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Good O' Walter Brennan. I liked that.
Bank to woo customers with ATM roulette game Tue Aug 29, 7:44 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese banks have long had a reputation for poor service but at least one is trying something new -- wooing customers with an opportunity to try their hand at Lady Luck.
A roulette wheel pops onto the screen of automatic teller machines when customers of Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank Ltd finish transferring funds. A lucky spin and the customer wins 1,000 yen ($8.50).
"Using ATMs is impersonal and lacks communication," said a spokesman for the bank which is based in Gifu prefecture, central Japan. "We wanted to add some fun."
The new service will start from September 13 at 134 of the bank's branches.
The roulette game is Ogaki Kyoritsu's second shot at jazzing up its ATM services. It launched an on-screen slot machine game last August, in which customers may win prizes of an ATM fee waiver or 1,000 yen after withdrawing money.
"Our customers enjoy it very much," the spokesman said.
[15:02 AUD/USD: Stops Triggered As Commodities Continue to Tumble] San Francisco, August 29. The AUD has extended morning lows to 0.7605/10, triggering stops in the process on the break of 0.7610/15. Further declines in commodities including gold and copper are undermining the currency. Though some in the forex market are apparently citing concerns over a hawkish result from the FOMC minutes, bonds do not seem to be buying the story with US bond yields holding at 4.815%, below the highs seen earlier this session.
AUD is still surprisingly bid on the crosses with AUD/CHF rising steadily from lows overnight of 0.9360 to highs of 0.9420 this morning. The AUD/JPY pullback has been minor to 88.90, down from 89.20 but still near the highs seen yesterday. Rhonda.Staskow@Thomson.com /rd
U.S. missile defense ship arrives in Japan By Isabel Reynolds
Tue Aug 29, 2:23 AM ET
YOKOSUKA, Japan (Reuters) - The USS Shiloh, the first missile defense-capable ship to be deployed in Japan, arrived in the port of Yokosuka on Tuesday, eight weeks after North Korea unnerved the region with a barrage of missile tests.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060829/wl_nm/arms_japan_usa_dc_2
Professor helps invent lightning sensor 8 minutes ago
NORMAN, Okla. - A University of Oklahoma professor has helped invent a device that measures the likelihood that lightning will strike.
By measuring electricity in the atmosphere, the device provides advance warning that lightning may be imminent, said William Beasley, a University of Oklahoma professor of meteorology, who helped invent the Campbell Scientific CS-110 Electric Field Meter.
One of these devices sits atop the National Weather Center building at OU that soon will have its grand opening.
Beasley invented the device with lightning expert Leon Byerley of Tucson, Ariz. Campbell Scientific of Logan, Utah, produces and markets the meter. It was patented in January.
The device costs about $3,500, plus another $3,000 for a solar panel, battery and tripod, as the system is set up at OU.
The NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida has relied on electric field detection for decades.
"They use a network of electric field meters," the professor said. "If the electric field is greater than 1,000 volts per meter anywhere on the place, you can't fuel a car, you can't launch a rocket, you can't do anything because there's a charge overhead and it could lead to lightning."
Larry Ogle, assistant director of the Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department, said workers at its golf courses and swimming pools monitor severe weather and tell visitors when they must seek shelter.
"But sometimes storms pop up immediately over your head, so I'm sure something like that would have some application," Ogle said.
Weather experts urge people to be aware that dangerous conditions exist whenever thunder can be heard within 30 seconds of visible lightning, which means the storm is within six miles. They also warn that this danger will continue until at least 30 minutes after the last lightning has been spotted.
World’s oldest person dies in Ecuador at 116
Woman was born in the same year as Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Hitler
Updated: 3:15 a.m. CT Aug 28, 2006
QUITO, Ecuador - Maria Esther de Capovilla, a 116-year-old woman believed to have been the world’s oldest person, has died in her native Ecuador, her granddaughter said Monday. Her successor is likely a woman from Tennessee.
Capovilla died early Sunday in a hospital in the coastal city of Guayaquil, said Catherine Capovilla, a property manager and real estate agent in Miami. A funeral was planned for Monday.
Capovilla died two days after coming down with pneumonia.
Born on Sept. 14, 1889 — the same year as Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler — Capovilla was married in 1917 and widowed in 1949.
Robert Young, a senior consultant on gerontology for Guinness World Records, said Elizabeth Bolden of Memphis, Tenn., now appears to be the oldest person alive. She is also 116, but was born 11 months after Capovilla.
“Guinness World Records will have to make an official announcement from London,” he said. “For all practical purposes, the next oldest person is going to be presumed to be Elizabeth Bolden.
Healthy lifestyle
Capovilla was confirmed as the oldest living person on Dec. 9, 2005, after her family sent details of her birth and marriage certificates to the British-based publisher. Emiliano Mercado Del Toro of Puerto Rico retains the title as oldest man. He turned 115 last Monday.
