Stocks up after GMAC lifeline, retail sales dip

NEW YORK — Wall Street put together a moderate advance in light post-holiday trading Friday after the finance arm of General Motors got a government lifeline, but dreary holiday spending readings dimmed the chance of a big year-end rally. The major indexes finished the week with losses.

Not surprisingly, Americans spent much less on gifts this season than they did last year, according to SpendingPulse, a division of MasterCard Advisors. Retail sales dropped between 5.5 percent and 8 percent compared with last year, the data showed, or between 2 percent and 4 percent after stripping out auto and gas sales.

Personal consumption is a huge part of US economic activity — comprising more than two-thirds of gross domestic product — so Wall Street is nervous that a more frugal consumer could keep the economy weak in 2009.

Investors did get a some good news on Christmas Eve, when the Federal Reserve allowed GMAC Financial Services — the finance arm of struggling Detroit automaker General Motors Corp. — to become a bank holding company and thus qualify for the government's $700 billion rescue fund. Analysts had said that without financial help, GMAC might have had to file for bankruptcy protection or shut down.

There was little conviction behind the advance, which the market managed after stocks meandered for much of the session. With just three full trading days left in the year, no news has been upbeat enough to spark a big year-end rally, a consequence of the great uncertainty still in the market. December is usually a strong month for stocks, and a flurry of trading known as a "Santa Claus rally" is often seen in the final week.

"I think we could have a year-end rally, but it's got a formidable headwind in the form of tax-selling, in my view," said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors.

Tax-loss selling is when investors sell their poorly-performing stocks to realize a loss for the year, which can reduce their taxes in upcoming years.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 47.07, or 0.56 percent, to 8,515.55 after Thursday's market holiday.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.65, or 0.54 percent, to 872.80, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.34, or 0.35 percent, to 1,530.24. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.28, or 1.33 percent, to 476.77.

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.74 percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq lost 2.1 percent.

As the year winds down, investors are flummoxed over what 2009 might bring. Some market analysts are predicting a stock market recovery, and others are predicting more volatility; but nearly all are doing so with the caveat that anything is possible.

"It's hard to imagine another year that is going to be as dismal or dark or bad as 2008," Johnson said. "It's even hard to imagine that we have another down year in 2009 — the odds are the stock market will be higher at the end of 2009. Common sense tells you that."

The Dow is down 35.8 percent for the year.

But, Johnson added, it's impossible to forecast the end of a bear market, and "confidence can turn on a dime."

On Friday, the dollar was down against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Demand for government bonds increased. The three-month Treasury bill's yield fell to 0.01 percent from 0.02 percent late Wednesday, and the 10-year Treasury note's yield fell to 2.14 percent from 2.19 percent.

Light, sweet crude rose $2.36 to $37.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude prices had tumbled Wednesday for the ninth straight day — dipping as low as $35.13 — after gloomy economic reports and growing stockpiles of unused gasoline suggesting eroded demand.

GMAC notes shot higher on the news of the company's transformation into a bank. GMAC's 7.25 percent note due to mature in 2033 rose 88.5 percent to $9.67 from $5.13 on Wednesday. But analysts were wary of the big price move, noting that volume was thin, and saying there is still much to be resolved about the company's finances. - AP

Across Mideast, thousands protest Israeli assault

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Crowds of thousands swept into the streets of cities around the Middle East on Sunday to denounce Israel's air assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

From Lebanon to Iran, Israel's adversaries used the weekend assault to marshal crowds into the streets for noisy demonstrations. And among regional allies there was also discontent: The prime minister of Turkey, one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with Israel, called the air assault a "crime against humanity."

Several of Sunday's protests turned violent. A crowd of anti-Israel protesters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul became a target for a suicide bomber on a bicycle.

In Lebanon, police fired tear gas to stop dozens of demonstrators from reaching the Egyptian Embassy. Some in the crowd hurled stones at the embassy compound. It was unclear if anyone was hurt.

Egypt, which has served as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians as well as between Hamas and its rival Fatah, has been criticized for joining Israel in closing its borders with Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on Hamas to renew its truce with Israel: "There has been a calm and we should work to restore it."

France also called for the truce to be renewed and rallied European nations to use "all their weight" to stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

"We have entered a new spiral of despair," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told the Journal du Dimanche in an interview published Sunday. "The truce must be restored."

Kouchner noted that the attacks come "in a context of vacancy of power in Israel and the U.S." as both countries are undergoing leadership transitions.

"Europe has a role to play," Kouchner said.

In Beirut, Hamas representative Osama Hamdan told the crowd that the militant group had no choice but to fight. Gaza militants have been lobbing dozens of rockets and mortars into southern Israel since a six-month truce expired over a week ago, prompting Israel's fierce retaliation.

"We have one alternative which is to be steadfast and resist and then we will be victorious," Hamdan said.

In the capital of neighboring Syria, more than 5,000 people marched toward the central Youssef al-Azmeh square, where they burned an Israeli and an American flag.

One demonstrator carried a banner reading, "The aggression against Gaza is an aggression against the whole Arab nation."

"Down with America, the mother of terrorism," read another.

In Amman, Jordan, about 5,000 lawyers marched toward parliament to demand the Israeli ambassador's expulsion and the closure of the embassy. "No for peace, yes to the rifle," they chanted.

In Jordan's squalid Baqaa camp for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, protester Yassin Abu Taha, 32, blamed America and Israel for the Middle East's problems.

"The Israelis kill our people in Gaza and the West Bank. The Americans kill our people in Iraq. We're refugees, kicked out of our home in Tulkarem in 1967 and we're still displaced," he said, bemoaning his family's flight in the 1967 Mideast war.

The U.S. Embassy in Jordan warned Americans to avoid areas of demonstrations.

Thousands of Egyptians — many of them students — demonstrated at campuses in Cairo, Alexandria and elsewhere and accused President Hosni Mubarak and other Arab leaders of not doing enough to support the Palestinians.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said Israel should be "wiped off the map," denounced the Israeli strikes.

And in the normally politically placid streets of glitzy Dubai, hundreds of demonstrators — some draped in Palestinian flags — gathered at the Palestinian consulate.

"This is a time for the Palestinians and Arabs to unite to fight against a common enemy," said Majdei Mansour, a 30-year-old Palestinian resident of Dubai. Mansour said he has been unable to contact his family in Gaza since the latest fighting.

In Iraq, where the government has also condemned the Gaza airstrikes, a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up amid a crowd of about 1,300 demonstrators in Mosul who were protesting against Israel, killing one demonstrator and wounding 16, Iraqi police said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack on the demonstration, which was organized by a Sunni party in sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, who are largely fellow Sunnis.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Hamid Ahmed in Baghdad contributed to this report.

sources

UN says nearly 1 billion hungry

ROME — High food prices have pushed the number of hungry people in the world close to 1 billion, a United Nations agency said Tuesday.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report that 40 million people have fallen into hunger this year, bringing the number of needy to 963 million.

