THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT !!!

[kueytoc]

Aiyoh...football dun play, wanna play '19th Hole'.

World Cup 2010 - Ribery charged in vice probe

Reuters - Tue, 20 Jul 21:26:00 2010

France internationals Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema have been placed under judicial investigation on suspicion of soliciting sex with an under-age prostitute, the Paris public prosecutor's office said.

Police investigating a prostitution ring questioned the Bayern Munich winger and Real Madrid striker for several hours at the Paris vice squad headquarters.

The offence is punishable by a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros (£38,000) although a conviction hinges on proving the accused knew the girl's age.

Ribery's lawyer said he did not know she was under 18 at the time.

The prosecutor's spokesman said Ribery and Benzema were released from custody pending further investigation after being questioned by magistrate Andre Dando.

Police had postponed the hearing until after the World Cup, in which Ribery was part of a disastrous French campaign that led to a public outcry after players protested against the coach and the team failed to win a single game. Benzema was not in the 23-man squad.

"One has to ask whether he is not being made to pay for France's World Cup failure," said Ribery's lawyer, Sophie Bottai.

French media have suggested the players were clients of a night club in Paris's Champs Elysees district that allegedly featured escorts, including the under-18 girl at the centre of the affair, Zahia Dehar.

The scandal, which gripped France before the World Cup, took a new twist in April when the young woman at the centre of the case gave an interview to Paris Match magazine, implicating players and denying being a prostitute.

She said Ribery, married with two children, had invited her to Munich in April 2009 to celebrate his 26th birthday in a luxury hotel, adding that he had paid her for three encounters last year.

According to French law, paid sex with someone under 18 is deemed sex with a minor.

Zahia, who turned 18 in February, confirmed reports in the French press that she was under age when she met Ribery, but added that she had not told him how old she was.

Bottai said that for her client to be found guilty, the girl "would have had to look like a minor and that was not the case and ... had informed him that she was under age, which was not the case".

Zahia had "said in all the press that she told him (Ribery) and others that she was an adult", Bottai added.

Ribery was France's most popular player before the World Cup fiasco, in which Les Bleus were eliminated in the first round without winning a match, and he took part in a revolt by players who boycotted a training session before their final game.

Police also placed Ribery's brother-in-law under investigation but released Benzema's agent after seven hours in custody over the incident.

Benzema, who was excused from training by his club for personal reasons, told French radio in April he had done nothing wrong. His lawyer Sylvain Cormier reiterated his client's position on television channel i-Tele.

The "Zahia affair" will do little to improve the French squad's image after the team looked lost on the pitch in South Africa and tarnished their reputation with bickering off it.

Junior Sports Minister Rama Yade said on April 30 that any player placed under investigation should not represent France.

[kueytoc]

Singapore forces removal of dissident YouTube video

AFP - Wednesday, July 14

SINGAPORE (AFP) - – A Singaporean filmmaker on Wednesday complied with a government order to remove a political film from video sharing site YouTube but said others were defiantly spreading it on the web.

Martyn See said he was ordered by the information ministry to to take down all digital copies of the film from YouTube and his blogsite by July 14 or face up to two years in jail and a fine of 10,000 Singapore dollars (7,100 US).

The banned video titled "Ex-political prisoner speaks out in Singapore" is about a rare public talk in 2009 by Lim Hock Siew, a leftist medical doctor and activist held from 1963 to 1982 during then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's rule.

"I have received notices that the film has been downloaded by anonymous netizens who have already, or are in the process of, uploading it to various video sites such as (Vimeo)," See told AFP in an email.

"Although I remind all that it is criminal offence... to possess or distribute the film, I have no wish, nor the means, to hinder the viral spread of the video," said See, who has had previous brushes with the authorities.

"As such, I hereby declare that the film is no longer in my possession, and its ownership will from now on be given to all citizens of the Republic of Singapore," added See, a 41-year-old professional video editor.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts said the 22-minute film was submitted to government censors for classification but it was banned "as it is against the public interest."

"The film gives a distorted and misleading portrayal of Dr Lims arrests and detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1963.

"The Singapore government will not allow individuals who have posed a security threat to Singapores interests in the past, to use media platforms such as films to make baseless accusations against the authorities, give a false portrayal of their previous activities in order to exculpate their guilt, and undermine public confidence in the government in the process."

In his memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew -- now an adviser to his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- wrote that the 1963 police raids that landed Lim in detention were part of a crackdown on communists.

This post has been promoted to an article

This post has been promoted to an article

[kueytoc]

Can MOI-MOI join ???

Sex Party promises 'real action' for Australians

AFP - Wednesday, July 21

MELBOURNE (AFP) - – The Australian Sex Party on Tuesday promised to spice up campaigning for next month's elections with a manifesto "unlike Australia had ever seen before".

Party chief Fiona Patten launched a risque national campaign at a Melbourne bar, saying her policies "would make (opposition Leader) Tony Abbott's hair stand on end and would turn (Prime Minister) Julia Gillard's hair grey". prospective

"We've always been forward and we actually enjoy real action," Patten said, mocking Gillard and Abbott's "Moving Australia Forward" and "Stand Up For Real Action" slogans.

The party's policies include legalising euthanasia, decriminalising all drugs for personal use, and watering down strict anti-pornography laws.

Although sure to attract criticism from church groups and other conservative elements in society, Patten said it was time an Australian political party pushed the boundaries.

Patten said personal freedom issues affect people's lives more often than tax or immigration, and wanted to break down "nanny state" policies that she said had been built up over several decades by the major parties.

While the party will struggle for mainstream support, Patten remained confident of at least one Sex Party candidate being elected to the country's Senate.

