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Here we go again... Singapore faces recession risk in second half of 2010 Reuters - Tuesday, August 10 By Nopporn Wong-Anan * CPI may rise further in H2, but in "tolerable" range * Monetary policy appropriate SINGAPORE, Aug 10 - Singapore faces the risks of an annualised contraction in its economy in the second half of 2010 due to a global slowdown but remains on course to be one of the world's fastest growing countries. The government kept its annual growth forecast for 2010 at 13 percent to 15 percent -- its strongest yearly expansion -- as demand for electronics and a surging flow of tourists will offset a fall in biomedical production due to plant maintenance shutdowns and a possible shift in output mix. "It is possible that we could have two quarters of negative sequential growth, which would qualify as a technical recession," Ravi Menon, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, told reporters on Tuesday. Singapore last went into recession -- defined as two straight quarters of contraction -- in 2008 when the economy shrank from the second to the last quarter. "We see this moderation in growth as a healthy normalisation of economic activities," said DBS economist Irvin Seah. "And even with the growth momentum slowing down, the Singapore economy is still on track to meet our target of 15 percent growth." Gross domestic product in the April to June period soared 24 percent on an annualised basis, a downward revision from a 26 percent expansion estimated in July. BEARABLE INFLATION The economy also grew 18.8 percent in the same quarter from a year earlier, versus a 19.3 percent rise reported last month. Despite rising prices of food, fuel and vehicles, which could push inflation to 4 percent by the end of the year, the central bank said on Tuesday the average 2010 inflation rate would stay at "tolerable levels" of between 2.5 percent to 3.3 percent. That means the monetary policy stance of allowing a modest and gradual appreciation in the Singapore dollar remains appropriate, said Ong Chong Tee, deputy managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Ong said the Singapore dollar's <SGD=> rise this year is in line with gains in other Asian currencies against the dollar. The Singapore dollar is up 4 percent against the U.S. dollar so far in 2010. The central bank said it was not worried over capital flows to Singapore, viewing it as part of fund flows that reflected strong Asian economies. Ong also said banks regularly stress-tested scenarios such as interest rate movements and exposures to stocks and property. He said Singapore banks' exposure to the property industry was well within the limit of 35 percent of their assets. Regulators worldwide are increasingly wary about the exposure of banks to property. China's banking regulator recently ordered banks to conduct a stress test assuming a fall in house prices of up to 60 percent, just as policies to cool the sizzling market start to bite. (Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar and Kevin Lim; Editing by Jan Dahinten)

HP's letter to employees on Hurd resignation August 6, 2010 4:10 PM PDT by CNET News staff Mark Hurd stepped down as Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO in the wake of the company's investigation into a former HP contractor's claim that she was sexually harassed by him. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak immediately stepped in as interim CEO. On Friday afternoon Lesjak sent a memo to company employees explaining the leadership change and going into some detail about the nature of the claim, and the results of the the HP board of directors' investigation. CNET has obtained a copy of that e-mail, which we've posted below in its entirety. From: Cathie Lesjak, CFO and interim CEO To: All HP employees Subject: Organization announcement This is to advise you that Mark Hurd, chairman and CEO of HP, has resigned from the company effective immediately. Mark's resignation was submitted at the request of the company's board of directors as a result of inappropriate behavior in which he engaged that violated HP's Standards of Business Conduct and undermined his ability to continue to lead the company. At the request of the board, I have agreed to serve as interim CEO until a new, permanent CEO is hired. During this time I also will continue to perform my duties as CFO. The board has formed a committee to undertake a search for a new CEO, and candidates from inside the company as well as outside the company will be considered. I have informed the board, however, that I do not wish to be considered for the role of permanent CEO, and I have removed myself from being a candidate for that position. While this news is unexpected, HP remains in an exceptionally strong position both financially and in the marketplace. It is essential, however, that we remain focused and continue to achieve--if not exceed--our operational and financial objectives. Because there is likely to be considerable media coverage of this announcement during the next few days, I wanted to be the first to share the facts with you. Mark's resignation followed an internal investigation into a claim of sexual harassment asserted against Mark and HP by a woman who is former contractor to HP. The investigation was conducted by outside counsel in conjunction with HP's general counsel's office and was overseen by the board. Based on the investigation it was determined that the former contractor's claim of sexual harassment was not supported by the facts. The investigation did reveal, however, that Mark had engaged in other inappropriate conduct. Specifically, based on the facts that were gathered it was found that Mark had failed to disclose a close personal relationship he had with the contractor that constituted a conflict of interest, failed to maintain accurate expense reports, and misused company assets. Each of these constituted a violation of HP's Standards of Business Conduct (PDF), and together they demonstrated a profound lack of judgment that significantly undermined Mark's credibility and his ability to effectively lead HP. As we regularly remind all employees, each of us is expected to adhere strictly to the Standards of Business Conduct in all of our business dealings and relationships. This expectation applies with even greater force to HP's CEO and other senior executives who, given their positions, must set the highest standard for professional and personal conduct. The investigation that was conducted revealed that Mark had failed to meet this standard. We recognize that this change of leadership is unexpected news. We also know that HP's success in recent years is due to the collective efforts and hard work of more than 300,000 talented employees who have formulated far-reaching strategies and achieved our objectives better than anyone else in the industry. On Monday morning we will conduct an all-employee Webcast to discuss this matter further and answer your questions. To join the Webcast please click on this link. In closing, I would like to thank each of you for your contributions to HP and to ask that in the weeks and months to come we do everything to ensure that HP's future, like its past, is one of innovation, operational excellence, and the delivery of world-class products and services. All the best. Cathie