"For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream," said Hafez Ghanem, the organization's assistant director general.

Even though prices of major cereals fell by over 50 percent from their peaks earlier this year, they remain high compared to previous years, the agency said.

Among the poor, the agency said, landless and female-headed households are most vulnerable to sharp rises in food prices.

According to the report, nearly two-thirds of the world's hungry live in Asia, while in sub-Saharan Africa one person in three is chronically hungry.

The agency warned that reduced demand in industrialized countries due to the global financial crisis could threaten exporters in developing countries.

Investments and other capital flows, including development aid, are also at risk, the agency said. - AP

SWS: More Pinoy families go hungry

MANILA, Philippines – Hunger has reached a new peak nationwide, a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed, with the national percentage of families having experienced nothing to eat rising to nearly a quarter of all households.

At 23.7 percent — equivalent to 4.3 million families — this month’s finding surpassed the previous record of 21.5 percent — recorded in September 2007 — and was 11 points higher than the 10-year average of 12.6 percent, survey results made exclusive to BusinessWorld showed.

The December 2008 score is also five points higher than the 18.4 percent posted last September.

It put this year’s hunger average at 18.5 percent, up from last year’s 17.9 percent. The independent survey research institute noted that hunger has been in double-digit territory since June 2004.

A National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) official, however, expressed doubts over the findings, pointing to government efforts to eradicate hunger and provide employment to the poor.

An economist, meanwhile, said the higher hunger was an effect of the global economic downturn and warned that next year’s results could be worse due to a slowdown in consumption and job losses among Filipino migrant workers.

The latest SWS survey was fielded over November 28-December 1, 2008 and covered 1,500 respondents nationwide.

In face-to-face interviews, household heads were asked: "Nitong naka-raang tatlong buwan, nangyari po ba kahit minsan na ang inyong pamilya ay nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain? Kung Oo: Nangyari po ba ’yan ng minsan lamang, mga ilang beses, madalas, o palagi? (In the past three months, was there an instance when your family experienced hunger or had nothing to eat? If yes, did it happen only once, a few times, often, or always?).

Respondents were divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in the rest of Luzon. Sampling error margins of ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for the rest of Luzon were used.

The SWS said the five-point increase in total hunger between September and December could be attributed to a three-point rise in moderate hunger and the two-point increase in severe hunger.

Moderate hunger, pertaining to those who experienced it "only once" or "a few times" in the last three months, hit a record high of 18.5 percent (around 3.3 million families) in December from 15.2 percent (around 2.7 million families) in September. The December figure is nine points higher than the ten-year average moderate hunger rate of 9.2 percent. Counted in this category were those who did not state their frequency of hunger.

Severe hunger — meaning it was experienced "often" or "always" in the last three months, rose by three points to 5.2 percent (about 940,000 families) in December from 3.2 percent (about 580,000 families) in September. The latest figure is higher by two points than the ten-year average severe hunger rate of 3.3 percent.

The percentage of families who experienced hunger reached record highs in Mindanao and in Metro Manila. Overall hunger was the highest in Mindanao at 33.7 percent (around 1.4 million families) from 18.3 percent. It was at 23.3 percent (around 570,000 families) in Metro Manila, barely moving from 23 percent last September but nevertheless still a new peak for the area. It was up nine points in the Visayas to 20.7 percent (around 750,000 families) from 11.7 percent and remained at 20 percent (1.6 million families) in the rest of Luzon.

Moderate hunger hit record highs in Mindanao (27.7 percent from 16 percent) and in the Visayas (18 percent from 11.3 percent). It went up in Metro Manila (18.3 percent from 15 percent) but declined in the rest of Luzon (14 percent from 16.5 percent).

"In all areas, the latest moderate hunger rates remain higher than their ten-year averages," the SWS said.

Severe hunger went down in Metro Manila (5 percent in December from 8 percent in September) but rose in Mindanao (6 percent from 2.3 percent), the Visayas (2.7 percent from 0.3 percent) and in the rest of Luzon (6 percent from 3.5 percent).

"The latest severe hunger figures remain higher than their ten-year averages in all areas except Visayas, where its latest score of 2.7 percent was slightly lower than its ten-year average of 3.1 percent," the SWS said.

Asked to comment, NAPC lead convenor Domingo F. Panganiban expressed reservations over the results, claiming that the government had already implemented programs to help the poor and address the problem of hunger.

"I cannot say that the results are reliable. Last month we went to the poorest provinces and the people there were thanking the government for its initiatives like the P500 electricity subsidy and the conditional cash transfer. Aside from that, the price of rice has fallen because of the access cards issued by the government," he told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview.

The P500 power subsidy, which was designed to help poor households pay their electric bills, was funded by excess revenues from the value added tax on oil. The conditional cash transfer program, meanwhile, provides cash allowances to parents who send their children to school.

Mr. Panganiban said the government would continue to work to ensure that the poor were protected from the impact of the global economic crisis.

"The President has directed the Cabinet to oversee and implement employment programs in the regions. We expect to generate more than 1.2 million jobs in 2009. Our programs like the food for school will continue and in fact, the government has increased the budget for these programs," he said.

But Leonor M. Briones, a former National Treasurer who now teaches at the University of the Philippines, said the higher hunger incidence was proof that the economy was slowing down due to the global downturn.

"It is a sign of the slowing down of our economy. We have seen job losses, the retrenchment of overseas Filipino workers and higher prices of goods. The year 2009 may even be worse. We will also see lower consumption," she said.

"The government is not recognizing these economic difficulties. The 7 percent economic growth last year is consumption-based and is not sustainable. But consumption will weaken. The government is making it worse by committing corruption," she said.

Ms. Briones said the government should come up with reforms to address corruption and to ensure that state resources are channelled to the needy. - Alexis Douglas B. Romero, BusinessWorld

SKorean lawmakers brawl over US free trade pact

SEOUL, South Korea – Brawling South Korean lawmakers tried to sledgehammer their way into a parliamentary meeting room barricaded by the ruling party as the country's National Assembly descended into chaos Thursday over passage of a free trade agreement with the United States.

Opposition parties were incensed by the ruling Grand National Party's move to submit the agreement to a parliamentary committee on trade, setting in motion the process for the accord to win approval in the legislature.

Security guards and aides from the ruling party stood guard outside the room to keep opposition lawmakers away after the committee's GNP-affiliated chairman invoked his right to use force to "keep order" in parliamentary proceedings.

Scuffles broke out as dozens of opposition members and their aides attempted to push their way into the office. TV footage showed people from both sides shoving, pushing and shouting in a crowded hall at the National Assembly building amid a barrage of flashing cameras.