"In the privacy of the polling booth, anything could happen," she said.

The Sex Party is running a candidate against Abbott in his Sydney electorate, a comedian who has offered to doorknock voters wearing a "mankini" -- a type of bikini designed for men.

[kueytoc]

Saga of sex, blood and football grips Brazil

AFP - Saturday, July 10

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - – It takes quite a saga to push the World Cup off the front pages in Brazil, but such is the gruesome story of a goalkeeper accused of ordering the murder of his ex-lover whose body parts were then fed to the dogs.

At the center of the dark drama is Bruno Souza, a star goalkeeper and captain of defending club champion Flamengo, who surrendered to police Wednesday to face questioning in connection with the disappearance and suspected death of Eliza Samudio.

The story of the married 25-year-old player known simply as Bruno has stunned this football-mad nation, where police held a press conference Thursday to lay out the horrific crimes and Souza's bloody role in them.

"An idol like Bruno, from such a major team, is a monster for what he has done to this girl," said Minas Gerais state police commissioner Edson Moreira, one of the officials leading the investigation.

"The crime was coldly planned and executed. We can conclude that Eliza is dead."

Among the macabre details divulged by police: they believe Bruno was in a home near Belo Horizonte home with Samudio last month at the time of her murder, and that her body was later cut into pieces, some of which were fed to dogs in a bid to cover the murder.

When Bruno was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to a police station late Thursday in the city of Belo Horizonte, he was met with cries of "murderer!" from a crowd of onlookers, O Globo reported on its website.

Samudio was described by the newspaper as "a student, model and pornographic film actress."

She was also the mother of a four-month-old baby and reportedly had sought to establish that Bruno was the child's father.

Samudio's body has not been found, but Bruno's 17-year-old cousin, who acknowledged helping in her abduction, claimed in a lengthy deposition to police that the woman was strangled, officials said.

The cousin also claimed to have heard Bruno tell associates to "solve the problem" with Samudio.

According to investigators, she was strangled by a former police officer, Marcos Aparecido dos Santos.

Another one of Bruno's cousins said in his deposition that Santos committed "barbaric tortures" against Samudio, and that music was blared from her locked room so that neighbors could not hear her screams, according to the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

The victim had begged Santos to stop abusing her, saying she could no longer bear it, according to O Estado, citing the deposition.

"You are not going to bear it anymore," Santos replied. "You are going to die."

Both papers reported that Santos fed some of her remains to the Rottweiler dogs kept at the house.

Samudio met Bruno in 2009 at the home of a Flamengo teammate, according to Istoe magazine. In October, when she was five months pregnant, she reportedly filed a complaint against Bruno, saying he kidnapped and beat her and tried to force her to swallow abortion-inducing medication.

In June, Samudio met Bruno near Belo Horizonte, apparently thinking the two were going to reach an agreement for care of the baby. It was June 7, the last time a friend saw her alive.

Moreira said Thursday that police determined from the evidence that Bruno remained with Samudio until her death.

"He was with her. This is the conclusion we reached," he said.

Authorities said they ordered the detention of Bruno's wife, Dayana Rodrigues, who was found with Samudio's baby.

For his part, Bruno recently told radio Globo that he had a "clear conscience" about Samudio's disappearance.

"In the future, I'll laugh about all of this," he said.

But in a brief Globo video clip of him discussing his future with police, he sounded somber about his future.

"In Brazil, my hope to compete in the World Cup in 2014 is over," he said.

[kueytoc]

BP defends CEO, eyes new option for plugging well

Reuters - Thursday, July 22

By Tom Bergin and Anna Driver

LONDON/HOUSTON - BP Plc defended its embattled chief executive on Wednesday and denied a report he would leave soon as the company explored a new approach in the Gulf of Mexico to end the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

CEO Tony Hayward, criticized for his handling of the disaster, has the full support of the company's board and will remain in his job, a BP spokesman said, dismissing a Times of London report that he would step down within the next 10 weeks.

The Times, citing a person close to the matter, said Hayward would have to step down so the British energy giant could protect itself against a potential buyout threat by ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch Shell.

The environmental disaster caused by an April 20 oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana has devastated U.S. Gulf Coast tourism and fishing industries, dented President Barack Obama's approval ratings and complicated the traditionally close U.S. relationship with Britain.

BP capped the blown-out well last week, choking off the flow of oil into the sea for the first time in the three months since the explosion. On Tuesday, U.S. officials gave BP permission for another 24 hours of pressure tests on the capped well a mile below the ocean surface.

BP scientists are also weighing another option -- a "static kill" to help smother and plug the leak. This would involve pumping heavy drilling mud and possibly cement into the well, much like BP's failed "top kill" effort in May.

The top U.S. oil spill official, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, said BP could have a plan on Wednesday to proceed with the static kill option.

With a storm brewing in the northern Caribbean, BP could be forced to delay work to plug the oil leak for up to two weeks if vessels at the site have to move, U.S. officials said.

"Any operations out there would have to be suspended whether it's containment or the relief well," Allen said.

BP is drilling a relief well intended to intersect and plug the ruptured well next month.

BP's market value has fallen around 39 percent since the oil began spewing into the Gulf, and the company worked on Tuesday to line up $7 billion in asset sales to help pay for the spill.

BP SHARES RISE

BP shares in London and New York rose about 3.4 percent on Wednesday, buoyed by its sale of assets in the United States, Canada and Egypt to U.S. company Apache Corp, a large part of a $10 billion asset disposal plan.

