kueytoc

Five-star England head for South Africa in style AFP - Thursday, September 10 LONDON (AFP) - - Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard grabbed two goals each as England booked their place in next year's World Cup in style with a convincing 5-1 win over Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday. Wayne Rooney's ninth goal of the qualifying campaign completed the humiliation of a Croatian side that was a pale shadow of the one that had denied England a place at Euro 2008 with a famous victory here two years ago. Ukraine's goalless draw in Belarus earlier in the evening had ensured Fabio Capello's men kicked off knowing a draw would be enough to send them to South Africa. Deprived by injury of both their principal playmaker, Luka Modric, and their main defensive organiser, Vedran Corluka, Croatia would probably have been glad to settle for such an outcome. That was quickly rendered a remote prospect however as a combination of Aaron Lennon's penetration and some slipshod defending helped England seize control in little over quarter of an hour. Having survived one good penalty shout for handball by centreback Ivica Krizanac, Croatia found themselves behind after Lennon, cutting into the box at speed but going away from goal, was felled by Josip Simunic. No argument was possible and Lampard's spot-kick was swept low past Vedran Runje's right hand. Promoted to the starting line-up at the expense of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Lennon was clearly in the mood to establish himself as Capello's first-choice option on the right flank, a fine cutback allowing Gareth Barry to force Runje into the first of a string of fine, first-half saves. An isolated half-chance for the Croatians saw Mario Mandzukic's shot on the turn float comfortably over Robert Green's bar and England responded immediately by sweeping upfield to double their lead. Lennon got clear on the right and, with the visitors having failed to pick up Gerrard's run to the back post, presented the Liverpool midfielder with the simplest of headed finishes. The Croatians' body language suggested that was game over and, but for the excellence of Runje, England would have been out of sight by half-time. Having beaten out Lampard's 40-yard free kick, the Lens goalkeeper denied Lennon and Emile Heskey twice in one-on-ones to prevent what could, and with better finishing would have been, an even more embarrassing rout. It would have been scarcely deserved, but Croatia might have been handed a lifeline ten minutes into the second period, when Glen Johnson appeared to hold down Arsenal forward Eduardo in an aerial challenge inside the six-yard box. Three minutes later, England killed the contest after Spanish referee Alberto Mallenco's good decision to allow play to carry on after Lennon had been crudely cut down handed Johnson the chance to wriggle his way to the byline. The Liverpool defender's cross was tailor-made for Lampard to nod in his sixth goal in his last seven outings for his country. Not to be outdone by his midfield rival, Gerrard was soon sending Rooney to the byline before advancing into the box to head home the forward's chip for England's fourth. In keeping with the tone of the evening, even Croatia's consolation goal had a positive aspect to it for England with Green making a fine save to keep out Eduardo's header before, after a follow-up effort had been blocked, the Arsenal striker stabbed home from close range. A miserable night for Croatia was compounded with 12 minutes left when the otherwise blameless Runje wildly sliced an attempted clearance from a backpass, presenting Rooney with an open goal for England's fifth.