Opponents later used a sledgehammer and other construction tools to tear open the room's wooden doors, only to find barricades of furniture set up inside as a second line of defense.

News cable channel YTN reported that an electric saw was used to open the door. YTN footage showed security guards spraying fire extinguishers at those trying to force their way inside.

The opposition attempt failed, and 10 GNP legislators introduced the bill to the committee.

South Korea and the United States signed the accord that calls for slashing tariffs and other barriers to trade in April last year after 10 months of tough negotiations, though neither side's legislature has yet ratified it.

The pact is the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and the biggest ever for South Korea. NAFTA, signed in 1993, took effect the following year.

Proponents in both countries say it would not only expand trade but further cement ties between Washington and Seoul — key security allies who have cooperated on issues such as North Korea for decades.

Opponents counter that it will cause pain to key sectors in both nations — agriculture in South Korea and automobiles in the United States.

GNP legislators had locked themselves in the committee room earlier in the day to head off any opposition attempts to occupy the chamber — the only place where the bill can be introduced.

After a subcommittee review, the bill would be put to a vote at the committee before reaching the full parliamentary session for a final vote.

The GNP has a majority in both the committee and in the entire parliament, with 172 seats in the 298-member unicameral National Assembly. But the process is expected to be tough going because opposition parties say they will do whatever possible to stop it.

The main opposition Democratic Party says the trade deal should not be approved until the government comes up with better measures to protect farmers and others expected to suffer from increased U.S. imports.

The minor opposition Democratic Labor Party joined forces with the Democrats in Thursday's attempt to block the bill.

The ruling GNP says the trade pact should be approved as early as possible because South Korea — a major exporting nation — stands to gain much from the deal.

Amid concern the administration of President-elect Barack Obama might ask to renegotiate the agreement, supporters of the pact believe early ratification by Seoul could also put pressure on the U.S. Congress to do the same. - AP

Indian PM wants normalized relations with Pakistan

KHUNDRU, India – India's prime minister says he wants "normalized" relations with Pakistan amid rising tensions between the South Asian rivals over the Mumbai attacks.

Talking at an election rally in Indian Kashmir on Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh India says he hopes relations between the neighbors can be "normalized," but that this "cannot happen as long as our neighboring country allows its soil to be used against us."

Singh traveled to Kashmir after a breakfast meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in New Delhi. The two leaders discussed the recent attacks on Mumbai, which have been blamed on a Pakistani-based Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. - AP

3 dead as blasts rock Iligan City a day before Arroyo visit

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Three people were killed and 47 others were wounded Thursday afternoon in two separate explosions that rocked two major shopping centers in Iligan City.

The explosions occurred a day before President Arroyo’s scheduled visit to Iligan City to attend the inauguration of Suka Pinakurat Processing Plant belonging to Green Gold Gourmet food products in Pugaan village.

This was the second time this month that attackers targeted an area that the President was scheduled to visit. Last December 12, Arroyo canceled a trip to Shariff Kabunsuan in Maguindanao after an improvised explosive device went off near a public market on the day before her scheduled visit.

Arroyo has condemned Thursday's twin bombings and ordered law enforcers to conduct "relentless" operations against the perpetrators, a Malacañang spokesman said Thursday.

“The President condemns the ruthless and violent acts of terrorism against our communities. The Philippine National Police and the Armed Fores will be relentless in their pursuit against the perpetrators," said presidential deputy spokesperson Anthony Golez.

"The government will not stop hunting these terrorists until they are put behind bars and we urge our people to coordinate with our law enforcers as to any information that might lead to the arrest of those responsible," Golez added.

Iligan City is Arroyo's maternal hometown.

Fatalities

The military said at least six people were hurt, but the local Red Cross said as many as 38 people were injured in the blasts that sent Christmas shoppers out in the streets.

An L-300 van was also destroyed in the attack, reports said.

Army Lt. Steffani Cacho, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said the first bomb exploded at 1:25 p.m. inside the Unicity Commercial Center. The next explosion occurred 20 minutes later at the Jerry Supermart.

"The improvised explosives were left at the baggage counters of both Unicity and Jerry's Supermart," Cacho told reporters.

Police Officer 3 Abdullah Sumayan of the Iligan City police identified the fatalities as Erwin Suico, 20, from Pugaan village; Jonas Badelles, 22, from Poblacion village; and Jalilah Mangondato, a 22-year-old nursing student from Marawi City.

In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Sumayan said Mangondato has already been claimed by her family, while Badelles and Suico are still at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes.

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) office in Manila said 21 people were hurt. It said seven victims were rushed by PNRC-Iligan Chapter volunteers to Dr Uy Hospital while five others at the Sanitarium Hospital and another one at the E & R Hospital.

Col. Benito de Leon, commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade, has sent bomb-sniffing dogs and explosives experts to help police in the investigations.

"We have sent K9 units and bomb experts in the area to help in the investigations," he said.

Malacañang has expressed condolences to the families of those who were killed in the blast.

"We condole with the families of those killed in this tragedy and the different government agencies will support those who have survived," Golez said.

Suspects

No group or individuals have claimed responsibility for the bombings, but previous attacks in the city had been blamed on Moro rebels and local militants trained by Jemaah Islamiyah.

A military official in the region said that the attacks might have been the handiwork of lawless elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), noting that the components used in the explosives included mortar rounds – a known signature of the MILF.

“Our suspect here are the lawless MILF group because of the type of the (improvised explosive device) that were used. That IED manifest their signature, using mortar rounds. That is our initial findings," said Col. Nicanor Dolojan, commander of the Army’s 403rd Brigade.

Last month, at least three people were also wounded in the bombings of two budget hotels - the Traveler's Inn and the Caprice Lodge – in Iligan City.

Asked on the possible motive behind Thursday's attacks, Dolojan said: “Terrorism, which is their real intention, to sow terror in the area."

Dolojan said a close-circuit TV installed at the Unicity Mall was able to record two men, both wearing scarf, depositing a item at the mall’s baggage counter. The official said pictures of the suspects have been culled from the video.

Dolojan said the video showed one of the men going out of the mall, apparently to deposit another item at the Jerry’s bargain center. “After depositing the items, after how many minutes, the bombs went off," he said. - GMANews.TV

Bollywood planning movies about Mumbai attacks

MUMBAI, India — Filmmakers in this hub of Indian cinema are already exploring how to bring the trauma of the deadly Mumbai attacks and the three-day siege that followed to the big screen, an industry official said Thursday.

At least 25 titles — including Taj to Oberoi and Mission Taj — have been registered with the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association since the attacks that killed 164 people last month, Anil Nagrath, secretary of the Bollywood trade association, told The Associated Press.