"Such a material sale, achieved so quickly, should ease if not banish any lingering concerns about BP's liquidity position," JP Morgan said in a note, adding that the terms of the deal looked robust and underlined the mismatch between what BP could get for its assets and its battered stock price.

Dutch bank ING said that BP could afford to go further than its $10 billion target, potentially making over $45 billion from divestments without denting its core activities.

BP said Apache would pay a $5 billion cash deposit on July 30 as part of the deal for exploration and production facilities in North America and Egypt. The company said the deal would include assets in New Mexico, natural gas in western Canada and concessions in Egypt.

Earlier, it announced it would sell $1.7 billion worth of assets in Vietnam and Pakistan.

The head of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp told Reuters from Vietnam that the company would be interested in buying BP's stake in a $966 million Vietnam project. Vietnam's deputy minister of industry and trade said that BP should give priority to its partners in stake sales before offering them to outside parties.

HAYWARD SPECULATION

The spill sparked a wave of anger at BP among both the American public and U.S. lawmakers, and Hayward's ouster has been the subject of speculation after a series of public relations gaffes and a failure to quickly stem the flow of oil into the Gulf.

There was a growing expectation that Hayward would announce his departure in late August or September, with Robert Dudley, chief of BP's Gulf Coast restoration efforts, seen as the front-runner to replace him, the Times said.

But a BP spokesman said of Hayward: "He has full support from the board and will remain in place."

Al Troner, president of Asia Pacific Energy Consulting in Houston, said Hayward was not entirely responsible for the disaster, although "he seems to have an unfortunate tendency to put both his feet in his mouth."

"There is more than enough blame to spread around here, whether it's BP, the drilling company or the federal government reaction," he said.

The continuing disaster remains high on the American and British political agendas and dominated a visit to Washington by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The states of New York and Ohio asked a federal judge to appoint them lead plaintiffs in spill-related class-action lawsuits against BP. In a court filing, the states said their BP investments had lost $181 million because of the company's alleged misleading of investors over the spill.

[kueytoc]

Muslims warned against 'devilish' Man Utd jersey

AFP - Thursday, July 22

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – Muslims must not wear the famous Manchester United red jersey because of the "devil" emblem on its team crest , Malaysian clerics said Wednesday.

Manchester United and the rest of the English Premier League are massively popular in Muslim-majority Malaysia and the rest of the Asian region, but conservative religious scholars said the jersey is un-Islamic.

Also off limits are the shirts of teams including Brazil, Portugal, Barcelona, Serbia and Norway, all of which carry images of the cross on their team emblems.

"This is very dangerous. As a Muslim, we should not worship the symbols of other religions or the devils," Nooh Gadot, a top Islamic cleric from the southern Johor state, told AFP.

"It will erode our belief in Islam. There is no reason why we as Muslims should wear such jerseys, either for sports or fashion reasons," said Nooh, an advisor to the Johor religious council.

"Even if it (the jersey) is a gift, we should decline it. It is even more sinful when people realise this is wrong and still buy these jerseys to wear," he added.

Nooh said there was no "fatwa", or religious edict, against the shirts but that one was not needed when it was clearly wrong for Muslims to don such a garment.

"These Muslims should repent, repent immediately," he said.

Another leading cleric, Harussani Zakaria, a cleric from northern Perak state, agreed that devils should be shunned, not celebrated.

"Yes of course in Islam we don't allow people to wear this sort of thing," he told AFP. "Devils are our enemies, why would you put their picture on you and wear it? You are only promoting the devil."

Malaysia is a generally moderate Islamic country, but conservative clerics have issued controversial edicts in the past including a ban on the ancient practice of yoga, which is criticised for including Hindu religious

[kueytoc]

Monaco's playboy prince sets wedding date

AFP - Friday, July 23

MONACO (AFP) - – The countdown began on Thursday to the society event of the decade when Monaco's playboy Prince Albert II set a date next year for his long-awaited marriage to a South African swimming champ.

Prince Albert, the 52-year-old son of the late Prince Rainier III and the Hollywood actress Grace Kelly, has no legitimate heir and he has kept royal-watchers guessing about his love life for decades.

Now, the Mediterranean statelet's royal household has announced that he will wed a South African former Olympic swimmer 20 years his junior, Charlene Wittstock, next summer at a keenly awaited Riviera royal wedding.

The couple will tie the knot in a civil ceremony at the palace on July 8 and then hold a religious service the following day, a statement said. The venue of the church ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Prince Albert has ruled Monaco, a city state on the south coast of France and a millionaires' playground, since succeeding his late father in July 2005.

Wittstock is a former swimming champion and schoolteacher who met the prince in 2000 after she won gold in the 200 metre backstroke at a Monaco swimming meeting he was hosting.

It is not clear exactly when the pair became an item, but they appeared together socially at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, at the Monaco Grand Prix and at this year's Swedish royal marriage on June 19. Related article: Monaco's original fairytale wedding

Their formal engagement was announced four days later.

"This is a marriage of considerable importance," said Stephane Bern, the organiser of Monaco's annual high-society ball and expert on princely affairs.

"You can expect at least 2,000 journalists. Monaco inspires fascination in people's minds, it's a permanent dream factory," he added, suggesting the frenzy could equal that surrounding the wedding of Prince Albert's father.

Rainier's marriage to Kelly in 1956, in which her Hollywood star power met his European aristocratic pomp, was one of the society events of the century and royal-watchers are keenly awaiting Prince Albert's nuptials.

Soon to lose his status as one of Europe's most eligible bachelors, Albert has a reputation as a playboy prince, and Monagesque constitutionalists will hope the marriage produces a royal heir.

