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Iraq war czar: Consider a draftStory Highlights
Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute is president's new war adviser
He says the all-volunteer force is stressed by frequent tours
President Nixon abolished the draft in 1973
Bush says he doesn't think a draft is necessary
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.
Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute is the president's war adviser. Several retired generals turned down the post.
"I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."
"And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," said Lute, who is sometimes referred to as the "Iraq war czar." It was his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.
President Nixon abolished the draft in 1973. Restoring it, Lute said, would be a "major policy shift" and Bush has made it clear that he doesn't think it's necessary.
"The president's position is that the all-volunteer military meets the needs of the country and there is no discussion of a draft. Gen. Lute made that point as well," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
In the interview, Lute also said that "Today, the current means of the all-volunteer force is serving us exceptionally well."
Still, he said the repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan affect not only the troops but their families, who can influence whether a service member decides to stay in the military.
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U.N. votes to expand Iraq role
"There's both a personal dimension of this, where this kind of stress plays out across dinner tables and in living room conversations within these families," he said. "And ultimately, the health of the all-volunteer force is going to rest on those sorts of personal family decisions."
The military conducted a draft during the Civil War and both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. The Selective Service System, re-established in 1980, maintains a registry of 18-year-old men.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, has called for reinstating the draft as a way to end the Iraq war.
Bush picked Lute in mid-May as a deputy national security adviser with responsibility for ensuring efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are coordinated with policymakers in Washington. Lute, an active-duty general, was chosen after several retired generals turned down the job
Pentagon to fly armored vehicles to Iraq: report Wed Aug 8, 12:47 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has asked Congress for nearly $750 million to urgently airlift needed armored vehicles to U.S. troops facing roadside bombs in Iraq, USA TODAY reported in its Wednesday editions.
The emergency funding request would allow the military to fly many of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, directly to troops rather than send them by ship, which takes weeks, the newspaper said.
USA TODAY quoted an Air Force spokesman as saying the flight would take 13 hours to reach Iraq.
The transportation money is part of an emergency request for $5.4 billion for the Pentagon's MRAP program for the fiscal year beginning in October. Congress must appropriate the money, the newspaper said.
All told, the military seeks about $12 billion through 2008 for about 8,000 vehicles, whose raised chassis and V-shaped hulls protect troops against roadside bombs, the newspaper said.
The vehicles are one of the Pentagon's top acquisition priorities. The Defense Department's objective is to acquire as many vehicles as can be produced.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates also asked Congress last month to redirect $1.2 billion of the Pentagon's 2007 budget to buy MRAPs.
Defense officials hope to deliver about 3,400 vehicles to commanders in Iraq by the end of December
USA TODAY said the Pentagon's emergency request would fund the delivery of the vehicles as quickly as they are produced. The vehicles would be flown from an Air Force base in Charleston, South Carolina, after being outfitted with electronics.
The military's Transportation Command estimates that it costs $135,000 to send an MRAP by plane compared with $18,000 by ship. An Air Force C-17 transport plane can carry as many as three MRAP vehicles, the newspaper said.
Bursting cans give new urgency to botulism warnings
NEW: Swollen cans of food recalled in a botulism scare are bursting
More than 90 chili sauce, hash and other canned meat products recalled
Four people hospitalized with botulism
Consumers can call 1-888-203-8446 for more information
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cans of recalled food are bursting, swollen with bacteria that cause botulism.
The bursting cans were among those being held by Castleberry's Food Co., which last week announced a massive recall that now includes more than 90 potentially contaminated products, including chili sauces and dog foods.
News about the bursting cans gives new urgency to warnings from federal health officials to get rid of the recalled cans from pantries and store shelves.
Spot checks by the Food and Drug Administration and state officials are turning up recalled products for sale in convenience stores, gas stations and family-run groceries.
The FDA has found recalled products for sale in roughly 250 of the more than 3,700 stores visited in nationwide checks, according to figures the agency provided to The Associated Press.
Don't Miss
Food & Drug Administration
Four people have been sickened and hospitalized by the contaminated food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The recall covers potentially tens of millions of cans of food; officials fear the tally will grow.
FDA investigators believe Castleberry Food failed to properly cook some or all the products, allowing the Clostridium botulinum bacteria to survive the canning process.
The bacteria produce a toxin that causes botulism, a muscle-paralyzing disease.
"We're not talking here about a bug that lands you in the bathroom for a few days with diarrhea. We're talking about a toxin that puts you in the intensive care unit," said Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's lead food safety expert. "This is foodborne illness with an extra kick in it, big time."
The bacteria thrive in moist, oxygen-free environments; inside canned food is a perfect place.
As the bacteria grow and reproduce, they produce gases that can cause contaminated cans to swell and burst. Health officials say the extremely potent toxin can infect people if it is inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the eye or breaks in the skin.
"The longer this stuff stays in the can, the worse it gets," Acheson said.
REFUND INFO
Castleberry's Food Company is asking consumers to dispose of any questionable goods in doubled plastic bags. Full refunds can be obtained by calling the company at 1-888-203-8446.
Castleberry's Food Company
It was not immediately clear how many cans had burst. Earlier FDA tests on 17 bulging cans being held by Castleberry's found 16 that contained the toxin.
FDA and officials in some states worry that word of the recall has not reached all consumers or retailers.
"It has been a problem getting the message out. We're having a problem reaching the smaller stores," said Lynae Granzow, an epidemiologist with the Indiana Department of Health.
Spot checks confirm that officials in Florida, Kentucky, Montana, New York, Indiana and elsewhere are finding recalled products in stores, especially smaller, mom-and-pop operations.
In North Carolina, officials removed 5,500 cans from slightly more than one-third of the 250 stores checked Wednesday and Thursday, said Joe Reardon, who oversees food protection for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
"We're not going to quit. These numbers are too high," Reardon said.
In Massachusetts, health inspectors found recalled products in fewer than 50 small stores, mostly in the Boston area, state Department of Public Health spokeswoman Donna Rheaume said.
Castleberry's has hired a company to collect the recalled products from stores.
Castleberry's is owned by Bumble Bee Seafoods LLC, based in San Diego, California
Meatloaf this poster (HHUGHES) has a link on his profile that says how to invest and win, it gives himself member marks, I hope thats a no no
actually both the links he has do the same thing
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/profile.asp?User=105203
Shelly this poster (HHUGHES) has a link on his profile that says how to invest and win, it gives himself member marks, I hope thats a no no
actually both the links he has do the same thing
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/profile.asp?User=105203
Tiny dog saves baby from rattlesnake Mon Jul 23, 7:56 AM ET
MASONVILLE, Colo. - Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners' 1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog.
Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents' northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the toddler, rattled and struck. Five-pound Zoey jumped in the way and took the bites.
"She got in between Booker and the snake, and that's when I heard her yipe," said Monty Long, the boy's grandfather.
The dog required treatment and for a time it appeared she might not survive. Now she prances about.
"These little bitty dogs, they just don't really get credit," Booker's grandma Denise Long told the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald.
We can not find out any info, I believe its just dead
Form 10QSB for MODERN TECHNOLOGY CORP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5-Jul-2007
Quarterly Report
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
This Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, intentions or future strategies that are signified by the words "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "believes," or similar language. These forward-looking statements, including those with respect to our operating results for 2004, are based upon current expectations and beliefs of the Company's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Some, but not all, of the factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth in the risks discussed below under the subheading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in this report. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, or to explain why actual results differ. Readers should carefully review the risk factors described in this section below and in any reports subsequently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Overview
We were incorporated in Nevada in 1982 as a for-profit corporation. We have never experienced any bankruptcy or similar proceeding. We are engaged in aiding both private and public companies in the areas of business development, financing, product development, corporate strategy, corporate image and public relations, product distribution and marketing, and executive management consulting. We collectively refer to companies in which we own an equity position as well as our customers and clients as "portfolio companies". We charge for our services in cash or equity in the portfolio company. We may also exchange our services for revenue sharing of future sales of products or sharing of proceeds from the sale of licenses and technologies owned by our portfolio companies. We seek to grow through strategic acquisitions in addition to generating income from our services.
Our sources of revenue are primarily from:
† Consolidated revenues of our portfolio companies which we own in majority;
† Management and consulting fees we may charge our portfolio companies;
† Revenue sharing agreements we may have with our portfolio companies;
† Royalty and licensing proceeds from the sale of technology rights we may own in whole or in part with our portfolio companies;
† Proceeds from the sale of securities we may own in our portfolio companies;
† Proceeds from the interest and payment of debt we may hold in our portfolio companies; and
† Proceeds from the conversion of debt we may hold in our portfolio companies into marketable securities and subsequent sale of same.
OUR PORTFOLIO COMPANIES
Sound City
We previously owned 51% of Sound City with an option to acquire the remaining 49%. The option was valid through December 31, 2009, and could have been exercised for $3,500,000, which was payable in cash, stock or a combination of cash or stock. Sound City, Inc. is a consumer electronics company with customers across the U.S. Sound City markets audio and video solutions for home and mobile environments, including the HD-TV, Plasma TV and LCD TV market segments. As a full service dealer, Sound City provides a wide range of custom home installations addressing numerous applications. With a customer base of over 900,000 customers, Sound City is a large electronics mail order companies in the U.S.,which distributes its products and solutions through its direct mail and Web site channels. Consumers can also find the latest audio, video, car stereo and home theatre products in Sound City's retail locations, including 12 custom showrooms. Sound City operates a web site at the following address:
http://www.soundcity.com. For various business reasons, we decided to forego our option to purchase the remaining 49% of Sound City and to give back our 51% ownership interest in exchange for the additional $800,000 of debt that we owed to the minority owners of Sound City. The transfer occurred on October 1, 2006, and we no longer own any interest in Sound City, nor do we owe the Sound City shareholders the $800,0000 debt we incurred to purchase the original 51%.
.
InMarketing Group Inc.
On December 20, 2005, we acquired 51% of the outstanding common stock of InMarketing Group Inc. (IMG) for $1,000,000 in cash and $1,210,000 in the form of Series B 4% convertible preferred stock of the Company, with an option to acquire the remaining 49%. The option is valid through December 19, 2007. InMarketing has informed us that it believes the option to purchase the additional 49% is no longer valid, and that we now only own 29% of InMarketing. The Company disputes the position taken by InMarketing with regards to the ownership interest and the rights with regards to the option. InMarketing has refused to provide financial information to be included in this filing. As a result, the financial information provided herein does not include any income or expenses generated by InMarketing. We intend to distribute shares of inmarketing to all stockholders of MODC as soon as practicable.
Insight Medical
On January 8, 2007 we entered into an agreement to purchase certain assets of Insight Medical Group, which has technology that will allow for the detection of cancer. The technology is ready for final testing and regulatory approval. Our investors have not provided the funding as provided for and in breach of a Term Sheet executed between the Company and the investors. As a result, we have been unable to meet our commitments to Insight Medical and as a result we have modified the original asset purchase agreement to return the assets in exchange for marketing and distribution rights for the technology and a equity distribution to all MODC stockholders as soon as practicable.
Selecting Portfolio Companies
We may purchase an equity position, whether minority or majority, in various companies from time to time. We offer our services to new customers, also referred to as portfolio companies, for cash payment. We may elect to take equity in the portfolio company as payment for our services.
We also seek to grow our revenues and assets by acquisitions. We seek to obtain a majority equity position in any company we acquire. If we acquire a minority position in a company, we will seek to enter into agreement with that company whereby we will generate income from our services. If we acquire a minority position in a company, we value that equity using a good-faith estimation of its value based on generally accepted accounting principles combined with our internal judgment based on industry and economic factors not encompassed by traditional accounting principles.
We acquire majority or minority equity positions in portfolio companies by purchasing the equity with cash, debt, or purchasing the equity by issuing stock in our company. We may pay for the equity position with a combination of both cash and stock and debt.
When presented with a prospective acquisition, we make a good-faith valuation for the business to be acquired and its future prospects. If the assessment of the prospective acquisition appears to offer a good or reasonable chance to increase our revenues and assets both in the short-term and the long-term, we will seek to acquire the prospective company.
We find new customers and prospective companies to acquire through out network of relationships within the business community.
EMPLOYEES
We currently have three full time employees and three part-time employees, including two in management, two in business development, one in business advisory and one administrative position. There exist no organized labor agreements or union agreements between our employees and us. We believe that our relations with our employees are good.
Results of Operations:
Nine months ended March 31, 2007 vs. 2006
During the nine months ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, the Registrant had a net loss applicable to common shareholders of $(4,670,956) and $(5,582,783), respectively.
