четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.

Haiti's 'Baby Doc' dines out as prosecution stalls

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Victims of Jean-Claude Duvalier's regime hoped for justice when he came home in January, or at least a trial for the former playboy dictator who ruled Haiti for 15 years with a force of thugs and a dank prison that was synonymous with torture.

It hasn't worked out that way.

Instead of the trial of the century, Haitians are watching as the once fearsome "president for life" is squired about the capital, attending jazz concerts and dinners out of reach of all but a tiny fraction of the impoverished country.

Duvalier, known as "Baby Doc," appears to be ill, and many human rights activists fear the 60-year-old may die before he can be prosecuted …

Dodgers get 4 homers in 9-5 win over D'backs

Manny Ramirez homered for the first time this season, the first of four longballs by the Dodgers, as Los Angeles beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-5 Tuesday to win its home opener for the third consecutive year.

Casey Blake hit a two-run drive, Matt Kemp added a solo shot and Andre Ethier hit a three-run homer for the Dodgers. Blake went 1 for 2 with a walk and is batting .389, carrying over his strong spring into the regular season.

Ramirez, Kemp and Ethier homered in the same game for the second time since Ramirez joined the Dodgers in 2008.

Clayton Kershaw (1-0) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 1-3 innings for Los Angeles.

Ian …

Palestinian security chiefs plan to resign: One dismissed official may run against Arafat

JERUSALEM - A senior Palestinian security official said today heis prepared to resign if asked, and officials close to anothersecurity chief dismissed by Yasser Arafat said he may challenge thePalestinian leader in January elections.

Arafat dismissed West Bank Preventive Security commander JibrilRajoub and Gaza police chief Ghazi Jibali but neither man hadreceived official notice of their dismissals.

"Two days ago, the media started to talk about changing,transferring senior officers and that included myself," Rajoub saidtoday. He added that he'd submit a letter of resignation once Arafatissues any formal notice, saying: "I will implement PresidentArafat's orders in …

среда, 14 марта 2012 г.

Williams lifts Arizona past Texas 70-69

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Derrick Williams is now 2-for-2 in game-saving plays in the NCAA tournament.

The Arizona sophomore and Pac-10 Player of the Year made his second in as many tournament games Sunday night, completing a three-point play with 9.6 seconds remaining to lift the Wildcats to a 70-69 win over Texas.

Williams also had the saving block with 2 seconds remaining in Arizona's opening 77-75 win over Memphis on Friday. He struggled for much of the game Sunday but finished with 17 points, including the final three.

"I wasn't surprised by the block against Memphis," Williams said. "I am a little surprised by the shot I made today. I haven't seen the replay yet, but I …

Australia coach urges team not to panic

Coach Tim Nielsen is saying in public what he's been telling his Australian lineup since its comprehensive second-test loss to India: don't panic.

India is 1-0 up after two of four tests after completing a crushing win at Mohali earlier this week.

With Australia bereft of experienced spinners on the turning Indian wickets, and up against a more experienced team, the tourists are faced with the prospect of a rare series defeat.

However, Nielsen said the players should draw on their creditable performance in the first test in Bangalore as they approach the third game of the series in Delhi from next Wednesday.

"One thing we just …

Fundraising son boosts charity in memory of father

AN Abergwili football club member has raised Pounds 500 for arespite charity in memory of his late father.

Following the care that the Paul Sartori Foundation gave RayCooper during his last few months battling cancer, his son Lee hasbeen working hard to raise money and awareness of the Paul SartoriFoundation in his memory.

Paul Sartori Foundation is a charity that provides free servicesto patients living with a life-limiting illness, from bereavementsupport to carers and equipment.

Lee said: "When my father passed away, Paul Sartori helped him.They supply nurses and care free of charge, you don't know how muchyou need that until you are affected by …

PLO Fighters Reduced to Gatekeepers

EIN EL-HILWEH CAMP, Lebanon - In the 1970s, Yasser Arafat's PLO reigned supreme in Lebanon. Today, the guerrillas are confined to a dozen Palestinian refugee camps across the country.

Gone are the days when their mere presence drew the awe - and fear - of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese alike.

Now, they are no more than gatekeepers as they sit idly on plastic chairs at the entrances of the camps, dejectedly smoking cigarettes.

"We used to be up there," said one guerrilla, Abu Khaled, looking upward. "Now, we're rock bottom."

Instead of their self-proclaimed original goal of fighting for a return of their people to their homeland, the PLO guerillas' …

Germany and France call for finance reform

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy called in a joint letter Tuesday for greater financial market oversight and said next month's G-20 meeting presented a "historic opportunity" to fight the world economic crisis.

In the letter to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Merkel and Sarkozy said the trade bloc needed to speak as one.

"Only with a united voice can we speak powerfully enough in order to protect our common interests, and bring our economies, amid the globalized world economy, back to a …

More Americans seek adventures of the mind

At a giant travel trade show this winter in West Berlin, I spentdays wandering past the booths of companies who package vacations forthe world to enjoy.

They featured all the relaxing but sophomoric interludes thatcommercial travel organizations market by the millions. However, Isaw not a single booth that dealt with the mind. It was as if, bycommon agreement, thinking ceased on vacation - as though the wholepanoply of culture, literature and learning was an unfit subject forthe giant corporations that can afford an international travel tradeshow.

Let me suggest that they are all overlooking the fastest-growingmarket in travel - one that may account for as …

Late TD lifts Florida A&M past Norfolk State 17-13

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Phillip Sylvester scored on a 10-yard run with 6:21 left and Florida A&M defeated Norfolk State 17-13 on Saturday.

The score capped a 13-play, 98-yard drive by the Rattlers (4-3, 3-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), which started with a 36-yard run by Sylvester from the Florida A&M 2. Martin Ukpai was 4-for-6 for 44 yards and had one carry for 15 yards on the game-winning drive.

Ukpai finished with 103 yards on …

McKeon says he'll retire at end of season

MIAMI (AP) — Hours after Florida Marlins manager Jack McKeon said he'll retire at the end of the season, Ozzie Guillen said he was leaving the Chicago White Sox.

The two announcements heightened speculation Guillen might be bound for the Marlins, where he was McKeon's third-base coach with the 2003 World Series champions.

Marlins officials didn't return phone calls seeking comment, and McKeon was coy about the possible hiring of Guillen.

"I like Ozzie," McKeon said. "I think he's a very, very intelligent manager. He was a smart player. He's a good man. I like him."

With a smile, McKeon added, "I'm going to have to like him, right?"

Guillen was released from …

Undocumented valedictorian fights for law to ease college aid

At a political rally in Little Village on a crisp October morning, a high school valedictorian nervously steps to a microphone. He is anxious to share his dream of getting a college education but not to share his full name. Fernando is an undocumented immigrant.

Fernando and some of the other students at this morning's rally are members of the youth group, Hey-U (High Empowered Youth United). They are at Our Lady of Tepeyac school to fight for the DREAM Act, proposed federal legislation that could be a lifeline to college for low-income, undocumented students. DREAM stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. (See story, page 23.)

Despite an impressive academic record at a Chicago public high school, Fernando has had to turn down many opportunities--among them a summer program at Harvard University and a four-year scholarship to Benedictine University in suburban Chicago--because he is ineligible for a Social Security number. And while he didn't need the number to enroll at Northeastern Illinois University, he will need one to obtain financial aid.

"This is a country of dreams, but at the same time it's a country that stands in the way of your dreams--especially if you're an immigrant," says Fernando.

Crossing the border

Fernando was 12 years old when he and his mother jumped a fence at the Mexican border in 1996 and entered the United States illegally. Like many immigrants, they believed Fernando could get a better education here.

Fernando enrolled at Lozano Elementary in West Town and learned English by reading bilingual books from the school library. In high school he excelled, earning a 4.0 grade-point average and a place in the National Honor Society. He was named captain of the soccer, volleyball and academic decathlon teams, and editor of the school yearbook and newspaper. When he graduated valedictorian of his class in 2001, he was recruited by several colleges.

Fernando chose Northeastern because it is affordable and close to home. He pays his tuition--$2,000 a semester--by working at a janitorial job. A $1,000 scholarship from his employer helps offset tuition. Now a 20-year-old sophomore, he's in the honors program.