With a fortune estimated at some two billion euros (2.4 billion dollars), the prince has been seen with a string of beautiful women over the years.

But, while he has fathered two children -- a girl and a boy who were officially recognised after he had acceded to the throne -- neither can succeed him as Monaco's laws require its rulers to be born in wedlock.

The children are Jazmin Grace, 20, whose mother Tamara Rotolo is a former American waitress, and Alexandre Coste, six, the daughter of a French-Togolese former flight attendant, Nicole Coste.

Given the constitutional urgency, some have wondered why it took so long for Albert to confirm the engagement.

Last year, Bern said that Wittstock was taking the time to learn French and the traditions of the Monagesque court.

Monaco, a super-rich enclave on the Riviera coast surrounded on its landward side by France, covers only 200 hectares (494 acres). It is home to 32,000 permanent residents, only 8,000 of them full citizens.

Low tax rates, a luxury yachting marina and a famed casino have attracted many wealthy expatriates, and around 36,000 mainly French non-residents arrive every day to work in its tourism and financial services businesses.

Prince Albert rules as head of state, supported by a senior French civil servant and a government of four senior advisers.

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Wittstock competed for South Africa in the Olympics in Sydney 2000. She did not compete in Beijing in 2008, however, despite pressure from former president Nelson Mandela for her to do so.

Prince Albert is a fellow Olympian, having competed in five Olympic games as a member of his country's bobsleigh team.

[kueytoc]

Wah !...how to stay sober man.

Alcohol eases rheumatoid arthritis: study

AFP - Wednesday, July 28

PARIS (AFP) - – Drinking alcohol may help reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis and cut the risk of developing the painful and crippling disease, a study published Wednesday has shown for the first time.

Researchers led by Gerry Wilson, a professor at the University of Sheffield in Britain, asked 873 arthritis patients and a control group of 1,004 people how frequently they had consumed alcohol in the previous month.

The participants also completed a detailed questionnaire, were given X-rays and blood tests, and had their joints examined.

"We found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently had symptoms that were less severe than those who had never drunk alcohol or only drunk it infrequently," said lead author James Maxwell, a rheumatologist at the Rotherham Foundation NHS Trust.

X-rays showed less damage to joints, and blood tests showed lower levels of inflammation, according to the report, published in the journal Rheumatology.

There was also less pain, swelling and disability.

Earlier studies had reported similar results in rodents, but this is the first to show that arthritis symptoms diminish in humans in proportion to the frequency of alcohol consumption.

The researchers found that non-drinkers were four times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis that people who drank alcohol on more than ten days a month.

They cautioned that any possible benefits from alcohol consumption in relation to rheumatism must be weighed against all the well-known health consequences of immoderate drinking.

The findings held equally true for women and men, and for two distinct forms of the disease, one called anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) and the other known simply as "negative".

"Anti-CCP antibodies are not present in most 'normal' people without arthritis," explained Maxwell.

Previous research has shown that these antibodies develop prior to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, and are likely linked to the process which causes the disease.

Some patients don't develop anti-CCP antibodies, but the symptoms are much more severe in those that do.

The scientists could only speculate as to why alcohol helped reduce symptoms and risk.

"There is some evidence that alcohol suppresses the activity of the immune system, and that this may influence the pathways by which rheumatoid arthritis develops," Maxwell said.

Once the disease has developed, it is also possible that drinking may act as a pain killer, he added.

One limitation of the study is that it did not measure how much people drank, only the frequency. It also relies on people's memories, and does not report long-term drinking habits.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects about one percent of people in the United States and Europe, mainly in older populations. Incidence appears to be somewhat lower in Asia, suggesting that genetics may play a role.

Exactly what causes the disease remains a mystery, and there is no known cure.

[kueytoc]

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

[kueytoc]

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.

[kueytoc]

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."

[kueytoc]

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.

[kueytoc]

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.

[kueytoc]

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.

[kueytoc]

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.

[kueytoc]

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

[kueytoc]

Back-Side 'PAIN-PAIN'

Prosecutors want longer jail term for Swiss vandal

AFP - Tuesday, August 10

SINGAPORE (AFP) - – State prosecutors said Tuesday they intended to submit fresh evidence in their appeal for a longer sentence imposed on a Swiss man jailed for vandalising a Singapore metro train.

Deputy senior state counsel Kan Shuk Weng said the prosecution team wanted to lengthen the jail term of Oliver Fricker, who appeared in court looking gaunt in an orange prison jumpsuit and sporting a shaved head.

A policeman unlocked Fricker's handcuffs before the hearing started at the High Court.

Fricker, 32, was sentenced to a total five months' jail and three strokes of the cane in the Singapore district court in June after pleading guilty to trespass and vandalism, serious offences in the city-state.

The software consultant and a British friend, who remains at large, cut their way into a depot in May and spray-painted graffiti on two train carriages.

"We are asking for the total imprisonment term to be increased, in particular the sentence for the charge under the protected areas and protected places act," Kan told AFP.

She would not give details of the new evidence the prosecution planned to submit nor the length of the extension it would seek.

Fricker was sentenced to three months' jail and three strokes of the cane for vandalism, and two months' imprisonment for trespassing in a protected place, with the prison terms to be served consecutively.

A judge adjourned the case until Friday to give defence lawyer Derek Kang more time to react to the prosecutors' intent to introduce new evidence.

Kang is also seeking to reduce Fricker's sentence.

Prison officials, as a matter of policy, would not say if Fricker's caning sentence had been carried out, citing inmate privacy.

Under Singapore's tough laws, a minimum three strokes of the cane is mandatory for vandalism. The punishment entails being struck on the back of the thigh below the buttocks, which can split the skin and leave lasting scars.

