249 251 253 254 258 260 261 263 264 265 267 270 271 273 274 275 279 280 281 283 285 289 291 294 297 298 302 307 308 317 318 320 324 325 327 328 342 348 352 357 362 370 371 372 375 378 379 380 381 382 384 387 389 397 398 407 408 417 418 423 425 427 429 432 438 452 462 468 470 471 472 478 479 480 481 483 487 489 492 497 498 507 508 512 517 521 523 524 528 532 537 542 562 567 568 570 571 572 573 578 579 580 582 587 589 597 598 602 607 612 618 620 621 623 624 625 627 632 642 648 652 657 658 670 672 675 678 679 681 684 685 687 689 697 698 701 702 703 704 705 708 710 712 713 714 715 720 721 723 724 729 730 731 732 735 738 739 740 741 742 748 749 750 751 753 758 759 760 762 765 768 769 780 783 784 785 792 793 794 795 801 802 803 804 805 807 810 812 813 814 819 820 821 823 825 829 830 831 832 834 837 839 840 841 843 847 849 850 852 857 859 861 864 865 867 869 870 873 874 875 891 892 893 894 895 912 918 921 924 927 928 937 938 942 947 948 957 958 967 968 972 973 974 975 981 982 983 984 985
or
Reduced Straights
027 072 207 270 702 720 037 073 307 370 703 730 047 074 407 470 704 740 048 084 408 480 804 840 057 075 507 570 705 750 078 087 708 780 807 870 235 253 325 352 523 532 245 254 425 452 524 542 258 285 528 582 825 852 579 597 759 795 957 975 589 598 859 895 958 985 017 071 701 710 067 607 670 760 215 251 512 521 265 562 625 652 275 572
Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.
Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody.
Officials at the Iraqi-owned TV station, al-Baghdadiya, called for the release of their journalist, saying he was exercising freedom of expression.
Iraqi officials have described the incident as shameful.
A statement released by the government said Mr Zaidi's actions, which also included him shouting insults at President Bush, "harmed the reputation of Iraqi journalists and Iraqi journalism in general".
Correspondents say the protesters are supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - a leading critic of the US presence in Iraq. Smaller protests were reported in Basra and Najaf.
The Iraqi government has demanded an on-air apology from his employer.
An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV channel said Mr Zaidi should be freed because he had been exercising freedom of expression - something which the Americans had promised to Iraqis on the ousting of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"Any measures against Muntadar will be considered the acts of a dictatorial regime," the firm said in a statement.
The programming director for al-Baghdadiya, Muzhir al-Khafaji, described the journalist as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man".
He said he was afraid for Mr Zaidi's safety, adding that the reporter had been arrested by US officials twice before.
"We fear that our correspondents in Iraq will be arrested. We have 200 correspondents there," he added.
'Proud Arab'
Mr Zaidi leapt from his chair at Sunday's news conference and hurled first one shoe and then the other at Mr Bush, who was joined at the podium by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
The shoes missed as Mr Bush ducked, and Mr Zaidi was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched from the room.
"This is a farewell kiss, you dog," he yelled in Arabic as he threw his shoes. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
Arabic TV stations have been repeatedly showing footage of the incident, which was also front-page news in many papers.
Correspondents say the journalist's tirade was echoed by Arabs across the Middle East who are fed up with US policy in the region.
"He [George Bush] deserves to be hit with 100, not just one or two shoes. Who wants him to come here?" said a man in Baghdad.
But his view was not expressed by everyone.
"I think this incident is unnecessary, to be honest. That was a press conference, not a war. If someone wants to express his opinion he should do so in the proper manner, not this way," said another Baghdad resident.
Courts criticised
Also on Monday, Human Rights Watch accused Iraq's main criminal court of failing to meet basic international standards of justice.
The New York-based group said torture and abuse of prisoners before trial appeared common, and legal representation was often ineffectual.
Human Rights Watch said some of the court's failings showed disturbing similarities to those that existed during the Saddam Hussein era.
The group called on Iraq to take immediate steps to protect detainees from torture, and ensure they had access to proper defence and received a prompt hearing.
Jaden Smith is getting a small taste of what it's like to walk in dad Will's action-blockbuster shoes.
As expected, the remake of the 1951 sci-fi flick starring Keanu Reeves easily replaced Four Christmases atop the box office leader board with an opening weekend gross of $31 million, according to Sunday's estimates.