For the nine months ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, the Registrant had total revenues of $-0- and $7,871,185, respectively, as compared with gross margin for the comparable periods of $-0- and $1,767,521, respectively
The net loss for the nine months ended March 31, 2007 is attributable primarily to expenses incurred as part of our reorganization efforts and activities related to locating and securing new portfolio companies. In addition, we incurred large interest expense and gains on the valuation of our derivative liabilities. The interest expense amounted to $3,538,760 and the gain from our derivative liability valuation was $2,108,526. The gains on our derivative liability valuations were the result of our decreasing stock price. We also had a large loss on the impairment of our goodwill of $2,210,000. The goodwill impairment was the result of our evaluation of our INmarketing Group subsidiary.
Three months ended March 31, 2007 vs. 2006
During the three months ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, the Registrant had a net income (loss) applicable to common shareholders of $1,458,531 and $(4,222,459), respectively.
For the three months ended March 31, 2007 and 2006, the Registrant had total revenues of $-0- and $4,671,322, respectively, as compared with gross margin for the comparable periods of $-0- and $779,649, respectively
The net income for the three months ended March 31, 2007 is attributable primarily to the change in our derivative liabilities shown on our balance sheet. In addition, we incurred a large impairment loss on the evaluation of our INmarketing Group subsidiary. Our interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2007 was the result of our large debt balances.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The cash and cash equivalent balance of the Registrant was $26,199 and $181,701 as of March 31, 2007 and June 30, 2006, respectively.
The Company has incurred substantial losses through March 31, 2007. Until such time that the Company's products and services can be successfully marketed, the Company will continue to need to fulfill working capital requirements through the sale of stock and/or the issuance of debt. The inability of the Company to continue its operations as a going concern would impact the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts.
The ability of the company to continue in existence is dependent on its having sufficient financial resources to bring products and services to market for marketplace acceptance. As a result of its significant losses, negative cash flows from operations, and accumulated deficits for the periods ending March 31, 2007, there is doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern.
Management believes that its current available working capital, anticipated revenues, further planned reductions in operating expenses, and subsequent sales of stock and/or placement of debt instruments will be sufficient to meet its projected expenditures for a period of at least twelve months from March 31, 2007.
Last of the original Drifters dies at 81 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Bill Pinkney, the last survivor of the original members of the musical group The Drifters, died Wednesday. He was 81.
Pinkney was found dead at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, Daytona Beach Police spokesman Jimmie Flynt said. The death was not considered suspicious, he said.
Pinkney was scheduled to perform for Fourth of July festivities there.
Pinkney's manager, Maxine Porter, declined to discuss his cause of death, but said Pinkney had had health problems.
The Drifters, whose hits include "Under the Boardwalk," "Up on the Roof," and "Save the Last Dance For Me," still performed Wednesday night. An announcement about Pinkney's death was made after the show, said the group's publicist, Donnie Lowery.
Pinkney, born in Dalzell, S.C., wasn't with The Drifters when they recorded their biggest hits. He left in the band in 1958 because of an argument over cash. His distinctive bass voice can be heard on the group's version of the holiday classic "White Christmas."
Even though he left the group, Pinkney didn't let go of The Drifters' name. He fought for laws allowing performers or bands to claim an affiliation with a classic group like The Drifters or The Coasters only if at least one member recorded with the original group.
The Drifters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Pinkney was a World War II veteran and pitched for the New York Blue Sox of the Negro Baseball League in the late 1940s and early '50s.
Porter said funeral arrangements were pending but that he would be buried in South Carolina.
Chestnut crowned hot dog champion
Kobayashi beaten and new record set at Coney Island
Posted: Wednesday July 4, 2007 1:41PM; Updated: Wednesday July 4, 2007 1:43PM
Joey Chesnut polished off a record 66 hot dogs on Wednesday to win his first Nathan's Hot Dog Competition
AP
In a gut-busting showdown that combined drama, daring and indigestion, Joey Chestnut emerged Wednesday as the world's hot dog eating champion, knocking off six-time winner Takeru Kobayashi in a rousing yet repulsive triumph.
Chestnut, the great red, white and blue hope in the annual Fourth of July competition, broke his own world record by inhaling 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes -- a staggering one every 10.9 seconds before a screaming crowd in Coney Island.
"If I needed to eat another one right now, I could," the 23-year-old Californian said after receiving the mustard yellow belt emblematic of hot dog eating supremacy.
Kobayashi, the Japanese eating machine, recently had a wisdom tooth extracted and received chiropractic treatment due to a sore jaw. But the winner of every Nathan's hot dog competition from 2001 to 2006 showed no ill effects as he stayed with Chestnut frank-for-frank until the very end of the 12-minute competition.
Kobayashi finished with 63 HDBs -- hot dogs and buns eaten -- in his best performance ever. His previous high in the annual competition was 531/2. The all-time record before Wednesday's remarkable contest was Chestnut's 591/2, set just last month.
The two gustatory gladiators quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the 17 competitors, processing more beef than a slaughterhouse within the first few minutes. The two had each downed 60 hot dogs with 60 seconds to go when Chestnut -- the veins on his forehead extended -- put away the final franks to end Kobayashi's reign.
I agree ...............
5 die in dairy farm manure pitStory Highlights
Farmer, his wife, two daughters and farmhand died in pit
Authorities say they may have suffocated on methane gas or drowned
Farmer was trying to clear drain in pit, passed out
Others died coming to farmer's aid
BRIDGEWATER, Virginia (AP) -- Exposure to methane gas led to the deaths of five people, but whether they suffocated from the fumes or drowned in 18 inches of liquefied cow manure may never be known, authorities said.
Neighbors and relatives tend a drain at a Virginia dairy farm where five people died in a manure pit.
1 of 2 No autopsies were planned, in part because investigators believed the deaths on a Rockingham County dairy farm were accidental, said Capt. J.B. Wittig of the county sheriff's department. Authorities said they could not rule out the possibility that the five drowned or died of another cause.
"It was very, very quick," Wittig said of the deaths.
The victims were identified as Scott Showalter, 34; his wife, Phyillis, 33; their daughters Shayla, 11, and Christina, 9; and Amous Stoltzfus, 24.
Authorities said Showalter entered a manure pit to unclog a pipe Monday evening and was quickly overcome by the methane. Stoltzfus, apparently believing Showalter had a heart attack, went in after him and also passed out.
Another farm worker alerted Showalter's wife, who rushed to the pit followed by Shayla and Christina.
"They all climbed into the pit to help," Sheriff Donald Farley said.