[kueytoc]

What's next for HP after Hurd

August 6, 2010 7:07 PM PDT

by Erica Ogg

Mark Hurd's resignation from Hewlett-Packard in the wake of a sexual-harassment and expense-reporting scandal is a major blow to the well-regarded executive, but especially to the company he leaves behind.

The good news is that Hurd is out just five years after helping HP recover from the most turbulent period in its history and pushing the company to the top of tech world. He leaves Hewlett-Packard in a strong position, and in much better shape than he found it. HP brought in $30 billion in revenue during the second fiscal quarter of 2010, compared with the almost $22 billion of the same quarter five years earlier.

So where does HP go from here? Well, beyond the task of finding a new chairman and CEO, it's likely to be business as usual. Investors were clearly startled, sending the company's stock down 10 percent to $41.84 at the close of trading Friday. But in terms of HP's direction, the consensus emerging in the industry in the aftermath of the news is that there shouldn't be any immediate negative effects--at least operationally--as a result of Hurd's departure, which is an indication of his strengths as CEO.

"The good news is there probably aren't any (major changes ahead) because he's gotten this company working really well," said Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds.

Hurd had the company busily generating profits for investors. In the five years he was at the helm, HP had added $45 billion to its stock market value, to reach $108 billion.

And with a company making money and regarded as operating efficiently, there isn't much expectation for drastic changes ahead.

HP's interim CEO, Cathie Lesjak, the voice investors hear announcing the company's earnings every quarter, has been with HP for almost a quarter of a century. Though she doesn't plan to keep the CEO title permanently, she took pains to try to soothe investors Friday, saying she's "never been more confident in the company's future."

"There is no impetus at all for us to change the strategy," Lesjak told investors during a conference call. "Mark was a strong leader, but at the end of the day, he didn't drive our initiative. The company drove that."

She added that Hurd's departure shouldn't change much about the day-to-day activities of HP's more than 300,000 employees, and those in leadership positions.

"There's no confusion," Lesjak said. "This is a huge company. The top leaders of our businesses have needed to know how to drive their own businesses."

HP employees who have been around for a while are no stranger to scandal and uproar in the executive suite. Hurd's arrival came on the heels of the rather chaotic tenure of former CEO (and current U.S. Senate candidate) Carly Fiorina. Hurd's buttoned-up manner and strict adherence to slashing costs settled the company, and he was able to provide much-needed stability during the embarrassing revelation that former chairwoman Patricia Dunn had overseen a program to spy on reporters covering HP in 2006.

Perhaps because of those qualities, employees were caught off-guard by Friday's revelations.

Hurd was perceived as a stand-up, "clean" guy, a current HP employee who has been around since Fiorina's time, told CNET Friday. That worker, who asked not to be named, said employees were "completely shocked" and "let down" by the allegations against Hurd, as well as his departure, particularly because Hurd was perceived by employees as pushing the company's ethical business practices and the Standards of Business Conduct policy he was found to be in violation of.

Moving on

Hurd was known for financial discipline and being a very detail-oriented manager. But just because he had the company running well doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement when the company picks someone new to take the helm.

For one thing, his commitment to cutting costs didn't leave much room for innovation, noted Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds.

"He was very focused on cost cutting and cost management. The challenge of that is it's very difficult to present innovation in that environment," he said in an interview. "The new leader could shift the emphasis from cost focus to move them toward the inspirational things that HP can help companies and consumers do."

Plus, HP has plenty of competition in all areas of its business. IBM, HP's biggest rival in enterprise services, isn't going anywhere, and it spends "far more than HP in research and development," Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gotthiel wrote in a research note Friday. And though HP still ships the most computers in the world every quarter, the company has to continue to keep an eye on the surging Acer, and others like Samsung and Asus that are making plays for HP's territory of consumer laptops and other portable gadgets.

And, of course, it must keep watching out for Apple. The iPhone and iPad have established Apple as a serious force in personal technology, in terms of design and consumer appeal, and in terms of the company's ability to maximize profits. It became clear earlier this year that HP was taking some cues from Steve Jobs and Apple when it acquired Palm, almost solely so it could own and develop further the WebOS operating system for its devices, the way Apple owns iOS, and unlike Android or Windows Phone.

Gartner's Reynolds suggested HP might even look toward a new leader with a more Jobsian taste for the dramatic, more of an evangelist for the company.

"Obviously they want someone who can make sure the operations stay on track," he said. "There's room for a little bit of flair, a little bit of Steve Jobs in the person. Though not too much. But there is the opportunity to bring in someone with more of a public persona to drive interest in the company.

"But you couldn't do that if they weren't in such a good position."

[kueytoc]

Four key reasons behind Singapore success: MM Lee

By Faris – August 16th, 2010

Capable leaders, meritocracy, a level playing field and the use of English as a working language.

These are the four key reasons why Singapore was able to transform itself from a small fishing village to the cosmopolitan, first-world city it is today, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Speaking at the National Day dinner in his Tanjong Pagar constituency on Sunday night, MM Lee said, “From 1965 to 1990, we made Singapore go from Third World to First, and from 1990 to 2010, we gave Singapore the cosmopolitan gloss, that polish, that poise, that vibrancy.”

All this would not have been possible he said without “an exceptionally strong government, with the ablest, the toughest and most dedicated of leaders.”

The Straits Times quoted him as saying, “We head-hunt for them, test them out in heavy responsibilities. People get to where they are on merit, not guanxi (connections), not nepotism, not corruption. Hence all are capable and competent.”