Many of the registered titles center around the luxury Oberoi hotel and the Taj Mahal, whose burning dome became of the symbol of the attacks — including Taj 26, Taj to Oberoi, The Taj Encounter, 11/26 Operation Taj, Mission Taj, and Mission Oberoi.

One proposed project is called Nariman House after the Jewish center where the attackers killed a rabbi and his wife, he said by telephone.

The Taj, the Oberoi, Nariman House and Mumbai's main train station were among 10 sites in the commercial capital targeted by 10 suspected Islamic terrorists.

Nagrath denied that Bollywood, as India's Hindi-language film industry is known, is capitalizing on a national tragedy.

"Whenever there is a big happening like this, be it a cyclone, be it a hurricane, be it a bomb attack, or a carnage like this, the journalists write articles, television stations make special programs, authors write books," he said. "In the same way, for the filmmaker, the only option is to make a script, and the process of making a script begins with a title."

All the projects are still in early stages and are unlikely to be made soon because "the wounds are very raw," he said.

Veteran director B. Subhash, who registered the titles Taj Terror and Bird's Point of View Taj Terror, said he is working on his script and hasn't cast any actors or set a budget.

"I can only say it is going to be very emotional," Subhash told the AP by telephone.

Bollywood stars have responded cautiously to the Mumbai attacks, even though filmmakers were eager to draw audiences back to the theaters at a time when the industry was already hit by global economic woes.

One of the industry's biggest stars, Shah Rukh Khan, went ahead with the release of his new comedy Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, or Match Made in Heaven, but was careful to strike the right tone, saying he hoped the film would provide relief from the recent events.

Civic activist Gerson da Cunha said it is natural that there is an artistic response to the tragedy in Mumbai, but expressed hopes that any Bollywood movie on the topic won't be too simplistic.

"I hope any film does not oversimplify or exploit or become jingoistic," said da Cunha, convener of Action for Good Governance and Networking in India, a group that has been active in calling for government reforms so that officials can better respond to future terror attacks.

"There is a place for good films," he said. "Whether Bollywood would be the home of such scripts and such directors is another issue." - AP

Court: No review of Obama's eligibility to serve

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth. The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election.

Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.

At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and Hawaii officials have confirmed.

Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits.

Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.

But Hawaii Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and the state's registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, say they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.

In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961.

(This version CORRECTS that Hawaii officials, not secretary of state, confirmed Obama birth certificate.)

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ANALYSIS pacquia vs de lah hoya

The dream match manny vs oscar

pacquiao vs de lah hoya

MANILA, Philippines - The last of the formalities has been formalized.

A final weigh-in, as usual, officially ended the training period and began a 24-hour wait for the main event. This final weigh-in, as expected, was trouble-free.

Manny Pacquiao tipped the scales at 142 pounds on Saturday (Friday, US time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Oscar de la Hoya came in at 145 pounds.

Both were well within the welterweight (147-pound) limit set for their match.

Now that that has been set aside, everybody knows what time it is. Game time.

"There's nothing more we can do. Now Manny knows he’s going there to do his job," Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, said.

Zimbabwe declares national health emergency

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe has declared a national emergency over its cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health system due the country's economic crisis.

"Our central hospitals are literally not functioning," Minister of Health David Parirenyatwa was quoted as saying by the state-run Herald newspaper on Thursday.

The Herald said Parirenyatwa declared the state of emergency at a meeting Wednesday of government and international aid officials in Harare. He appealed for money to pay doctors and nurses, and for drugs, food and equipment for Zimbabwe's hospitals.

"Our staff is demotivated and we need your support to ensure that they start coming to work and our health system is revived," he was quoted as saying.

The United Nations puts deaths from the cholera epidemic at more than 500. The outbreak is blamed on lack of water treatment and broken sewage pipes in a country that once had a sophisticated infrastructure.

The deputy water minister, Walter Mzembi, who also attended Wednesday's meeting, said his ministry had only enough chemicals to treat water for 12 more weeks.

The Herald said U.N. agencies, embassies and non-governmental organizations at the meeting pledged to help. The European Commission had said Wednesday it was providing more than $12 million for drugs and clean water while the International Red Cross was also releasing more funds to deal with cholera in Zimbabwe.

"We need to pool our resources together and see how best we can respond to this emergency," Agostinho Zacarias, the U.N. Development Program director in Zimbabwe, was quoted as saying.

Zimbabwe has been paralyzed since disputed elections in March. President Robert Mugabe and the opposition are wrangling over a power-sharing deal.

The country is suffering from the world's highest inflation and Zimbabweans face daily shortages of food and other basic goods. source

Court ruling brings down Thai government

BANGKOK, Thailand – A court dissolved Thailand's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud Tuesday and temporarily banned the prime minister from politics, bringing down a government that has faced months of strident protests seeking its ouster.

The Constitutional Court ruling set the stage for thousands of protesters to end their weeklong siege of the country's two main airports, but also raised fears of retaliatory violence by supporters of the government, which could sink the country deeper into crisis and cripple its economy.

Protest leaders said a decision on whether to end the airport protests — and allow hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers to leave the country — would be made later Tuesday.

However, the government said the main Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok will remain closed to passenger flights until Dec. 15, although the airport reopened to cargo flights Tuesday.

Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, occupying Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport, cheered and hugged after they heard news of the ruling.

"My heart is happy. My friends are very happy," said Pailin Jampapong, a 41-year-old Bangkok housekeeper choking back tears as she jumped up and down.

Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-kau said Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his six-party ruling coalition would step down.

"We will abide by the law. The coalition parties will meet together to plan for its next move soon," he told The Associated Press.

Somchai had become increasingly isolated in recent weeks. Neither the army, a key player in Thai politics, nor the country's much revered king had offered him firm backing. Since Wednesday, he and his Cabinet had been working from the northern city of Chiang Mai, a government stronghold.

Somchai accepted the ruling with equanimity.

"It is not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen," he told reporters in Chiang Mai.

___

Source said

Thai army chief wants elections to end crisis

BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand's army commander urged protesters Wednesday to leave Bangkok airport and called for elections to end the country's political crisis after a day of chaos in which thousands of travelers were stranded.

A protest spokesman said new elections alone would not solve the crisis, calling for Prime Minister Somchai Wongsarat to resign unconditionally. He added that they would not leave the airport.

All flights were canceled and frustrated passengers bused to hotels, as protesters shut down Suvarnabhumi Airport in a major escalation of their four-month campaign to oust Somchai.

"The government should give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election," Gen. Anupong Paochinda said at a news conference after meeting with high-level government officials, academics, economists and security officials.

Somchai returned to Thailand on Wednesday from a summit in Peru, but there was no response from the government to the army chief's call for new elections.

However, government spokesman Nattawut Sai-gua said, based on the prime minister's previously stated positions, "it is unlikely he will change his position by resigning or dissolving Parliament."