The victims had no warning of the deadly gas that had built up in the pit.
"You cannot smell it, you cannot see it, but it's an instant kill," said Dan Brubaker, a family friend who oversaw the construction of the pit decades earlier.
Farmers typically take pains to ventilate manure pits where methane often gathers. On Tuesday, a cousin of Scott Showalter questioned whether runoff from a pile of cattle feed could have trickled into the pit and accelerated the formation of the gas.
"It rained, and some of it ran down into this holding pit, it fermented and made a toxic gas," said Bruce Good, who saw Showalter about once a week.
The sheriff said Showalter apparently was transferring manure from one small pit to a larger holding pond when a pipe clogged. About once a week, waste is pumped from the roughly 9-foot-deep pit into a larger pond.
Showalter shimmied through the 4-foot opening into the concrete enclosure, which is similar to an underground tank.
"It was probably something he had done a hundred times," Farley said.
The deaths struck hard in this picturesque farming region dotted with red barns, gleaming silos and church steeples that peek above rolling fields.
The Showalters were well known in the community where neighbors do each other's laundry. Their two surviving daughters were being cared for by family members, and friends tended to the family's animals the day after the tragedy.
"The cows have to be milked twice a day, even in an ordeal like this," said Frank Showalter, Scott's great-uncle, standing a few feet from where his relatives died.
The Showalters milked 103 cows on their farm west of Harrisonburg in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. They belonged to a conservative Mennonite church whose members shun many of the trappings of modern society but drive cars, use telephones and, according to police, take modern farm-safety precautions.
Fellow church members were in shock Tuesday, said the Rev. Nathan Horst, a Mennonite bishop.
"We've never had a tragedy of this magnitude," he said
Heir puts 'Dracula's Castle' for sale By ALEXANDRU ALEXE, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 2, 2:18 PM ET
BUCHAREST, Romania - A Habsburg heir is hoping someone will take a bite of his offer Monday to sell "Dracula's Castle" in Transylvania.
The medieval Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, "Dracula."
Legend has it that the ruthless Vlad — who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies — spent one night in the 1400s at the castle.
The Habsburgs formally put the Bran Castle on the market Monday, a U.S.-based investment company said. No selling price was announced.
Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948.
After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as "Dracula's Castle."
In May 2006, the castle was returned to Princess Ileana's son, New York architect Archduke Dominic Habsburg. He pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009.
Habsburg, 69, offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for $80 million, but the offer was rejected.
On Monday, he put the castle up for sale "to the right purchaser under the right circumstances," said Michael Gardner, chief executive of Baytree Capital, the company representing Habsburg. "The Habsburgs are not in the business of managing a museum."
He predicted the castle would sell for more than $135 million but added that Habsburg will only sell it to a buyer "who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect."
Habsburg said in a statement: "Aside from the castle's connection to one of the most famous novels ever written, Bran Castle is steeped in critical events of European history dating from the 14th century to the present."
According to a contract signed when the castle was returned, the government pays rent to Habsburg to run the castle as a museum for three years, charging admission. After 2009, Habsburg will have full control of the castle, Gardner said.
The government has priority as a buyer if it can match the best offer for the castle, he said.
Opposition lawmakers have claimed the government's decision to return the castle to Habsburg was illegal because of procedural errors.
In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats flying around its ramparts at twilight — has attracted filmmakers looking for a dramatic backdrop for films about Dracula and other horror movies.
Some 450,000 people visit the castle every year, Gardner said.
Key to a good marriage? Share housework. By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
Sun Jul 1, 6:54 AM ET
NEW YORK - The percentage of Americans who consider children "very important" to a successful marriage has dropped sharply since 1990, and more now cite the sharing of household chores as pivotal, according to a sweeping new survey.
The Pew Research Center survey on marriage and parenting found that children had fallen to eighth out of nine on a list of factors that people associate with successful marriages — well behind "sharing household chores," "good housing," "adequate income," a "happy sexual relationship" and "faithfulness."
In a 1990 World Values Survey, children ranked third in importance among the same items, with 65 percent saying children were very important to a good marriage. Just 41 percent said so in the new Pew survey.
Chore-sharing was cited as very important by 62 percent of respondents, up from 47 percent in 1990.
The survey also found that, by a margin of nearly 3-to-1, Americans say the main purpose of marriage is the "mutual happiness and fulfillment" of adults rather than the "bearing and raising of children."
The survey's findings buttress concerns expressed by numerous scholars and family-policy experts, among them Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of Rutgers University's National Marriage Project.
"The popular culture is increasingly oriented to fulfilling the X-rated fantasies and desires of adults," she wrote in a recent report. "Child-rearing values — sacrifice, stability, dependability, maturity — seem stale and musty by comparison."
Virginia Rutter, a sociology professor at Framingham (Mass.) State College and board member of the Council on Contemporary Families, said the shifting views may be linked in part to America's relative lack of family-friendly workplace policies such as paid leave and subsidized child care.
"If we value families ... we need to change the circumstances they live in," she said, citing the challenges faced by young, two-earner couples as they ponder having children.
The Pew survey was conducted by telephone from mid-February through mid-March among a random, nationwide sample of 2,020 adults. Its margin of error is 3 percentage points.
Among the scores of questions in the survey, many touched on America's high rate of out-of-wedlock births and of cohabitation outside of marriage. The survey noted that 37 percent of U.S. births in 2005 were to unmarried women, up from 5 percent in 1960, and found that nearly half of all adults in their 30s and 40s had lived with a partner outside of marriage.
According to the survey, 71 percent of Americans say the growth in births to unwed mothers is a "big problem." About the same proportion — 69 percent — said a child needs both a mother and a father to grow up happily.
Breaking down the responses, the survey found some predictable patterns — Republicans and older people were more likely to give conservative answers that Democrats and younger adults. But the patterns in regard to race and ethnicity were more complex.
For example, census statistics show that blacks and Hispanic are more likely than whites to bear children out of wedlock. Yet according to the survey, these minority groups are more inclined than whites to place a high value on the importance of children to a successful marriage.
The survey found that more than 80 percent of white adults have been married, compared with about 70 percent of Hispanics and 54 percent of blacks. Yet blacks were more likely than whites and Hispanics to say that premarital sex is always or almost always morally wrong.
Among those who have ever been married, blacks (38 percent) and whites (34 percent) were more likely than Hispanics (23 percent) to have been divorced.