“Only such leaders can keep the economy growing and create good jobs and generate the revenue to pay for the equipment and training of our 3G SAF,” he continued, before adding a strong armed forces was key behind keeping the country safe and secure.

He also said Singapore is quick to learn from challenges faced by other countries and to adapt solutions based on the needs of its people.

“We studied how they have managed their problems, why some are more successful than others. Then we extracted the principles to adapt and modify them to fit our society,” he said.

The 86-year-old highlighted the use of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) to control traffic congestion and recycling of water to manage water supply as good examples of such a policy.

One of the founding fathers of Singapore, MM Lee also said the country’s policies are not carved in stone. He said, “We always re-examine old policies and positions, and change them with changing world circumstances.”

He referred to examples such as the Formula One and having a casino in the country. He stated that there were shifts in policies because the government recognised the economic revenue that such projects generate.

But one of the areas Singapore is doing very poorly in is its total fertility rate which presently stands at 1.22, far below the 2.1 needed for a population to replace itself.

The solution, he said, was to bring in immigrants from Malaysia, China, India, and the region.

MM Lee said, “Where do we go from here? I think it depends on the younger generation — how much drive, how much energy they have, how much they are prepared to make the effort to climb up that face of the cliff to a higher plane.”

[kueytoc]

WAH...Dangerous Liasions !!!

Tearful German pop star confesses in HIV trial

AFP - Tuesday, August 17

DARMSTADT, Germany (AFP) - – A German pop star made a tearful courtroom apology Monday for keeping her HIV status a secret from her sexual partners, before being confronted by an ex-lover who contracted the virus.

"I am so sorry," the 28-year-old Nadja Benaissa, dressed in a purple shirt, jeans and with her hair tied back, told the court in Darmstadt near Frankfurt.

She denied however intending to infect anyone with the virus that causes AIDS as she went on trial for grievous bodily harm. If convicted the mother-of-one faces between six months and 10 years in prison.

"When I was arrested I realised that the way that I had dealt with the illness had been wrong ... I made a big mistake," her lawyer quoted her as saying in a statement read out to the court.

Benaissa, a member of the all-female pop group No Angels, was arrested in April 2009 just as she was about to perform at a Frankfurt nightclub. She was held in custody for 10 days before being released.

In February this year she was charged with causing bodily harm and attempting to cause bodily harm. A verdict is due on on August 26.

According to the charge sheet, she had unprotected sex on five occasions between 2000 and 2004 with three men and did not tell them she was infected.

One of them subsequently found out he also had the virus but it remains to be established whether it was having sex with Benaissa which infected him.

The man, whose name was not released and who is a plaintiff in the trial, told the court he had found out about Benaissa being HIV positive from her aunt and went to his doctor for a blood test straight away.

"A few hours later the doctor rang and told me to come over. I went to pick up the results with my brother," and found out he was infected, he told the court.

"You have created a lot of suffering in the world," he told the singer.

Benaissa, who says she found out she was HIV positive in 1999, when she was 16 years old and three months pregnant, said she had been told by doctors that the risk of passing on the virus was "practically zero."

She also feared that coming clean "would probably have meant the end for No Angels," her lawyer, Oliver Wallasch, told the court.

No Angels shot to fame in 2000 thanks to a television talent show and had a string of hits in central Europe before splitting up in 2003. They reformed in 2007 and competed in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Before her arrest the fact that Benaissa, who is half Moroccan, was HIV positive was not publicly known.

When she was charged the news was leaked to the press, sparking a debate about trial by media in a country that partly for historical reasons is highly sensitive about privacy and the presumption of innocence.

The other three members of No Angels were among around 20 witnesses due to testify in the trial, which was being held in a youth court because the first alleged incident took place in 2000 when Benaissa was 17.

In a television interview in July 2009 the singer, who admitted being addicted to crack cocaine when she was 14, talked about living with being HIV positive.

"I can't just go anywhere I like and be free and be a normal person. I now have this stamp. I will do my best to make the most of it," she said.

"I am actually completely healthy, not sick. I am HIV positive. Being HIV positive doesn't mean being ill. If the disease breaks out it is called AIDS. I have a completely normal life expectancy."

In October an authorised biography of the the singer, who is rumoured to be considering leaving No Angels, is due to be released with the title, "Nadja Benaissa -- Everything is going to be alright."

The trial was due to resume on Thursday.

[kueytoc]

PHEW !!!

Court blocks California gay marriage

AFP - 2 hours 11 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - – A US court has blocked same-sex marriages in California until at least December while an appeal of a landmark decision to overturn a state ban is considered.

The decision by the federal court of appeals came hours after gay marriage opponents urged the ban on the unions to be maintained in the West Coast state.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the motion for a stay and scheduled further proceedings on the appeal to take place the week of December 6 in San Francisco.

The ruling halted an anticipated rush of gay marriages after Judge Vaughn Walker last week authorized same-sex weddings to begin again on August 18 in order to permit the court of appeals to consider the issue.

Opponents of gay marriage argued in their appeal that most of the United States and the majority of countries worldwide do not allow gay marriage because the institution of marriage serves a societal interest.

"California, 44 other states, and the vast majority of countries throughout the world continue to draw the line at marriage because it continues to serve a vital societal interest," the appeal said.

The purpose of marriage is between members of the opposite sex "to channel potentially procreative sexual relationships into enduring, stable unions for the sake of responsibly producing and raising the next generation," it said.

Some 18,000 gay and lesbiaan couples tied the knot between May and November 2008 when gay marriage was briefly allowed by the state of California.

Currently only the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as the US capital Washington, recognize gay marriage.

Both California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown had filed motions last Friday demanding same-sex marriages be allowed to resume immediately.