Woman in Hurd probe 'surprised, saddened' August 8, 2010 3:31 PM PDT by Steven Musil The woman at the center of the sexual harassment probe that led to the resignation of Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd has come forward and said she was taken aback by his departure from the Silicon Valley giant. "I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this. That was never my intention," Jodie Fisher, a former salesperson and actress, said in a statement released Sunday by Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred. Her statement confirms earlier reports that she had resolved her claim against Hurd and said the two of them did not have a sexual relationship. "Mark and I never had an affair or intimate sexual relationship. I first met Mark in 2007 when I interviewed for a contractor job at the company," Fisher said. "At HP, I was under contract to work at high-level customer and executive summit events held around the country and abroad. I prepared for those events, worked very hard and enjoyed working for HP." Hurd resigned his position as chairman and chief executive officer of the Silicon Valley giant on Friday after it was revealed that HP had conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment involving Hurd. The resignation took effect immediately. He was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak, who will act in an interim capacity. On a conference call with the media Friday afternoon, HP General Counsel Mike Holston said Hurd had a "close, personal relationship" with a female contractor for two years between the fall of 2007 and 2009 that he did not disclose to the board of directors. HP did not disclose Fisher's name at the time. HP's board conducted an investigation with outside investigators and concluded that while Hurd had not violated the company's sexual harassment policy, his conduct "exhibited a profound lack of judgment," according to Holston. HP's board insisted Hurd resign. Hurd has reportedly paid the woman an undisclosed amount of money, but HP is not part of that financial settlement. Fisher, 50, is a single mother focused on raising a young son, according to a statement by Allred. She has a political science degree from Texas Tech and was recently the vice president of a commercial real estate company, Allred said. She also has appeared in a half-dozen movies since 1992, according to her Internet Movie Database profile, including 2009's "Easy Rider: The Ride Back" and 1998's "Sheer Passion." She also appeared on TV's "Joe Bob's Drive-in Theater" and "Silk Stalkings." Hurd will receive a severance payment from HP of $12.2 million, plus other stock benefits, on the condition that he agrees not to pursue any legal action against the company, according to the separation agreement HP filed with the SEC on Friday. Hurd joined HP in 2005 as CEO and president and was named chairman of the board in September 2006. Prior to that he spent 25 years at NCR, where he became CEO in 2002.

HP CEO Hurd resigns over sexual harassment investigation August 6, 2010 1:23 PM PDT by Erica Ogg Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd resigned from the company Friday after HP conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. Hurd's resignation marks a stunning end to what had been by most accounts a wildly successful five years at the helm of what is now the largest computer company in the world, measured by total revenues. The resignation takes effect immediately. He will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak, who will act in an interim capacity. HP said its board of directors reached a unanimous decision after Hurd was accused of sexual harassment by a former marketing contractor to HP in late June. HP says its own investigation found "no violation of HP's sexual harassment policy, but did find violations of HP's Standards of Business Conduct." On a conference call with the media Friday afternoon, HP General Counsel Mike Holston said Hurd had a "close, personal relationship" with a female contractor for two years between the fall of 2007 and 2009 that he did not disclose to the board of directors. The name of the contractor and her contracting firm were not disclosed. The contractor has retained Gloria Allred of the Los Angeles-based law firm Allred, Maroko & Goldberg as her attorney. Allred confirmed she is representing the woman, who she declined to identify, and also said in a statement that "we wish to make clear that there was no affair and no intimate sexual relationship between our client and Mr. Hurd," throwing the exact nature of Hurd's "close personal relationship" with the woman into doubt. Allred is one of the more famous sexual harassment lawyers in the business, taking high-profile cases and popping up in the media on a regular basis. She also declined to comment on any pending litigation against Hurd or HP. Holston said the company's investigation revealed that the contractor had received compensation and incorrect expense reimbursement from Hurd as part of a systematic attempt to conceal his relationship with her. The relationship reportedly consisted of private dinners between the two after marketing events she attended with Hurd in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. When reporting expenses for those dinners, he would say he ate by himself or with someone else, according to the New York Times. The same report cites a person close to Hurd saying that Hurd denied there was any romantic link between him and the contractor. HP's board was notified of the matter after receiving a letter from the outside contracting firm on June 29. HP conducted an investigation with outside investigators and concluded that Hurd's conduct "exhibited a profound lack of judgment," according to Holston. The amount of expenses involved is not material to HP, according to Holston. "The facts that drove the decision for the company had to do with integrity, with credibility, and honesty," he told investors on a call Friday. Hurd at first offered, instead of resigning, to repay HP for the amount of the misreported expenses, which range somewhere between $1,000 to $20,000, according to a report in the New York Times, citing a source described as a person close to Hurd. But HP's board insisted he step down. "As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect, and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career," Hurd said in a prepared statement. Hurd will receive a severance payment from HP of $12.2 million, plus other stock benefits, on the condition that he agrees not to pursue any legal action against the company, according to the separation agreement HP filed with the SEC on Friday. Hurd joined HP in 2005 as CEO and president and was named chairman of the board in September 2006. Prior to that he spent 25 years at NCR, where he became CEO in 2002. Hurd was brought into the company to provide stability after the turbulent tenure of the charismatic Carly Fiorina, who is now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in California. Stability, growth, and profits are exactly what Hurd provided. His by-the-book focus on operations was paired with both aggressive cost-cutting and acquisition strategies, particularly in consulting and business software. He is credited with returning fiscal and operational discipline to HP following Fiorina's tenure, and built HP through a series of acquisitions into one of the tech industry's largest companies, with large software, hardware, and services units. The company's market capitalization increased $44.6 billion, rising to $108.1 billion