World’s largest CNG refuelling station opens in Singapore Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, September 10 SINGAPORE: The world’s largest CNG refuelling station — spanning over 7,000 square metres — has opened in Singapore. The S$16m C—Energy station, owned by the Union Energy Group, officially opened its facility at Old Toh Tuck Road on Wednesday. The C—Energy, the fifth CNG station in Singapore, has 44 pump hoses for cars and two for buses. This should address the problem of insufficient refuelling stations that users of green vehicles have complained about. C—Energy is the brainchild of Teo Kiang Ang, who also runs TransCab, Singapore’s second largest taxi company after Comfort Delgro. Mr Teo plans to open three more CNG stations — in Bedok—Changi area, Woodlands and Toa Payoh — within the next three years at an estimated cost of about S$6 million each, excluding land cost. He said: "Our projections show the need for another three to four stations to help make this industry successful. Without the additional stations in the east, south, west and north, without enough filling stations, it is hard for the CNG business to succeed. But if we are able to support it, we are assured of success." Builders said another issue is land availability. Alexander Melchers, general manager of C Melchers GMBH, said: "We hear from the operators that the acquisition of land and the pricing of land is an issue. There’s an opportunity for companies to have their own stations if they have access to the pipeline. "But very importantly, is that we have public stations, so that heartlanders can convert their cars and heartlanders can save money." Currently, there are some 4,200 CNG vehicles out of over 700,000 vehicles in Singapore. About one third of the CNG vehicles are taxis. Still, users are hampered by a Catch—22 situation. Drivers are reluctant to switch to CNG despite the green tax rebate, because they say there are simply not enough CNG refuelling stations. On the other hand, CNG refuellers say they are reluctant to spend millions to build CNG stations because there are simply not enough CNG vehicles. But as fuel prices increase and CNG, which can halve a driver’s fuel cost, becomes more easily available, Mr Teo expects more to switch to CNG vehicles. And he plans to grow his current 3,000 taxi fleet to a fully—CNG one of 8,000 within five years. In fact, Mr Teo predicted that by then, half of Singapore’s entire taxi fleet will be CNG cabs. And going by the positive reactions of customers, he may well be on the right track. "Elsewhere, the queues are long, some equipment are not working, waste a lot of time!" said one customer. "A lot of us started buying CNG vehicles, but ended up using petrol most of the time. Now, people in our area have started going back to CNG and enjoying the savings from it," said another. Another plus point — the new CNG station runs 24 hours a day. — CNA/ir

Most Asia economies reform amid crisis-World Bank Reuters - Wednesday, September 9 * Singapore leads world for 4th straight year * Indonesia seen region's most active reformer WASHINGTON, Sept 8 - Three Asia-Pacific economies -- Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong -- were ranked by the World Bank on Tuesday as the easiest places to do business over the past year, when most of the region's economies carried out regulatory reforms in the face of a global economic crisis. The International Financial Corporation , the World Bank's private sector lending arm, said Indonesia was the most active reformer in East Asia and the Pacific, where 17 of 24 economies pursued regulatory reform. "In a record year for regulatory reform worldwide, most economies in East Asia and the Pacific strengthened business regulations, making them more efficient to help increase opportunities for local firms," said the annual report. Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong held the top three spots in the global ease of doing business rankings in 2009 as well. This year's 15 top-ranked economies also included Thailand at 12, and Japan, at 15, the IFC said. Indonesia cut the time required to start a business by 16 days and the time to transfer a property by 17 days, climbing to 122 from 129 in the rankings, said the report, "Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times." The ranking, now in its seventh year, is based on analysis of regulations of business start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business. Singapore, which has topped the table for the past four years, continued to make its economy more efficient by introducing online services to ease business start-up, construction permits, and property transfers, it said. Hong Kong also stream-lined procedures for construction permits, business start-ups and property transfers, said the IFC. Malaysia, ranked 23rd worldwide, eased business start-up procedures, cut company incorporation charges and corporate fees and made it easier to enforce contracts in courts by increasing staff and setting stricter deadlines, it said. Taiwan, 46th in the world, eased business start-up by abolishing minimum paid-in capital requirements, introducing time limits on various procedures. Taipei made it possible to file and pay taxes on-line, it said. Penelope Brook, acting vice president for financial and private sector development at the World Bank Group, said the reforms would position firms in the regions to respond quickly to economic recovery. "The quality of business regulation helps determine how easy it is for troubled firms to survive difficult times, how fast local entrepreneurs will start investing again and how quickly new business can get started," she said in a statement.

WOW !!!...a superb rare find as the Finespotted Comet aka Calloplesiops argus is infrequently collected or observed in nature. C argus also has a much more limited distribution, having only been reported from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Bro, ya tanky is indeed an INSPIRATION for moi mate. Is the new GEM piece below bought from the recent Wild-Wild shipment ?

WOW !...ya tanky every sides also 'swee' lah mate !

Fantastic piece mate.

Keep on FASCINATION...

WILD WILD WET !!!

Juz learnt that the colony without the obvious ring is a different species called Ring of Atlantis

U are right mate...it's African Blue Hornets Yet it's still a FANTASTIC buy man.

WOW !...these 'STINGER$' have been 'noisily buzzing' moi poor ol' ears for the past 2 days liao.

AH LEE...let moi know if U are going to hand-pick them this week.

Whooopee !!!...fabulous GEMs of a kind...PURPLE HORNETS !!! One solid colony with Yellow/Green Ring & another unique One without the obvious Ring.

