Heather Mills says McCartney calls were hacked

Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, (NUJ), center, arrives to testify at the final day of the first phase of the Leveson Inquiry, in central London, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012.Rupert Murdoch's News International has settled nearly all the cases against the company in the first wave of lawsuits for phone hacking by its journalists, with a new round of apologies and payouts announced Wednesday in a London court. But a potentially damaging claim lodged by British singer Charlotte Church is still headed to trial later this month and a wave of new lawsuits _ as many as 56 in all _ is looming, lawyers told London's High Court. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, (NUJ), center, arrives to testify at the final day of the first phase of the Leveson Inquiry, in central London, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012.Rupert Murdoch's News International has settled nearly all the cases against the company in the first wave of lawsuits for phone hacking by its journalists, with a new round of apologies and payouts announced Wednesday in a London court. But a potentially damaging claim lodged by British singer Charlotte Church is still headed to trial later this month and a wave of new lawsuits _ as many as 56 in all _ is looming, lawyers told London's High Court. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, (NUJ) , arrives to testify at the final day of the first phase of the Leveson Inquiry, in central London, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. Rupert Murdoch's News International has settled nearly all the cases against the company in the first wave of lawsuits for phone hacking by its journalists, with a new round of apologies and payouts announced Wednesday in a London court. But a potentially damaging claim lodged by British singer Charlotte Church is still headed to trial later this month and a wave of new lawsuits _ as many as 56 in all _ is looming, lawyers told London's High Court. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON (AP) ? She squared off against former Beatle Paul McCartney in divorce court; on Thursday, Heather Mills took on Piers Morgan at Britain's media ethics inquiry.

The ex-model trashed Morgan's earlier testimony, saying that one of her private voicemails, which was played to the CNN interviewer and former tabloid editor, could have been obtained only through phone hacking.

Mills spoke under oath at Lord Justice Brian Leveson's inquiry into the practices of Britain's scandal-hit press, and said two dozen messages left for her by the former Beatle were intercepted by a journalist working for British newspaper group Trinity Mirror.

She said the incident happened after she and McCartney had a fight in January 2001, when McCartney, then her boyfriend, bombarded her with phone calls.

"There were about 25 messages, all asking for forgiveness, (asking:) 'Would I come back?'" Mills said. "One of them said: 'Please forgive me,' and he sang a little ditty of one of his songs into the voicemail."

She said she found it strange that the messages were listed as having been listened to even before she had accessed them, but said she didn't realize what had happened until the Mirror journalist ? unnamed for legal reasons ? called her up and confronted her with details of the battle.

"I said: 'There's no way that you could know that unless you have been listening to my messages,'" she told the inquiry. "And he laughed."

The messages left for Mills by McCartney are at the center of the allegations against CNN star interviewer Piers Morgan, who was editor of the Daily Mirror tabloid at the time. Morgan wrote in 2006 that he had once been played an apologetic message left by McCartney for Mills, describing it in detail and noting that McCartney "even sang 'We Can Work It Out' into the answer phone."

Called before the U.K. inquiry last year, Morgan denied ordering anyone to hack a phone or writing stories based on hacked messages. He acknowledged listening to Mill's voicemail message but stubbornly refused to say anything about how he had gotten it.

Morgan even left open the possibility that the voicemail had been played to him with Mills' approval, but Mills said Thursday that was impossible.

"Never," she said. "Never ever."

Mills married the popular McCartney in 2002 and had a daughter with him before they divorced in 2008. She sought and got a substantial divorce settlement, becoming a tabloid hate figure after they separated. She is a fierce critic of tabloid journalists in general and Morgan in particular.

Morgan, who has become a media celebrity in the United States since taking over from Larry King at CNN, has returned the favor, casting aspersions on her credibility and calling her a "monster."

Leveson's inquiry was set up in the wake of Britain's tabloid phone-hacking scandal, which shocked the country with revelations that journalists at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World routinely eavesdropped on the private communications of those in the public eye.

Several journalists have been arrested, top media executives have resigned, and Murdoch closed the 168-year-old tabloid in July.

___

Online:

The Inquiry:

http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-02-09-EU-Britain-Phone-Hacking/id-349ec91c802d40a786a8bb72b2c78f86

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Google, Facebook remove content on India's order

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Google India has removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world's largest democracy, media reported Monday.

The action follows weeks of intense government pressure for 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered "anti-religious" or "anti-social."