He stressed that he had not spoken to the prime minister since Somchai landed. Somchai is expected to speak later Wednesday night.

The protest group, the People's Alliance for Democracy, known as the PAD, appears intent on forcing the military to intervene and bring down the elected regime.

"We sympathize with the passengers but this is a necessary move to save the nation," top protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said on a makeshift stage at the besieged airport amid resounding applause. "If he doesn't resign, I will not leave."

Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the alliance, added later that the group would also continue to hold the other two locations they have overrun, the prime minister's office compound and another airport.

He added: "Dissolving the Parliament does not solve the problem.... We do not want Somchai's government, even as acting government before a fresh election is called."

By late afternoon, most of the 4,000 travelers, some who had been camped out since the night before, had left, a Thai tourism official said.

That left the protesters, a sea of matching yellow shirts, and they appeared to be settling in for the long haul.

They spread blankets on the floor, used luggage trolleys to carry boxes of water around the sprawling terminal and set up stands selling food and the plastic hand-clappers they use at rallies.

There was no word on when flights might resume. The U.S. Embassy advised Americans to stay away from the airport, while the Philippines and Singapore recommended that nonessential travel to Thailand be canceled.

Tempers frayed at sprawling Suvarnabhumi Airport, a major hub in Asia that averages 700 flights a day.

"I understand nothing, nothing, nothing," said French tourist Denis Hapard. "We don't understand what's happening. We're really upset."

Among those stranded were Americans trying to get home for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

Cheryl Turner, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, had asked neighbors to pull an 18-pound turkey from her freezer a day ahead of time to defrost so she could cook it for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

"My turkey is sitting in the sink at home," she said.

Protesters distributed flyers trying to explain their action.

After reading the flyer, Clay Judd, 30, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said he didn't know what to make of the situation.

"For us to be upset because we can't have a huge turkey dinner — so what?" Judd said, waiting in a crowd inside the terminal to get bused to a hotel.

Support for the protesters has been waning, and the group appears to be edging toward bigger confrontations — involving fewer though more aggressive followers — to challenge the government.

Early Wednesday, assailants threw four explosives at anti-government demonstrators, including one targeting a group about a half-mile (one kilometer) from the airport.

A second was tossed into a crowd of anti-government supporters gathered at the domestic Don Muang airport, injuring three others, police said. Two other explosives were thrown in Bangkok, but no one was injured. It is unclear who staged the attacks.

The bold takeover — carried out while the prime minister was abroad — raised the stakes in a standoff that has seen a spike in violence in recent days and has given the tourism-dependent country a massive black eye.

Airport director Serirat Prasutanont, who had tried to negotiate with the protesters to allow passengers to fly out, said the takeover "damaged Thailand's reputation and its economy beyond repair."

The airport, the 18th-busiest in the world, handled over 40 million passengers in 2007.

Demonstrators had swarmed the international airport overnight, breaking through police lines and spilling into the passenger terminal.

Group Capt. Chokchai Saranon, a control tower official, said 50 masked protesters armed with metal rods demanded to enter the control tower Wednesday, seeking the prime minister's flight schedule. Three were allowed in, but with flights canceled, there were no controllers to provide the information and the protesters eventually left.

The People's Alliance for Democracy has been trying to topple Somchai, accusing him of being the puppet of a predecessor, billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who was convicted of corruption and other charges. The alliance said protesters would keep the airport closed until Somchai quits.

The alliance has staged a number of dramatic actions in recent months. It took over the prime minister's office in late August and twice blockaded Parliament — one time setting off street battles with police that left two people dead and hundreds injured.

The airport blockade is a fresh blow to Thailand's $16 billion-a-year tourism industry, already suffering from months of political unrest and the global financial crisis.

"We don't have an estimate of financial loss, but it is greatly damaging," said Vijit Naranong, honorary chairman of Tourism Council of Thailand.

___

Associated Press writers Ambika Ahuja, Jocelyn Gecker and Michael Casey contributed to this report.

news source

Obama to name Geithner, Summers to economic postsNEW YORK – President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming

NEW YORK – President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to direct the National Economic Council, transition officials said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Geithner, 47, president of the New York Federal Reserve, would be the top Cabinet official in charge of leading the administration's response to the global economic crisis. Word of his likely selection Friday helped send the Dow Jones Industrials soaring 500 points after several days of steep losses.

One top Democrat said John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, had told Senate aides on Friday that Obama hoped for speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly thereafter.

Geithner (pronounced GITE-ner) served as a Treasury Department official during the Clinton administration, where he played a major role in negotiating assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil.

Summers, 53, a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and one-time president of Harvard University, will advise Obama from the White House. Officials said he would coordinate the federal response to the economic meltdown across several agencies, including a plan Obama announced Saturday to create or save 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding infrastructure and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

During the Clinton administration, Summers helped craft the U.S. support program for Mexico during its 1995 financial crisis. He later helped lead the U.S. response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

Geithner and Summers were scheduled to appear with Obama at a press conference in Chicago Monday morning.

The announcement comes as Obama moves quickly to fill slots for his incoming administration. On Saturday, he named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary.

Ellen Moran will be director of communications in charge of getting Obama's message out. Her deputy in the White House will be Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director for Obama's presidential transition team.

In other positions, Obama is virtually certain to offer Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag the job of directing the White House Office of Budget and Management, and Orszag is likely to accept, Democratic officials said Saturday.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also is in line to become secretary of state, while Obama's choice for attorney general is Eric Holder. He held the No. 2 slot in the Justice Department in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Officials said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state. Like Clinton, he was a rival of Obama's for the Democratic presidential nomination last winter. He dropped out after the early contests, though, and soon threw his support behind the eventual winner. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the anticipated appointments.

The president-elect has largely stayed out of public view since his election on Nov. 4, preferring to work quietly with aides and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in a suite of offices in downtown Chicago.

Obama faces unusual challenges and has moved quickly in assembling his team. Former President George H.W. Bush made his first Cabinet pick the day after his election in 1988, but former President Clinton did not name any members until after Thanksgiving. President George W. Bush's transition was delayed by the contested result in Florida.

While speculation has been rampant about most top-level appointments, there has been relatively little about Obama's choice for defense secretary. His aides encouraged speculation before the election that Robert Gates, who now holds the position, would remain in office for an interim period.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has been chosen as secretary of health and human services and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is likely to be named as secretary of the Homeland Security Department.

Napolitano was an early supporter of candidate Obama among the ranks of Democratic governors, as was Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Sebelius has figured prominently in recent days in speculation as possible secretary of labor.

Additionally, retired Gen. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, was among those under consideration for national security adviser. James Steinberg, an Obama campaign aide who served in Clinton's White House, was another possibility, according to officials.

Obama has repeatedly referred to the economic crisis as the top priority for his new administration.