Three of Capovilla’s five children — Irma, Hilda, and son Anibal — are still alive, along with 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren, the last of whom was born in February 2003, Catherine Capovilla told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
In her youth, Capovilla liked to embroider, paint, play piano and dance the waltz at parties, the family said. She also visited nearby plantation, where she would drink fresh milk from donkeys as well as cows.
She always ate three meals a day and never smoked or drank hard liquor — “Only a small cup of wine with lunch and nothing more,” Irma told AP last December.
For the past 20 years, Capovilla had lived with elder daughter, Hilda, and son-in-law, Martin.
“She was in good shape until she had a bout of pneumonia and she died unexpectedly. Her family was expecting to have a 117th birthday party,” said Young, speaking from Atlanta. “They had recently said that she was in good shape.”
delete
Nascar Rookie of the Year standings
Rank Drivers Total Pts Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10 DNF Winnings
1 Denny Hamlin 244 Leader 24 2 2 4 12 1 $3,103,347
2 Clint Bowyer 191 53 24 0 0 2 6 2 $2,732,412
3 Reed Sorenson 182 62 24 0 0 1 5 1 $2,446,332
4 Martin Truex Jr. 164 80 24 0 0 0 2 3 $2,805,655
5 J.J. Yeley 161 83 24 0 0 0 2 3 $2,999,422
6 David Stremme 139 105 22 0 0 0 0 2 $2,315,288
7 Brent Sherman 41 203 6 0 0 0 0 1 $637,056
Office of the Press Secretary
August 26, 2006
President's Radio Address
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.
Earlier this week, I had coffee with Rockey Vaccarella in the White House. Rockey is from Saint Bernard Parish in Louisiana, and he and his family lost everything they owned to Hurricane Katrina. Rockey drove to Washington to thank the federal government for its efforts to help people like him. And he brought a trailer along to help remind us that many good people along our Gulf Coast are still living in difficult conditions, and that the hard work of rebuilding has only just begun.
This Tuesday marks the first anniversary of Katrina -- one of the deadliest and most costly natural disasters in American history. In Mississippi, the storm wiped out virtually everything along an 80-mile stretch of the coast, flattening homes and destroying entire communities. In Louisiana, flooding left 80 percent of the city of New Orleans underwater. The human costs were even more terrible. More than a thousand people died, countless families lost their homes and livelihoods, and tens of thousands of men, women, and children were forced to flee the region and leave behind everything they knew.
During the storm and in the days that followed, Americans responded with heroism and compassion. Coast Guard and other personnel rescued people stranded in flooded neighborhoods and brought them to high ground. Doctors and nurses stayed behind to care for their patients, and some even went without food so their patients could eat. Many of the first-responders risking their lives to help others were victims themselves -- wounded healers, with a sense of duty greater than their own suffering. And across our great land, the armies of compassion rallied to bring food and water and hope to fellow citizens who had lost everything. In these and countless other selfless acts, we saw the spirit of America at its best.
Unfortunately, Katrina also revealed that federal, state, and local governments were unprepared to respond to such an extraordinary disaster. And the floodwaters exposed a deep-seated poverty that has cut people off from the opportunities of our country. So last year I made a simple pledge: The federal government would learn the lessons of Katrina, we would do what it takes, and we would stay as long as it takes, to help our brothers and sisters build a new Gulf Coast where every citizen feels part of the great promise of America.
That was the same pledge I repeated to Rockey during his visit to the White House. This pledge meant stronger levees and rebuilt homes and new infrastructure. It also means safe streets and neighborhoods filled with locally owned businesses, and more opportunities for everyone.
Next week, Laura and I will return to Mississippi and New Orleans to meet with local citizens and officials, and review the progress we have made. The federal government has conducted a thorough review of its response to natural disasters, and we're making reforms that will improve our response to future emergencies. With help from Congress, we have committed $110 billion to the recovery effort, and we are playing a vital role in helping people clear debris, repair and rebuild their homes, reopen their businesses and schools, and put their lives back together.
The federal government will continue to do its part -- yet a re-born Gulf Coast must reflect the needs, the vision, and the aspirations of the people of Mississippi and Louisiana. And their state and local officials have a responsibility to help set priorities and make tough decisions, so people can plan their futures with confidence.
One year after the storms, the Gulf Coast continues down the long road to recovery. In Mississippi and Louisiana, we can see many encouraging signs of recovery and renewal, and many reminders that hard work still lies ahead. This work will require the sustained commitment of our government, the generosity and compassion of the American people, and the talent and vision of people determined to restore their homes, neighborhoods, and cities. We will stay until the job is done, and by working together, we will help our fellow citizens along the Gulf Coast write a new future of hope, justice, and opportunity for all.
Thank you for listening.
END
Bristol
Burton (31)
Hamlin (11)
Martin (6)
Japan Sees Activity at N. Korean Nuke Test Site
Thursday, August 24, 2006
TOKYO — Japan has confirmed vehicle activity at a North Korean nuclear testing site, but it was unclear whether tests were imminent, a news report said Thursday.