Delving into one of the nation's most divisive social issues, the survey found that 57 percent of public opposes allowing gays and lesbians to marry. However, opinion was almost evenly divided on support for civil unions that would give same-sex couples many of the same rights as married couples.
Asked about the trend of more same-sex couples raising children, 50 percent said this is bad for society, 11 percent said it is good, and 34 percent said it made little difference.
This is way toooooooooooo much............
Hamas TV show kills militant mouse characterStory Highlights
Israeli character kills Mickey Mouse lookalike star in final episode
Teen presenter describes Farfour the mouse as "martyr"
Kids' show character had urged Palestinian children to fight Israel
GAZA CITY (AP) -- A Mickey Mouse lookalike who preached Islamic domination on a Hamas-affiliated children's television program was the victim of a pretend beating death in the show's final episode Friday.
The Mickey Mouse lookalike urged Palestinian children to fight Israel in the Hamas-affiliated kid's program.
In the final skit, the "Farfour" character was killed by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a "terrorist."
"Farfour was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed "by the killers of children," she added.
The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV.
Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs. Station manager Mohammed Bilal said he did not know what would be shown instead.
Don't miss
New Palestinian PM wants to work with Israel
Israeli officials have denounced the program, "Tomorrow's Pioneers," as incendiary and outrageous.
The program was also opposed by the state-run Palestinian Broadcasting Corp., which is controlled by Fatah, Hamas' rival
I don't know if you've seen this site but its interesting, I have a few bills registered and the end up all over the place.
This site is called Where's George
http://www.wheresgeorge.com/
Fans flock to 'Sopranos' Jersey haunts By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jun 21, 11:47 AM ET
NEWARK, N.J. - Fade to black? Not a chance for fans of "The Sopranos." Almost two weeks after the series finale, the addiction to the show seems stronger than ever, with legions of fans making a journey to Jersey to see real-life remnants of the hit TV mob drama.
For many, their obsession starts at the place where the series ended: Business is booming at the diner where lead character Tony Soprano sat with his family in the controversial series finale.
Fans not only want to eat at Holsten's (actually an ice cream parlor in Bloomfield), they want to sit in the same booth where Tony, the fictional New Jersey mob boss, played the Journey song, "Don't Stop Believin'."
"The phone just rings constantly all day from people wanting to make reservations," said co-owner Chris Carley. "They ask `Can we reserve the booth? Can we get a T-shirt?'"
Carley, who watched the final scenes filmed there over two days, fields calls from fans wanting to talk about the ending. Customers who want to relive Tony's last meal can buy some of the onion rings he raved about(for $2.50), but they cannot listen to the juke box, which was a prop for the show.
"It's just so funny that people want to sit in that booth," Carley said. "A lot of people are taking pictures."
The Emmy-winning HBO show explored the life of the fictional Jersey mob boss and his family, and scores of scenes have been shot across the Garden State since it debuted in 1999.
The series buzz-inducing final scene ended abruptly with the screen suddenly going black as Tony and his family sit down to dinner at Holsten's, leaving fans guessing about what happens next.
Part of "The Sopranos" fascination is fueled by the lack of a real ending, said Roland T. Rust, chairman of the marketing department at the University of Maryland.
"The fact you don't have that resolution makes it more difficult for people to let go," Rust said.
Some fans are flocking to a "Sopranos"-themed bus tour. With 47 sites, it's one way fans can still connect with the show. The cost is $42 per person, which includes a cannoli (a nod to "The Godfather"). Afternoon tours for the next two weekends are already sold out.
The tour begins in Midtown Manhattan and transports up to 54 people through the Lincoln Tunnel into Jersey (the start of Tony's journey in the opening credits). Fans see the fictional Satriale's pork store in Kearny and the diner under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City where Tony's nephew, Christopher, got shot.
For many the highlight is Satin Dolls, a strip club that fronts for the "Bada Bing," on Route 17 in Lodi.
"People are really in withdrawal," says Georgette Blau, president of On Location Tours. A third tour has been added, and a fourth is likely to begin next month, Blau said.
Satriale's, which is one of the most popular stops, is slated to be whacked come August or September.
Manny Costeira, the owner of the building who leased it to HBO, is demolishing it to make way for nine condos and a garage, aptly named "Soprano Court."
Costeira said construction will begin in the fall or spring and fans can buy a piece of the building.
"We'll be salvaging the stones off the building for those people who are totally heartbroken about the pork store going down," he said.
The obsession with "The Sopranos" doesn't just include New Jersey.
Music downloads of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" jumped 371 percent in the week after it played in the show's final scene, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign borrowed from the series ending when it unveiled its new campaign song with a Web video spoof of the "Sopranos" exit.
Even Pizzaland, a shack that zips by in the show's opening credits, has seen a huge spike in business from fans trying to still starving for the show.
The store got so busy fielding requests for custom pizzas from across the country — the pies are sent by mail in dry ice — that it had to shut its doors to walk-in customers five days before the final episode aired.
"We had to stop answering the phones," said owner Todd Maino.
His employees worked for 48 hours straight to accommodate 800 to 1,000 orders before the finale, and they're still taking 300 to 400 weekly orders for the thin-crust pizza.
Pizzaland shipped two pies to Jeri Hershberger last week in Spokane, Wash. The 56-year-old is still looking for a connection to the show.
"It never was finalized," she said. "It keeps people's imaginations going."
Woman ties county blood alcohol record Thu Jun 21, 10:41 PM ET
TACOMA, Wash. - A Pierce County woman apparently tied a record for the amount of alcohol in her blood when the Washington State Patrol toxicology lab measured a blood-alcohol content of 0.50 two hours after she was arrested for investigation of drunken driving.
Ann Marie Gordon, manager of the lab in Seattle, said the reading — more than six times the legal limit of 0.08 — tied the highest level ever found by technicians at the patrol's lab. A King County driver also registered 0.50 on a blood test in 2000, Gordon said.
"It certainly would kill many people," she said.
The average blood-alcohol content of drunken drivers stopped in Washington is about 0.15, Gordon added.
Rebecca G. Lingbloom, 45, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to one count of driving under the influence of alcohol on May 10. Authorities contended in an affidavit that she nearly hit a pedestrian that day and was seen swerving all over the road.
A Pierce County sheriff's deputy later found her passed out behind the wheel of her car in the Summit area, the affidavit states.