Hey-U was organized a year ago by several organizations, including West Town Leadership United, Build Inc. and Latinos Progresando, to teach leadership and advocacy skills to area youth. Referred by a high school counselor, Fernando became involved just as the group was forming. As it developed and its young members took charge, they decided to focus first on the DREAM Act and House Bill 60, a state measure to lower the tuition rate for undocumented Illinois students attending state universities. They saw success with HB 60, which has been signed into law.

And they are hopeful about the DREAM Act. Last summer, Fernando and other Hey-U members canvassed Latino neighborhoods, going to block parties, parades and parishes to collect more than 5,000 signatures to petition U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) to support the measure. While U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is a co-sponsor of the bill, Fitzgerald has taken no position on it.

Fernando says he enjoys the opportunity to fight for rights and is heartened to know that he's not alone. "There are students like me who fight and struggle and don't get tired of trying...even if you put a thousand hurdles in front of us," he says.

Without the DREAM Act, which also provides a path to legal residency, Fernando has an uncertain future: Until his siblings, who were born in this country and are U.S. citizens, turn 21, he has no one to sponsor him for residency.

While Fernando understands the ever-present risk of being deported, he thinks he will live in the U.S. the rest of his life. He lights up when he shares his aspirations to pursue a medical or business career.

"He's a great visionary who does not allow his status to be a barrier," says Idida Perez, executive director of West Town Leadership United. "Instead, he uses his story as fuel by sharing it."

Article copyright Community Renewal Society.

Photograph (Manny Flores speaking to crowd)

Roma beats Inter 2-1 to close gap in Serie A

Luca Toni scored a 72nd-minute winner and AS Roma beat Inter Milan 2-1 Saturday to move within one point of the Serie A leader with seven games remaining.

Left unmarked in the center of the area, Toni took a pass from Rodrigo Taddei and easily found the target for his fifth goal in nine matches since transferring from Bayern Munich in January.

"These are three very important points, gained with a great performance, but they're still ahead," Toni said. "We'll do everything we can to try to realize the dream of this city."

Daniele De Rossi had put Roma in front in the 17th, pushing in a loose ball from one meter (yard) following a rebound of a header from Nicolas Burdisso. Inter forward Diego Milito equalized in the 66th following a cross from Wesley Sneijder, although replays showed Goran Pandev was offside before Sneijder even got the ball.

Inter's fourth loss of the season comes just four days before Jose Mourinho's side hosts CSKA Moscow in the opening leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.

In an entertaining match from start to finish, Inter hit the woodwork three times. A header from defender Walter Samuel connected with the crossbar in the 42nd, Milito knocked a shot off the crossbar in the 49th and then nearly equalized in the fifth minute of added time.

Inter leads with 63 points, Roma is next with 62 and AC Milan _ which hosts Roma's city rival Lazio on Sunday _ has 59.

In Saturday's other game, Fabrizio Miccoli scored a hat trick as Palermo beat Bologna 3-1 to solidify its hold on fourth place and the final Champions League berth.

Roma stretched its unbeaten streak to 20 games, with 14 wins and six draws. After the game, the team celebrated as if it had won a title, running around the athletic track lining the pitch in delirium.

The win was particularly sweet for Roma coach Claudio Ranieri, who has had icy relations with Mourinho for years _ ever since the Portuguese coach succeeded him at Chelsea.

"Now we're starting to head down the final straight, we're healthy, and the guys are confident. So let's see what happens," Ranieri said.

The tense match was marked by 10 yellow cards _ seven for Inter and three for Roma _ meaning several players will miss their next match.

Sneijder started for Inter despite missing several days of training due to a leg muscle problem, and Milito and Samuel Eto'o lined up in attack.

Roma countered with Jeremy Menez directing Mirko Vucinic and Toni, with Roma captain Francesco Totti starting on the bench.

Inter began with its usual attack of looking for Eto'o to sprint past the defense, while Roma resorted to letting Toni try to outmuscle the defense.

Immediately after De Rossi's goal, Inter had its best chance to that point, when Sneijder's 35-meter (yard) free kick deflected wide off Roma's wall.

Still, it was Roma that was creating more and taking the initiative.

Vucinic had a shot deflected wide in the 29th and left back John Arne Riise just missed with a long free kick in the 32nd. With Inter scrambling to stop the Roma assault, the hosts were awarded another free kick when Thiago Motta tripped Marco Cassetti and Julio Cesar had to make a diving save on the ensuing shot from Vucinic.

Inter started to organize itself better at the tail end of the half, but only had an Eto'o header off the crossbar to show for it.

At the start of the second half, Inter upset Roma by continuing to play when Menez was down at the other end, shaken up after taking a knock.

After Milito hit the crossbar, Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio stretched out for a tough save from a Sneijder shot.

Roma nearly made it 2-0 but a header from Toni following a free kick skimmed just over the crossbar in the 55th.

Totti replaced Vucinic for the final five minutes, marking his return from the latest in a series of injuries.

вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.

Iranian bank chief resigns over fraud case

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's official news agency is reporting that the head of Bank Melli Iran has resigned over a $2.6 billion fraud case described as the nation's biggest financial scam.

Tuesday's report on the IRNA news agency says Mahmoud Reza Khavari explained in his resignation letter that his bank was partly involved in the fraud, though most of the wrongdoing occurred at another bank.

The report says Iran's finance minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, has accepted the resignation and dismissed a member of the bank's board.

High-profile resignations are rare in Iran.

Officials say the fraud involved the use of forged documents to get credit at one of Iran's top financial institutions to purchase assets including major state-owned companies.

Authorities have arrested 22 suspects.

Credit markets squeeze tighter as House vote looms

The stranglehold on the credit markets tightened Friday, as investors awaiting the House's passage of a revised $700 billion financial bailout grew less optimistic about the plan's ability to boost the faltering U.S. economy.

Market participants have been regarding the potential rescue plan as a strong medicine for what's ailing the financial system, but not a cure-all.

When the Fed buys banks' risky assets, it should alleviate investors' worries about the institutions' solvency and free them up to do more lending. But that process will be far from instantaneous, and borrowing could remain very expensive for some time. With the economy in such a weak state, lending to consumers and businesses will still appear risky until certain factors _ particularly employment and the housing market _ improve.

The Labor Department said employers cut payrolls by 159,000 in September, the largest loss in more than five years, while unemployment remained at 6.1 percent.

On Friday, the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, for 3-month dollar loans rose to 4.33 percent from 4.21 percent Thursday. That bank-to-bank lending rate has been rising all week, showing that banks are growing less and less willing to lend out their cash for longer than overnight.

LIBOR is tied to many consumer rates like adjustable-rate mortgages.

In one promising sign, overnight lending has gotten significantly cheaper _ LIBOR for overnight dollar loans plunged to a hair below 2 percent on Friday, the lowest rate in nearly four years, from 2.67 percent on Thursday.

That overnight rate is now below the Fed's key bank-to-bank overnight lending rate, known as the target fed funds rate, of 2 percent. It appears that central banks' decision to ramp up their lending to financial institutions over the past couple weeks is having a positive effect.

But that's little solace to borrowers who need a loan for longer than overnight.

Over the past week, the amount of short-term corporate debt known as commercial paper on the market has plunged. And banks and investment firms have borrowed in record amounts from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility.

Money market mutual funds, usually the biggest buyers of commercial paper, have run for safety lately after a money market fund "broke the buck" two weeks ago due to its exposure to Lehman. When a fund breaks the buck, it does not have enough assets to cover every dollar invested in it. Instead of commercial paper, they've been investing in Treasury bills.

"There's really no theme except the theme of survival," said John Spinello, bond strategist at Jefferies & Co., referring to the constricted trading in the credit markets Friday.

On Friday, the yield on the 3-month Treasury bill fell to 0.52 percent, down from 0.70 percent late Thursday. There has been no let-up in demand for T-bills, seen as the safest assets around, even though they are offering extremely weak returns.

An upswing in the stock market drew some investors out of longer-term Treasurys Friday, however.

The 2-year note fell 9/32 to 100 15/32, with a yield of 1.76 percent, up from 1.62 percent late Thursday.

The 10-year note fell 19/32 to 102 15/32, and yielded 3.70 percent, down from 3.64 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 4/32 to 105 25/32, and yielded 4.16 percent unchanged from late Thursday.