since Hurd took over as CEO in April 2005. In his early tenure he steered the company through embarrassing revelations that former chairwoman Patricia Dunn headed an effort to spy on reporters, including three from CNET. HP investigators obtained the private phone records of the journalists, company board members, and employees in an effort to uncover a news leak within the company. Hurd was called to testify before Congress in September 2006 and acknowledged that he signed off on many of the tactics used by HP investigators, but denied having prior knowledge of a tactic known as pretexting, the term used to describe the obtaining of records through the use of false pretenses. Subsequent to the HP spying scandal, a law was passed outlawing pretexting. Dunn ultimately resigned and Hurd took control of HP's board, solidifying his hold on the company. Looking forward The company said Friday it does not expect to make any additional structural or leadership changes in the near future. "We thought it was important for people to appreciate that the announcement today has nothing to do with the operational performance of the company, it is all about Mark's behavior and judgment," Lesjak said on the call Friday. Lesjak has been with HP for more than 24 years, serving in various financial leadership capacities. She has served as CFO since January 2007. However, she has already taken herself out of consideration for the permanent role. HP has put together a search committee for a new CEO and board chair consisting of several members of its board of directors including Marc Andreessen, Lawrence Babbio Jr., John Hammergren, and Joel Hyatt. HP's lead independent director, Robert Ryan, will continue in that position. The committee will be considering both internal and outisde candidates. "We are going to move as fast as possible, but we're going to make sure we get the right CEO for the company," Andreessen said. HP's stock price was down just over 1 percent to $45.83 in after-hours trading immediately following the news. Trading of HP stock was halted at 1:05 p.m. PDT. Trading eventually resumed at 2 p.m., and HP's stock plunged 9 percent. HP on Friday also raised its full-year outlook for revenue. The company is due to announce third-quarter earnings on August 19. Friday it released preliminary results for the third fiscal quarter 2010, including revenue of $30.7 billion. For the full year, HP said it is raising its outlook to between $125.3 billion and $125.5 billion, and earnings per share in the range of $3.62 to $3.64, including after-tax costs of 87 cents per share.

Free Boobies Enhancement !!! China orders milk powder probe over baby breasts AFP - Tuesday, August 10 BEIJING (AFP) - – China's health ministry said Tuesday it had ordered food safety authorities in central Hubei province to investigate claims that milk powder has caused infant girls to grow breasts. Officials had already begun tests on the baby formula after parents and doctors expressed fears that hormones in the milk powder made by NASDAQ-listed Synutra had caused babies to develop breasts. "The Ministry of Health had attached great importance to this issue," spokesman Deng Haihua told a news conference, according to a transcript. Local food safety authorities had earlier refused a parent's request to investigate the formula made by Synutra, based in the eastern city of Qingdao, saying they did not conduct tests at consumers' behest, state media reported. Medical tests indicated the levels of hormones in three girls, ranging in age from four- to 15-months and who were fed the same baby formula, exceeded those of the average adult woman, China Daily reported on Monday. A fourth case was reported in Beijing, Xinhua reported on Tuesday. The ministry said medical experts were also assisting a separate medical investigation into the cause of the infants' condition. Synutra insisted in a statement that its products were safe and that no man-made hormones or illegal substances had been added during production. The company's shares plunged 27 percent on Monday in New York to 12.72 dollars, their steepest fall since China's 2008 tainted milk scandal. Chinese dairy products were recalled worldwide in 2008 after it was found that melamine, which is used to make plastics, was widely and illegally added to the products to give the appearance of higher protein. Melamine was found in the products of 22 Chinese dairy companies in a massive scandal blamed for the deaths of at least six infants and for sickening 300,000 others in China.

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Hanna Instruments PO4 checker Phosphate Colorimeter - HANNA HI 713 Checker®HC Hanna Instruments has released a new phosphate checker colorimeter that should make it easier for you to check your water parameters or at least phosphate. The new phosphate colorimeter has a resolution of 0.01 ppm (250 points) and 4% ±0.04 accuracy of reading. And requires the use of the Hanna reagent that is included. The colorimeter is very affordable. Easier to use and more accurate than chemical test kits Adaptation of Standard Method 4500-P E Accuracy 4% ±0.04 ppm (mg/L) of reading 0.04 ppm (mg/L) resolution (250 points) Large, easy to read digits Auto shut-off. Dedicated to a single parameter Designed to work with HANNAs powder reagents Uses 10 mL glass cuvettes. Small Size, Big Convenience Weighing a mere 65 g (2.3 oz.), the Checker®HC easily fits into the palm of your hand or pocket.Use for quick and accurate on the spot analysis. Single button operation: Zero and Measure Operated by a single AAA battery. Ideal for Natural, waste and drinking waters. ACCURATE AND AFFORDABLE PHOSPHATE MEASUREMENT Orthophosphates are found in natural and waste waters. They are commonly added to drinking water as a corrosion inhibitor. The instantaneous analysis of orthophosphate by colorimetric determination provides rapid results using a standard analysis technique. The HANNA HI 713 Checker®HC bridges the gap between simple chemical test kits and professional instrumentation. Chemical test kits are not very accurate and only give 5 to 10 points resolution while professional instrumentation can cost hundreds of dollars and can be time consuming to calibrate and maintain. The HANNA HI 713 Checker®HC is accurate and affordable. The HI 713 Checker®HC portable handheld colorimeter features a resolution of 0.01 ppm (250 points) and 4% ±0.04 accuracy of reading. The HI 713 Checker® HC uses an adaptation of Standard Method 4500-P E. The contoured style of this Checker®HC fits in your palm and pocket perfectly and the large LCD is easy to read. The auto shut-off feature assures the battery life will not be drained if you forget to turn it off. The HI 713 Checker®HC is extremely simple to use. First, zero the instrument with your water sample. Next, add the reagent. Last, Place the vial into the HI 713 Checker®HC, press the button and read the results. Its that easy. HOT OFF THE PRESS FROM REEFBUILDERS: Hanna Checkers for Ammonia and Nitrate ready in 2 months Hanna Checkers for Ammonia and Nitrate that we told you about in JUNE are getting close to being released. We have been told that they are going through final testing with production happening so thereafter. Alkalinity might be released before the end of this year, apparently they are working on compensating for temperature before the model is approved and ready for production. Expect to see Ammonia and Nitrate Hanna Checkers in another 30-90 days.