Deputy Prosecutor Bradley Moericke pointed out that Lingbloom was arrested for investigation of drunken driving twice in the 1990s, and asked District Court Judge Frank Dacca to jail her in lieu of $20,000 bail. Moericke also asked that Lingbloom be monitored with an electronic bracelet that would record her movements should she make bail.
Dacca declined both requests after Lingbloom told him she enrolled in a six-month treatment program for alcohol abuse not long after her arrest. Public defender Clarence Henderson told the judge he called the clinic before Wednesday's hearing and confirmed that Lingbloom was enrolled.
Dacca said he didn't want to jeopardize Lingbloom's treatment by sending her to jail. He did require that she continue her program and report to court July 24 for another hearing.
yea they filled it @ .0195, thanks Scottrade
I have a buy in for .021, will I get it ?
How high will she go................................
Perfect ending, This has all the makings of a Sopranos movie, much like the Godfather series, IMHO
I loved it
Press Release Source: Originally New York, Inc.
Originally New York Announces New Officers and Directors
Wednesday June 6, 8:30 am ET
EAGLE GROVE, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Originally New York, Inc and its wholly owned subsidiary Diversified Ethanol Corporation (Pink Sheets:ONYI - News) announces that new officers and directors have been appointed, to breathe fresh energy into the company. The company has appointed Bob Johnson as the new Chairman and CEO. Mr. Johnson has elected to work without salary, receiving only an expense account and the rights to earn stock bonuses based upon successful performance.
The other new board members have also elected to work with only expense accounts and the rights to earn success-based stock bonuses. The present board of directors is as follows: Taylor Moffitt, Floyd Butterfield, Vint Lewis, and Bob Johnson (Chairman). James W. Tausz was named as a non-voting advisor to the board. Mr. Tausz has also elected to work without salary and may receive stock bonuses based upon success as well.
Director Taylor Moffitt said, "Bob Johnson has been working very hard, and has already brought new levels of organization and follow-through to the company. He's been cutting expenses and he's already doing a solid good job. We needed his level of drive and determination. It's a breath of fresh air, and is just what the company needed. Bob has experience running a manufacturing company as the Chairman and CEO of Pharmaceutical Innovators, Ltd. for 22 years where the company manufactured and sold counting equipment throughout the world. The equipment was primarily sold to the pharmaceutical industry, but also had GSA and DOD contracts with equipment in over 750 government installations. The company also sold to the agriculture industry counting corn and other products for test plot planting. Our new directors are 100% committed to seeing the company succeed, in every way. The new board is part of a continuing effort to bring accountability and a shareholder-friendly balance of control to the company.
The new board respectfully accepted the resignation of Chris McGovern, who has served the company with integrity. New Chairman & CEO Bob Johnson commented, "We hated to see Chris leave the company, especially now that things are moving in such a positive direction with sales inquiries coming in from all parts of the world and for all types of various feed stocks, but we not only thank him for his efforts but wish him well on his next business venture."
About the company: Diversified Ethanol, a subsidiary of Originally New York, Inc. offers small ethanol plants. The plants are modular in design, and compatible with a wide variety of feedstocks. The company has an award-winning ethanol plant design and a dairy management system that pays for itself, utilizing energy produced from waste. The new company website is located at: www.diversifiedethanol.com
This press release does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ, including, without limitation, the company's limited operating history and history of losses, the inability to successfully obtain further funding, the inability to raise capital on terms acceptable to the company, the inability to compete effectively in the marketplace, the inability to complete the proposed acquisition and such other risks that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the company's projections or forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to the company as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
Contact:
Originally New York, Inc, Eagle Grove
Investor Relations:
Bob Johnson, 515-603-6292
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Originally New York, Inc
China rejects U.S. warning on toothpaste
BEIJING (AP) — China called a U.S. warning to consumers to avoid Chinese toothpaste because it may contain a poisonous chemical "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China because of reports that the products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze and also as a low-cost — but frequently deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.
In a statement posted on its website late Saturday, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.
The FDA was not aware of any poisoning but found toothpaste with the chemical in a shipment at the U.S. border and at two bargain retail stores, a Dollar Plus in Miami and a Todo A Peso in Puerto Rico.
China's main food safety regulator said in its statement that the ingredients of toothpaste exported to the U.S. is offered to the FDA, showing the amount of diethylene glycol. Also, the toothpaste's labeling has already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the U.S, the statement said.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: China | Beijing | Chinese | US Food and Drug Administration | DEG | Cooldent Spearmint
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said experts from the Health Ministry had deemed diethylene glycol a "low-level" poison that does not accumulate in the body and found no evidence the substance caused cancer or deformities.
It also said European Union standards allow for a certain amount of the chemical and cited a 2000 Chinese study that found toothpaste containing less than 15.6% diethylene glycol was not harmful. The Chinese toothpaste the FDA is concerned about contains between 3% to 4% of the drug, according to the FDA.
"Therefore the warning issued by the FDA ... is unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," the agency said.
The agency "requests the U.S. clarify the facts in a scientific manner as soon as possible and properly handle the issue."
The FDA alert Friday said the agency found diethylene glycol, or DEG, in three products manufactured by Goldcredit International Trading in China: Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint and Cooldent ICE.
The agency also found the chemical in one product manufactured by Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemical Co. Analysis of that product, Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste, found it contained about 1% DEG.
Phones at both companies rang unanswered Sunday.
Companies that make brands previously found with DEG will have to prove the toothpaste is free of the chemical before it's allowed into the U.S., the FDA said. Meanwhile, all other brands of Chinese-made toothpaste will be stopped for testing, something the FDA has been doing since May 23.
A slew of Chinese exports have recently been banned or turned away by U.S. inspectors including, wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine that has been blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America, monkfish that turned out to be toxic pufferfish, drug-laced frozen eel, and juice made with unsafe color additives.
DEG was blamed for the deaths of 51 people in Panama after they took tainted cold medicine. China has admitted it was the source of the deadly chemical but insists it was originally labeled as for industrial use only.
Officials in Panama and several other Latin American countries have removed tens of thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from stores amid concerns that they contain DEG.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Swarms of cicadas emerging in Midwest By TARA BURGHART, Associated Press Writer
Sun May 20, 4:48 PM ET
CHICAGO - Coming soon: Brood XIII. It sounds like a bad horror movie. But it's actually the name of the billions of cicadas expected to emerge this month in parts of the Midwest after spending 17 years underground.
The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don't bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.
Brood XIII is expected across northern Illinois, and in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Cicadas live only about 30 days as adults, and their main goal is mating.