Nevada regulators probing Jordan son's partying

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada gambling regulators are investigating MGM Resorts International after Michael Jordan's underage son bragged on Twitter about partying at a nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip.

Nevada Gaming Control Board enforcement chief Jerry Markling said Monday that regulators are looking at whether the casino operator violated laws prohibiting underage drinking or gambling.

Markling says underage people often try to gamble or drink in Las Vegas. Punishment for venue operators depends on the circumstances.

Jordan's 19-year-old son Marcus Jordan tweeted Aug. 20 about spending $35,000 at Haze at MGM Resorts' Aria Resort & Casino. The Central Florida university basketball player was in town for his dad's fantasy basketball camp.

MGM Resorts and UCF officials declined comment.

___

Associated Press writer Antonio Gonzalez in Orlando, Florida, and researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this report.

Stewart and Earnhardt heading into final qualifier

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — When Michael McDowell pulled in front of Tony Stewart during Friday's practice session at Richmond International Raceway, it ruined Stewart's mock qualifying run, maybe his mood, too.

Two-time NASCAR champion Stewart, who finished the practice session 30th on the speed chart, had words with McDowell before heading toward his team debrief. In between was his weekly media briefing, and the temperamental Stewart was just a little testy about his prospects for making the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

"The pressure is all the media standing here, we're doing the same thing we always do every week," Stewart snapped.

For a guy trying to downplay being under pressure, Stewart sure seemed stressed.

But that's to be expected heading into Saturday night's race, the final chance for 14 drivers to lock down the final four spots in the 12-driver field. Under a new wild-card format this season, NASCAR will give the final two Chase berths to drivers ranked outside the top 10 who have the most wins.

Stewart is ranked 10th in points, and should he finish 18th or higher Saturday night, he'll be just fine. He'll start 22nd in the race.

But he's got Brad Keselowski closing quickly on him in the standings, and should Stewart fall outside the top 10, he'll miss the Chase for the second time since its inception in 2004. The only other time Stewart failed to qualify for the Chase was 2006, the year after his second championship, when he failed to deliver at Richmond with the chance to defend his title.

Where did he finish that night? He was 18th.

So here he is again, his season on the line and his temper running slightly hot.

He wasn't the only one on edge, either.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. goes into Saturday night ranked ninth in points and needs to only finish 20th or higher to ensure his spot in the Chase. But he's not been running well for almost three months and the pressure is on NASCAR's most popular driver to make it back to the Chase for the first time since 2008.

"Whatever happens is going to happen. That is just what you are going to have to live with at the end of the night," said Earnhardt, who qualified 27th. "We work really hard all year long and I feel good about our program, but it will be disappointing to miss an opportunity to race for the championship if we don't get in (Saturday) night."

Earnhardt, by the way, ran 19th at Richmond in May and he has just one top-10 finish over the last 11 races. He's also stuck in a 118-race losing streak dating to that Chase season.

Getting back into the title hunt could help ease the criticism often directed at Earnhardt, but if his program doesn't improve, his presence in the Chase won't be significant.

"My main concern is for us to be more competitive as a team," Earnhardt said. "It is really frustrating to make the Chase and then not be as competitive as you want to be during those races. That is really all I am thinking about. That is really where my concern lies, where my worry is and what my mind is on.

"Trying to be a better race team, man, because if we are going to be in the Chase you want to put up a good account for yourself. You don't want to be a guy just taking up a spot in there."

Across the garage, the one guy who really is under the gun seemed rather relaxed.

Denny Hamlin goes into Saturday night ranked 12th in points and holding tight onto the second wild-card slot. He's got one win in his pocket and has several different scenarios to get into the Chase. A win would guarantee it, but a good run should be enough.

It doesn't hurt that Hamlin, who qualified 28th, is the two-time defending race winner, that Richmond is his favorite race track, and that he's been up on the wheel since a bad day at Michigan three weeks ago dropped him to 14th in the standings. It's been an abysmal season for Hamlin, who won eight races last year and nearly halted Jimmie Johnson's run of five consecutive titles.

He's since had a heart-to-heart talk with crew chief Mike Ford, and his performance the last two races have shown a renewed effort.

So he left the pressure and the stress to the others, and Hamlin came home with only one goal on his mind.

"Winning is everything and we come here with the mindset that we need to win, so we want to do that," Hamlin said. "These last two years we won this race going into the Chase, it really gave us a lot of good momentum ... and it seemed like we had two good Chases in a row because of that.

"I'd like to end the regular season on a good note and not limp in on the last leg."

Hamlin rarely limps around Richmond, where he has an average finish of 7.45 and has led 1,188 laps in his 11 career starts. His statistics, experience and comfort level gave him the laid-back attitude that Earnhardt and Stewart lacked Friday.

"When I come here, it's just a different attitude, mentality for the whole race team," Hamlin said. "I'm fine. I think it's probably easier on us than it is for the guys that have certain scenarios that have to happen for them to make it. Really, I'm racing this race as if it's just a normal season race like I have the last few years — no different."

Tax rules warning

Firms in Bristol have been warned to comply with new taxdisclosure requirements for share benefits provided to employees orface hefty fines. Top Bristol accountancy firm Baker Tilly has warnedbusinesses not to ignore new tax rules or they could face heavypenalties. The rules require employers to file form 42 with theInland Revenue by July 6, if shares or securities have been providedto employees as benefits during the year ended April 5, or value hasbeen passed through them. Anne Farquhar, a tax partner at Baker Tillyin Bristol, said: "There is a real risk that companies will regardthis as just more form-filling and leave it too late. "The InlandRevenue has warned that it will enforce the new tax rules withsubstantial penalties. "If a company misses the July 6 deadline, itwill be fined GBP300 per reportable event, with a daily penalty ofGBP60 per reportable event for continued failure. "In the case of acompany which provides these benefits to 100 employees, there are 100reportable events. Missing the deadline will mean having to pay apenalty of GBP30,000."

Protecting confidential client information

As CAs, we're frequently entrusted with sensitive and confidential client information; should it ever fall into the wrong hands, there could be serious consequences for all parties involved. This fictionalized account is based loosely on an actual case before the Professional Conduct Enquiry Committee (PCEC). Names and circumstances have been changed to preserve anonymity.

The Situation

Sam was a CA in public practice when Bill, the partner in his firm, assigned him to the Hitech review engagement Coincidentally, Sam's new girlfriend Betty was a former executive assistant at Hitech, but had no knowledge of the company's financial matters. Sam knew she hadn't left the company on good terms, but considered this relationship too remote to raise concern over a potential conflict of interest. He therefore didn't inform Bill of his indirect link to the client.

The engagement was successfully completed. Unfortunately however, Sam's romance didn't fare so well-he and Betty broke up.

What Happens

A few months later, Tom, the president of Hitech, received a visit from federal authorities. They told him they'd received an anonymous letter alleging that Hitech and its main competitor, Alphaco, were involved in price fixing. Attached to the letter were analyses of Hitech's customers and prices-- analyses that were clearly copies of working papers the company had provided to its accountants as part of the review engagement. Tom was livid, and contacted Bill immediately for an explanation.

Bill reviewed his office's security measures but could find no obvious reason for the alleged breach in confidentiality. Still, circumstances seemed to point to Sam as the one responsible. Sam adamantly denied any wrongdoing, but offered a potential explanation of what might have happened.

Shortly after their break-up, Sam and Betty had attempted a reconciliation, agreeing to meet one evening after work. Since Sam was working late, Betty suggested they meet at his office. When she arrived, Sam brought her to his workstation where they chatted while he tidied his desk. Sam remembered leaving her there alone briefly before locking up and leaving.

The Hitech files had been on his desk at the time. Sam suggested that Betty must have taken the Hitech analyses during his brief absence. Though it was never proven that Betty sent the letter to the authorities, the damage was done.

As a result, Bill lost a client. He reluctantly reported the matter to the Institute, and Sam became subject to a PCEC investigation. Tom feared that information had in fact been passed to his competitor, but in the end, this did not turn out to be the case.