A New Delhi court Monday gave Facebook, Google, YouTube and Blogspot and the other sites two weeks to present further plans for policing their networks, according to the Press Trust of India.

For India's more than 100 million Internet users, the government says, U.S. Internet standards are not acceptable.

The case highlights the difficulty India faces in balancing conservative religious and political sentiments with its hope that freewheeling Internet discourse and technology will help spur the economy and boost living standards for its 1.2 billion people.

Google India did not say Monday which sites were removed but had said it would be willing to go after anything that violated local law or its own standards.

Indian officials have been incensed by material insulting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and religious groups, including illustrations showing Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions and pigs running through Mecca, Islam's holiest city.

"There is no question of any censorship," Communications Minister Sachin Pilot said in Bangalore. "They all have to operate within the laws of the country. ... There must be responsible behavior on both sides."

Anyone hurt by online content should be able to seek legal redress, he said. The government has warned it has evidence to prosecute 21 sites for offenses of "promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration."

The government has asked the sites to set a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the Internet.

Facebook India submitted a compliance report to the court Monday, but it also joined Yahoo and Microsoft in questioning its inclusion in the case, saying no specific complaints had been presented against them, PTI reported. The sites did not immediately comment after the hearing.

Prosecutors, who sued on behalf of a Muslim religious leader who accused companies of hosting pages that disparage Islam, said they would provide the companies with all relevant documents. The court gave the companies 15 more days to report back.

India is Facebook's third-fastest growing market, after the U.S. and Indonesia. The California-based company, with $3.7 billion in revenues last year, has seen its hoped-for launch in China held back by rules requiring censorship of material seen by the Chinese government as objectionable or obscene.

The issue of country-specific censorship sparked global outcry in recent weeks, after Twitter said it would allow tweets to be deleted in countries where the content breaks local law.

Twitter insisted the new policy would help freedom of expression and transparency by preventing the entire site from being blocked. But dissidents and activists who have embraced Twitter in their campaigns accused the site of betraying free speech.

___

Follow Katy Daigle on Twitter at http://twitter.com/katydaigle

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-02-06-AS-India-Internet/id-a3818e17bd3a41a8b9f786d28e08636c

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LOVE IS A MANY SPLEDID THING? : Rage Monthly Magazine

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

VA Home loans ? 100% Lending : emchbd.com

The VETERANS ADMINISTRATION guidelines suggest that if a set is slight in design, it usually doesn?t need to be paid as a problem for payday loan approval. Judgments must remain paid in whole prior to be able to closing. A borrower will not be eligible to your loan whether they are overdue on almost any federal personal debt. This contain tax liens, so to speak, etc. Payment arrangements that is going to bring that borrower informed may consider for payday loan approval.

A purchaser whose past residence as well as other realistic property appeared to be foreclosed about or granted a deed-in-lieu involving foreclosure in the previous twenty-four since that disposition date is mostly not entitled to a VETERANS ADMINISTRATION insured home owner loan. If that foreclosure was using a VA payday loan, the applicant will most likely not have entireentitlement intended for the unique loan.

Most professional mortgage originators today look for credit seekers and sponsors to enjoy at the very least a 20% bucks stake in a deal todays mortgage rates fund all of which never accept to be the only financial factor. They is going to sometimes allow a decent second home owner loan but don?t allow borrowing from the bank to be the cause of more as compared with 80% of the deal?s capitalization.

Hedge finance managers and additionally executives by private lender firms are home finance professionals all of which only manage other individuals. They are typically business to earn money to not give anyone a go at that big-time. Speculators, developers and additionally deal sponsors will have youngster should be demonstrate a status success during commercial home if many people expect to acquire a loan approved.

Hazard insurance protection ? Insurance coverage that should protect a good homeowner and additionally lender versus loss or trouble for a house caused through natural horrors or real damage along the lines of fire, the wind, and vandalism.

Fantastic Faith Guess (GFE) ? AN IMPORTANT written appraisal of termination costs, required through the Real House Settlement Steps Act (RESPA), to generally be disclosed to home finance loan applicants within just three time of filing home financing application. The appraisal includes all of closing fees along the lines of lender prices, settlement prices, property taxation?s, homeowners insurance protection, and customary home related termination costs.

This is particularly helpful intended for homeowners who?ve got bought rice with a primary an additional mortgage, often to avoid the Finances Fee the fact that VA lending options carry using them. But, with fewer equity currently than eventually past, moving to some VA loan can certainly help lower installment payments and take benefit from these small rates despite little to be able to no fairness, explained brave Chief coordinator Isaac Maddox.