I 'passed' the fish otherwise moi LPS gems will be in dire jeopardy. Mmmm...I 'sniffed' a real speckled GEM swimming carefreely in ya tanky now.

New Kid On the Block !!!

Turning ZEOVIT = Hungry POLYPS

Aiyoh...'chuen poh' already lo. Hee Hee

Ahem...tis HYBRID has been 'hiding' yet openly available at a well-known LFS...Ooops shhh.

Now moi-moi tanky is 'STAG-less'.

In Memoriam: Michael Jackson Jackson far from cameras, public Sept. 3, 2009, 6:12 PM EST GLENDALE, Calif. - Michael Jackson will share eternity with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in a grand marble mausoleum that will be all but off-limits to adoring fans who might otherwise turn the pop star's grave into a shrine. A private family ceremony was set for Thursday night inside the massive multistory building at star-studded Forest Lawn Glendale cemetery. The service comes one month after a lavish public memorial that displayed the "King of Pop's" gleaming golden casket to millions on TV. After the burial, the closest the public will be able to get to Jackson's vault is a portion of the mausoleum that displays "The Last Supper Window," a life-size stained-glass re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. Several 10-minute presentations about the window are held regularly 365 days a year, but most of the building is restricted. Lisa Burk, who blogs about celebrity graves at www.gravehunting.com, said the Jackson family chose well for his final resting place if it was privacy they were after. "It's impossible to get in there," Burk said. "It was before, and it will be worse now." By late afternoon Thursday, media tents had cropped up all along the boulevard across from the wrought-iron gates that serve as the main entrance to Forest Lawn. That vantage point offered no view of any mausoleum — just a fountain and a building containing the gift shop. Glendale police were providing security for the indoor service, which was well inside the sprawling grounds and by-invite only. Family representatives have said the affair was to be private, with no press allowed. No fans were allowed inside the blocked-off media area, nor had anyone gathered on the fringes of the perimeter by late afternoon. A car accident near the barricades diverted the attention of some officers, and an elementary school across the street was emptying of curious students. Gregg Harris, 42, a Jackson fan from Irvine, began waiting at a bus stop outside the security perimeter seven hours before the service was to begin. He was dressed in black from head to toe, including an "In Remembrance of Michael Jackson" T-shirt. "I just wanted to see the family. I don't know. I just wanted to be in the atmosphere, soak it in, I guess," Harris said. "I think this will give a sense of closure ... ." The Jackson family had booked an Italian restaurant in Pasadena for a gathering Thursday night, said Alex Carr, assistant operations manager at Villa Sorriso, in the city's Old Town district. She wouldn't specify the menu or number of people, but said the entire restaurant, which can accommodate 200 guests, had been reserved for the event and that security would be present. The ceremony ends months of speculation that the singer's body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction. An amended copy of Jackson's death certificate was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County to reflect Forest Lawn as his final resting place. In court on Wednesday, it was disclosed that 12 burial spaces were being purchased by Jackson's estate at Forest Lawn Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, but no details were offered on how they would be used. The "King of Pop" died a drug-induced death June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. The coroner's office has labeled the death a homicide, and Jackson's death certificate lists "injection by another" as the cause. Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told detectives he gave the singer a series of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. But prosecutors are still investigating, and no charges have been filed. AP writers Derrik J. Lang, Sue Manning and Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.