They don't harm humans, although they are clumsy and might fly into people. Birds, squirrels and pets, especially dogs, love to eat them, and they are high in protein.
"They're going to have quite a meal. It's going to be like Thanksgiving for them," said Tom Tiddens, supervisor for plant health care at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
They are periodical cicadas, which are only found in the eastern half of North America. The annual, or dog-day cicadas, that appear every summer are common around the world.
The last massive emergence of periodical cicadas was in 2004, when Brood X emerged after 17 years underground in parts of 15 Eastern states. Some broods emerge after 13 years.
As nymphs burrowing underground, cicadas suck sap from tree roots. Almost all members of a group, or brood, burst from the ground within a couple days of each other.
They quickly climb the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their wings. In some heavily wooded areas, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre will crowd onto trees, expert say.
"It's one of the greatest insect emergences on Earth," said Daniel Summers, an entomologist at The Field Museum.
A single male's shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, equivalent to a kitchen blender. That could sour plans for outdoor events over the next few weeks.
Ravinia Festival, a 103-year-old music festival held north of Chicago, revised its schedule to avoid classical musicians having to compete with the insects, said festival president and CEO Welz Kauffman.
June will see more pop bands outdoors, a few concerts moved indoors and a visit from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. "With 350 voices on stage, they can hold their own against the bugs," Kauffman said.
At the Chicago Botanic Garden, spokeswoman Gloria Ciaccio joked that her advice for brides holding outdoor weddings there will be to put the tent flaps down and turn the music up.
An Illinois company that provides ice sculptures has turned down several outdoor parties over the next month. That's because of what happened when Nadeau Ice Sculptures owner Jim Nadeau delivered a swan statue to a wedding in 1990, during the area's last emergence of the periodical cicadas.
"We put our tray down and immediately the cicadas came off the ground and attacked the ice. Literally, it was a moving sculpture, this big black ugly mass of cicadas constantly moving," said Nadeau.
"I don't want to talk myself out of work, but that was just too gross," he said.
Exactly when the cicadas will emerge is a subject of debate, although there is agreement they emerge once the soil temperature is consistently 64 to 65 degrees for several days. Biologists and insect experts predict the cicadas will emerge between Tuesday and June 1.
The best place to see — and hear — the cicadas will be forest preserves, golf courses and any land where there are older trees where the soil has been undisturbed since 1990.
Freelance writer David Hammond runs the LTHForum, a Chicago-based Internet site devoted to culinary matters, and his "foodie" friends want to see what the cicadas taste like.
The insects are eaten in other parts of the world, with descriptions of the taste ranging from shrimp to canned asparagus to not much at all.
No recipe has been decided upon yet, but Hammond assumes they will be fried and perhaps accompanied by a dip or salsa.
"Honestly, they'll probably go down easier that way," he said. "Who knows? Maybe we'll love it. We may have to travel around the country as infestations occur."
If this hits .0002 or .0003 I hope everyone takes profits and doesn't get greedy, have your sell orders in, mine is set for .0002
update for ace utilities
If you can give me the number I will call, if thats ok
alien_scones
could you supply me a link to were you found out A/S of JMCP so I could put it in the IBOX
Thanks
jgbuz
That's the best advise SERPICO2005, don't marry this stock, if it runs take your profits, always be skeptical, and TAKE PROFITS..................................
I am watching the Day After Tomorrow, than while reading some news came across this.......................
Study: Southern Ocean saturated with CO2
POSTED: 2:10 p.m. EDT, May 17, 2007
Story Highlights• Southern Ocean around Antarctica loaded with carbon dioxide
• Human activity is the main culprit, according to researchers
• Southern Ocean is one of the world's biggest reservoirs of carbon
• Research indicates it has been saturated with CO2 since the 1980s
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is so loaded with carbon dioxide that it can barely absorb any more, so more of the gas will stay in the atmosphere to warm up the planet, scientists reported Thursday.
Human activity is the main culprit, said researcher Corinne Le Quere, who called the finding very alarming.
The phenomenon wasn't expected to be apparent for decades, Le Quere said in a telephone interview from the University of East Anglia in Britain.
"We thought we would be able to detect these only the second half of this century, say 2050 or so," she said. But data from 1981 through 2004 show the sink is already full of carbon dioxide. "So I find this really quite alarming."
The Southern Ocean is one of the world's biggest reservoirs of carbon, known as a carbon sink. When carbon is in a sink -- whether it's an ocean or a forest, both of which can lock up carbon dioxide -- it stays out of the atmosphere and does not contribute to global warming.
The new research, published in the latest edition of the journal Science, indicates that the Southern Ocean has been saturated with carbon dioxide at least since the 1980s.
This is significant because the Southern Ocean accounts for 15 percent of the global carbon sink, Le Quere said.
Increased winds over the last half-century are to blame for the change, Le Quere said. These winds blend the carbon dioxide throughout the Southern Ocean, mixing the naturally occurring carbon that usually stays deep down with the human-caused carbon.
When natural carbon is brought up to the surface by the winds, it is harder for the Southern Ocean to accommodate more human-generated carbon, which comes from factories, coal-fired power plants and petroleum-powered motor vehicle exhaust.
The winds themselves are caused by two separate human factors.
First, the human-spawned ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere over the Southern Ocean has created large changes in temperature throughout the atmosphere, Le Quere said.
Second, the uneven nature of global warming has produced higher temperatures in the northern parts of the world than in the south, which has also made the winds accelerate in the Southern Ocean.
"Since the beginning of the industrial revolution the world's oceans have absorbed about a quarter of the 500 gigatons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by humans," Chris Rapley of the British Antarctic Survey said in a statement.
"The possibility that in a warmer world the Southern Ocean -- the strongest ocean sink -- is weakening is a cause for concern," Rapley said.
Another sign of warming in the Antarctic was reported Tuesday by NASA, which found vast areas of snow melted on the southern continent in 2005 in a process that may accelerate invisible melting deep beneath the surface. (Full story)
try selling in small increments, I 've been able to sell a few
How Internet Criminals Will Evade Vista's Safeguards Erik Larkin, PC World
Think malware will fade away with Vista? Sorry. There's about as much chance of the thriving throngs of online criminals packing up shop as there is of Microsoft doing the same.
"Malware technology will evolve just like a business," says Vlad Gorelik, chief technology officer of Sana Security. "There are definitely improved protections [in Vista] with permissions control and things like that, but that type of protection could be overcome by malware."