Geithner held posts in the Treasury Department under three administrations and five secretaries before moving to the New York Fed in 2003. He also held positions at the International Monetary Fund and was employed at the private firm of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. source

Bolante son seeks father’s house arrest

Bolante son seeks father’s house arrest

MANILA, Philippines -- The son of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn "Jocjoc" Bolante has asked the Court of Appeals to allow his father to be placed under house arrest.

In his omnibus motion and compliance report, Owen Vincent Bolante told the appeals court that pending its decision on the petition for habeas corpus he filed on behalf of his father, the former agriculture official be placed under house arrest instead of being detained at the Senate.

The young Bolante also submitted a compliance certificate from his father’s doctor, Dr. Romeo Saavedra, that the former official was confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center from October 28 to November 8.

It also indicated the medical examinations conducted on Bolante and their results.

In his petition, Owen Bolante claimed his father's detention is unlawful and his immediately release is necessary.

He said the arrest order issued by the 13th Senate in 2005 is no longer valid because the chamber is not a continuing body.

Bolante added that while the Senate has the power to cite in contempt and order the arrest of individuals, this power is not absolute.

He said at present, the Senate is not conducting any inquiry and is not even in session. source

Five oil firms to roll back prices by P1/liter on Thursday

With the continued drop in world oil prices, five oil companies announced a price rollback for their petroleum products on Wednesday.

The price reductions will take place Thursday.

The five oil firms - Eastern Petroleum, Petron Corporation, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Total Philippines Corp., and PTT Philippines - said they will reduced the price of their gasoline, kerosene and diesel by P1 per liter.

Petron, announced it will also roll back oil prices for its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rates by P2 per kilogram.

Petron, Eastern Petroleum and Shell said the price rollback will take effect 12:01 am of Nov. 20 while PTT and Total said it will impose the rollback 6 a.m. of Thursday.

Peso affects rollback

Fernando Martinez, president of Eastern Petroleum and head of the Independent Philippine petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) said the decline in the prices of crude in the international market is seen to reflect in "an across the board P1 per liter rollback".

"We have to give this rollback," Martinez said in a telephone interview adding that the P1 price cut this weekend will bring to P8 the total rollback implmented by the oil firms for this week.

"If no one will roll back (their prices), I will definitely implement the rollback," Martinez added.

He also noted that had it not been for the peso depreciation, the rollback could have even be higher at P5 per liter.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said the continued drop in the world oil prices should also result in the decline in the domestic prices and this should also cover until next month.

Monitoring conducted by the Department of Energy indicated that as of Nov. 17, 2008, the average Dubai crude, dropped to US$54 per barrel from October average of US$ 67.

Unleaded gasoline based on Mean of Platts Singapore, price gauge of oil importers, also went down to US$ 54 per barrel as against the US$ 80 per barrel average price last month.

MOPS for diesel prices similarly dropped to US$ 78 per barrel in Nov. 17 from US$ 89 last month.

Not enough

While the recent pump price rollbacks are welcomed, “these are still not enough," said Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ralph G. Recto said, echoing a similar call by the Department of Energy (DOE).

“In our estimate at National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the pump prices of gasoline should now be at P35.86 per liter and diesel at P31.77 per liter based on Dubai crude oil prices of $56.00/bbl," Recto, who is also NEDA's director general, said.

At $67/bbl of Dubai crude using the same exchange rate, Recto said gasoline should be about P40.86 per liter while diesel at about P35.22 per liter. As of November 8, the DOE monitored the average retail price of gasoline at P43.96 per liter while diesel stood at P40.94 per liter at an exchange rate of P48.54 to the US dollar.

“It is important to be mindful of the actions of the oil companies because every peso rollback counts for the ordinary Filipino consumer as this should translate into lower prices of transportation, food, and other commodities," the NEDA chief said.- with Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV

Indian navy destroys pirate boat, more ships taken

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – An Indian warship destroyed a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden and gunmen from Somalia seized two more vessels despite a large international naval presence off their lawless country.

The buccaneers have taken a Thai fishing boat, a Greek bulk carrier and a Hong Kong-flagged ship heading to Iran since Saturday's spectacular capture of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million of oil, the biggest ship hijacked in history.

The explosion of piracy off Somalia this year has driven up insurance costs, made some shipping companies divert around South Africa and prompted an unprecedented military response from NATO, the European Union and others.

"The pirates are sending out a message to the world that 'we can do what we want, we can think the unthinkable, do the unexpected'," Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, told Reuters in Mombasa.

India's navy said one of its warships, INS Tabar, fought Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and destroyed their vessel after a brief battle late Tuesday.

"Fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel," the navy said, adding that two speed boats sped away.

The International Maritime Bureau said pirates from the Horn of Africa nation had hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew. That followed the capture of a Hong Kong-flagged ship carrying grain bound for Iran.

Mwangura's group said a Greek bulk carrier had also been seized, but an official at Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry told Reuters in Athens that no such incident had been recorded.

The sharp increase in attacks at sea this year off the poor and chaotic country has been fueled by a growing Islamist insurgency onshore -- gun battles broke out again in Mogadishu Wednesday -- and the lure of multi-million-dollar ransoms.

Somalia's Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein told Reuters naval patrols would not stop piracy and appealed for more help to tackle criminal networks with links beyond his country.

No ransom has been demanded so far for the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, which the pirates seized after dodging international naval patrols in their boldest strike yet.

A spokesman for the owners, Saudi Aramco, said the company hoped to hear from the hijackers later Wednesday. One Somali website said the attackers were demanding $250 million.

The Sirius Star was seized 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, far beyond the gangs' usual area of operations. It was believed to be anchored near Eyl, a former Somali fishing village that is now a well-defended pirate base.

TANKER SPOTTED

"Eyl residents told me they could see the lights of a big ship far out at sea that seems to be the tanker," Aweys Ali, chairman of Somalia's Galkayo region, told Reuters by telephone.

Local officials said it had been sighted further south on Tuesday near Haradheere, in Mudug central region.

The Sirius held as much as 2 million barrels of oil, more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily exports, and had been heading for the United States via the Cape of Good Hope.

More of the world's big shipping firms are diverting their fleets via the Cape, experts say. But there is little evidence that big oil tanker firms carrying most of the world's crude are avoiding the Suez Canal, although many are expressing deep disquiet about Somali pirate activity.

Somali gunmen are believed to be holding about a dozen ships in the Eyl area and more than 200 hostages. Among those vessels is a Ukrainian ship loaded with 33 tanks and other weapons that was captured in another high-profile strike earlier this year.

Chinese state media said Wednesday a Hong Kong cargo ship taken in September had been freed and all 25 crew were safe.

The Sirius Star was seized despite an international naval effort, including by NATO, to guard one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Warships from the United States, France, Russia and India are stationed off Somalia.