The Outcome

Rule 207 requires that a member in public practice inform associates of any affiliations of which they might reasonably expect to be informed. Bill felt Sam ought to have informed him of Betty's past connection to Hitech, but the PCEC felt the relationship was too remote to breach Rule 207. However, the PCEC maintains that wherever there may be a doubt about disclosure, it is always better to provide, rather than withhold, information.

Rule 210.1 prohibits disclosure of a client's confidential information. Such disclosure had occurred, but the PCEC could not determine whether Sam had acted deliberately.

Rule 212.2 requires that a member handle with due care any property entrusted to him. The PCEC felt that security measures at Bill's firm were adequate. The firm had also reminded staff to take care when bringing guests into the office.

The PCEC concluded that Sam had breached Rule 202-A member shall perform his professional services with integrity and due care-finding that he hadn't been sufficiently careful about the security of client information. Furthermore, as the disclosure damaged the reputation of the profession (Tom lost confidence in his accountants' ability to secure confidential information), the PCEC also determined that Sam had breached Rule 201.1: A member shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which mill maintain the good reputation of the profession and its ability to serve the public interest.

Sam accepted the PCEC's recommendation that he be issued an anonymous reprimand and pay the costs of the investigation as well as a fine. The PCEC set the fine on the basis that the breach was innocent.

The Message

As a CA, or even as a CA student, you control confidential and sensitive information on a regular basis. Be aware that even in your own office, maintaining the security of sensitive information can have its challenges, especially around visitors. Readers are also reminded that quite apart from any disciplinary action taken, this type of occurrence could very well lead to civil action by the client against the CA firm. Fortunately for Bill in this case, civil action wasn't taken.

Please note: The contents of this article are only for the general guidance of readers. The PCEC deals with each case individually, based on its specific facts and circumstances.

US soldier sought in 4 deaths found dead

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police say a soldier being sought in the deaths of four people has been found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Pennsylvania State Police spokesman David Lynch says the body of 37-year-old Leonard John Egland was found Sunday in Pennsylvania, where he had been sought since early morning.

Police say Lynch fired at officers as he was sought in the Virginia deaths of his ex-wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's young son, as well as his former mother-in-law.

Authorities say Egland had recently returned from the latest of three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

понедельник, 12 марта 2012 г.

Medical Helicopter Crashes, 1 Injured

JACKSON, Miss. - A medical helicopter with four people on board crashed early Saturday just moments after it took off from a hospital, injuring one of its medical workers, authorities said.

The helicopter was taking a traffic accident victim from Quitman County Hospital to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., said Jonathan Dancy, Quitman County's acting emergency management coordinator.

"It had just lifted off and got just above the trees," Dancy said. "The few witnesses who were here said it started rotating around and around and just went down."

He said the aircraft crashed about 20 feet from the hospital's helipad.

Dancy said the female patient did not suffer any additional injuries in the crash. She was later taken to Memphis by ambulance.

One of two medical personnel on board suffered a broken bone but his injuries were "nothing critical," Dancy said.

Dancy said was amazing that the pilot and the second medic were not injured.

"It looks like a mess," he said of the helicopter. "A lot of it is because they cut the top off it. But when you look at it, you wouldn't believe somebody survived."

A Federal Aviation Administration investigator arrived later in the day.

Marks is a town of 1,550 in the Mississippi Delta about 60 miles south of Memphis.

`Around the World' With Pierce Brosnan

NBC's 1989 mini-series "Around the World in 80 Days," 4 1/2 hours andtwo cassettes full of cameo appearances by an all-star cast, wasreleased recently by Best Film & Video Corp.

Based on the Jules Verne classic, the video features PierceBrosnan as Phileas Fogg, the suave adventurer whose wager sets up arace around the globe. The race brings forth Fogg's many niftymoves in a style somewhat akin to Brosnan's earlier role as TV's"Remington Steele" and as James Bond in the current "GoldenEye."

In his global chase, Fogg is ever the gentleman as he saves thelife of a princess, survives shipwrecks and inhospitable natives,escapes Chinese stockades and survives an encounter with Jesse James.

Exotic sights, lavish sets and costumes and fast-paced actionbring as much to the video as a cast that includes Arielle Dombasle,Henry Gibson, John Hillerman, Eric Idle, Jack Klugman, ChristopherLee, Patrick MacNee, Roddy McDowall, Darren McGavin, Robert Morley,Julia Nickson, Stephen Nichols, Lee Remick, Pernell Roberts, James B.Sikking, Jill St. John, Peter Ustinov, Robert Wagner and Simon Ward.The set has a retail price of $59.99.

Maldini to hang up his boots

Italian great Paolo Maldini has announced he will retire fromfootball at the end of this season.

The 39-year-old helped his side lift the FIFA World Club Cup inJapan yesterday, beating Boca Juniors 4-2.

Maldini said: "In June I will retire without any regrets."

Meanwhile, Inter Milan stretched their lead at the top of Serie Ato seven points with a 2-0 win at Cagliari.

PARTICK Thistle hope to complete the signing of Motherwelldefender Willie Kinniburgh on a permanent deal.

The 23-year-old has been on loan at Firhill since August.

FALKIRK are attempting to sign former Scotland international IanMurray on loan. The ex-Rangers and Hibs player has fallen out of thepicture at Norwich City, and Bairns boss John Hughes wants to bringthe 26-year-old back north.

WATFORD fans offered a show of support to midfielder Al Bangura,19, who is facing deportation back to Sierra Leone.

They staged a protest during the club's game against PlymouthArgyle, holding up posters on which his face appearing under thewords "He's family".

WERDER Bremen pulled level on points with Bayern Munich at thetop of the Bundesliga with a 5-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Bayerndrew 0-0 at Hertha Berlin.

REAL Madrid remain four points clear of Barcelona at the top ofLa Liga after a 2-0 win over Osasuna.

JUF totals $80m in '07

ANOTHER RECORD YEAR

SPECIAL TO THE CHICAGO JEWISH STAR

The Jewish United Fund/-Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has had another record-setting year of fund-raising.

Last week's announcement put the 2007 campaign total at $80,049,972, up some $3 million from 2006 (also a record year).

An additional $2.6 million was raised in 2007 for the supplemental Israel Emergency Campaign, designated for the humanitarian needs created by the 2006 Lebanon war, and the continuing missile attacks from Gaza.

Funds raised for the main annual campaign provide social welfare, education and relief services in the Chicago area, in Israel and elsewhere. The campaign added more than 5,000 new donors.

David Sherman, who chaired the 2007 campaign, said the Chicago community demonstrated "overwhelming generosity" in contributing to the campaign. On a per-capita basis, the JUF campaign total put Chicago at the top of the largest cities in the Jewish Federation system.

The entire system, under the umbrella United Jewish Communities, broke fundraising records in 2007, with campaign and endowment totals of over $2.4 billion.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks JF/JUF at 144 on its list of the 400 largest charities in the country, and rates it as the most cost-effective social welfare agency in Illinois, with expenses at 6.5% of total income for 2007.

It is the fourth largest philanthropy in Illinois.

Designing sooner, not later

Borrowing immersion techniques normally reserved for foreign-language instruction and infant swimming lessons, a curriculum reform effort launched this fall at the University of Oklahoma's engineering school plunges budding civil engineers into design work in their earliest classes. The Sooner City project, named after the student-designed, Web-based virtual city that is the program's focal point, stretches across the four-year curriculum to unify students' engineering coursework.

Students begin determining basic elements of their own version of Sooner City in their freshman year, including population growth rate and the city's basic layout. As students' skills and experience grow, they will tackle increasingly complex aspects of the design, such as bridges and dams, water and sewer systems, mass transit, and geotechnical analyses.

Closing the Gap

"Civil engineering students typically don't do much design work until their fourth year," says civil engineering professor and primary Sooner City visionary Randall Kolar, "but it takes longer than a year to learn design." Consequently, recent graduates often spend more time on the job learning about design than their new employers would like, he explains.

That gap between industry expectations and educational realities hit home for Kolar years ago at his first post-college job, where he quickly discovered that four years of college and a brand new civil engineering degree hadn't adequately prepared him for the real-world design work he was expected to perform. "I decided then that if I ever taught engineering, I would focus on design," he says. Now the University of Oklahoma, with the help of funding from the National Science Foundation, is giving him the chance to put his idea into practice.