But one of the most common question that we get related to VA payday loan refinancing is certainly whether a good homeowner which can be upside down at the loan ? yet to be paid more at the property compared to a home might be priced at ? can easily refinance a preexisting VA payday loan. And gurus that what you need is? ?Yes, you?ll be able to! ?

Source: http://www.emchbd.com/va-home-loans-100-lending/

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Institutional Investing For Individual Investors: Following Asset ...

Getting individual investors to engage in the investment policy and asset allocation process remains a major challenge. For many individual investors (and their advisors), there might be a shortcut. Individual Investors could mimic institutional investors and use pension plan portfolios as a guide when constructing and maintaining the core of their own investment portfolio. Individual investors can leverage institutional investors' resources and planning work ? for free.

What works for institutions?

Pension plans live and breathe oversight. Behind-the-scenes work includes building a governance structure, and conducting an actuarial asset & liability modeling study from which an investment policy and plan-appropriate asset allocation can be developed. Then (only then) can a globally diversified investment portfolio be constructed. Institutional investors have significant resources, technology and expertise to develop strategy and do deep analysis. Importantly, those same resources then focus on continuous due diligence work.

The end result is a globally diversified asset allocation pie. A large balanced fund.

Can individual investors apply some of the same practices?

For those disappointed and disillusioned individual investors as they open their year-end portfolio statements and ask themselves 'what now?,' one way to a better investment experience is to piggyback off the work of institutional investors simply by constructing the core of their portfolio to look similar to that of a pension plan. Use a pension plan as a guide.

Many institutional investors, like pension plans, seem to endure and survive most all types of investment markets. In contrast, many individual investors' portfolios are devastated by similar investment environments. An individual investor's retirement income objectives look similar to an institutional investor's obligations. An individual investor's retirement investment portfolio can be (and ought to be) viewed as a de-facto personal pension plan. Institutional and individual investment portfolios should look similar too.

Individual investors need not replicate any pension plan in particular. They simply have to mimic a pension plan. The objective would be to get into the same asset allocation ballpark as the average pension plan.

For the individual investor, mimicking a pension plan is easier today given the availability of index funds and ETFs which offer exposure to (nearly) all asset classes, regions, currencies and sectors. The result can be a low-cost, broadly and globally diversified portfolio that looks like a personalized pension plan (while not assuming individual stock risk, but that's another article entirely).

Which pension plan(s) to mimic?

When looking for a benchmark institutional investment portfolio, the individual investor has plenty to choose from.

A U.S. investor might mimic the average asset mix of U.S. corporate, public and union pension funds.

A Canadian investor could use the Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC) average asset allocation which is a composite of "130 Canadian pension funds that manage assets in excess of $1 trillion on behalf of millions of Canadians." As a composite, PIAC's allocation represents an asset allocation for the average individual investor.

PIAC's asset allocation:

Or the average asset mixes of the largest U.S. institutional money managers.

Others might choose to mimic the Canada Pension Plan.

Observations

A bond allocation of about 1/3rd is a common theme across most all institutional investment portfolios. PIAC 35%. CPP 33%. U.S. 28%-35%. (Hmm ? what should that tell individual investors)? Further, the PIAC bond allocation has not changed much over time. 2000 (33%), 2005 (32%), 2010 (35%). (Again, hmm).

Many institutional asset allocations are similar. Different but similar. If an individual investor's investment portfolio doesn't look 'something like' a pension plan, then ? why? Why would it look significantly different? Not the same. But similar. If an individual's retirement portfolio doesn't approximate that of the average pension plan, then is it time to re-visit their strategy?

A Starting Point

Shortcuts are shortcuts. The benchmark examples I used are based on the general pension plan population and as such are, well, general. The asset mixes are averages. For any individual investor in particular, they will not likely be the answer. But for some, they might be an answer. They may not be the preferred or perfect solution for many. But using an institutional investor/a pension plan as a guide is a starting point and better than having no plan, no strategy or no guide at all.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/349711-institutional-investing-for-individual-investors-following-asset-allocation?source=feed

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Discovery predicts patient sensitivity to important drug target in ...