Vehicles have been seen entering and leaving a nuclear testing site in the northeast of the country, Kyodo News agency reported, quoting an unnamed government official.
It was unclear whether any nuclear tests by the North were imminent, but Japan will continue to closely monitor the situation, the official was quoted as saying.
A Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing protocol, said Japan was continuously analyzing intelligence but said the government would not discuss specifics because of the sensitivity of the matter.
A news report last week that U.S. officials were monitoring potentially suspicious activity at a suspected underground nuclear site sent diplomats in the region scrambling to avert a possible test and get Pyongyang to return to multinational talks on its nuclear ambitions.
Diplomats: Iran's Response to Nuke Offer Faces Rejection
Thursday, August 24, 2006
VIENNA, Austria — The six world powers studying Iran's response to their offer of nuclear negotiations will likely reject Tehran's terms for talks because they do not refer to the possibility of freezing uranium enrichment, diplomats said Thursday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210268,00.html
[16:45 AUD/USD: Gold & Copper Hit Session Lows] San Francisco, August 24. AUD still holds a grip above 0.7620 support but fresh JPY weakness against the dollar and further losses on gold and copper are seen eroding supportive factors for the currency. Gold has dropped to $618 and session lows with copper at session lows as well. 0.7600 is the downside target for AUD with the market seen long on the failed attempts to break 0.7645 today. The currency has now made a lower high today from Wednesday despite the poor US data. AUD/USD currently trades at 0.7622/27. Rhonda.Staskow@Thomson.com /rd
Astronomers say Pluto is not a planet 36 minutes ago
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.
After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is — and isn't — a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.
Although astronomers applauded after the vote, Jocelyn Bell Burnell — a specialist in neutron stars from Northern Ireland who oversaw the proceedings — urged those who might be "quite disappointed" to look on the bright side.
"It could be argued that we are creating an umbrella called 'planet' under which the dwarf planets exist," she said, drawing laughter by waving a stuffed Pluto of Walt Disney fame beneath a real umbrella.
The decision by the prestigious international group spells out the basic tests that celestial objects will have to meet before they can be considered for admission to the elite cosmic club.
For now, membership will be restricted to the eight "classical" planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."
Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's.
Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of "dwarf planets," similar to what long have been termed "minor planets." The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun — "small solar system bodies," a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.
It was unclear how Pluto's demotion might affect the mission of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which earlier this year began a 9 1/2-year journey to the oddball object to unearth more of its secrets.
The decision at a conference of 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries was a dramatic shift from just a week ago, when the group's leaders floated a proposal that would have reaffirmed Pluto's planetary status and made planets of its largest moon and two other objects.
That plan proved highly unpopular, splitting astronomers into factions and triggering days of sometimes combative debate that led to Pluto's undoing.
Now, two of the objects that at one point were cruising toward possible full-fledged planethood will join Pluto as dwarfs: the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted, and 2003 UB313, an icy object slightly larger than Pluto whose discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, has nicknamed "Xena."
Charon, the largest of Pluto's three moons, is no longer under consideration for any special designation.
Brown was pleased by the decision. He had argued that Pluto and similar bodies didn't deserve planet status, saying that would "take the magic out of the solar system."
"UB313 is the largest dwarf planet. That's kind of cool," he said.
Man comes to court drunk on DUI charge Wed Aug 23, 8:50 AM ET
JIM THORPE, Pa. - A man who showed up in court drunk to be sentenced for drunken driving told the judge he routinely drinks 12 beers a day "and then some."
Carbon County President Judge Roger Nanovic sentenced 25-year-old Joshua Beury yesterday to 30 days to six months in prison for contempt of court and the second-offense DUI charge.
Beury received a similar sentence on Monday for charges related to a November 6th crash which his blood-alcohol level registered 0.17, about twice the legal limit.
Beury told Nanovic he'd had two beers the night before the hearing, when his blood alcohol registered .20. He said he was on medication for bipolar disorder and other mental health issues.
Robber mistakes town hall for a bank Wed Aug 23, 9:05 AM ET
VIENNA (Reuters) - A would-be robber was arrested after he tried to hold up his local town hall, mistaking it for a bank, Austrian police said Wednesday.
Wearing a mask and waving a toy pistol, the unemployed man burst into the town hall in the village of Poggersdorf, southern Austria, and shouted: "Hold-up, hold-up!"
The building has a sign signaling there is a cash point on the outside wall, police said.
He realized his mistake when an employee explained to him where he was, police said in a statement, adding he fled to a nearby wood.
The 34-year-old man was arrested when he came back later to pick up his motorbike which he had parked outside the town hall.
The St. Louis Zoo's newest baby female elephant, explores it's surroundings with its mother Ellie Monday, Aug. 21, 2006, in St. Louis. The baby, which has yet to be named, will make it's first appearance to the general public Friday. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
NASA names new moon spaceships Orion By Irene Klotz
Wed Aug 23, 11:48 AM ET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. spaceships that NASA wants to build to carry astronauts back to the moon will be called Orion, an agency official said on Wednesday.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced the name about a week early after inadvertently airing on its public satellite television station a message recorded by a space station crew member for future use.