Walker had last week found in favor of activists who argued that the California referendum which barred same-sex marriage was discriminatory and therefore violated the US Constitution.

The referendum, known as Proposition 8, was passed by a 52 percent majority in November 2008, only six months after California's Supreme Court overturned a previous ban on same-sex weddings, sending gays and lesbians flocking to marry.

Legal experts believe the case is almost certain to end up before the US Supreme Court in around two years, once appeals hearings in lower courts have run their course.

[kueytoc]

On Facebook, wife learns of husband's 2nd wedding

By MEGHAN BARR, Associated Press Writer - Thursday, August 5

CLEVELAND – Dread of the unknown hung in the air as Lynn France typed two words into the search box on Facebook: the name of the woman with whom she believed her husband was having an affair.

Click. And there it was, the stuff of nightmares for any spouse, cuckolded or not. Wedding photos. At Walt Disney World, no less, featuring her husband literally dressed as Prince Charming. His new wife, a pretty blonde, was a glowing Sleeping Beauty, surrounded by footmen.

"I was numb with shock, to tell you the truth," says France, an occupational therapist from Westlake, a Cleveland suburb. "There was like an album of 200 pictures on there. Their whole wedding."

Affairs were once shadowy matters, illicit encounters whispered about and often difficult to prove. But in the age of Facebook and Twitter and lightning-fast communication, the notion of privacy is fast becoming obsolete. From flirtatious text messages to incriminating e-mails, marital indiscretions are much easier to track _ especially if potentially damaging photographic evidence is posted online.

"All of these things are just a trail of cyber breadcrumbs that are easily tracked by good divorce lawyers," says Parry Aftab, an expert on Internet safety and privacy laws.

France, 41, was not completely blindsided by her Facebook discovery, which happened in January 2009. That fall, she had grown suspicious when her husband began taking frequent business trips, even leaving the day the couple's newborn son came home from the hospital. Once, she found his passport at home when he was supposed to be in China for business.

In October, before leaving for another trip, her husband left a hotel website up on the couple's computer screen.

"So I actually went there with a girlfriend, just to see for myself for sure," France says. "He was there with this girlfriend. I said, `Hey, I'm his wife. We've got a baby.'"

The woman told France that she was engaged to France's husband.

"Sure enough, they were registered for a wedding at Target," France says.

A girlfriend recommended checking the woman's Facebook page, which was then open to the public, France says, but has since become private. There, France found evidence of an unfolding relationship that she still couldn't wrap her head around. Overwhelmed with two young children, she confronted her husband. She says he told her he wouldn't actually go through with the wedding.

It wasn't until she saw the wedding photos that she finally began divorce proceedings.

"People who engage in these sorts of behaviors now have the option of trying to keep things private or turning it into a spectacle and becoming their own reality show," says lawyer Andrew Zashin, a child custody expert who is representing Lynn France. "In this case, it seems, the spouse may have crossed the line and gotten married while he was still married."

Aftab, a lawyer who runs the online protection site WiredSafety.org, says the lesson to be learned from the Frances' case is that no form of communication is sacred anymore.

"It's like trying to catch a river in your hand," she says. "It will leak out eventually."

But Aftab doesn't recommend snooping around online. That can backfire in court if used inappropriately _ such as when spouses log onto each other's Facebook pages without permission. If your spouse isn't trustworthy, she says, get a divorce and save yourself the trouble.

Lynn's husband, John France, does not deny that he has remarried. Rather, he simply is insisting that he was never married to Lynn in the first place.

His attorney, Gary Williams, issued a statement Tuesday saying his client is asking a family law court to declare that his marriage to Lynn was "void since its inception."

"While it appears that John and Lynda France were both under the impression, once upon a time, that they were married, the fact of the matter is that their marriage was never legally proper," Williams wrote, "and, therefore, it does not actually exist."

Lynn and John France were married in July 2005 in a seaside wedding on Italy's Amalfi Coast, having organized the event through Regency San Marino, which coordinates weddings for couples looking to get hitched in Italy. On the company's website, Lynn is still the first radiant bride whose portrait appears in a gauzy veil, the brilliant blue sea behind her.

If that wedding was a fraud, it was news to Lynn.

"If that were true, then he's lied to the IRS," Zashin says. "He's lied to insurance companies. Banks."

In June 2009, against the advice of her attorneys, Lynn France dropped divorce proceedings when her husband came home and persuaded her to reconcile.

"I just wanted to believe the good when he came to me and said, `Let's reconcile, I love you,'" she says. "You want to give somebody a second chance."

But three months ago, Lynn says she was cleaning the sink when her husband took the couple's 2-year-old son out of her arms and said he was going to give him some milk. Minutes later, she heard the car running.

"He threw them in, no car seats, no nothing, and took off," she says.

She hasn't seen her sons since. John France had taken them to Tampa, Fla., where he currently lives with his new wife and, according to his attorney, is seeking custody of their children.

Lynn France called 911, but as in most parental custody disputes, little could be done. She is in contact with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and has a team of attorneys preparing for a court fight. Authorities have told her not to attempt to take back the children forcibly.

For Lynn, the only glimpse of her children now comes, ironically, from the same Facebook page where she found those fairy-tale wedding photos.

Until the day she can see her children again, Lynn France says she continues to text her husband, pleading with him to bring the children back to Ohio.

"The only way I've been able to see my children is on her Facebook page," she says. "It's stranger than fiction to watch this woman living my life."

[kueytoc]

S’pore businessman gambles away S$26m in three days at RWS

By Faris – August 19th, 2010

A Singaporean businessman lost a staggering S$26 million over three days of gambling at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in early June. This includes losing S$18 million in a single day alone and playing baccarat at S$400,000 per hand.