Despite mediocre reviews, the film held fairly steady throughout the weekend, falling slightly shy of our $36 million estimate.
The Vince Vaughn-Reese Witherspoon yuletide comedy came in second with $13.3 million, bringing its three-week total to just under $88 million, while Twilight faded to the third spot during its forth week with just over $8 million.
The teen vampire romance managed to reach one milestone, however, grossing a total of $150 million -- the amount director Catherine Hardwicke surmised the movie would have to suck in for sequel New Moon to get the go ahead. Obviously, Summit executives saw the writing on the wall weeks ago and have hired Chris Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie) to direct next fall's follow-up.
Rounding out the top five are Disney's doggie flick Bolt with $7.5 million and Baz Luhrmann's underperforming Australia with $4.3 million.
The weekend's other new major release -- Nothing Like the Holidays, starring John Leguizamo and Debra Messing -- got coal in its stocking with a measly $3.5 million during its first weekend.
Also of note is the Clint Eastwood-starring Gran Torino (rumored to be the actor-director's last turn in front of the camera).
Although it opened in only six theaters (three in New York, three in L.A.), the film scored the best per screen average, $47,333, with a gross of only $284,000.
"Love is energy of life."
- Robert Browning -
By PETER H. KING
December 13, 2008
Reporting from Parowan, Utah — Our trip to the Parowan Prophet began with a letter to the St. George Spectrum. It was set among missives proposing that oil companies bail out Detroit automakers, that county inmates be forced to winter in tents, that lawyers be barred from public office. A rough crowd.
This particular letter to the editor in the St. George, Utah, newspaper carried the headline " 'Prophet' shares grim forecast," and it was signed by one Leland Freeborn of Parowan, who wrote that he was known to many as the Parowan Prophet.
After establishing his bona fides as an international talk radio guest and proprietor of a survivalist website that has "passed more than 100,000 hits," Freeborn wrote:
"I think that you should hear what my opinion about the Obama election is: that he will not be the next president. I said on my home page in August that if he lost to expect to see the 'riots' that 2 Peter 2:13 tells us about. He didn't lose. But the story is not finished yet. I still think they may begin the riots before Christmas 2008, as I said."
These riots, according to his prophecy, will encourage the "old, hard-line Soviet guard" to seize the moment and rain down nukes on the United States, killing at least 100 million of us.
"Prepare now," Freeborn's letter concluded. "We are downwind from Las Vegas. I hope you can survive."
It took an hour to reach the prophet, a high-country drive through stunning red-rock formations, the color of which matches the politics in this corner of southern Utah. A freeway billboard, depicting a nuclear mushroom cloud, provided directions to the prophet's two-story house.
The frontyard seemed a staging ground for rapid flight -- two or three motor boats, a raft, a canoe, a recreational vehicle and an old sedan, parked with its engine running.
The man who answered our unexpected knock wore a cowboy hat with a big feather stuck in the band, and a beard suggestive of St. Nick. We asked to see the prophet. He said we had the right guy.
Freeborn hobbled out the door on crutches and eased into a wheelchair on the porch. As it turned out, he was heating the car not for rapid escape from a nuclear cloud, but to take a neighbor to the doctor.
"I only have nine minutes," he said.
It was enough time to sketch out his history -- a Mormon of substance, a father of 12, he had crashed his airplane in 1975 and fallen into a three-week coma, during which he went through "to the other side" and emerged a prophet.
Freeborn, now 66, took "a plural wife," as he put it, and parted ways with the church. He forfeited his wealth, spreading word of his prophecies. He appears to live now mainly on sales of newsletters and survival information packets advertised on his website.
Asked for examples of successful prophecies, he offered O.J. Simpson's murder acquittal and Al Gore's winning of the popular vote in 2000. But his core insight has been a repeated dream of seeing nuclear flashes to the west while shopping at a Wal-Mart during Christmas season.
And this, he warned, appears to be the year.
As Freeborn rose to leave, he said he would be hosting a weekly religious meeting that night. He urged us to come.
"If you can write a story," Freeborn said, "you can save a lot of lives in L.A."
There were about a dozen believers in the two front rooms, men and women of all ages, squeezed together on couches and dining room chairs.
All of them had broken with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over polygamy and other departures from what they believe was the original vision of the church founder Joseph Smith. And all said they regarded Freeborn a prophet.