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Analysis: Cash-rich Apple's CFO may have world's best job Reuters - Wednesday, August 4 By Gabriel Madway SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer faces a dilemma that perhaps every finance chief wishes to have: obscene amounts of cash and nowhere to put it. The iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac computer maker has accumulated a cash pile that totals nearly $46 billion, the biggest cash hoard among U.S. tech companies and equivalent to one-fifth of Apple's market capitalization. And yet, due to an ultra-conservative investment strategy and low interest rates, that cash is earning next to nothing for Apple, which rarely makes acquisitions and does not pay a regular dividend or buy back stock. "Oppenheimer probably has the most enviable CFO job on the planet," joked Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin, who has been following Apple since the early 1980s. Analysts say Apple's near-death experience in the 1990s helps explain why it likes to remain liquid by investing in safe but low-yielding U.S. Treasury and agency debt. The company earned a mere 0.76 percent on its cash and investments in its most recent quarter, down from 1.43 percent in fiscal 2009, 3.44 percent in 2008 and 5.27 percent in 2007. Despite these low returns, Apple does not face much pressure these days to put its cash to better use. Any dissenting investors are probably appeased by the meteoric rise in the company's share price, which has tripled since 2007. "When a company is growing as fast as Apple, cash management is pretty far back in people's thoughts," said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves. "But that'll change at some point," he added, estimating that Apple's cash could hit a cool $65 billion by the end of fiscal 2011 if the company continued to generate free cash flow at the current pace. For now, Oppenheimer has a mantra that he repeats on every quarterly earnings conference call: He tells Wall Street that Apple's investment priority is the "preservation of capital" with a focus on "short-dated, high-quality investments." Bajarin said Oppenheimer's cautious approach dates from his time at Automatic Data Processing Inc, but Apple's conservatism is also driven by Chief Executive Steve Jobs. Both Jobs, 55, and Oppenheimer, 47, subscribe to the Silicon Valley maxim that "only the paranoid survive," he said. They remember the dark days when Apple was struggling to stay alive and had to lay off thousands to cut costs. When Oppenheimer joined the company in 1996 as its controller for the Americas, a series of bad management decisions had eroded profits and sent its share price diving to less than $5. Things got so bad that one of the first things Jobs did when he returned to Apple was take a lifeline in the form of a $150 million investment from Microsoft Corp in 1997. A TIGHT SHIP While those days may be long gone, fiscal prudence could be here to stay. Apple's financial estimates are almost comically conservative, delivered every quarter by Oppenheimer, who has rarely strayed from the script since he became CFO in 2004. The Cupertino, California-based company runs a tight ship: total revenue rose 75 percent from fiscal 2007 through 2009, while operating expense rose just 45 percent. Although Apple is famous for innovation, research and development costs only account for 3 percent of revenue -- far lower than at Microsoft and Cisco Systems Inc, due in part to Apple's narrow product portfolio. Apple does not appear to pay especially high salaries, either. According to career website glassdoor.com, which relies on anonymous users sharing their salary data, an Apple software engineer earns around $100,000 per year, roughly the same as engineers at Google Inc. Production costs are also kept low, due to contract manufacturers like Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. "They've entered a lot of new markets without a significant capital investment ... without really betting the farm," said Hudson Square analyst Daniel Ernst. "They haven't really needed to," he said, pointing to the iPhone as an example. The only big-ticket spend that Apple has disclosed is a $1 billion data center that it is building in North Carolina, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. KEEPING POWDER DRY While many top tech companies are awash in cash, unlike Apple, they tend to put excess cash to use. For example, Intel Corp and Microsoft pay dividends; Cisco and International Business Machines Corp buy back big chunks of stock; and Hewlett-Packard Co and Oracle Corp are serial acquirers. Apple makes few acquisitions because it develops products internally, and pays little for what it does buy. Analysts say they do not expect Oppenheimer -- who told CFO Magazine in 2000 that he learned finance from his father and grandfather -- to make significant bets with Apple's cash in the next few years. Jobs has said that Apple could do something "big and bold" if needed, but he has also expressed no interest in a share buyback or a dividend. The company last repurchased shares in 2001 and scrapped its last dividend after 1995. "I'm not as concerned as some shareholders might be about their immediate plans for cash, I prefer that they not rush," said Erick Maronak, chief investment officer for the Victory Large Cap Growth Fund, which has Apple as its largest holding. "If you look at the history of companies deploying excess cash, it's not a very good track record," he said. One case in point is Microsoft, whose share price is still below the level it reached in 2004, when the software maker declared a $32 billion one-time dividend that sapped up more than half of its cash balance.