"We've been calling it the Crew Exploration Vehicle for several years, but today it has a name - Orion," station flight engineer Jeffrey Williams said in the message aired on Tuesday.
Orion was the hunter of Greek myth, whose constellation is one of the most easily recognized because of its bright belt of three stars. NASA also borrowed from Greek mythology to name its first fleet of lunar spacecraft, the Apollo series that carried the first humans to the moon in 1969.
The Orion name had previously surfaced on a Web site, along with a picture of the project's new logo. NASA had hoped to keep the name under wraps until it chose a contractor to build the vehicles. The announcement is expected on August 31.
Lockheed Martin is competing against partnership led by Northrop Grumman and Boeing to build capsules that can be flown on top of expendable rockets to the International Space Station and to the moon. Eventually, NASA hopes to parlay the technology into a craft capable of carrying people to and from Mars.
Test flights of the new capsules are expected to start as early as 2012, with the first mission to the moon scheduled for no later than 2020.
Suddenly, the future looks dim for much-maligned Pluto, which is smaller than Earth's moon.
I did not know Pluto was smaller than the moon.
Astronomers to vote on planet definition By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - It's a cosmic clash, a space squabble, a mutiny in the Milky Way. Leading astronomers are bitterly divided over new galactic guidelines that for the first time would define what is and isn't a planet. The debate all but dooms a proposal being put to a vote Thursday to expand the solar system to 12 planets from the traditional nine.
Caught yet again in the crossfire is puny Pluto, scorned by many as a poser that could be demoted as a dwarf — slightly shrinking Earth's neighborhood instead.
Opponents "smell blood, and I think they're going to get it," Alan Boss, an astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., said on the eve of a vote by members of the International Astronomical Union.
Leaders of the group, the official arbiter of heavenly bodies, caused a sensation last week by proposing that Pluto's largest moon and two other objects officially be designated as planets. They suggested that Pluto and the three newcomers be the first of a new class of planet dubbed "plutons."
The rationale was their initial draft definition of a planet: any object larger than nearly 500 miles in diameter that orbits the sun, has a mass roughly one-12,000th that of Earth and has enough self-gravity to pull itself into a round shape.
But for many of the 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries meeting in Prague, the universe hasn't been the same since.
After days of spirited and sometimes combative debate, renegade scientists have won some key concessions.
A planet, they insist, must be the dominant object in its area. That would draw a sharp distinction between the eight "classical planets" — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — and Pluto, which would be known as a "dwarf planet."
Pluto's largest moon, Charon; the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted; and a recently discovered object known as 2003 UB313 and nicknamed Xena; also would be dwarfs.
The precise wording of the definition remained a work in progress Wednesday. However, if astronomers agree that a planet must have "orbital dominance" in its own neighborhood, the new guidelines would eliminate Pluto and the trio of tentative candidates as proper planets.
"It's a kind of compromise: There would be only eight planets, plus the dwarf planets," said Japanese astronomer Junichi Watanabe, a member of the IAU's planet definition committee.
Many believe there's simply no scientific justification to grant full planet status to most of what's floating in the vast sea of rocks that reside in the Kuiper Belt — a mysterious, disc-shaped zone beyond Neptune containing thousands of comets and planetary objects.
"It's impossible to draw the line between the new dwarf planets and large asteroids," said Mark Bailey, director of Britain's Armagh Observatory.
And forget the term "pluton" — it's already history.
Under pressure from a growing faction of astronomers, the planet definers have been tossing around other options: plutoids, plutonids, plutonoids, plutians, or Tombaugh objects or planets in honor of Clyde Tombaugh, the American who discovered Pluto in 1930.
Among the scientists who torpedoed "pluton" were geologists, who pointed out — somewhat embarrassingly to astronomers — that it's already a prominent term in volcano science for deep igneous rock formations.
"What were they thinking? The reaction in the geologic community was rolling of eyes," said Allen F. Glazner, a geologist at the University of North Carolina. "It would be like botanists trying to distinguish between trees and shrubs and coming up with the term 'animal.'"
Harvard's Owen Gingerich, who chairs the planet definition panel, conceded: "We perhaps stumbled."
After the panel got dozens of objecting e-mails, "we backed off," he added.
Suddenly, the future looks dim for much-maligned Pluto, which is smaller than Earth's moon.
Its underdog status has inspired scores of tributes, including one by New York folk singer Christine Lavin that laments: "I guess if Pluto showed up at a planet convention, the bouncer at the door might have to ban it."
"Some say, 'No, Pluto is a nice planet'" and should remain one, Watanabe said.
"It's an important object that has played an important role," he said. "But this is a natural way to draw a line."
___
On the Net:
International Astronomical Union, http://www.iau.org
Nice song.