By engaging students in design from day one, and teaching them to tackle uncertainty and open-ended problems using the latest multimedia technology, the university hopes to produce engineers with more technological skill and problem-solving savvy, Kolar says.

Faculty members teaching courses in the sequence need not completely restructure them-a key selling point that Kolar says helped the project gain acceptance. Primary changes involve early introduction of a design component of the city, and focusing individual and group projects around that element. For example, a freshman AutoCAD class will incorporate preliminary layout of the city; sophomores enrolled in Strength of Materials might design building beams and columns or pump drive shafts; and juniors may find themselves developing water and wastewater treatment facilities in an environmental engineering course. In all, 14 required courses will comprise the Sooner City sequence, with 12 electives that also incorporate work on the model.

Students' Sooner City experience will really pay off in the senior capstone course, Kolar says. Students will prepare an electronic portfolio of their work, and also solve an additional, multidisciplinary Sooner City design problem suggested by practicing engineers, who will also critique the final designs.

Designing in Flexibility

For some early Sooner City modules that establish critical parameters, such as the city's general layout and population, students and professors will develop a consensus design from among all students' work. This has the advantage of requiring students to consider and evaluate approaches different from their own, while also providing a common starting point. It also makes evaluating later work manageable for professors. As students progress, advanced courses with more specialized tasks will allow more room for individual solutions, Kolar explains.

Throughout the life of the project students will design and manage much of their Sooner City Web pages themselves, using the laptops that are now an engineering college requirement. Students will use the same network-standard VRML coding (pioneered just three years ago by Silicon Graphics) found in many graphically intense computer games and other 3-D visualization programs.

Currently only the 50 freshmen enrolled in an introductory engineering and programming course this fall are participating in Sooner City. Roughly half are civil engineering majors-representing about half of the CE majors in the class of 2002. Kolar acknowledges that working the rest of the students into the program midstream will be a challenge. The curriculum will also eventually be modified to accommodate transfer students and others on atypical educational paths, he says.

Kolar expects that within five years Sooner City will be a requirement for all civil engineering majors at the university. "It is more work, more intimidating," he says, "but it is good preparation for an engineering career."

For more information, contact Randall Kolar at kolar@ou.edu, or see

www.edu/sooner-cay.

-Ray Bert

Surprising Min Leads LPGA Championship

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. - The first surprise at blustery Bulle Rock was that someone could make eight birdies and shoot 65. That gave way to a greater mystery Saturday at the LPGA Championship. Just who is Na On Min?

She is an 18-year-old playing in only her sixth tournament as a pro, and her first major championship. She idolizes Se Ri Pak, typical of most young golfers from South Korea, but her lasting memory is seeing a tan line around Pak's ankles when she took off her shoes to hit a shot out of the water in a U.S. Women's Open playoff 10 years ago.

And if she keeps playing like this, Min won't need too many more introductions.

With four birdies over the last seven holes, Min shot a 7-under 65 in testing conditions - by two shots the best score at Bulle Rock - to give herself a one-shot lead over Suzann Pettersen and a chance to become the youngest major champion in LPGA history.

"I'm just really excited," said Min, who was at 10-under 206. "This is my first major. I'll do my best to keep focus on each shot."

She will play in the final group with Pettersen, who recovered from two trips into the high grass that cost her three strokes and her torturously slow play - it took more than 4 1/2 hours as a twosome - to shoot 71.

Karrie Webb stayed in the mix with a 10-foot par save on the 17th hole and shot 71. She was two shots behind at 208, along with Angela Park (68), another 18-year-old rookie.

Pressel, bidding for the second leg of the Grand Slam, shot 70 and was only three shots behind.

Asked if she knew who Min was, Pressel was honest as ever.

"I did not," she said.

But the score sure got her attention. Wind that brushed off overnight rain stuck around Bulle Rock and made it play as tough as it has all week. Min wasn't the least bit bothered, overcoming a bogey on the par-5 second hole by keeping the ball in play, and close to the hole.

Pettersen finished her roller-coaster round with an 8-foot birdie on the 17th hole and was pleased to be in the final group of a major for the second time this year. Ten weeks ago, she had a three-shot lead at the Kraft Nabisco until a meltdown on the closing holes.

Even so, Pettersen could not think of another tournament at any level where she didn't know the opponent in the final group.

"I've probably seen her," Pettersen. "It's so hard to keep track of them. I'll probably know her when I see her on the first tee."

Anonymity by soon gave way to appreciation by all.

"That's one heck of a score," Pressel said. "She definitely golfed her ball today. Very impressive."

Michelle Wie was anything but that. The 17-year-old from Hawaii finished before the leaders even arrived at Bulle Rock, and left unanswered was whether she would return.

She shot 83, her highest score against men or women since she was in the ninth grade, and was in last place among 84 players. Her left wrist, which she broke during a fall in late January, clearly bothered her and Wie wrapped it in ice after signing her card.

"I really want to play," she said. "I just have to see how it goes tonight."

Among those still with a chance is Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 player in the women's golf. She birdied her last hole for a 69, hopeful it would give her a chance. Moments later, Min finished off her 65 and was five shots clear of Ochoa.

"Five shots is not too far behind. It's been done before," Ochoa said.

Like several players, Ochoa was not too familiar with Min, and for good reason.

She went to South Africa at age 12 to spend two years learning to play golf and speak English, played on the South Korean amateur team and then went to LPGA Q-school as an amateur. She missed her card by two shots and was given non-exempt status.

Min tried Monday qualifying without much luck, and finally made her pro debut in Mexico, where she tied for fifth. Min did well enough at the Sybase Classic and Corning Classic to earn a spot in the McDonald's LPGA Championship.

And she's making the most of it.

She birdied two of the toughest par 3s, Nos. 3 and 12, with putts inside 10 feet and hit 6-iron to 12 feet on the par-4 13th, a hole where Pettersen took a double bogey.

Pettersen, deliberating over every shot and every putt, looked as though she might build a big lead, taking advantage of the wind and her power to birdie two of the first four holes and stretch her margin to three shots. She reached in two at the par-5 second with a 3-wood that hopped out of the rough and up 6 feet onto the green, and a wedge on the fourth spun sideways to 6 feet.

The par 5s were friend and foe, however.

Pettersen went for the eighth green in two, even though the stiff breeze was into her, and it sailed right into grass up to her knees, the lie so buried that she had to stand over the ball and stoop over just to see it. She did well to hack it out across the fairway to the collar or a bunker, chipped nicely to 4 feet but missed the putt and turned birdie into bogey.

As Min surged into the lead, Pettersen answered with more power. With the wind at her back and 255 yards to the hole, she hit 3-wood on the 11th and watched it bound onto the green and stop 6 feet behind the cup for eagle, giving her a one-shot lead.

But she pulled a tee shot into high weeds on the 13th and had to take an unplayable lie, leading to double bogey. Pettersen made a birdie on the 17th to at least get her in the final group with a player nobody knows - for now.

Online investing ads inspire complaints from group

WASHINGTON - They seem to be everywhere: on prime time, wrappedaround big sports events - including the Super Bowl - and innewspapers. With some 10 million Americans trading stocks at leastoccasionally over the Internet, it's not surprising that onlinetrading ads are hot.

Now the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing a complaint by atraditional brokers' group that advertising by Internet brokerageslures investors with unrealistic promises of quick riches andunfairly attacks full-service rivals.

"We've received the petition, and we're looking at it," LeePeeler, the FTC's associate director for advertising practices, saidMonday.

Online customers account for about a quarter of all retail stocktrades, and an eye-popping $415 billion in assets was estimated tobe sitting in online brokerage accounts in 1998.

Some regulators believe the online trading industry has toneddown its ads in response to public criticism last spring by ArthurLevitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Helikened some online brokerage ads to commercials for the lottery.

Since Levitt made the comments, "We've seen an improvement in thenature of the online ads," said SEC spokesman Chris Ullman. "They'reless hyperbolic than before and less inclined to imply thatexorbitant riches come with the click of a mouse."

"They've sort of backed off" in recent months, agreed Jack Trout,who heads his own marketing consulting firm in Greenwich, Conn.

"Now they're pitching, for example, 'Trust yourself' or 'You cando it yourself.'"