Superman Comic Saves Family Home From Foreclosure By RAY SANCHEZ August 3, 2010 Unexpected Find of Action Comics No. 1 Could Fetch Upwards of a Quarter of a Million Dollars at Auction A struggling family facing foreclosure has stumbled upon what is considered to be the Holy Grail of comic books in their basement – a fortuitous find that could fetch upwards of a quarter million dollars at auction. A family facing home foreclosure finds a rare Superman comic book. A copy of Action Comics No. 1, the first in which Superman ever appeared, was discovered as they went about the painful task of packing up a home that had been in the family since at least the 1950s. The couple, who live in the South with their children, asked to remain anonymous. "The bank was about ready to foreclose," said Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of ComicConnect.com and Metropolis Comics and Collectibles in New York. "Literally, this family was in tears. The family home was going to be lost and they're devastated. They can't figure out a way out of this. They start packing things up. They go into the basement and start sifting through boxes – trying to find packing boxes – and they stumble on eight or nine comic books." Most of the comic books in the box were worth between $10 and $30 but one – dated June 1938 and depicting the Man of Steel lifting a car above his head – was extremely rare. That issue, which originally sold for 10 cents, is considered to have ushered in the age of the superhero. "It's a tremendous piece of American pop culture history," Zurzolo said. The couple learned online that ComicConnect.com had brokered the record-breaking sales of Action No. 1 copies for $1 million in February and then $1.5 million one month later. They immediately texted a cell phone picture to the firm's co-owner, Stephen Fishler. "You couldn't have asked for a happier ending," Zurzolo said. "Superman saved the day." Most Americans aren't so lucky. Nationwide, more than 1.6 million properties were in some stage of foreclosure in the first half of the year, according to RealtyTrac, up about 8 percent from a year ago but down 5 percent from the final six months of 2009. The couple had recently taken out a second mortgage on their home to start a new business, which failed in the uncertain economy. Mortgage payments were missed and the bank soon came after their home, which became theirs after the death of the wife's father. Fishler had to get on the phone to convince the bank to back off. "My partner basically had to explain to the bank, 'You'll have your money soon,'" Zurzolo said. "We sent them information about our previous sales and what this could realize." In a statement released through ComicConnect, the owner of the prized comic book said the family was still "a little shell shocked" after the unexpected find. "I was so nervous when I realized what it was worth," the owner said. "I know I am very fortunate but I will be greatly relieved when this book finds a new home." Last Thursday, the couple's copy received a 5.0 VG(Very Good)/Fine rating on a scale of 1 to 10. It could fetch upwards of $250,000 when it goes up for auction on ComicConnect.com from Aug. 27 through Sept. 17. While many businesses have been hurt by the recession, the comic book collection industry has received a boost. It all started in the spring of 2009, in the bleakest days of current downturn, when ComicConnect sold a copy of Action Comics No. 1 for $317,200 – a record at the time. "That was at the worst part of the recession," Zurzolo said. "All the publicity we got on that was incredible…From all this publicity people started looking around and they started finding things." There are about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 believed to be in existence, with only a handful in good condition. In the last year and a half, about 7 copies have turned up. "You never know," Zurzolo said. "You might have a hidden treasure in your home which can change your life." Zurzolo said more and more investors are calling ComicConnect looking for ways to make their money grow. One recent caller wanted to invest half a million dollars that he said were sitting in a bank account. "This happens to be the best year we've ever had," he said. The copies of Action Comic No. 1 that sold for $1 million and $1.5 million earlier this year had been purchased for about $140,000 each more than a decade ago. "When you tell people they might have more than a million bucks somewhere, it makes people move around and check places," he said. "In terms of the prices we've been able to realize, I do think that ties directly to the economy. You're dealing with a time in history when people are very uncertain about the stock market. They are extremely wary of the real estate market. They're making absolutely no money in their bank accounts." After discovering their small treasures, many people want to remain anonymous – like many lottery winners. "People don't want people knowing how much money they have," Zurzolo said. "Some people are very paranoid."