Pfizer to pay record $2.3B penalty over promotions By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer AP - Thursday, September 3 WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines Wednesday and called the world's largest drug maker a repeating corporate cheat for illegal drug promotions that plied doctors with free golf, massages, and resort junkets. Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil penalties and a $100 million criminal forfeiture. Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting it is the company's fourth such settlement of government charges in the last decade. The allegations surround the marketing of 13 different drugs, including big sellers such as VIAGRAx, Zoloft, and Lipitor. As part of its illegal marketing, Pfizer invited doctors to consultant meetings at resort locations, paying their expenses and providing perks, prosecutors said. "They were entertained with golf, massages, and other activities," said Mike Loucks, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts. Loucks said that even as Pfizer was negotiating deals on past misconduct, they were continuing to violate the very same laws with other drugs. To prevent backsliding this time, Pfizer's conduct will be specially monitored by the Health and Human Service Department inspector general for five years. In an unusual twist, the head of the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder, did not participate in the record settlement, because he had represented Pfizer on these issues while in private practice. Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli said the settlement illustrates ways the Justice Department "can help the American public at a time when budgets are tight and health care costs are rising." Perrelli announced the settlement terms at a news conference with federal prosecutors and FBI, and Health and Human Services Department officials. The settlement ends an investigation that also resulted in guilty pleas from two former Pfizer sales managers. Officials said the U.S. industry has paid out more than $11 billion in such settlements over the past decade, but one consumer advocate voiced hope that Wednesday's penalty was so big it would curb the abuses. "There's so much money in selling pills, that there's a tremendous temptation to cheat," said Bill Vaughan, an analyst at Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. "There's a kind of mentality in this sector that (settlements) are the cost of doing business and we can cheat. This penalty is so huge I think consumers can have some hope that maybe these guys will tighten up and run a better ship." The government said the company promoted four prescription drugs, including the pain killer Bextra, as treatments for medical conditions different from those the drugs had been approved for by federal regulators. Authorities said Pfizer's salesmen and women created phony doctor requests for medical information in order to send unsolicited information to doctors about unapproved uses and dosages. Use of drugs for so-called "off-label" medical conditions is not uncommon, but drug manufacturers are prohibited from marketing drugs for uses that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. They said the junkets and other company-paid perks were designed to promote Bextra and other drugs, to doctors for unapproved uses and dosages, backed by false and misleading claims about safety and effectiveness. Bextra, for instance, was approved for arthritis, but Pfizer promoted it for acute pain and surgical pain, and in dosages above the approved maximum. In 2005, Bextra, one of a class of painkillers known as Cox-2 inhibitors, was pulled from the U.S. market amid mounting evidence it raised the risk of heart attack, stroke and death. A Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia and Upjohn Inc., which was acquired in 2003, has entered an agreement to plead guilty to one count of felony misbranding. The criminal case applied only to Bextra. The $1 billion in civil penalties was related to Bextra and a number of other medicines. A portion of the civil penalty will be distributed to 49 states and the District of Columbia, according to agreements with each state's Medicaid program. Pfizer's top lawyer, Amy Schulman, said the settlements "bring final closure to significant legal matters and help to enhance our focus on what we do best _ discovering, developing and delivering innovative medicines." In her statement, Schulman said: "We regret certain actions taken in the past, but are proud of the action we've taken to strengthen our internal controls and pioneer new procedures." In financial filings in January, the company had indicated that it would pay $2.3 billion over the allegations. The civil settlement announced Wednesday covered Pfizer's promotions of Bextra, blockbuster nerve pain and epilepsy treatment Lyrica, schizophrenia medicine Geodon, antibiotic Zyvox and nine other medicines. The agreement with the Justice Department resolves the investigation into promotion of all those drugs, Pfizer said. The government said Pfizer also paid kickbacks to market a host of big-name drugs: Aricept, Celebrex, Lipitor, Norvasc, Relpax, ######, Zithromax, Zoloft, and Zyrtec. The allegations came to light thanks largely to five Pfizer employees and one Pennsylvania doctor, who will now share $102 million of the settlement money. FBI Assistant Director Kevin Perkins praised the whistleblowers who decided to "speak out against a corporate giant that was blatantly violating the law and misleading the public through false marketing claims." To rein in the abuses, the government's five-year monitoring will force Pfizer to notify doctors about Wednesday's agreement, encourage them to report any similar behavior, and publicly post any payments or perks it gives to doctors. Under terms of the settlement, Pfizer must pay $1 billion to compensate Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health care programs. Some of that money will be shared among the states: New York, for example, will receive $66 million, according to the state's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo. When Pfizer originally disclosed the settlement figure, it also announced plans to acquire rival Wyeth for $68 billion. That deal, which would bolster Pfizer's position as the world's top drug maker by revenue, is expected to close before year's end. Shares of Pfizer dropped 14 cents to $16.24 in midday trading.

Ahem !...hope to have a 'teenie-weenie' fraggie of ya Greenie Stag to 'break my stride'.

No tanky already...$ell lah !...$ell la !

Enjoy !!!