But experts say deep pessimism over the prospects of any peace process onshore, bitter memories of disastrous past interventions, and the need to put out fires elsewhere -- from Afghanistan to Congo -- have snuffed out any real will to act.

"There are no discussions in NATO on dealing with what is the root cause -- which is political instability," an alliance spokesman said of the Islamist insurgency.

Given that the pirates are well armed with grenades, heavy machineguns and rocket-launchers, most foreign navies have steered clear of direct confrontation once ships have been hijacked, for fear of putting hostages at risk. In most cases, the owners of hijacked ships are trying to negotiate ransoms.

British Royal Navy Commodore Keith Winstanley, deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces in the Middle East, said coalition forces could not be everywhere.

"The pirates will go somewhere we are not," he told shipping weekly Fairplay, part of Jane's Information Group. "If we patrol the Gulf of Aden then they will go to Mogadishu. If we go to Mogadishu, they will go to the Gulf of Aden."

Tiny, long-lost primate rediscovered in Indonesia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On a misty mountaintop on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, scientists for the first time in more than eight decades have observed a living pygmy tarsier, one of the planet's smallest and rarest primates.

Over a two-month period, the scientists used nets to trap three furry, mouse-sized pygmy tarsiers -- two males and one female -- on Mt. Rore Katimbo in Lore Lindu National Park in central Sulawesi, the researchers said on Tuesday.

They spotted a fourth one that got away.

The tarsiers, which some scientists believed were extinct, may not have been overly thrilled to be found. One of them chomped Sharon Gursky-Doyen, a Texas A&M University professor of anthropology who took part in the expedition.

"I'm the only person in the world to ever be bitten by a pygmy tarsier," Gursky-Doyen said in a telephone interview.

"My assistant was trying to hold him still while I was attaching a radio collar around its neck. It's very hard to hold them because they can turn their heads around 180 degrees. As I'm trying to close the radio collar, he turned his head and nipped my finger. And I yanked it and I was bleeding."

The collars were being attached so the tarsiers' movements could be tracked.

Tarsiers are unusual primates -- the mammalian group that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes and people. The handful of tarsier species live on various Asian islands.

As their name indicates, pygmy tarsiers are small -- weighing about 2 ounces (50 grammes). They have large eyes and large ears, and they have been described as looking a bit like one of the creatures in the 1984 Hollywood movie "Gremlins."

They are nocturnal insectivores and are unusual among primates in that they have claws rather than finger nails.

They had not been seen alive by scientists since 1921. In 2000, Indonesian scientists who were trapping rats in the Sulawesi highlands accidentally trapped and killed a pygmy tarsier.

"Until that time, everyone really didn't believe that they existed because people had been going out looking for them for decades and nobody had seen them or heard them," Gursky-Doyen said.

Her group observed the first live pygmy tarsier in August at an elevation of about 6,900 feet.

"Everything was covered in moss and the clouds are right at the top of that mountain. It's always very, very foggy, very, very dense. It's cold up there. When you're one degree from the equator, you expect to be hot. You don't expect to be shivering most of the time. That's what we were doing," she said. source

Electing Cebu leaders with sustainable views

BY: Antonio V. Osmeña

INSTEAD of merely criticizing, an increasing number of Cebuanos who are fed up with waiting for government to act wants our politicians to redefine politics.

For example, a growing number of citizens are disgusted with elected officials who continue to argue over the use of provincial lots in Cebu City. They wish the public officials would implement their plans accordingly instead of magnifying the issue to the public. Many citizens are now more concerned about the elected officials’ way of politics.

Today, politics can be as much concerned with how you live your life as with what you think about national security issues

or energy policy. We now expect leaders to emphasize long-term planning with all short-time planning done in relation to intermediate and long-range goals. The elected official must talk about where we must go instead of where he or she has taken us.

Obviously, citizens love politics and politicians. Unfortunately, politicians who loved so much politics are having health problems. We have other types of politicians, though, like Mayor Eulogio Borres, Florentino Solon and many others who have learned to have the right attitude in curbing anxiety and stress in the environment of politics, and have remained healthy.

Majority of today’s citizens belong to the young generation and they expect that politics of the seemingly impossible or improbable is made possible by use of vision, cybernetic politics and outstanding leadership. They believe that politicians should be willing to propose solutions for complex and controversial problems instead of useless arguments.

A good leader operates openly to ensure maximum and accurate information flow to the people. For example, the property of Cebu Province along Gov. Manuel Cuenco Ave. in Banilad, leased by Ciudad to be developed into a multi-million commercial complex, was abruptly stopped by Mayor Tom Osmeña on the flimsy reason that the project would cause traffic congestion.

Mayor Tom should have assessed all technological solutions to determine possible long-range side effects of the traffic in Banilad. He should have determined how these solutions, as well as the quality of life in the area, would be affected by the Ciudad project.

Other Province-owned properties located in Cebu City have also been subjected to childish arguments between Gov. Gwen Garcia and Mayor Tom.

Political leadership should believe that in a finite world nearing its limit of resource availability, the problem of social justice must be solved by a more equitable distribution of wealth. Tenants who have failed to pay their monthly amortization for the provincial lots allotted to them might have lost trust in the previous administration so it might be lenient for Gov. Gwen Garcia to restructure their term of payment.

It must be strictly stipulated that only the original tenants and its direct heirs are entitled to such restructuring. Those tenants who have sold their rights should no longer be qualified to own the lot through restructuring.

Obviously, political leaders of today choose advisors who say only what he or she wants to hear. The citizens now insist that the best minds develop plans for projects and evaluate major alternatives.

Cebuanos have long realized that a free and accountable press is essential to uncover and prevent information blockage and distortion. They have recognized that politicians have seized or controlled the press in many countries. Our elected officials should operate openly to ensure maximum and accurate information flow to the people. The constant argument among elected officials is the use of secrecy to block information flow to the people.

The historic events now happening in United States should now send a clear message to our politicians to work together instead of squabbling over their political egos.

House Bill 5229 or the proposed Tourism Act of 2008 should provide politicians an ecosphere view. Political leaders should think in terms of preserving the ecosphere and our country’s resources for everyone now and in the future, as well as our foreign guests. Thinking about ecosphere loyalty is the only viable approach in the long run.

It is now urgent to evaluate growth on the basis of long-term ecosphere goals. A dynamic and sustainable economy for Cebu and the rest of the country is the only viable long-term goal.

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Gaza food shortage

While Israel threatens renewed attacks, the residents of the Hamas controlled region face desperate conditions. Over one quarter of the residents of Gaza are living in the dark – and half (750,000) are now without food supplies due to a continuing blockade imposed by Israel beginning on November 6. Medical supplies are also in short supply and the lack of fuel means there is no power for water and sewage processing.