The Un-Divorced By PAMELA PAUL Published: July 30, 2010 JOHN FROST and his wife had been unhappily married for much of their 25 years together when his company relocated him in 2000. So when he moved from Virginia to Knoxville, Tenn., he left her behind. At first, it wasn’t clear what would happen next. Would she follow him? Or would they end up divorced? The answer: neither. “After a few months,” Mr. Frost said, “we both realized we liked it this way.” Technically, the two are married. They file joint tax returns; she’s covered by his insurance. But they see each other just several times a year. “Since separating we get along better than we ever have,” he said. “It’s kind of nice.” And at 58, he sees no reason to divorce. Their children have grown and left home. He asked himself: Why bring in a bunch of lawyers? Why create rancor when there’s nowhere to go but down? “To tie a bow around it would only make it uglier,” Mr. Frost said. “When people ask about my relationship status, I usually just say: ‘It’s complicated. I like my wife, I just can’t live with her.’ ” The term “trial separation” conjures a swift purgatory, something ducked into regretfully and escaped from with due speed, even if into that most conclusive of relationships, divorce. We understand the expeditious voyage from separation to divorce, the desire for a clear-cut ending that makes way for a clear-cut beginning. We hardly look askance at the miserably married or the exes who hurl epithets in divorce court. But couples who stubbornly remain separated, sometimes for years? That leaves us dumbfounded. “I see it all the time,” said Lynne Gold-Bikin, a divorce lawyer in Norristown, Pa., who is the chairman of the family law department at Weber Gallagher. She can cite a docket of cases of endless separation. With one couple separated since 1989, the wife’s perspective was, “We still get invited as Mr. and Mrs., we go to functions together, he still sends me cards,” Ms. Gold-Bikin said. As for the husband, “He cared for her, he just didn’t want to live with her.” But at his girlfriend’s urging, he finally initiated divorce proceedings. Then he became ill and she began taking over his finances — a bit too wifelike for him. “He said, enough of this, there’s no reason to get divorced,” Ms. Gold-Bikin recalled. Among those who seem to have reached a similar conclusion is Warren Buffett, the wealthy chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Mr. Buffett separated from his wife, Susan, in 1977 but remained married to her until her death in 2004. All the while, he lived with Astrid Menks; they married in 2006. The threesome remained close, even sending out holiday cards signed, “Warren, Susan and Astrid.” Also in the ranks of the un-divorced: the artist Willem de Kooning had been separated from his wife for 34 years when she died in 1989. Jann and Jane Wenner separated in 1995 after 28 years but are still married, despite Mr. Wenner’s romantic relationship with a man. Society is full of whispered scenarios in which spouses live apart, in different homes or in the same mega-apartment in order to silence gossip, avoid ugly divorce battles and maintain the status quo, however uneasy. In certain cases, the world assumes a couple is divorced and never learns otherwise until an obituary puts the record straight. Separations are usually de facto, rarely pounded out in a contract, and family law is different state to state. But even long-estranged couples are irrefutably bound by contractual links on issues like taxes, pensions, Social Security and health care. Divorce lawyers and marriage therapists say that for most couples, the motivation to remain married is financial. According to federal law, an ex qualifies for a share of a spouse’s Social Security payment if the marriage lasts a decade. In the case of more amicable divorces, financial advisers and lawyers may urge a couple who have been married eight years to wait until the dependent spouse qualifies. For others, a separation agreement may be negotiated so that a spouse keeps the other’s insurance until he or she is old enough for Medicare. If one person has an existing condition, obtaining affordable health care coverage is often difficult or impossible. The recession, with its real estate lows and health care expense highs, adds incentives to separate indefinitely. Four years ago, Peggy Sanchez, 50, a Midwest resident, parted amicably from her husband, who has fibromyalgia. “He would not get medical treatment if he weren’t on my insurance,” she said, and giving him that is less expensive than paying alimony. “Besides, I care about him and want to make sure he gets the medical help he needs,” she said. There are still sticky issues: Ms. Sanchez’s boyfriend is unaware that she’s still married. Her daughter from a previous marriage views her husband as a father figure. And he got custody of the family dog. But Ms. Sanchez plans to stay separated. “I don’t have much desire to remarry so there’s no benefit to me from divorce,” she said. “I guess that sounds pretty jaded, but it’s just not as important as it used to be.” Sharon O’Neill, a marriage therapist in Mount Kisco, N.Y., has seen four cases in the last two years in which couples separated but stayed in the same home. In a depressed market, couples may not want to sell a house they purchased at the market’s height, or one party can’t maintain the mortgage or the other can’t afford a new home. “The financial collapse has made people say, ‘Let’s not rush into a divorce, let’s see if we can make something else work,’ ” Ms. O’Neill said. The added value of marriage is also hard to kick. “Many people I’ve worked with over time enjoy the benefits of being married: the financial perks, the tax breaks, the health care coverage,” said Toni Coleman, a couples therapist in McLean, Va. “They maintain a friendship, they co-parent their kids, they may do things socially together. Sometimes they’re part of a political couple in Washington or have prominent corporate positions. But they just feel they can’t live together.” What Ms. Coleman finds surprising is that the primary consideration is practical and financial, not familial. The effect of endless separations on the children rarely seems a priority. “People split up and have these God-awful joint custody arrangements, so you would think that they stay separated for the kids’ sake, but I’m not seeing that,” she said. “It usually comes down to money.” Others believe separation is easier on the children than is divorce. A 48-year-old social worker from Brooklyn, separated eight years, traded places with her husband in the same home, so that their children would not have to shuttle from one home to the other. The couple had an apartment where each would live when not at the family home. “In hindsight, it was probably more confusing for the kids,” she said. “But we did it with their best interests in mind.” But long-term separation can create big problems. If a couple isn’t divorced, their lives are still legally and financially intertwined. If your estranged husband goes on a spending spree, you’re responsible for the ensuing credit card debt. If you win the lottery, that’s community property. Finances can swing wildly, creating an alimony boon or a bombshell should one partner eventually want a divorce. “I just had a situation where after 15 years of separation, the wife wanted to remarry,” said Elizabeth Lindsey, an Atlanta divorce lawyer. “But over the years, his assets had completely dissipated.” The wife would have profited from divorcing earlier. A separation can also go on longer than anyone anticipated, even until death, leaving a mess for