Thanks
Good afternoon.
Got another 10,000 Maniacs request
Like The Weather
Thanks
[16:15 USD/CAD: Mad Cow Case Confirmed in Alberta] San Francisco, August 23. Dow Jones reports that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed a mad cow case in Alberta. The news is helping to underpin USD/CAD which is now finding support at 1.1100. Gold has steadied this morning but the Amex oil index remains heavy, and is still a weight on CAD. Resistance remains at 1.1120/25 and higher at 1.1140/50. Rhonda.Staskow@Thomson.com
Rattlers freed in theatre prank 59 minutes ago
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Life imitating art is all very well. Unless, that is, it's a movie about deadly snakes on the rampage.
Movie chain AMC Entertainment Inc. said pranksters at one of its Phoenix theaters released two live diamondback rattlesnakes during a showing of the film "Snakes on a Plane" last Friday. No one was injured.
AMC spokeswoman Melanie Bell said, "One was found in the parking lot during the show, and the other in the movie theatre. They were both removed, and no one was harmed."
The snakes were later released in the desert.
Bell had no further details.
The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, and spins a yarn about a crate-load of escaped snakes that run amok on an airline flight, attacking passengers and crew.
"There were kids at the show, and it was actually very reckless," Russ Johnson, the president of the Phoenix Herpetological Society told Reuters.
"The snakes' bite carries a powerful venom that could have seriously injured someone," he added.
Edwards fined $20,000 for hitting Earnhardt
August 22, 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR fined Carl Edwards $20,000 on Tuesday for intentionally hitting Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car at the end of the Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Edwards was also placed on probation until the end of the year, but was not docked any points for Saturday's altercation. He said he will not appeal the penalty.
``I put everything I can into winning races,'' Edwards said. ``I was wrecked and I reacted. It was wrong on my part. NASCAR penalized me and I respect that.
``Most importantly I apologize if I upset any of my fans or sponsors.''
Edwards was leading the race when Earnhardt spun him out of his way with one lap to go. Earnhardt went on to win the race under caution, and as he was making that final lap, Edwards drove onto the track and rammed into the side of Earnhardt's car. Earnhardt's hand was hanging out his window when Edwards bashed into his car, and he had to quickly pull it back in to avoid injury.
Edwards later went to Victory Lane, where Earnhardt was being uncharacteristically booed by the fans, and the two had a heated argument during the post-race ceremonies.
Both were summoned to meet with NASCAR president Mike Helton on Sunday morning before the Nextel Cup event.
Willy the Tortoise comes home Tue Aug 22, 7:14 AM ET
RIDGEVILLE, S.C. - Willy the tortoise made a break for freedom — well, break may be too strong a word. It was more like a slow crawl. But after a month on the lam, the 40-pound tortoise with a 2-foot-wide, gold-colored shell is back in the wading pool at his owner's home.
Kellie Copeland-Burnup reported the tortoise escaped about July 1.
A local emergency medical services technician spotted Willy on Sunday along a rural road about five miles away. During six weeks on the run, Willy averaged .005 mph, well short of a new land speed record.
The tortoise is now inside a chain-link dog kennel in Copeland-Burnup's back yard although she knows he is capable of digging under a fence.
"I'll be keeping an eye on him," Copeland-Burnup said.
[17:42 AUD/USD: Rising US Bond Yields Weigh on AUD] San Francisco, August 22.
The restrained but hawkish comments from the Fed have sent US bond yields higher and with it the dollar. It pays also to remember that the market is gorged on a surfeit of long currency positions for almost two weeks now and remains ripe for a major clean out of those positions. The fall in EUR and rise in USD/JPY in response to the Fed comments has sent the AUD to session lows of 0.7611 with risk for stops under 0.7610 from weak longs. This risks a deeper pullback to
0.7560/70 support with stops poised under 0.7550/60. Given the fact that the market still remains structurally long AUD on recent attempts to push above 0.7700, the risk is high for a clean out to the downside given the rebound in the USD and risk of USD short-covering. Rhonda.Staskow@Thomson.com
[17:22 EUR/USD: Hawkish Fed Comments Put Support Levels At Risk] New York August 22. Hawkish comments from Fed Presidents Guynn & Morrow have allowed the dollar to pressure support levels on the hourly chart. A support line from the Aug 15 low at 1.2763, across the Aug 18 1.2780 low that currently resides at 1.2794 is holding EUR/USD up with EUR/USD registering sub-1.2800 lows on two of the last three 5 minute bar tics. Both Fed presidents reiterated the need to keep inflation in check, and that future rate hikes may be required to contain inflation has put an offered tone on EUR/USD - but so far it still defies gravity. The only bounce has been a "dead cat" bounce and IMM volumes are up to 400 mln plus, the majority of which have been sales - it will be interesting to watch price action at the close. Peter.Wadkins@thomson.com
Report: No survivors on Russian airliner By ANNA MELNICHUK, Associated Press Writer
27 minutes ago
KIEV, Ukraine - A Russian passenger jet with at least 170 people aboard crashed Tuesday in Ukraine after sending a distress signal, authorities said. A news agency reported no survivors and that Russian officials had ruled out terrorism.