The cluttered room was filled with Bibles and religious tracts, government maps depicting potential nuclear targets, and framed photographs of mushroom clouds.
For 90 minutes -- while two boys played on the carpet with a calculator and a marked-up Book of Mormon -- the adults read aloud selected biblical verses, passages from Smith's biography and text pulled from an unidentified website.
After each reading, they discussed how these fragments all pointed to a singular end: nuclear destruction brought on by the Lord's wrath.
Freeborn sprawled in a stuffed chair, directing the discussion and sometimes correcting his acolytes. It was a congenial group, but not much given to small talk. As the night wound down, Freeborn returned to his core prophecy.
"I really believe we are out of time," he said. "I really do."
Freeborn conceded that he'd issued similar warnings many times before, and still the world kept spinning. Prophecy, he said, is not an exact science.
"I've been at it for 30 years, and I have always really believed it," he said. "Now, if we go on, that's great. Maybe we can get some more people to repent."
He seemed weary, referring to himself as a "gimpy old crippled guy from Parowan." He described going on radio and, mocked by the host, receiving not a single request from the audience for survival information. He said he has been shunned in town, his property vandalized. He recited from memory a scriptural passage about "scoffers."
The prophet's eyes reddened, and I could sense his frustration as he sized us up as two more likely nonsubscribers. As he dropped his head in contemplation, it occurred to me: How terrible it must be to believe what this man truly appears to believe, and yet have so few willing to listen.
Perhaps for our benefit, the group volunteered some secular support for Freeborn's prophecy. Perhaps economic meltdown would trigger the riots. Maybe there would be an uprising over an automaker bailout.
"One thought you might have," came a voice from somewhere behind me, "is that we don't have any leadership now until January. See what I am saying? We are in limbo. If they do something tomorrow, who is going to decide?"
The night's last word belonged to the prophet.
"Everything is coming together," Freeborn said, "and it fits right now."
He presented us with brown medicine bottles filled with iodide crystals -- to ward off the effects of radiation.
"I don't think you are going to finish your trip back East," the Parowan Prophet said, urging us to reconsider our journey to the inauguration.
Nonetheless, with our little brown bottles of iodide, we will press on. The rest of you are warned.
|
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sam Bradford's biggest score: the Heisman Trophy Oklahoma's amazingly accurate and quick-thinking quarterback won the Heisman on Saturday night after guiding the highest-scoring team in major college football history to the national championship game. A year after Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman, Bradford became the second and kept the Florida quarterback from joining Archie Griffin as the only two-time winners. Bradford, who leads the nation in touchdown passes with 48, received 1,726 points. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was second with 1,604 and Tebow -- who received the most first-place votes -- was third with 1,575 points. "I was definitely surprised and I think it's everything I imagined," said Bradford, who raised the 25-pound bronze statue with his left hand still in a cast from a recent surgery. "I think it will take a couple weeks to set in." It was the closest vote between the top two since Nebraska's Eric Crouch edged Florida's Rex Grossman by 62 points in 2001. The only other time the margin between first and third was smaller was also '01, when Miami's Ken Dorsey was 142 points behind Crouch. Bradford and the No. 2 Sooners (12-1) will face Tebow and the No. 1 Gators (12-1) on Jan. 8 in Miami, marking the second time Heisman winners will play against each other. The first was in the 2005 Orange Bowl, when '04 winner Matt Leinart and Southern California beat '03 winner Jason White and Oklahoma for the national title. The Big 12 South was the epicenter of college football this season, with both the national championship race and Heisman chase turning weekly on games played by its three powerhouse teams. McCoy was the early Heisman front-runner after leading the Longhorns to the No. 1 ranking with a victory against Oklahoma in October. Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, who finished a distant fourth in Heisman voting, then moved to the forefront after he tossed a last-second, game-winning touchdown pass to beat Texas a month later. But Bradford closed strongest, leading his team to a string of blowout victories, including one against Texas Tech, and a spot -- even if it was somewhat controversial -- in the BCS title game. Bradford leads the nation in passer rating (186.3) and has thrown for 4,464 yards, directing the Sooners' fast-paced, no-huddle offense. Oklahoma has already racked up 702 points to blow past the record of 656 set by Hawaii in 2006, and last week the Sooners became the first major college team in 89 years to score at least 60 in five straight games. "This is an individual award but I feel like I'm receiving it on behalf of my teammates," Bradford said. "I feel like our whole offense bails me out every game," Bradford said. "They make me look good." Bradford is the fifth Oklahoma player to win the award, and second during coach Bob Stoops' 10 seasons with the Sooners. Bradford matched White by taking home college football's most famous bronze statue. Next he'd like to join Josh Heupel, his position coach and a Heisman runner-up, who quarterbacked OU to the 2000 national title. "You were one of my heroes growing up," Bradford told Heupel, one of many former Heisman winners at the ceremony. Bradford wasn't projected to be the Sooners' next star quarterback coming out of high school in Oklahoma City. He arrived in Norman with little fanfare and not enough weight on his 6-foot-4 frame. In his recruiting class, Rhett Bomar was the much-hyped, five-star recruit, but he eventually was kicked off the team because of NCAA violations. Turns out, losing Bomar wasn't that big a loss. After redshirting in his freshman season, Bradford won the starting job last year and it took him little time to show that he had no plans of giving it up. Bradford went on the set an NCAA record for TD passes by a freshman with 36. He completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,121 yards and led Oklahoma to an 11-3 season. And he was only warming up. While no match for Tebow and McCoy as a runner, Bradford's Heisman moment came on a scramble against Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale. He sprinted away from pressure, turned up the sideline and about 5 yards from the end zone tried to vault headfirst to the goal line. Bradford got hit and flipped, arms and legs whipping around, and landed hard out of bounds, but popped right up. On the next play, he sneaked into the end zone from a yard out. The face of the Sooners' latest national championship contender has also become a hero to a nation. Bradford is 1-16th Cherokee, through his great-great grandmother Susie Walkingstick. Bradford admittedly knew little about his Native-American roots growing up, but he's developed an enormous following among Oklahoma's large Native-American population. Then again, these days it'd be hard to find anyone more popular throughout Oklahoma than Bradford. |
Trouble in Toyland: U.S. recession jolts China
For American parents, bargain prices for toys this holiday season qualify as good news: A Barbie fan who rose before dawn for Wal-Mart’s Black Friday sale could secure the coquettish “Barbie Diamond Castle Princess Liana Doll” for $5 — royally marked down from its regular retail price. At Target, a 10-pack of die-cast Hot Wheels cars also went for just $5, while a radio-controlled helicopter cost a mere $15. The price wars were enough to draw consumers out of their bunkers for their first shopping spree in months.
But wrapped up with those cheap toys are ominous economic omens for both sides of the Pacific. The rock-bottom prices show how desperate U.S. retailers are to plump up weak consumer demand — a symptom of the ailing U.S. economy and a serious problem for China, which makes nine of every 10 toys sold in American stores.
Declining U.S. orders already have contributed to the closure of at least 3,600 toy factories since the beginning of 2008, according to the Chinese government, leaving hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers suddenly out of work in this sector alone. Some of the shutdowns have triggered violent protests, a situation that could worsen if the Western recession drags on through 2009, as many economists are predicting.
“Unemployment in China could deprive a lot of people of their lifeline,” says Hu Xindou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology. “So it could trigger social instability or even shake the rule of the Communist party.”
Millions of jobs at stake
The toy industry has played a major role in China’s economic surge over the past 30 years. Exports account for as much as 40 percent of China’s gross domestic product, and labor-intensive industries making things like toys, shoes and clothing generate millions of jobs for its rapidly growing workforce.
But Chinese toy makers began feeling the economic squeeze well before the U.S. recession was made official in late November.
U.S. retailers trimmed orders after suffering weak sales in the 2007 holiday season — made worse by recalls of dangerous toys.
The volume of Chinese toys passing through eight major U.S. ports was down 5.9 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2007, according to economic forecaster IHS Global Insight, which tracks the information for the National Federation of Retailers. Toy traffic through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., which typically handle more than half of Santa’s incoming booty, declined 10.2 percent, as measured by tonnage.
The draw-down isn’t readily apparent at U.S. shopping malls, where toy shelves appear as packed as ever. And the limited inventories on hand likely won’t become obvious unless a toy emerges as a must-have item — like the Tickle-me-Elmo and Cabbage Patch dolls of past shopping seasons.
Slowdown makes tough time tougher
Behind the scenes, though, the decreased orders are sending shock waves through the Chinese economy.