survivors. In New York State, for example, a spouse, even if separated, is entitled to a third of the partner’s estate. There’s also the risk that you could lose track of your erstwhile partner altogether. “We see cases, usually with foreign nationals, where the husband goes back to the Philippines, and the wife wants to marry James but she’s still married to Ted,” said Steve Mindel, a managing partner at the Los Angeles law firm Feinberg Mindel Brandt & Klein. Judges now often require that a professional be hired to locate the spouse, to facilitate the divorce. BUT more often than not, a delayed divorce simply reflects inertia. Celeste Liversidge, a divorce lawyer in Los Angeles, most frequently sees people who are avoiding an unpleasant task. “It’s often so ugly,” she said. “People get to a point where they can’t live with each other but going through the divorce process is too painful.” A six-month separation turns into years. One woman, a 39-year-old mother of two from Brooklyn, who like many interviewed for this article wished to remain anonymous, has stayed separated for nearly two years at the suggestion of five lawyers. “There’s no advantage to getting divorced,” she said. Both she and her husband are in new relationships. Most people assume they’ve officially split. But given the health insurance issue and the prospect of legal fees, she said, “I feel like we could just drift on like this for years.” Not being divorced is also an excuse not to remarry. “In my day, we’d refer to a man as a bon vivant, a gadabout who doesn’t want to worry about marrying anyone else because he’s already married,” said Sheila Riesel, a New York divorce lawyer for more than three decades. In the end, some people just don’t want to divorce. Perhaps one spouse desires it and the other drags his or her feet. Sometimes, people are just confused; separation can be a wake-up call. In other cases, initiating divorce ultimately serves that purpose. Last year, a 67-year-old professor in New York filed for divorce from the man she married in 1969 and separated from in 1988 after she had an affair with a woman. “I had images of Vita Sackville-West, but it was very messy and the children suffered a lot,” she recalled. “My husband had been more attached to me than I thought.” And she considered him a pal; they even took vacations together. “I think I liked that we were still married in some way,” she admitted. “But last year I met someone who minds that I’m still married to someone else.” And thus, time to divorce. Call it an old-fashioned romance. A version of this article appeared in print on August 1, 2010, on page ST1 of the New York edition.

Interesting...show some pics of the setup & results thereafter.

Seven hours the magic number for sleep: study AFP - Sunday, August 1 WASHINGTON (AFP) - – People who sleep more or fewer than seven hours a day, including naps, are increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, a study published Sunday shows. Sleeping fewer than five hours a day, including naps, more than doubles the risk of being diagnosed with angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke, the study conducted by researchers at West Virginia University's (WVU) faculty of medicine and published in the journal "Sleep" says. And sleeping more than seven hours also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, it says. Study participants who said they slept nine hours or longer a day were one-and-a-half times more likely than seven-hour sleepers to develop cardiovascular disease, the study found. The most at-risk group was adults under 60 years of age who slept five hours or fewer a night. They increased their risk of developing cardiovascular disease more than threefold compared to people who sleep seven hours. Women who skimped on sleep, getting five hours or fewer a day, including naps, were more than two-and-a-half times as likely to develop cardiovascular disease. Short sleep duration was associated with angina, while both sleeping too little and sleeping too much were associated with heart attack and stroke, the study says. A separate study, also published in "Sleep", showed that an occasional long lie-in can be beneficial for those who can't avoid getting too little sleep. In that study, David Dinges, who heads the sleep and chronobiology unit at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine, found that 142 adults whose sleep was severely restricted for five days -- as it is for many people during the work week -- had slower reaction times and more trouble focusing. But after a night of recovery sleep, the sleep-deprived study participants' alertness improved significantly, and the greatest improvements were seen in those who were allowed to spend 10 hours in bed after a week with just four hours' sleep a night. "An additional hour or two of sleep in the morning after a period of chronic partial sleep loss has genuine benefits for continued recovery of behavioral alertness," Dinges said. In the study about sleep and cardiovascular disease, researchers led by Anoop Shankar, associate professor at WVU's department of community medicine, analyzed data gathered in a national US study in 2005 on more than 30,000 adults. The results were adjusted for age, sex, race, whether the person smoked or drank, whether they were fat or slim, and whether they were active or a couch potato. And even when study participants with diabetes, high blood pressure or depression were excluded from the analysis, the strong association between too much or too little sleep and cardiovascular disease remained. The authors of the WVU study were unable to determine the causal relationship between how long a person sleeps and cardiovascular disease. But they pointed out that sleep duration affects endocrine and metabolic functions, and sleep deprivation can lead to impaired glucose tolerance, reduced insulin sensitivity and elevated blood pressure, all of which increase the risk of hardening the arteries. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that most adults get about seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Shankar suggested that doctors screen for changes in sleep duration when assessing patients' risk for cardiovascluar disease, and that public health initiatives consider including a focus on improving sleep quality and quantity. "Sleep" is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. This post has been promoted to an article

NEWS - Jackson album set for November release Sunday August 1, 01:26 PM Michael Jackson is set to invade the charts from beyond the grave - a posthumous album featuring 10 never-before-heard songs from the King of Pop will be released this November. At the time of his death, Jackson had reportedly left hard drives filled with previously unreleased music. The Thriller hitmaker's former manager Frank DiLeo estimates Jackson's vaults contain more than 100 completed and unreleased songs, including collaborations with Akon, will.i.am and Ne-Yo. The tracks are expected to be included in the forthcoming release, alongside songs Jackson recorded at the peak of his career in the 1980s. DiLeo tells RollingStone.com, "There are a couple of songs we recorded for the Bad album that we had to cut that are just sensational." A spokesperson for the estate confirms the new record will be the first in a 10-project, seven-year deal worth £166.7 million that Jackson estate executors signed with Sony Music bosses in March. The deal will also include reissues of Jackson's classic albums, new greatest hits sets, a DVD collection of the King of Pop's music videos and a possible collaboration with circus troupe Cirque du Soleil.