The Pulkovo airlines Tupolev 154, en route from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa to St. Petersburg, disappeared from radar screens over Ukraine about 2:30 p.m., officials said.
Minutes later, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said wreckage from the plane was found on the ground.
The Interfax news agency quoted Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Igor Krol as saying a fire broke out on the plane at 32,800 feet and that the crew decided to try to make an emergency landing. However, it also quoted Russian aviation official Alexander Neradko as saying that the plane might have run into strong turbulence.
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova said she received information that "the plane most likely was hit by lightning."
"There was no damage on the ground. After it fell, it broke apart and burst into flames," Andriyanova said in televised comments.
Interfax cited witnesses as saying the plane was intact when it hit the ground. The RIA-Novosti news agency later quoted Andriyanova as saying "terrorism has been ruled out."
Andriyanova said 30 bodies had been found. She said there were 171 people aboard: 160 passengers, including six children, and 11 crew members. Ukrainian officials said there were 160 passengers and 10 crew members on board. The discrepancy could not immediately be explained.
RIA-Novosti quoted Ukrainian emergency officials as saying there were no survivors.
Tetyana Lytvynova, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry, could not immediately confirm the report.
The plane disappeared from radar screens two minutes after the crew sent a distress signal, said Yulia Stadnikova, another Russian spokeswoman.
Rescuers were working at the site of the crash, found near the Ukrainian city of Donetsk, about 400 miles east of Kiev, Ukrainian officials said.
Pulkovo airlines, among Russia's largest carriers, is based in St. Petersburg.
It was the third major plane crash in the region this year, and came less than two months after at least 124 people died when an Airbus A-310 of the Russian carrier S7 skidded off a runway and burst into flames on July 9 in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
On May 3, an A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia crashed into the Black Sea while trying to land in the Russian resort city of Sochi in rough weather, killing all 113 people aboard.
Russian-made Tu-154s are widely used by Russian airlines for many regional flights.
Russian Passenger Jet Carrying 170 Crashes
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
MOSCOW — A Russian passenger jet with at least 170 people aboard crashed in Ukraine on Tuesday after sending a distress signal, emergency officials said.
The Pulkovo airlines Tupolev 154, en route from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapato St. Petersburg, disappeared from radar screens over Ukraine about 2:30 p.m., officials said.
Minutes later, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said wreckage from the plane was found on the ground.
The Interfax news agency quoted Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Igor Krol as saying a fire broke out on the plane at 32,800 feet and that the crew decided to try to make an emergency landing. However, it also quoted Russian aviation official Alexander Neradko as saying that the plane might have run into strong turbulence.
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova said 30 bodies had been found. She said there were 171 people aboard: 160 passengers, including six children, and 11 crew members. Ukrainian officials said there were 160 passengers and 10 crew members on board. The discrepancy could not immediately be explained.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209752,00.html
Here's a chart for ya Deann.
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LHP Mulder to return Wednesday against Mets
August 21, 2006
ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - St. Louis Cardinals lefthander Mark Mulder will return from the 15-day disabled list and start Wednesday against the New York Mets.
Mulder has not pitched since June 20 due to an impingement in his left shoulder as well as irritation and inflammation in his left rotator cuff.
The 29-year-old allowed five runs in four innings in a third rehab start Thursday for Class AAA Memphis. Mulder threw 90 pitches.
After starting the season with five wins in six decisions, Mulder has gone 1-4 since. In his last start against the Chicago Cubs, he was tagged for nine runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings. Overall, Mulder is 6-5 with a 6.09 ERA with an opponents average against of .310.
I been reading mostly non fiction the past month. Just started one for fun Guns Of The Timberlands by Luis L'Amour. Short book only 152 pages.
I haven't read anything by James Patterson. Looks like you and Chrisau have the same opinion on him. I'll remember not to buy any of his books.
Officials: Iran Turns U.N. Inspectors Away From Nuclear Site
Monday, August 21, 2006
VIENNA, Austria — Iran has turned away U.N. inspectors wanting to examine its underground nuclear site, heightening suspicions about its atomic agenda, diplomats and U.N. officials said Monday.
The diplomats and officials said Iran's unprecedented refusal to allow access to the facility at Natanz could seriously hamper international attempts to ensure Tehran is not trying to produce nuclear weapons as well as violate a key part of the Nonproliferation Treaty. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Iran's alleged defiance was likely to harden Western resolve to punish Tehran if it refuses to compromise on its nuclear ambitions by agreeing to give up uranium enrichment, which can be used to create the fissile core of warheads.
The Islamic republic has set Tuesday as the deadline for its formal response to an international offer of economic and political rewards if it freezes enrichment and negotiates on its nuclear program. But even before that announcement, senior Iranian leaders have already ruled out an enrichment freeze.