According to Today newspaper, the businessman’s tale began in March, when he was granted a $500,000 credit line by the casino. He claimed that at no point in time did the casino perform a background check on his financial situation. The businessman is currently consulting a top law firm about possible legal action against the casino.

He added that in the application process of obtaining the credit line, he simply filled in the application form, deposited S$100,000 and handed over a blank cheque. The businessman, in his 50s, is a managing director of a multi-million dollar company.

In April, he said that his credit line was extended to S$2 million and over the weeks, he won and lost several hundred thousand dollars, even losing S$6 million in a single session.

In early June, the businessman suffered his biggest loss of S$18 million at one sitting. In subsequent sessions, he won back some money but in total, he gambled away S$11 million during that one-week period.

It’s reported he has since repaid $10 million but based on legal documents dated July 22, the businessman’s debt to the RWS still amounts to some $13 million. It’s unknown whether it has been settled.

His lawyers are now considering legal action for “negligence, breach of contract or breach of statutory duty against the casino”.

They claim “RWS had encouraged irresponsible gambling and had breached the duty of care owed to the businessman. They referred to the casino willingness to extend their client’s credit from S$500,000 to a staggering S$2 million.”

The businessman claimed that after losing $4 million in one session, his girlfriend pleaded to the RWS senior officer to stop granting him more credit but was instead told that his credit line could be further extended. He said he even met RWS chief executive, Tan Yee Teck, who offered him a “rolling figure” which equalled to a 3.3 million discount.

In other countries, gamblers have tried to unsuccessfully sue casinos for their huge losses. The cases were dismissed when the courts ruled that the casinos in question have no obligation to protect the gambler.

According to DMG Research, at the current rate, Singapore is already the second biggest casino market in Asia after Macau and is posed to overtake Las Vegas as the biggest casino market in the world, in two to three years’ time. The firm also estimates that both Singapore casinos earn over S$16 million a day.

[kueytoc]

Singapore court extends jail term for Swiss vandal

AFP - Wednesday, August 18

SINGAPORE (AFP) - – A Singapore court on Wednesday increased the prison term for a Swiss vandal from five to seven months after prosecutors appealed for a stiffer penalty for breaking into a high-security train depot.

Oliver Fricker, a 32-year-old software consultant, will now serve four months for trespassing -- double the original sentence -- in addition to three months' jail and three strokes of a cane for vandalism.

A judge at Singapore's Court of Appeal said the original trespass sentence was "manifestly inadequate" and a tougher penalty was needed to act as a deterrent to others.

Fricker and a British friend who is still at large cut into a depot in May and spray-painted graffiti onto two train carriages.

Arrested after a holiday with the other suspect in Hong Kong, Fricker pleaded guilty to taking part in the daring stunt and began serving his prison term on June 25.

A clip of the vandalised trains leaving a station is still circulating on video-sharing site YouTube, with more than 163,000 views logged so far.

Trespassing and vandalism are considered serious offences in the tightly governed city-state.

Increasing the sentence, Judge VK Rajah deplored the stunt, which he said was "calculated to bring its authors instant international notoriety".

"It was perversely intended to make and leave a sensational indelible mark on the general public's consciousness," Rajah said.

Rajah said Fricker "should count himself fortunate that he has not received his just desserts in full".

The judge said he would have been inclined to increase the Swiss man's jail term for vandalism had the prosecution appealed.

A Swiss embassy representative was present at the hearing.

"We observe the process and take note of the judgment," the diplomat said after the hearing.

[kueytoc]

Dog brutally beaten to death at void deck

By Faris – August 20th, 2010

A dead body of a dog, with its face drenched in blood, was found in the void deck of Blk 267B Compassvale Link in Sengkang on Wednesday evening.

The Straits Times reports that the dog, a Pomeranian, died after being beaten and repeatedly flung against the floor.

A police spokesman confirmed the incident, saying that the police received a call around 7.40pm. About six policemen arrived soon after.

Mr Toh, a 50-year-old hawker who works at a coffeeshop next to the void deck, said he witnessed the brutal beating and called the police.

He told The New Paper in Mandarin, “The man was picking up the dog and throwing him onto the floor over and over again – for at least 10 times. It happened over 10 minutes.”

“At first the dog cried out in pain. It was a pitiful sound, then after a while there was silence,” he added.

Mr Toh said he was afraid to step in after the man “looked crazy”.

“I wanted to stop the man, but he really seemed like he was crazy. So I rang the police instead because I hoped they would arrive in time to stop him – and save the dog,” he said.

But it was too little too late as the dog died. The Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) picked up the dead dog after being notified by the police. Initial examinations revealed the dog died from intensive head injuries consistent with trauma.

Another witness, Mr Leow, 34, a hawker who worked in the same coffeeshop as Mr Toh, told the same paper that the dog abuser acted strangely prior to the tragedy.

He claimed that the man who appeared to be in his 30s or 40s, requested for a knife to which Mr Leow said “no”.

The case has been referred to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and investigations into the identity of the owner are ongoing.

SPCA executive officer, Ms Deidre Moss said, “It is a tragedy of the highest order, it was a brutal end to a lovely dog.”

She also added that there has been a rise in the number of reports of animals being abused. The SPCA receives between 70 and 80 reports a month, an increase from between 40 and 60 just two years ago.

In early July, a video of a woman hitting a dog with a broom sparked outrage among Singapore netizens. Earlier this year, an odd-job labourer was also sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail for swinging a cat against the wall and killing it.