Bangkok to stay under emergency rule after blast: PM AFP - Wednesday, July 28 BANGKOK (AFP) - – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday that the authorities would maintain emergency rule in the capital following a deadly bombing over the weekend. "I think Bangkok will remain under the state of emergency while the government will gradually lift the law in other provinces," he told reporters after meeting security officials. The bomb, which killed one person and wounded 10, exploded at a bus stop in the same commercial district occupied by anti-government "Red Shirt" protesters during a two-month-long rally that ended with an army crackdown in May. The main opposition Puea Thai party accused government supporters of setting off the bomb, which shattered an uneasy calm in the capital since the army crushed the Red Shirts' mass protests. The government has come under pressure from the United States and rights groups to end a state of emergency still in place across one-fifth of the country. Authorities have used the powers -- introduced in Bangkok on April 7 -- to arrest hundreds of Red Shirt suspects and silence anti-government media. The protests by the Reds, many of whom back fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, attracted up to 100,000 people demanding immediate elections. Ninety people died and about 1,900 were injured in a series of street clashes between armed troops and demonstrators.

Bomb kills 1, wounds 10 after Bangkok by-election By THANYARAT DOKSONE, Associated Press Writer - Monday, July 26 BANGKOK – A bomb at a bus stop in downtown Bangkok killed one person and wounded 10 shortly after polls closed in a parliamentary election that pitted a government candidate against a jailed leader of recent mass protests in the Thai capital. Police Maj. Gen. Anuchai Lekbamroong, at the site of the explosion Sunday, declined to speculate whether the bombing was related to Thailand's continued political turbulence in the wake of the street demonstrations that paralyzed much of the capital for weeks. The bomb wounded 10 Thai people and one women from Myanmar, all of whom were hospitalized, according to the government's Erawan Center, which accounts for casualties in such incidents. One of the wounded, a 51-year-old Thai man, later died during an operation at the Police Hospital, according to a nurse who declined to give her name since she was not authorized to speak with the press. The explosion was near two department stores that have been closed since they were torched at the climax of the protests May 19. The government candidate scored a narrow victory over a contender being held in jail on terrorism charges in an election touted by rival sides as a barometer of Thailand's political climate, according to unofficial results. The poll was seen as a test of strength for the Red Shirt movement, which from March to May staged demonstrations that were finally put down with lethal force. The protesters had demanded that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and call a general election. In the special election, Panich Vikitsreth, a vice minister for foreign affairs with the ruling Democrat Party, garnered about 54 percent of the vote over rival Kokaew Pikulthong, an imprisoned Red Shirt leader, unofficial results from the Election Commission said. Four other candidates received negligible votes. Kokaew, who was not in the top ranks of the Red Shirt leadership, had to campaign from his prison cell, where he is held on terrorism charges for his alleged role in the violent end to the protests. He was contesting a vacant seat in the House of Representatives for the opposition Pheu Thai Party. Thailand has been in a state of political turmoil since 2006, when a coup ousted then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was popular among the rural and urban poor. Since then, his supporters and opponents have staged a bitter struggle for power. The Red Shirts, made up of Thaksin's supporters and other opponents of the coup, staged protests in April last year and then relaunched their campaign against Abhisit in March this year. An escalating series of confrontations ended on May 19, when the army moved in to sweep the Red Shirt demonstrators from the streets. Over two months, almost 90 people died _ most of them protesters killed by authorities _ and more than 1,400 were hurt in politically related violence. More than 30 buildings were torched. A state of emergency is still in effect, and the top protest leaders are in detention. Additional reporting by Grant Peck and Kinan Suchaovanich in Bangkok.

Oracle's Ellison highest paid CEO of the decade AFP - Tuesday, July 27 WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Oracle Corporation founder and chief executive Larry Ellison topped the list of best-paid executives of the decade with 1.84 billion dollars, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The 65-year-old software pioneer, who founded Oracle in 1977, beat Internet tycoon Barry Diller into second place on just over one billion dollars. Ellison has a 23 percent stake in the company, the Journal reported in Monday's editions. In the 10 years ended May 31, 2009, the most recent fiscal year for which Oracle has disclosed pay data, its market capitalization nearly tripled, to 98 billion dollars, up from 36 billion, and has risen even more since, it said. In second place on the compensation list was Diller, who received some 1.14 billion dollars from IAC/Interactive and Expedia Inc, the online travel site IAC spun off in 2005, where he remains chairman. Occidental Petroleum Corp. CEO Ray Irani came in third place, with 857 million dollars. Apple's Steve Jobs was fourth with 749 million dollars. Jobs took a one dollar annual salary throughout the decade, but ranked fourth primarily because of a 647 million dollar gain on restricted stock that was granted in 2003 and vested in 2006. He still holds the shares. In fifth place was Capital One Financial Corp. CEO Richard Fairbank with 569 million dollars earned over the decade. The Journal analysis included salaries, bonuses, perks and realized gains on both restricted stock and stock options; it excluded new grants of restricted stock and stock options.