The UN, which distributes the food aid to 750,000 Palestinians in Gaza has had to close it's distribution centers:

In the Shati refugee camp, hundreds of people sought food at a U.N. distribution center but were disappointed. A note taped to the center's gate said handouts were put off until Dec. 13 "because of a lack of food to distribute."

Even without the new threat of large scale attacks, Oxfam is warning “that Gaza faces a humanitarian catastrophe unless Israel’s blockade is lifted:

"World leaders must step up and exercise all their political might to break the blockade of Gaza,” Oxfam’s executive director Jeremy Hobbs said. “As a matter of humanitarian imperative, Israeli leaders must resume supplies into Gaza without further delay.

source

Three months after merger, Sirius XM struggles

DENVER - Barely three months after the long-delayed merger of satellite radio companies Sirius and XM, the newly combined Sirius XM Radio is struggling to stay afloat.

The company has just another three months to start paying down more than $1 billion in debt that's maturing in 2009 at a time when credit markets are freezing up. It remains heavily dependent on automobile sales for new subscriber additions just as U.S. car sales are tanking. And its stock price is in a yearlong free-fall that has sparked an investor lawsuit.

For the music industry, the fate of Sirius XM looms larger than before. Under a U.S. Copyright Royalty Board decision made last December, satellite radio broadcasters like Sirius XM pay performance royalties for sound recordings based on a percentage of adjusted gross revenue. That means the better Sirius XM does, the more money labels and publishers make.
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That rate currently stands at 6 percent and is set to increase by half a percentage point every year until 2012, when it will reach 8 percent. Neither SoundExchange — which collects those fees and distributes them on behalf of the music industry — nor Sirius XM will reveal exactly how much the company is paying in royalties. According to Sirius XM's quarterly reports, the company paid out a combined $92 million in revenue-sharing and royalty payments during the first half of 2008. That includes payments to SoundExchange and other partners, like equipment suppliers.

But while the music industry is poised to collect a growing percentage of Sirius XM's revenue, that revenue is in trouble. Subscription fees account for about 95 percent of Sirius XM's revenue. To increase income, the company needs to add subscribers and squeeze more revenue out of existing ones. The company reported 18.6 million subscribers as of June 30, up from 15.3 million for Sirius and XM combined a year earlier.

But Wall Street is deeply pessimistic about the road ahead. On Nov. 3, Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen cut her previous forecast for net subscriber additions by almost 50,000 for the third quarter to 409,000 — which would represent a 51 percent smaller increase from the same period last year. She also cut her third-quarter revenue prediction for 2008 to $611 million, up from $528.8 million a year earlier but down $7 million from her previous forecast.

Slowing auto sales are driving some of the problems, since about half of Sirius XM's current subscribers — and about 80 percent of new subscriber additions in the second quarter — received satellite radios when they bought new cars.

A Sirius XM spokesman says that will be offset by an increase in the number of cars carrying its receivers as a factory-installed option. Its penetration rate among Mercedes-Benz vehicles, for example, is nearing 90 percent.

The company hopes to attract new subscribers by adding short-term, artist-specific channels dedicated to the likes of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, which a representative hinted would be an ongoing initiative.

In the meantime, the company faces urgent financial challenges, in particular the $1.1 billion in debt that will mature in 2009, about $300 million of which is due in February. That, among other concerns, has caused the company's stock price to fall from a 52-week high of $3.94 per share last December to 26 cents on Friday. Meanwhile, a group of 500 shareholders dubbing themselves "Save Sirius" filed a lawsuit seeking to remove the board and CEO Mel Karmazin.

Ever the pitch man, Karmazin spoke at Nielsen and Dow Jones' Media and Money conference in October, insisting that Sirius XM is "one of the top 25 media companies today" and predicting that it will be "the most successful company in the audio entertainment industry."

Should that come to pass, the music industry stands to make a decent buck. But in the present, there's not much to count on. source

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USGS: 6.5-magnitude quake strikes northwest China

BEIJING – A strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck remote northwestern China on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The quake struck the Qinghai province at a depth of 6.2 miles on Monday morning, the agency said. The USGS said the quake's epicenter was located 1,120 miles west of Beijing.

China's Earthquake Administration confirmed the earthquake, but said it had a magnitude of 6.3 on its scale. There were no immediate reports of casualties, said Zhang, a spokesman for the earthquake administration in Qinghai.

"We contacted the local authorities, but we are still investigating the situation for any damage or injuries," said Zhang, who gave only his surname as is common with Chinese officials.

China's far west is fairly earthquake-prone. A 7.9 magnitude earthquake on May 12 devastated parts of Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, killing 70,000 people and leaving 5 million homeless.

Basics of Starting a Home Bases Business

The are multiple advantages to starting your own home based business. You can become independent or just attain particularlly further supplemental income. You property busines will create new tax deductions which you can take advantage of thereby reducing your taxable income. Your own industry can also create a sense of purpose and accomplishment for having created something of your own.

It really is fairly easy to get began and there are an endless number of resources out there to guide you through the process.

1. Decide how type of business interests you. This is the most difficult part of the process as you do not want to jump to anything and everything too quickly. Consider your interests and what things you are good at. You may decide on a help that you can provide which people will pay for. This might be front yard moving, photography, or house cleaning. Or you might be interested in a retail sales business. The Internet now makes it possible for just about everyone to start an online retail key in and the marketplace is global. By using the internet you can battle on a quantity playing field amidst huge companies. Are you a collector? Maybe you would enjoy selling select collectible items.

2. Develop a sector plan. This does not have to be complicated. Simply spit out down your plan for causing your economy work. Determine what you will sell, how you will market your business, who your potential customers will be, etc.

3. Decide on the name of your business. If you are going to and cr your business something other than your own legal name then you will be able to need to file a fictitious busines name statement amongst the local Recorders Office in your county.

4. Check with your county and state for local requirements for housing centered business. If you will be selling merchandise then you will need to get hold of the department of revenue for your state to craft a Retail Merchant Certificate or Sales Tax ID number. This will aide you to colect sales tax on merchandise sold.

5. Set up a separate bank account for the business. This will help you stay track of business revenue and expenses.

6. Set Aside an place in your home where you will work on your business. If you look for to be profitable you must treat your business like a business.

7. Work, Work , Work.

Starting a property business can be an incredible venture. It can also be a lot of work. Don't believe a single person who tells you so it is easy. When you are exploring tools for your home based boom you plans to come across a lot of opportunities for sale. Some of these types of could contain excellent information additonally others will be a rip off. Consider these proposals carefully and remember, if it sounds to good to be true - it probably is.

To your success!
Real Estate in the US maybe cooling,
but real estate opportunities are heating up
in Cebu city. cebu mactanis a destination
that likely going to be a hot bed for real estate development for years to come.
Create several niche website such as http://www.ceburobinsonsland.blogspot.com
Author\'s Website : Property for rent