February 7, 5579 1:28 pm You are here:Home general Discovery predicts patient sensitivity to important drug target in deadly brain cancer Posted by on February 6, 2012 in general |

Source: http://www.humanhealthandscience.com/discovery-predicts-patient-sensitivity-to-important-drug-target-in-deadly-brain-cancer-2-2/general

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Research on recent residential rent in Tokyo ? Dec ? Japan real ...

Posted on February 7, 2012 in: Market data, Residential, News

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Recent research report about residential rent?in Tokyo?from Leasing Management Consulting Co., a?leading?research company in Japan.

LMC Press Release

Summary for Tokyo central 5 wards as at the end of December 2011

Of the data collected for mansions in Tokyo central 5 wards (Chuo Ward, Minato Ward, Shibuya Ward, Shinjuku Ward, and Chiyoda Ward) as of the end of December 2011 (mansion type buildings completed after Dec 2001 with the construction of RC and SRC), the rental unit price per tsubo has shown a significant increase in Minato Ward and Shibuya Ward, with the figure in Shibuya Ward higher than the same period in last year. Key money also increases remarkably in Chuo Ward, Shibuya Ward and Chiyoda Ward.

Average unit price per tsubo (graph 1)

Of the average rental unit price per tsubo in the main 5 wards at the end of Dec, the rate in Minato Ward and Shibuya Ward continued to increase. Especially for Shibuya Ward, the rate advanced to its highest level since January 2010. The main reason for the average rate increase in these 2 wards is the higher number of expensive luxury properties on lease in these 2 wards, which resulted a higher unit price per tsubo in these aresa. In Chuo Ward, Shinjuku Ward and Chiyoda Ward, the unit price per tsubo either level or slightly decreases compared with the end of Nov 2011.

Average key money (graph 2)

Average key money Chuo Ward, Shibuya Ward and Chiyoda Ward increased, while remained at the same level for Minato Ward and Shinjuku Ward. For the area with key money increased, the properties with zero key money on lease decline. We believe that the need for properties is increasing in the busy period which resulted in the change of key money conditions.?

Graph 1: Changes in Average unit price per tsubo

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Graph 2: Changes in Average key money

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Current rental market situation

Generally, after one month from 2012, real estate market will enter the peak season in the year. However, we can hear voices from estate agencies like ?this year customers move earlier?, and ?an increasing numbers of customers come to our store in January?. For estate agencies, due to the low market activities in last year, this year real estate agents are very enthusiastic for a hope to get more sales. Of the unit price and key money data we released until the end of December last year, the upward trend in several areas showed the entering of the peak season. In addition to these macro data, in order to change according to the change of micro market conditions from January, leasing personnel need to forestall and analyze the market based on normal market conditions quickly. This year is going to be a year of ?sense of speed? for the leasing market. ?

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Data provide by Leasing Managing Consulting Co.
http://www.lmc-c.co.jp/

Please make an inquiry either by phone or email for further details , disclosure and investment opportunities in Japan.

contact : info@asteriskrealty.jp

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Source: http://www.asteriskrealty.jp/articles/news/research-on-recent-residential-rent-in-tokyo-dec.html

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Types of Video Games | Sencart Blog ? Sencart Coupons,New ...

The popularity of video games has led to the expansion of the industry and technology advances. Today, there are many different game types and the genre is still expanding rapidly. One video game differs from another by its gameplay, category and interaction.

It is not uncommon to see a game with great similarities from another video game. What makes a video game different from another is the way it is played and how you interact or play with it.

A video game is classified in different genre. Learn the many different types of games available on the market today. With technology fast evolving, new, improved and updated games are launched on the market regularly.

Action:

One of the most popular genres, action games are the basic type of gaming. An action video game requires you as a gamer to use your reflex capability and timing during play. Video gaming based on popular action movies is common nowadays.

The most recent example of movie tie-in is the Tron: Evolution video game. The graphics are striking, with dazzling neon colors and dark depiction of the science fiction universe. The game has successfully recreated the grid of the motion picture to provide visual satisfaction to all gamers.

Another example of an action video game that has been in the market for some time now and been updated and improved to make it more challenging and interesting to gamers is the Tomb Raider: Legend. Some improvements have been made on the game?s controls and the environments were made even more breathtaking in all stages.

Adventure:

Adventure games consist of a gameplay that uses some characteristics found in an action video game. Famous of this genre is The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition Review. A creation by the brilliant minds behind LucasArts, this game involves wit and whimsical adventure. This game has become a classic because of its clever puzzles, sabre-sharp writing and memorable characters.