Some malware can already do its nefarious work under Vista, while others will need only minor changes. Fake alerts and other social engineering tricks already in use will become more sophisticated and more common as methods for evading Vista's defenses. You'll also likely see more Web-based threats able to steal data passing through any browser, and malware may hide more often in seemingly innocuous installation programs.
These threats and others will find a way around Vista's defenses as long as there's a buck to be made--but you can act to protect yourself.
Seamless Shift
According to Gorelik, Microsoft's efforts to allow legacy XP software to run on Vista means that many varieties of malware can easily make the jump along with legit programs. Some won't need to change at all; Gorelik says that out of a few hundred malware samples his company regularly works with on XP, about 30 percent ran happily under Vista without any modifications.
For those attack apps that might be blocked from installing surreptitiously by Vista's User Access Control, for instance, expect social engineering to play an ever greater role. UAC attempts to limit malware's reach into the system by denying malware automatic permission to change important system files. If a user or a program tries to make sensitive changes, a pop-up will appear that requires the user to okay the move. Attackers will employ social engineering tricks to get around that defense, or even to co-opt it.
Social engineering already exists in many forms--as in (to take just one example) the never-ending flood of e-mails that purport to be from your Web mail provider, asking you to open an attached file explaining your password change. Symantec recently posted a warning about another, particularly well-crafted social engineering attack that appears as a Windows activation window.
Trust No One
The counter to social engineering is, of course, to stay sharp. More than ever, you should automatically distrust any unexpected e-mail attachment, even if it appears to come from a trusted friend or a site you do business with. The same goes for links in e-mail--if you're in the habit of always using a bookmark or typing in the URL to access your accounts, you'll be safe if and when an e-mail comes along that's good enough to trick you.
But social engineering won't stop with e-mail. Both Gorelik and Joe Stewart, a senior security researcher with SecureWorks, expect social engineering to expand with attacks that purposely pop-up a seemingly normal UAC prompt--but if you ok it, you'll give malware a free pass to infect your computer.
These faked pop-ups could work, Stewart says, because people "have to make the right decision about what they're going to run every time. It just takes one thing to get through and disable UAC."
Installers to Evade UAC?
Gorelik also expects Internet fraudsters to take advantage of what many experts are calling a UAC design flaw. The Vista feature allows only two options for installation programs--block them entirely or give them free reign on your PC. There's no middle ground, such as giving a program only those permissions needed to install. So if you can trick the user into performing an installation, Gorelik says, you can make an end-run around UAC. Attackers already try to bury malware in otherwise benign downloaded programs, and the practice may increase in response to Vista's protections.
Those who regularly peer into the dark side of the Internet also warn that we can expect to see more Web-based threats that can work despite Vista's Protected Mode for Internet Explorer 7. Protected Mode is a smart approach that limits the ability of IE--or an attack that takes over the browser--to expand into the rest of the operating system, even beyond the limitations imposed by UAC. But many Web-based attacks that use malicious JavaScript to perform phishing attacks and potentially steal data from online accounts (as in a faked eBay auction) can work even in Protected Mode. The attacks don't need to access system files, but only to steal the data that passes through the browser.
Such attacks are both more limited and more powerful than malware that installs a file on a computer. For example, an attack that uses poisoned JavaScript hidden on a Web site to steal data can often hit a range of browsers across a range of operating systems, but it fades away when you close your browser.
Protect Your Passwords
Gorelik warns that the risk from password-stealing attacks is also magnified by many people's habit of re-using the same account name and password for numerous sites and services. An online thief who steals that info for your Gmail account, for instance, knows that the same credentials might work on a bank site. And while we can't be expected to remember strong, unique passwords for all of our online financial accounts, excellent free tools such as Stanford's Password Hash can take care of that for you.
In the face of burgeoning online crime, Microsoft moved in the right direction with its additional Vista security features. The added protections should help--but they won't end malware.
"I don't see the malware world changing all that much," says SecureWork's Stewart. "The ones that are out there making making money out of malware will make some adjustments to their code, and then it will be business as usual."
Trojan Impersonates Windows Activation to Snatch Data Gregg Keizer
Symantec Corp. researchers Friday warned of an in-the-wild Trojan horse that poses as a Windows activation program to dupe users into entering credit card information in an attempt to reanimate their machines.
Dubbed Kardphisher, the Trojan is nothing much technically, reported Takashi Katsuki, a Symantec researcher. But its author has "obviously taken great pains to make it appear legitimate."
Once the Trojan's installed, it throws up an official-looking screen that claims the user's copy of Windows was activated by someone else. "To help reduce software piracy, please re-activate your copy of Windows now," the screen reads. "We will ask you for your billing details, but your credit card will NOT be charged."
Selecting "No," said Katsuki, shuts down the PC. "Yes," meanwhile, takes the user to a second screen where he or she is asked to enter her name and credit card information, which is then transmitted to the hacker's server. "This Trojan teaches us all a good lesson," added Katsuki. "Trust no one."
Details on the Trojan's bogus re-activation screens look legit, and it plays off real-world behavior by Windows. The Web site referenced on the first screen, for instance, is actually Microsoft's own anti-piracy site. And in some situations, such as after a user makes substantial hardware changes, Windows XP will demand reactivation. Microsoft, however, never demands any personal information, such as a credit card, during activation.
The newer Windows Vista, which is not targeted by Kardphisher, is even more likely to require reactivation. In fact, Microsoft patched Vista in January to quash a bug in the OS's anti-piracy technology that was erroneously telling users they needed to reactivate.
Time Won't Happen Again For 1,000 Years
If you got up early or stayed up late, you experienced something that won't happen for another thousand years.
Numerically, today is 05-06-07.
And at 3 minutes and 4 seconds after 2 in the morning, it became 02-03-04 on 05-06-07
I emailed him and still waitig for a reply
WOW that was fast, has to be the quickest incarceration I have ever seen
and yes the willy pump, I just hope people be careful and do not marry this stock
that's not what I meant, the bounce I was hoping for is from this PR blitz we are getting, and enough of a pump to at least get us to .0003
Well I welcome Janice, I don't believe she has been wrong on to many stocks she posts about. But there is a small chance that we my get a small run out of this, enough to make my money back and who knows even more!
But I respect her and personally don't believe all these conspiracies theories that people post about her, as far as your jail terms all you have to do is follow the TOS rules on IHUB and you will not have any problems.