“A lot of what is happening in China, particularly with respect to toys, is demand driven,” says Erik Autor, international trade counsel for the retailers federation. “Toy (buyers) are ratcheting back orders, reflecting a drop in consumer demand.”
Slowing orders have added to other pressures on China’s toy makers.
China’s new labor contract law, which imposed stricter conditions and compensation for layoffs of temporary workers, took effect in 2007, increasing costs for manufacturers that rely heavily on migrants on production lines, including toy makers and other labor-intensive manufacturers based mainly in southern Guangdong province. The province has become the core of China’s manufacturing sector based on the flow of cheap and abundant labor temporary workers from the country's poor interior. By some estimates there are 150 million migrant workers in Guangdong alone.
Toy makers also were hard hit by the rising price of oil, which surged to more than $140 a barrel in June, and in turn sharply increased the price of plastic.
Industry sources say the toy makers saw profits squeezed to the point where many tried to renegotiate contracts with buyers — especially major U.S. players, such as Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us. When they discovered the buyers wouldn’t budge on the purchase agreements, many simply decided to close their factories. Some locked the gates and vanished in the dead of night, leaving workers to discover they had no job when they arrived in the morning.
“Over half (of the factories) that have closed had negotiated a price, then when they couldn’t get the retailer to move (on the price), they wouldn’t make it at a loss and closed down,” said Britt Beemer, a retail strategist and founder of Charleston-based America’s Research Group.
Others found ways to cut corners, which is cited as one reason that the problem of Chinese toy safety came to a head last year. Among other things, some Chinese factories started using lead-based paint on their products because it dries faster and thereby speeds production time.
“They were either closing their eyes or closing their doors,” said Michael Zakkour, managing director of China BrightStar, a manufacturing and sourcing consultancy.
To be sure, some of the factories that were shuttered were small shops that employed only a few dozen workers. And the contraction is to some degree a natural consolidation process in an industry that is overbuilt. But big players have clearly been affected as well.
One of the most publicized cases was the abrupt closure of the Smart Union toy company in October in the city of Dongguan, the center of the toy industry. When the factory managers disappeared overnight, leaving 7,000 workers without paychecks or severance, protests erupted, targeting both the government and the publicly traded Hong Kong company. The Dongguan government finally doled out 24 million yuan ($3.5 million) to pay what was owed to the workers and settle the conflict.
“All local officials recognize that they are judged on the basis of their ability to control social unrest,” said Nicholas Lardy, a China expert and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “It’s in their interest to make sure factories don’t leave town and abscond with back wages.”
In November, toy workers rioted after the Hong Kong-based Kaida Manufacturing Co. laid off 600 employees from its factories in Dongguan and tried to avoid paying compensation required by the new contract law. Local media reported that approximately 1,000 police and security guards were called in to disperse the angry crowd, but company offices were ransacked, cars overturned and at least five people were injured before order was restored. Kaida ultimately agreed to renew contracts with senior employees and offered compensation packages to others.
Reverse migration
The closures have left many migrants with no work, including 23-year-old Wu Yang, who worked at a Taiwanese-owned factory in Dongguan for three years before being laid off four months ago when the operation was shut down. Wu is considering returning to his home in central Henan province, but for now he’s killing time in local bookshops and hoping the situation will turn around.
"Maybe I will go home, but it’s boring there,” Wu said. “And I’ll just gamble all my money away."
Each day, thousands of other migrants in Guangdong and other coastal provinces board trains and buses for their home villages, leaving earlier than normal for the Chinese New Year, which begins Jan. 26. When and if they will return is anyone’s guess.
In the short term, the exodus of unemployed workers eases pressure in Guangdong and other manufacturing centers. Longer term, however, it hurts families living in the poorest parts of China, who receive money from migrant workers. That raises the prospect that the protests and violence in the manufacturing regions could spread to the interior, many China experts say.
“It’s a potentially scary scenario,” said Lawrence Delson, who teaches China business courses at New York University. “If many of these migrant workers go home, what happens to the flow of money back to the inland provinces? … There is a deepening division between the haves and the have-nots … raising the specter of social unrest.”
Mixed message
The Chinese government appears well aware of the threat and has taken action aimed at stimulating its sagging economy.
In November, Beijing announced a massive $586 billion stimulus package. Economists and world leaders praised China for putting together the most ambitious rescue package in the world, worth about 3 percent of its GDP.