Another adventure video game example is the Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. This game is an expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and includes some features from the Metal Gear: Solid Snake and the original Metal Gear.

Racing:

The game mechanics involve the player driving a supercar with the end goal of winning the race. The racing genre is considered as a pioneer in the video gaming industry. Many early video were part of the racing genre. A popular example is the Burnout: Revenge which is part of the Burnout series of games.

The success of the series is of epic proportion. The game deals with revenge and destruction and of course, winning the race. The Tourist Trophy: Real Riding Simulator sports improved graphics and authentic-looking vehicles. In this game, you are given a chance to play in 35 different game modes.

Role Playing Games or RPGs:

RPGs have created a niche in the gaming industry. One successful example is Fable III which is set in the industrial age and features a new hero who is destined to create a revolution, take over the throne after overthrowing the king and destroying an evil creature who threatens the land and people.

The Final Fantasy XI Online: Treasures of Aht Urhgan is the latest in the Final Fantasy series that has been a favorite among generations of gamers. This game is the third in the series of massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).

Strategy:

This gaming genre is designed to bring out the thinking and planning abilities of gamers. This genre includes the strategy game and real-time strategy (RTS) game. The StarCraft II is a good example of this genre. It depicts a 26th century battle for supremacy of epic proportion. The Act of War: Direct Action is an RTS game that utilizes live action cut-scenes.

From:http://blog.sencart.com
???? ?? http://www.sencart.com?? Edited by? Winter.

Source: http://blog.sencart.com/2012/02/types-of-video-games/

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Women in Wetlands: Delayed Gratification

In this series of posts, I'm discussing sentence construction. Stanley Fish, author of How to Write a Sentence, is the inspiration for these posts. In the last post, we talked about the subordinating style of sentence, in which the components are arranged according to relationships such as causality or time:

While preparing for a field trip, I packed duplicates of all key pieces of equipment.

In this post, I'll talk about a subordinating sentence structure that does not immediately jump to the pay-off as the sentence above does, but instead builds through several beats before arriving at the key point.? Taking the sentence above, I'll try to delay the reader a bit by adding an intervening phrase:

While preparing for a field trip and remembering previous disastrous excursions in which a critical instrument was smashed by a careless student, I packed duplicates of all key pieces of equipment.

What this construction has done is to provide more context to the sentence?a personal history, which explains the narrator's current behavior when preparing for field trips. As well as being more informative, it's a far more interesting sentence.? Can we extend this exercise further and add more to this sentence?

While preparing for a field trip and remembering previous disastrous excursions in which a critical instrument was smashed by a careless student and Murphy's Law that "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong", I packed duplicates of all key pieces of equipment.

Now as the reader progresses through the sentence, she is taken on a short trip into the past (previous disastrous excursions) and then reminded of an aphorism (Murphy's Law), which is well known to field biologists. The reader pauses at that point, reflecting on this apropos saying and perhaps her own experiences along these lines. Next, the reader arrives at the subject of the sentence (I) and finally the narrator's solution to the problem.

My example is not precisely like the examples Fish uses; he interposes the delaying phrases between the subject and verb.? Here is an example of mine that does just that:

As she reached the top of the rise and looked at the vista?high desert surrounded by distant peaks tinged pink by the setting sun?her horse, having steadfastly borne her across raging rivers and down steep embankments, stumbled.

What this sentence style accomplishes is to provide a much richer and more complex reading experience for the reader.? Imagine if this sentence were instead written as a series of simpler statements:

She reached the top of the rise and looked at the vista.
She saw high desert surrounded by distant peaks tinged pink by the setting sun.
Her horse had borne her across raging rivers and down steep embankments.
It stumbled.

Or one that describes only the basic action:

As she reached the top of the rise, her horse stumbled.

Not at all the same reading experience.? The more complex sentence first lulls the reader into a sense of complacency by describing a majestic scene (the high desert and distant peaks), then curiously introduces another subject (her horse). Then there is a phrase describing the horse's past performance (taking the reader back in time).? And finally we get to the key action (stumbled), which suddenly changes everything?the rider is now in danger.? Once you understand the structure and how it's accomplished, starting with a basic, simple phrase or short sentence, it's relatively easy to duplicate.? I found this exercise to be one of the more useful bits of insight I gleaned from Fish's book. ?