Repeating that stance on the eve his country was scheduled to formally answer the offer of rewards if it cooperates — and punishment if it does not — Iran's supreme leader said that Tehran will continue to pursue the contentious nuclear technology. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend it by the end of the month or face the threat of sanctions.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209607,00.html
Virginia Cops Say Escaped Inmate is 'Armed and Dangerous'
Monday, August 21, 2006
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech shut down its campus Monday and ordered everyone to remain inside as authorities searched for an escaped inmate suspected of killing two people in the last 24 hours.
The subject of the manhunt, William Morva, 24, had been seen near the campus in Blacksburg, Va., authorities said, but there were no confirmed reports that Morva was actually on campus.
"He should still be considered armed and dangerous," Lt. Joe Davis of the Blacksburg Police Department said during an afternoon press conference Monday.
Davis said police are following up on any leads that come in and are searching any areas where Morva may have been sited.
"We still continue to get information, local calls here, and we're going to continue to check those locations out in Blacksburg," Davis said, encouraging area residents to "be aware of what's going on around you" and call 911 if they see anything suspicious.
Morva killed a security guard as he broke out of a hospital early Sunday and was on the loose. Montgomery County Sheriff's Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin encountered him Monday morning along the Huckleberry Trail when he was fatally shot, the sheriff's department said. The trail runs adjacent to campus.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209621,00.html
For Immediate Release
August 19, 2006
President's Radio Address
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.
This week I met with my national security, counterterrorism, and economic teams. We've set clear goals: We will defeat the terrorists and expand freedom across the world, we'll protect the American homeland and work tirelessly to prevent attacks on our country, and we will continue to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of America and build a more prosperous future for all our citizens.
On Monday, I visited the Pentagon and the State Department, where we discussed the war on terror, including the recent conflict in Lebanon, a conflict which began with an unprovoked attack by Hezbollah on Israel. Thanks to the leadership of Secretary Rice and Ambassador Bolton at the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that will help bring an end to the violence and create a foundation for a sustainable peace.
The resolution calls for a robust international force to deploy to the southern part of Lebanon. This force will help Lebanon's legitimate armed forces restore the sovereignty of its democratic government over all Lebanese territory and stop Hezbollah from acting as a state within a state. The resolution will help make it possible for civilians in both Lebanon and Israel to return home in safety and begin rebuilding their lives without fear of renewed violence and terror.
The United State s is now working with our international partners to turn the words of this resolution into action. The conflict in Lebanon is part of a broader struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region. Terrorists and their sponsors recognize that the Middle East is at a pivotal moment in its history. Freedom has brought hope to millions, and it's helped foster the development of young democracies from Baghdad to Beirut.
Yet these young democracies are still fragile, and the forces of terror are seeking to stop liberty's advance and steer newly free nations to the path of radicalism. The terrorists fear the rise of democracy because they know what it means for the future of their hateful ideology.
It is no coincidence that two nations that are building free societies in the heart of the Middle East, Lebanon and Iraq, are also the scenes of the most violent terrorist activity. We will defeat the terrorists by strengthening young democracies across the broader Middle East.
The way forward will be difficult, and it will require sacrifice and resolve. But America's security depends on liberty's advance in this troubled region, and we can be confident of the outcome because we know the unstoppable power of freedom.
On Tuesday, I went to the National Counterterrorism Center, where I was briefed by the fine professionals who work day and night to protect our Nation from terrorist attacks. Their efforts are vital, as we saw with the recent terrorist plot to destroy airliners headed for America.
I thanked the men and women of the intelligence community for all they did to help the British government uncover and disrupt this vicious plot. This attempted attack is a reminder to us all: The terrorists remain determined to destroy innocent life on a massive scale, and we must be equally determined to stop them.
On Friday, I met with my economic advisors at Camp David, where we discussed our efforts to keep our economy growing and creating jobs. Our economy has created more than 5.5 million new jobs since August of 2003, more jobs than Japan and the 25 nations of the European Union combined. The unemployment rate is 4.8 percent. The productivity of America's workers is rising, and our economy grew at a strong annual rate of 4 percent during the first half of 2006.
To keep this momentum going, we're pursuing a strategy to sustain our economic growth and keep our economy competitive for decades to come. We will keep taxes low, restrain federal spending, open new markets for American products, invest in new energy technologies, and help American workers develop the skills they need to compete for high wage jobs.
American workers also need affordable, high quality health care, and more transparency in our health care system can help. Next week, I will travel to Minnesota to discuss ways to ensure patients have access to more information about their health care. When patients know the facts about the price and quality of their health care options, they can make decisions that are right for them.
With all these steps, we're working to improve the health, security and prosperity of the American people. Our Nation does not fear the future because we are determined to shape the future. We will build a more peaceful world and leave behind a stronger and better America for our children and grandchildren.
Thank you for listening.