One TV ad for an online brokerage, rather than holding out theprospect of investors owning their own island or Lear jet, goesnegative and portrays a conventional broker as a poor schlub with arumpled coat who drags himself out of bed every morning beforedaylight and gets on a crowded subway train.

That's quite different from last year's ad with the tow-truckdriver who traded stocks online and made enough money to buy his ownisland.

The brokers' group that filed the complaint in December, theNational Association of Investment Professionals, believes the adshave improved but remain a problem and that they put pressure ontraditional brokers to respond by also making exaggerated claims.

"There's a pressure to keep the playing field even," said WilliamMacLeod, a Washington attorney representing the group.

He cited one TV ad that takes a get-even shot at onlinebrokerages by showing a telephone ringing, unanswered, amid a bankof computers with no humans in sight.

"The stock market is a very risky place and people need to bewell aware of those risks," said MacLeod, who headed the FTC'sbureau of consumer protection from 1986 to 1990.

He said the brokers' group, which also includes investmentadvisers, wants to see online brokerage firms adhere to the sameadvertising rules that traditional brokers have had to follow. Therules prohibit "exaggerated, unwarranted or misleading" statementsor claims.

The group asked the federal agency to step in because self-policing efforts by the National Association of Securities Dealers,the group that operates the Nasdaq Stock Market, apparently wereinsufficient, MacLeod said.

Nancy Condon, a spokeswoman for NASD Regulation, declined commenton the petition to the Federal Trade Commission.

Elisse Walter, chief operating officer of NASD Regulation, saidin November that advertising "is more of a (company) responsibilitythan it is a regulatory responsibility."

She said the self-regulatory group has reviewed ads and even hadsome of them killed, both by online and traditional brokerages. But,she added, "It has to be the firms, who really are on the frontline, making sure their advertising is responsible."

Denica Gordon, a spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley Dean WitterOnline, said the company did not wish to comment. Charles SchwabCorp. spokeswoman Sarah Bulgatz said the brokerage firm had noimmediate comment.

Calls to spokesmen for another big online brokerage, ETrade GroupInc., weren't immediately returned.

-30

среда, 7 марта 2012 г.

Your water supply ON November 19, the voters of the... [Derived headline]

Your water supply

ON November 19, the voters of the Clarence electorate will haveto go back to the polls, not long after the last state election,because their elected local member had to fall on his own swordafter getting caught out doing something very inappropriate. After afairly short selection process, the National Party was able to finda National Party candidate who could both read and write, so theyselected him as their nominee.

Now, if you want someone to represent the Clarence Valley in NSWParliament, who likes to do photo opportunities and sound bites forthe media, then this might seem like a suitable representative foryou. You know, like standing outside Grafton Hospital while yourphoto is being taken, is doing something about local health, orstanding next to the Pacific Highway while the press takes yourphoto is doing something to improve local roads, or standing outsideMaclean High School for another photo-op to garner red neck votesover the bat issue. You get the idea? The usual National Party fareto gather the country bumpkin, or local red neck votes.

However, if you want someone to represent the whole of theClarence Valley and its diverse needs, you should consider castingyour vote more wisely this time. If you want someone who will standup for local interests in NSW Parliament, and fight tooth and nailto represent us, and not big business, then cast your vote for theGreens. Recent history has shown that independents such as localGreens candidates are able to get much more for their electoratesthan party hacks can.

Your previous National Party representative tried to assume aslow a profile as he could in the O'Farrell Government. Hardly likelyto bring much benefit to the Clarence Valley, or protect the localenvironment and local jobs from greedy big businesses or O'FarrellGovernment razor gangs.

The National Party has failed to stand up to the Liberal Partywhen it came to the best interests of their electorate time and timeagain. When the Liberal Party says jump, the National Party says howhigh, please sir. You are starting to hear all about coal seam gasextraction, fracking and the like, and how much damage it can do tothe environment, farmland, damage to the Great Artesian Basin andunderground water supplies. Then there is the likelihood of anantimony mine being opened up in the catchment of the Nymboida River- your water supply. If this gets polluted it will be for hundredsof years.

Don't expect a Liberal/National party government to do anythingto stop these, other than making lip service statements. They aredeeply in the pocket of big business and vested interests, andeveryone with two eyes and tolerable hearing knows it.

They can hardly wait to sell off the rest of the State electricalgeneration system, completing the job started by the Labor Party. Ifyou think your electricity bills are high, wait until big businessowns it all and the only thing that matters is keeping the stockholders happy. Screw the customers and the staff. They don't matter(and this has nothing to do with a carbon tax despite all themisinformation and deliberate lies being put out by the Liberal/National parties).

So, if you want to save your bacon, so to speak, you have oneclear choice, vote green. Janet Cavanaugh is your local Greenscandidate. She is well educated, intelligent and motivated to lookafter the local environment and local jobs; she already has a greattrack record in those areas. Already there are reports of governmentjobs being lost from the Clarence Valley, plus loss of services thatare already poor enough.

Police, nurses, teachers, etc., will be leaving the NSW publicservice in droves soon because of O'Farrell Government policies.Stop the rot - cast your vote wisely. If you don't and get what iscoming to you from that choice, then don't whinge about itafterwards. You had your chance and blew it.

M CASEY,

Grafton.

Don't rattle the cage

I KNOW I shouldn't rattle Fred's cage, but I can't help it inregard to the Patrick dispute (a conspiracy by Howard/Reith, theNational party and The Farmers Federation training in some casesserving military) to break a legal union's right to fight for itsmembers work and pay.

The Howard government met all costs paid by Patrick plus $280million in forced redundancies to stevedoring workers, who in themain were asked to return as casual (SEAL) labour within a month(companies needed trained men).

All the stevedoring companies were given loan assistance to re-tool with state-of-the-art container cranes and handling equipmentwhich, in the main, replaced cranes that were past their use by dateby 10 years, hence speeding up container transit time from ship toshore.

Corrigan then sold Patrick and made over $130 million for hisstake in his company.

The overseas companies that held patents on container handlingequipment would not sell products to Australia till almost 100% ofstevedoring companies were in overseas companies' hands and therebycreating a monopoly (profits sent overseas) on costs and preferenceon who and what is loaded or discharged first. How Fred knows somuch about stevedoring (reading the Murdoch press?) is amazing for alandlocked bulldozer aimer.

PS: When Menzies put the army on the wharves to load scrap forJapan when the wharfies wouldn't, it came back as bombs and gunsagainst us and others.

RUSSELL FITCHETT,

Brushgrove.

No to Smart Meters

RECENTLY I returned from a trip to Melbourne visiting friends andfamily.

To my unpleasant surprise, one friend was absent the day Iarrived.

He was having a CT scan for possible tumours. The surprise beingthat only a month before he was given a clean bill of health by hisdoctor.

My friend is in his mid-50s, is a reiki practitioner and lives avery healthy lifestyle.

He had been experiencing constant headaches, sinus congestion,irritability and fatigue for several months.

The next day a TV current affair program reported a Melbournefamily with young children were also suffering constant headaches,dizziness and other symptoms as were their neighbours in the samestreet.

The blame was pointed at the newly installed Smart Meters.

Checking my friend's house, sure enough there was a Smart Meteron the wall just metres from his office and working space.

Searching the internet we soon found an enormous number ofreports about Smart Meters, which are a powerful radio/microwavetransmitter that generate intense electromagnetic fields 160 timesmore powerful than a mobile phone when it transmits your power usageto the billing company as frequently as every half hour.

The reported health complaints and increased billing complaintswere extensive in all the countries where they are installed. Insome countries they are banned, in others entire cities have placeda moratorium on their installation. So where does this leave myfriend?

An international power company seeking more revenue has installeda dangerous transmission device on his wall which is causing illnessto the occupants and possibly his neighbours as well. In the longterm it will cause tumours.

With the recent sale of NSW state-owned power assets to OriginEnergy, who have recently announced plans to install these sameSmart Meters throughout NSW, you will soon be at risk fromelectromagnetic radiation exposure in your own home like those inMelbourne.

Not only do we have multinational gas companies threatening thehealth and lifestyle of rural residents, but now the corporate powercompanies are about to severely impact the health, wealth andsecurity in everyone's home, both city and rural. Say no to SmartMeters now, before it is too late.

N HOWE,

Lismore.