Such sentences, however, violate the advice of technical writing experts, which is to avoid interrupting the subject-verb or verb-object relationship with intervening words or phrases.? The technical writer is aiming for clarity and succinctness, and by putting words and phrases between these sentence elements, the writer muddies the water, so to speak. The reader of a technical paper is wanting information to be provided in a clear and unambiguous manner?not to be entertained.?

As I write about this exercise, however, I realize that scientists and students of science are masters at writing such sentences:


"A broad treatment of optical bistability, including all the steady-state and transient characteristics of nonlinear optical systems which exhibit bistability under some operating conditions, is presented."

That's not the worst example, but illustrates my point.? Such sentences are common in scientific papers; it took me all of 3 seconds to find this one on Google Scholar.? I've written previously about how to improve the comprehension of scientific writing.? In those posts, I provide exercises to take such convoluted sentences and rewrite them in a more understandable fashion. ?

To summarize, using the subordinating phrase to delay the reader from getting to the sentence's payoff can greatly enrich one's writing style.? Although this style may not work well in the purely technical paper, it might be useful in nature writing or other semi-technical writing where the author is trying to both inform and entertain.

Source: http://womeninwetlands.blogspot.com/2012/02/delayed-gratification.html

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Mitt's Tone-Deaf Tango with Trump (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | What is wrong with the two leading Republican Presidential candidates? Are they tone deaf, stupid, or just plain clueless? Two days before the Florida primary, Newt "Gender Gap" Gingrich accepted the endorsement of accused serial sex harasser Herman Cain, then went on to lose overwhelmingly to Mitt Romney, who captured 51 percent of the female vote, according to the New York Times.

Newt had a serious gender gap problem even before Cain's endorsement. Enlisting the aid of an accused sex harasser clearly wouldn't help him. Nearly three-quarters of Florida Republican women voters cast their ballot for someone else.

Not to be outdone, and seemingly determined like Newt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, Romney shared a Las Vegas stage with Donald Trump to accept his endorsement. This was the very same "The Donald" whose mantra is "You're fired!" and the very same Romney who got into hot water last month by joyously telling a GOP crowd, "I like to fire people."

Even more astounding was the fact that on the very morning of the very same day Romney danced his tango with the bewildering billionaire who was threatening to run for president himself according to CBS News, the Republican front-runner had told a startled news reporter, "I don't care about the very poor...."

Romney's gaffe touched off a firestorm with criticism coming from all quarters, including the conservative right whose collective heart supposedly is made of stone. Watching the evening newscasts, there was an air of incredulity among the newscasters that Romney could follow up such a boneheaded gaffe with the even more boneheaded move of genuflecting before the self-anointed Pope of American Capitalism on steroids as if to underscore the fact that he really didn't give a damn.

What is wrong with Mitt Romney? Is he so out of touch with average Americans that he has no idea how his patrician obliviousness plays with the vast majority of voters who will determine the presidency come November? He is the richest man to mount a serious run for the White House since Nelson Rockefeller in the 1960s, but unlike Rocky, a billionaire back when you could count billionaires on the fingers of two hands, Mitt lacks a common touch. He just doesn't get it.

Back at the White House, Barack Obama, who seemingly leads a charmed life when it comes to electoral politics, is smiling.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120204/pl_ac/10925570_mitts_tonedeaf_tango_with_trump

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Hungary's Orban seeks to wipe out communist past (Reuters)

BUDAPEST (Reuters) ? Steps away from Budapest's ornate Parliament building, hidden in a basement studio on a leafy street, art dealer Peter Pinter was holding the third of his hugely successful auctions, entitled 'Going once, going twice... gone for good.'

What Pinter is offering - communist-era art, paintings, sculptures and posters - has gone beyond tourist kitsch and become popular with serious collectors, including locals. Price tags in the thousands of dollars are not uncommon.

"It's retro, it's fashionable," Pinter told Reuters before the auction. "Some people have an urge to do away with this part of their past. Others harbor strong nostalgia toward these objects... You can see people are very intrigued by them."

Hungarians are reexamining their communist past with an intensity not seen since the transition to democracy in the early 1990s, and not just in art.

One of the main players in this reassessment has been the ruling centre-right Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose anti-communist DNA has been the primary motivation of his career.

Orban, who famously demanded as a fiery youngster in 1989 that Soviet troops leave the country, says the policies that have provoked harsh criticism in his current term are aimed at closing the book on the post-communist period.