THE FED
For the Fed, it's about growth, not inflation
Two economists agree on only one thing: If economy slows, the Fed will cut
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:48 PM ET Aug 19, 2006
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- It's growth, not inflation, that will determine when the Federal Reserve begins to cut interest rates, according to two Wall Street economists who have very different views about the timing of that first ease.
Benign inflation data released last week seemed to persuade financial markets that the Fed's next move will be to cut overnight interest rates, probably early next year.
But economists Jan Hatzuis and Ethan Harris say the Fed won't cut rates until growth slows significantly. Inflation will have little to do with the decision.
Hatzius, chief U.S. economist for Goldman Sachs, says the first cut will come sooner than many expect, probably in the first quarter of 2007. Why? Because the Fed always acts quickly once the unemployment rate begins to rise.
"If Fed officials aim to avoid recession, they should ease aggressively as soon as the labor market starts to weaken," Hatzius wrote in his weekly note to clients. Since the mid-1960s, every time the unemployment rate has increased by even one-sixth of a percentage point, the Fed has eased, the Goldman economist said.
And Hatzius thinks the labor market is already beginning to weaken. The Fed's threshold to begin cutting is two or three quarters off, he said.
That's a major reason why Goldman is predicting that the Fed will aggressively cut rates from 5.25% to 4% by the end of 2007.
By contrast, Harris, the chief U.S. economist for Lehman Bros., thinks the Fed will raise rates two more times to 5.75%, then hold rates steady for a year or so before the first quarter-point cut to 5.50%, likely in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Why? Because the economy is not slowing enough to force the Fed to cut rates. And because inflation is still accelerating.
"A rate cut today would probably require that [gross domestic product] growth slip toward 1% and core inflation to show clear signs of turning down," Harris wrote in his weekly note.
To forecast Fed actions, many economists use a version of the Taylor Rule, a formula created by economist John Taylor a decade ago that seemed to explain what the Fed has actually done. In the Taylor Rule, the Fed faces an explicit medium-term tradeoff between growth and inflation.
To reduce inflation, the Fed must push growth below trend for an extended period. If trend growth is 3%, it would take a year of growth less than 1.5% to bring the inflation rate from 2.5% back to 2.0%., according to Taylor Rule calculations by Hatzius.
But the Taylor Rule is a simplistic view of the Fed, Hatzius said. The Fed actually is very sensitive to slower growth. Fed policy is "non-linear," he said.
"The U.S. economy historically has had an extremely difficult time sustaining below-trend growth without falling into recession," Hatzius said. A recession has ensued every time the three-month average of the jobless rate has risen by a third of a percentage point, he said.
Harris likely agrees with that analysis, to a point, he just doesn't think the economy is slowing in a meaningful way. "If growth dips below 2% and the unemployment rate starts to trend higher, the Fed may decide to ignore any further pick-up in core inflation," Harris said.
Ironically, the more the financial markets expect a slowdown, the less likely to is, because the recent rally in the stock and bond markets has undercut the Fed's efforts to slow the economy by providing more stimulus. The only financial drag on the economy is the housing market.
"So it boils down to one simple question: Will the housing correction on its own crush the economy?" Harris says. His view is clear. "We find it hard to accept the more dire housing stories." A soft landing is more likely, with housing slowing -- but not stopping -- economic growth,
Housing is the key to Hatzius's forecast as well. "The termites are eating away at the economy's foundations," he said.
The startling drop in the home builders' index and the 20% decline in building permits in the last year point to a 1% drag on GDP from the residential building sector, he said. Moreoever, the drying up of mortgage equity extraction will cut into consumer spending and subtract another 0.5% to 1% from growth, he said. That would bring 3.5% growth down to 1.5% or 2%. And business investment is also seems to decelerating, he said.
"I find it very hard to see how the economy stays at a trend growth rate," Hatzius said. But Harris says, "We are sticking to our core calls: growth remains steady at 2.5%, core inflation creeps up to 3% and the Fed reluctantly hikes twice more."
Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.
Michigan
It's going to be a good weekend for Team Roush.
Kenseth (17)
Biffle (16)
Martin (6)
Sinkhole swallows part of Mo. man's home Mon Aug 14, 10:04 PM ET
NIXA, Mo. - A leisurely Sunday morning turned frightening for one southwest Missouri man when a giant sinkhole opened up and swallowed a portion of his home, including his garage and a car parked inside.
The homeowner was reading the paper when the ground started shifting around 8:30 a.m. Initially, the man thought a tornado was responsible for the loud rumble, said city spokesman Bryan Newberry.
No one was hurt, but at least six other homes in a half-block area were evacuated while geologists evaluated the widening hole. It measured between 55 and 65 feet in diameter and about 75 feet deep.
Newberry said the geologists, including one from Missouri State University, were considering several possibilities, including that an underground cavern gave way.
By early evening, only two homes remained off limits — the partially collapsed residence and another home to the north of it. Newberry said the neighborhood was built in the late 1960s.
"These homes had been there without problems until this point," he said.