100% local

IN reply to the letter from Anne Burgess, printed on Friday,November 11, I too have volunteered to distribute how to votepamphlets - for Peter Ellem of Country Labor.

I am the newest member of the Lower Clarence Branch of CountryLabor and perhaps this is why Ms Burgess thinks that there arepeople from outside the area working at the pre-poll booths.

All Country Labor workers at pre-poll booths during this currentelection have been 100% local and from the country.

Apart from the misinformation in the letter, I question MsBurgess' definition of politeness, when she seems to believe it isappropriate to abuse and interfere with other polling booth workersas she claims to have done in the past.

I assure all National Party "volunteers" that any such harassmenton polling booths will be immediately reported to the electoraloffice and if necessary the police.

CHRISTINE ROBERTSON,

Woombah.

Not rocket science

WHY should people who live in Grafton be penalised by the no leftturn onto the bridge at Clarence St? The traffic is caused by thoseliving across the river or from around the valley commuting intoGrafton.

It's not rocket science that we need a second bridge locatedelsewhere, which not only helps on a daily basis, but alsoalleviates the massive congestion when evacuation orders are given,or accidents close the bridge.

TRISH BURGESS,

Grafton.

Your water supply ON November 19, the voters of the... [Derived headline]

Your water supply

ON November 19, the voters of the Clarence electorate will haveto go back to the polls, not long after the last state election,because their elected local member had to fall on his own swordafter getting caught out doing something very inappropriate. After afairly short selection process, the National Party was able to finda National Party candidate who could both read and write, so theyselected him as their nominee.

Now, if you want someone to represent the Clarence Valley in NSWParliament, who likes to do photo opportunities and sound bites forthe media, then this might seem like a suitable representative foryou. You know, like standing outside Grafton Hospital while yourphoto is being taken, is doing something about local health, orstanding next to the Pacific Highway while the press takes yourphoto is doing something to improve local roads, or standing outsideMaclean High School for another photo-op to garner red neck votesover the bat issue. You get the idea? The usual National Party fareto gather the country bumpkin, or local red neck votes.

However, if you want someone to represent the whole of theClarence Valley and its diverse needs, you should consider castingyour vote more wisely this time. If you want someone who will standup for local interests in NSW Parliament, and fight tooth and nailto represent us, and not big business, then cast your vote for theGreens. Recent history has shown that independents such as localGreens candidates are able to get much more for their electoratesthan party hacks can.

Your previous National Party representative tried to assume aslow a profile as he could in the O'Farrell Government. Hardly likelyto bring much benefit to the Clarence Valley, or protect the localenvironment and local jobs from greedy big businesses or O'FarrellGovernment razor gangs.

The National Party has failed to stand up to the Liberal Partywhen it came to the best interests of their electorate time and timeagain. When the Liberal Party says jump, the National Party says howhigh, please sir. You are starting to hear all about coal seam gasextraction, fracking and the like, and how much damage it can do tothe environment, farmland, damage to the Great Artesian Basin andunderground water supplies. Then there is the likelihood of anantimony mine being opened up in the catchment of the Nymboida River- your water supply. If this gets polluted it will be for hundredsof years.

Don't expect a Liberal/National party government to do anythingto stop these, other than making lip service statements. They aredeeply in the pocket of big business and vested interests, andeveryone with two eyes and tolerable hearing knows it.

They can hardly wait to sell off the rest of the State electricalgeneration system, completing the job started by the Labor Party. Ifyou think your electricity bills are high, wait until big businessowns it all and the only thing that matters is keeping the stockholders happy. Screw the customers and the staff. They don't matter(and this has nothing to do with a carbon tax despite all themisinformation and deliberate lies being put out by the Liberal/National parties).

So, if you want to save your bacon, so to speak, you have oneclear choice, vote green. Janet Cavanaugh is your local Greenscandidate. She is well educated, intelligent and motivated to lookafter the local environment and local jobs; she already has a greattrack record in those areas. Already there are reports of governmentjobs being lost from the Clarence Valley, plus loss of services thatare already poor enough.

Police, nurses, teachers, etc., will be leaving the NSW publicservice in droves soon because of O'Farrell Government policies.Stop the rot - cast your vote wisely. If you don't and get what iscoming to you from that choice, then don't whinge about itafterwards. You had your chance and blew it.

M CASEY,

Grafton.

Don't rattle the cage

I KNOW I shouldn't rattle Fred's cage, but I can't help it inregard to the Patrick dispute (a conspiracy by Howard/Reith, theNational party and The Farmers Federation training in some casesserving military) to break a legal union's right to fight for itsmembers work and pay.

The Howard government met all costs paid by Patrick plus $280million in forced redundancies to stevedoring workers, who in themain were asked to return as casual (SEAL) labour within a month(companies needed trained men).

All the stevedoring companies were given loan assistance to re-tool with state-of-the-art container cranes and handling equipmentwhich, in the main, replaced cranes that were past their use by dateby 10 years, hence speeding up container transit time from ship toshore.

Corrigan then sold Patrick and made over $130 million for hisstake in his company.

The overseas companies that held patents on container handlingequipment would not sell products to Australia till almost 100% ofstevedoring companies were in overseas companies' hands and therebycreating a monopoly (profits sent overseas) on costs and preferenceon who and what is loaded or discharged first. How Fred knows somuch about stevedoring (reading the Murdoch press?) is amazing for alandlocked bulldozer aimer.

PS: When Menzies put the army on the wharves to load scrap forJapan when the wharfies wouldn't, it came back as bombs and gunsagainst us and others.

RUSSELL FITCHETT,

Brushgrove.

No to Smart Meters

RECENTLY I returned from a trip to Melbourne visiting friends andfamily.

To my unpleasant surprise, one friend was absent the day Iarrived.

He was having a CT scan for possible tumours. The surprise beingthat only a month before he was given a clean bill of health by hisdoctor.

My friend is in his mid-50s, is a reiki practitioner and lives avery healthy lifestyle.

He had been experiencing constant headaches, sinus congestion,irritability and fatigue for several months.

The next day a TV current affair program reported a Melbournefamily with young children were also suffering constant headaches,dizziness and other symptoms as were their neighbours in the samestreet.

The blame was pointed at the newly installed Smart Meters.

Checking my friend's house, sure enough there was a Smart Meteron the wall just metres from his office and working space.

Searching the internet we soon found an enormous number ofreports about Smart Meters, which are a powerful radio/microwavetransmitter that generate intense electromagnetic fields 160 timesmore powerful than a mobile phone when it transmits your power usageto the billing company as frequently as every half hour.

The reported health complaints and increased billing complaintswere extensive in all the countries where they are installed. Insome countries they are banned, in others entire cities have placeda moratorium on their installation. So where does this leave myfriend?

An international power company seeking more revenue has installeda dangerous transmission device on his wall which is causing illnessto the occupants and possibly his neighbours as well. In the longterm it will cause tumours.

With the recent sale of NSW state-owned power assets to OriginEnergy, who have recently announced plans to install these sameSmart Meters throughout NSW, you will soon be at risk fromelectromagnetic radiation exposure in your own home like those inMelbourne.

Not only do we have multinational gas companies threatening thehealth and lifestyle of rural residents, but now the corporate powercompanies are about to severely impact the health, wealth andsecurity in everyone's home, both city and rural. Say no to SmartMeters now, before it is too late.

N HOWE,

Lismore.

100% local

IN reply to the letter from Anne Burgess, printed on Friday,November 11, I too have volunteered to distribute how to votepamphlets - for Peter Ellem of Country Labor.

I am the newest member of the Lower Clarence Branch of CountryLabor and perhaps this is why Ms Burgess thinks that there arepeople from outside the area working at the pre-poll booths.

All Country Labor workers at pre-poll booths during this currentelection have been 100% local and from the country.

Apart from the misinformation in the letter, I question MsBurgess' definition of politeness, when she seems to believe it isappropriate to abuse and interfere with other polling booth workersas she claims to have done in the past.

I assure all National Party "volunteers" that any such harassmenton polling booths will be immediately reported to the electoraloffice and if necessary the police.

CHRISTINE ROBERTSON,

Woombah.

Not rocket science

WHY should people who live in Grafton be penalised by the no leftturn onto the bridge at Clarence St? The traffic is caused by thoseliving across the river or from around the valley commuting intoGrafton.