"The many conflicts were not random bush fires, but the result of very clear government work to end the post-communist era," Orban told the Hungarian Diaspora Council, an umbrella organization of ethnic Hungarians, late last year.

Critics claim the government is trying to disguise its failures; during its tenure, Hungary's sovereign debt has been downgraded, economic growth has faltered, the forint currency has weakened and the country's image abroad has been tarnished by a string of diplomatic confrontations.

Orban insists he is taking the long view, however - his position is that transformation in the early 1990s was incomplete and it is now up to him to make the tough decisions, however painful.

"'I can't get no satisfaction,' in political terms, has haunted Hungarian politics for 20 years...," Orban told correspondents recently. "I have been frustrated about when at last we would complete it (the transition)."

A NEW VIEW OF THE PAST

He got his once-in-a-lifetime chance in 2010, when voters gave Fidesz a two-thirds majority in Parliament, enough to change any legislation on its own.

Orban had campaigned with the slogan "big victory - big change," and quickly made clear he planned to rock Hungary all the way to its foundations.

One of his first moves was ending loan negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, eliminating their tight policy oversight, on the grounds Brussels and Washington were "not Moscow."

Although the country was forced back to international lenders in late 2011, its laws and institutions had already been dramatically transformed.

Among the changes was the introduction of new wording in the Constitution, which took effect on January 1, that billed the communist era illegitimate.

"The sovereignty of our nation, lost on March 19, 1944 (when German troops invaded the country during World War Two), was restored on May 2, 1990, with the setup of the first freely elected Parliament," the Constitution stated.

Another amendment specifically blamed the historical and present-day leftists for past abuses.

"The Hungarian Socialist Workers' party and its forebears... were criminal organizations, whose leaders hold unlimited responsibility for maintaining and directing the oppressive regime," it said.

"The Hungarian Socialist Party, as the heir of illegally amassed wealth... (and) by the personal continuity that binds the old and the new party together even in the highest ranks, shares all the responsibility of the (Communist) state party."

The Socialists dismissed the clauses as aimed at diverting attention from Fidesz's mistakes.

"Fidesz keeps declaring war against someone," party chairman Attila Mesterhazy told a news conference. "This is their latest war, with conspicuous timing, now that their economic policies have utterly failed."

Under Fidesz, parliament also abolished the statute of limitations on crimes against humanity, a move aimed at leaders who executed hundreds after the 1956 anti-communist revolution failed, and has ruled that streets still named after communist heroes or ideals must be renamed by July 2012.

A NEW PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

Insiders say Fidesz's obsession with ending all trace of Hungary's communist past helps explain nearly every controversial policy of the current government.

Close adviser Maria Schmidt said Orban believed Hungary made a mistake in trying to follow a Western model it could not afford -- capitalism combined with government welfare spending -- which he considered a kind of hidden socialism.

"A duality has prevailed in this region for 20 years - the coexistence of a market economy and socialism," said Schmidt, a historian who directs the Terror House, a museum on totalitarian crimes of the 20th century,

"Orban's thinking is that this duality is not sustainable and we must switch to a new system."

As the economic crisis exposed flaws in the capitalist welfare state, Orban dismissed capitalist orthodoxies as well as socialist values. He renationalized private pension funds, taxed banks and other big firms, while also shrinking the country's social services and cutting early retirement and disability benefits.

Meanwhile, his government embraced work and family, rolling out a much-criticized flat tax regime and huge tax rebates after children. Small business taxes were cut nearly in half.

Historian Andras Gero said Orban's anti-communism is not blindly ideological but driven by cold political calculation, noting it has not stopped him pursuing state ownership in key industries, like big stakes in oil company MOL or truck parts maker Raba.

For many, the question is not why Orban is so passionately anti-communist but why it took so long for someone to address these issues from the past.

The lack of immediacy may be partly because the communist regime in Budapest was far milder than those in Poland, Romania or East Germany in its later years, Gero said.

"There was a dictatorship, but not a bloody one, from the 1960's on," he said. "Almost two generations grew up without getting a taste of blood."

But rejecting the communist past flat out was misguided, as Hungarians had to deal with it dispassionately at some point, Gero said.

"The fact that we have not faced our past has led to a kind of social schizophrenia," art historian Balazs Feledy said as he looked around the communist-era art auction.

"We still don't know what is value in our history and what isn't. We are 20 years late with this."

(Additional reporting by Krisztina Than and Krisztina Fenyo; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120201/wl_nm/us_hungary_communism

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