Chinese leaders did not provide many details of the package, but indicated that it would include spending on infrastructure, health and education. The central purpose of the package, they said, was to spur consumption in China rather than rely so heavily on exports for growth. At a G20 meeting later that month, China also agreed with other major economies that in grappling with the crisis, all nations should avoid protectionism.
But with pressure mounting to protect jobs in its export sector, Beijing also has instituted policy that is contrary to the spirit of the G20 meeting by increasing tax rebates on thousands of export products — from toys to toasters. The rebates, and an artificially low valuation of China’s currency, essentially give its exports a competitive edge in the world marketplace, threatening to increase trade imbalances that have long caused tension.
Even Chinese officials have expressed concern that the rebate policy, which experts say covers at least 50 percent of China’s exports, could spark retaliation from trade partners, including the United States. Some trade experts warn that could spark a trade war, similar to what happened when the United States put in place high protectionist tariffs in 1930, thereby fueling the Great Depression.
“At the moment, China is the gold standard on the stimulus,” said Lardy, of the Peterson Institute of International Economics. “But I would give them very low marks for this (tax policy.) They are … basically promoting exports at the expense of the rest of the world.”
Arson blamed in fire at Palin's home church
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.
He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn't know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn't know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.
"It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. "We have no information on intent or motive."
Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire.
Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.
"There are so many variables," he said. "I don't want to comment in that direction."
Palin stops by the church
Palin, who was not at the church at the time of the fire, stopped by Saturday. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said in a statement that Palin told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29.
"Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good," McAllister said.
The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain's running mate. Early in Palin's campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family "Love Won Out Conference" in Anchorage. The conference promised to "help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome."
The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.
Outside temperatures were minus 20 as firefighters battled the blaze.
Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire.
Wasilla, the governor's hometown, is 40 miles north of Anchorage.
Saturday 12-13-08
981, 980, 982, 881, 081, 381, 601, 934, 531
605, 398, 233, 238, 781, 526, 596, 580, 570
095, 164, 639, 572, 532, 165, 915, 198, 000
Gov. Crist, you may now kiss the bride
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Gov. Charlie Crist became the first sitting Florida governor to wed in nearly 42 years, exchanging vows Friday at a ceremony attended by some 200 relatives, friends and celebrities.
The 52-year-old governor wed his 39-year-old bride, New York socialite Carole Rome, at First United Methodist Church, a short walk from Crist's rented condo in St. Petersburg. They met at a dinner in New York City in September 2007 and Crist proposed less than 10 months later with a sapphire engagement ring.
Crist kissed Rome briefly at the end of the ceremony — perhaps too briefly. She put her hands on his face and kissed him again. Afterward, the couple walked out of the church and addressed waiting reporters.
"She's a beautiful first lady. I couldn't be more excited," Crist said after the ceremony, in which Rome wore a floor-length classic silk gown by a Spanish designer purchased at upscale Wedding Atelier in Manhattan. "It's a great night for Florida and it's a great night for us."
Attending the 20-minute ceremony were former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez, former Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, former U.S. Senator Connie Mack, Geraldo Rivera, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks and Democratic Congressman Robert Wexler of Fla.
"It was a beautiful ceremony," Martinez commented as guests left the church. "You could see the bride and the groom were just elated."
Rome is president of Franco American Novelty Co., her family's New York-area Halloween costume company. She stopped managing its daily business when she moved to ritzy Fisher Island near Miami in 2006.
Crist, who earns $132,931.56 as governor, has spent much of his life in public office, serving in the state Senate, as education commissioner and attorney general before being elected governor.
Both had been married before, Crist to a college sweetheart in 1980, a marriage that ended less than a year later. Rome was separated from Blue Star Jets president Todd Rome when she met Crist and finalized her divorce earlier this year. She has two daughters from that marriage. The girls, Skylar, 10, and Jessica, 12, gave their mother away at the altar, which had large bouquets of roses and hydrangeas on each side. The couple lit a candle in honor of Rome's parents, who are deceased.
Crist and Rome had been spotted just about everywhere of late.
Rome joined the governor as he campaigned around the country for John McCain, on a state trade mission to Europe and at sporting events. She also joined the governor backstage at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Tampa a little more than a month after they met.
"I was taken with her right away," Crist said recently. "You know how it is when you fall in love. It's pretty overwhelming — a very cool thing."
The last Florida governor to wed in office was Claude Kirk in 1967, to his wife Erika a month after his inauguration.