It's not rocket science that we need a second bridge locatedelsewhere, which not only helps on a daily basis, but alsoalleviates the massive congestion when evacuation orders are given,or accidents close the bridge.

TRISH BURGESS,

Grafton.

Your water supply ON November 19, the voters of the... [Derived headline]

Your water supply

ON November 19, the voters of the Clarence electorate will haveto go back to the polls, not long after the last state election,because their elected local member had to fall on his own swordafter getting caught out doing something very inappropriate. After afairly short selection process, the National Party was able to finda National Party candidate who could both read and write, so theyselected him as their nominee.

Now, if you want someone to represent the Clarence Valley in NSWParliament, who likes to do photo opportunities and sound bites forthe media, then this might seem like a suitable representative foryou. You know, like standing outside Grafton Hospital while yourphoto is being taken, is doing something about local health, orstanding next to the Pacific Highway while the press takes yourphoto is doing something to improve local roads, or standing outsideMaclean High School for another photo-op to garner red neck votesover the bat issue. You get the idea? The usual National Party fareto gather the country bumpkin, or local red neck votes.

However, if you want someone to represent the whole of theClarence Valley and its diverse needs, you should consider castingyour vote more wisely this time. If you want someone who will standup for local interests in NSW Parliament, and fight tooth and nailto represent us, and not big business, then cast your vote for theGreens. Recent history has shown that independents such as localGreens candidates are able to get much more for their electoratesthan party hacks can.

Your previous National Party representative tried to assume aslow a profile as he could in the O'Farrell Government. Hardly likelyto bring much benefit to the Clarence Valley, or protect the localenvironment and local jobs from greedy big businesses or O'FarrellGovernment razor gangs.

The National Party has failed to stand up to the Liberal Partywhen it came to the best interests of their electorate time and timeagain. When the Liberal Party says jump, the National Party says howhigh, please sir. You are starting to hear all about coal seam gasextraction, fracking and the like, and how much damage it can do tothe environment, farmland, damage to the Great Artesian Basin andunderground water supplies. Then there is the likelihood of anantimony mine being opened up in the catchment of the Nymboida River- your water supply. If this gets polluted it will be for hundredsof years.

Don't expect a Liberal/National party government to do anythingto stop these, other than making lip service statements. They aredeeply in the pocket of big business and vested interests, andeveryone with two eyes and tolerable hearing knows it.

They can hardly wait to sell off the rest of the State electricalgeneration system, completing the job started by the Labor Party. Ifyou think your electricity bills are high, wait until big businessowns it all and the only thing that matters is keeping the stockholders happy. Screw the customers and the staff. They don't matter(and this has nothing to do with a carbon tax despite all themisinformation and deliberate lies being put out by the Liberal/National parties).

So, if you want to save your bacon, so to speak, you have oneclear choice, vote green. Janet Cavanaugh is your local Greenscandidate. She is well educated, intelligent and motivated to lookafter the local environment and local jobs; she already has a greattrack record in those areas. Already there are reports of governmentjobs being lost from the Clarence Valley, plus loss of services thatare already poor enough.

Police, nurses, teachers, etc., will be leaving the NSW publicservice in droves soon because of O'Farrell Government policies.Stop the rot - cast your vote wisely. If you don't and get what iscoming to you from that choice, then don't whinge about itafterwards. You had your chance and blew it.

M CASEY,

Grafton.

Don't rattle the cage

I KNOW I shouldn't rattle Fred's cage, but I can't help it inregard to the Patrick dispute (a conspiracy by Howard/Reith, theNational party and The Farmers Federation training in some casesserving military) to break a legal union's right to fight for itsmembers work and pay.

The Howard government met all costs paid by Patrick plus $280million in forced redundancies to stevedoring workers, who in themain were asked to return as casual (SEAL) labour within a month(companies needed trained men).

All the stevedoring companies were given loan assistance to re-tool with state-of-the-art container cranes and handling equipmentwhich, in the main, replaced cranes that were past their use by dateby 10 years, hence speeding up container transit time from ship toshore.

Corrigan then sold Patrick and made over $130 million for hisstake in his company.

The overseas companies that held patents on container handlingequipment would not sell products to Australia till almost 100% ofstevedoring companies were in overseas companies' hands and therebycreating a monopoly (profits sent overseas) on costs and preferenceon who and what is loaded or discharged first. How Fred knows somuch about stevedoring (reading the Murdoch press?) is amazing for alandlocked bulldozer aimer.

PS: When Menzies put the army on the wharves to load scrap forJapan when the wharfies wouldn't, it came back as bombs and gunsagainst us and others.

RUSSELL FITCHETT,

Brushgrove.

No to Smart Meters

RECENTLY I returned from a trip to Melbourne visiting friends andfamily.

To my unpleasant surprise, one friend was absent the day Iarrived.

He was having a CT scan for possible tumours. The surprise beingthat only a month before he was given a clean bill of health by hisdoctor.

My friend is in his mid-50s, is a reiki practitioner and lives avery healthy lifestyle.

He had been experiencing constant headaches, sinus congestion,irritability and fatigue for several months.

The next day a TV current affair program reported a Melbournefamily with young children were also suffering constant headaches,dizziness and other symptoms as were their neighbours in the samestreet.

The blame was pointed at the newly installed Smart Meters.

Checking my friend's house, sure enough there was a Smart Meteron the wall just metres from his office and working space.

Searching the internet we soon found an enormous number ofreports about Smart Meters, which are a powerful radio/microwavetransmitter that generate intense electromagnetic fields 160 timesmore powerful than a mobile phone when it transmits your power usageto the billing company as frequently as every half hour.

The reported health complaints and increased billing complaintswere extensive in all the countries where they are installed. Insome countries they are banned, in others entire cities have placeda moratorium on their installation. So where does this leave myfriend?

An international power company seeking more revenue has installeda dangerous transmission device on his wall which is causing illnessto the occupants and possibly his neighbours as well. In the longterm it will cause tumours.

With the recent sale of NSW state-owned power assets to OriginEnergy, who have recently announced plans to install these sameSmart Meters throughout NSW, you will soon be at risk fromelectromagnetic radiation exposure in your own home like those inMelbourne.

Not only do we have multinational gas companies threatening thehealth and lifestyle of rural residents, but now the corporate powercompanies are about to severely impact the health, wealth andsecurity in everyone's home, both city and rural. Say no to SmartMeters now, before it is too late.

N HOWE,

Lismore.

100% local

IN reply to the letter from Anne Burgess, printed on Friday,November 11, I too have volunteered to distribute how to votepamphlets - for Peter Ellem of Country Labor.

I am the newest member of the Lower Clarence Branch of CountryLabor and perhaps this is why Ms Burgess thinks that there arepeople from outside the area working at the pre-poll booths.

All Country Labor workers at pre-poll booths during this currentelection have been 100% local and from the country.

Apart from the misinformation in the letter, I question MsBurgess' definition of politeness, when she seems to believe it isappropriate to abuse and interfere with other polling booth workersas she claims to have done in the past.

I assure all National Party "volunteers" that any such harassmenton polling booths will be immediately reported to the electoraloffice and if necessary the police.

CHRISTINE ROBERTSON,

Woombah.

Not rocket science

WHY should people who live in Grafton be penalised by the no leftturn onto the bridge at Clarence St? The traffic is caused by thoseliving across the river or from around the valley commuting intoGrafton.

It's not rocket science that we need a second bridge locatedelsewhere, which not only helps on a daily basis, but alsoalleviates the massive congestion when evacuation orders are given,or accidents close the bridge.

TRISH BURGESS,

Grafton.

Can Gingrich come back again?

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Can Newt Gingrich come back a third time?

With his loss in Florida on Tuesday, Gingrich will spend the next month trying to prove the answer is yes.

"We were dead in June and July . but we came roaring back and we will again," Gingrich said.

Still, the former House speaker, who has pledged to fight on until the GOP convention this summer, faces a tough road out of Florida. He plunges next into a scattershot series of state contests where he has little organization and must overcome steep odds to win.

Gingrich was hoping to ride a wave of enthusiasm to a win in Florida and beyond, stoked by his decisive victory in South Carolina. But with his …