Despite the natural, national stories about this Mavericks' trip to the NBA Finals being all about avenging the meltdown in 2006, that thought process simply isn't there.
Different teams. Different cheap fashion wholesale times. Dwyane Wade is still with the Heat. Terry and Dirk Nowitzki are with the Mavericks. Beyond that, the focus is elsewhere.
"For us, once these playoffs started, we looked at the road to the championship, and you have to go through the Lakers," Terry said Friday. "That was the only thing that was a given.
"Destiny? Maybe. Fate? Yeah. But for us, the only two people on this team still playing (from '06) are Dirk and I. For them it's Wade and (Udonis) Haslem. It's really not the same. People wanted to compare us at that time to this time now. It's just different."
Rather than get caught up in the history, the Mavericks are more concerned with devising ways to deal with the potent Heat.
Having dispensed with a Lite-version Big Three from Oklahoma City in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, the Mavericks now can zero in on the full-bodied trio in Miami.
And they know how difficult it will be to handle LeBron James, Wade and Chris Bosh.
"There are similarities," coach Rick Carlisle said. "They're more experienced and they're more powerful at those wing positions. James and Wade are just built bigger physically. So that presents a different kind of challenge.
"For me, the big keys in the series are going to be efficiency with the ball, because when you turn it over, they convert better than any team in basketball. It's challenging because they're a great defensive team and they get their hands on a lot of balls. We're going to have to be aggressive, but play smart.
"And (secondly), then keeping them off the free throw line is going to be a big challenge because of James and Wade. Their ability to attack is going to create huge challenges for us."
The Mavericks' defense has grown teeth during the playoff run. They have handled LaMarcus Aldridge, Kobe Bryant, Durant and Westbrook.
Now, the league's brightest star-powered team is in front of them. It will require a lot of teamwork, which is a good thing since that's been one of the Mavericks' strengths.
"They're tough to keep in front of them," Nowitzki said. "They're so good at putting their heads down and getting to the basket and getting fouled, but we had some of it, actually, last series.
"That's a big part of the series, trying to get those guys out of the lane, and the whole league is trying to do it. But it's hard. If they get in the lane, they're so explosive."
Invariably, though, each team's fortitude will be a determining factor, Terry said.
"This is primarily about will to win," Terry said. "Who wants it more? That's what it's going to boil down to - to a man. It's not going to be one individual, three individuals. If three of y'all want it and the other 10 don't or there's some indecision, the balance is going to shift."
The free throw line, of course, brings up painful memories for the Mavericks.
Wade wore out the hardwood making constant trips to the stripe during the 2006 %Finals, shooting 97 free throws in the six games, including 72 in the final four, all Heat victories.
The Mavericks had trouble cheap fashion 2011 keeping Westbrook and Durant off the line.
A parade to the free throw line is always possible. But these NBA Finals figure to evolve into an entertaining two weeks, no matter what.
2011年5月27日星期五
Passage came late Thursday after a protracted political struggle
The administration had warned Congress that any interruption in the surveillance authority would threaten national security.
that played out over several months, a sign of increased unease with powers granted to the federal government to investigate citizens and foreigners in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Conservative Republicans, many of them elected with backing from the "tea party" movement, and liberal Democrats resisted attempts to extend the three expiring provisions of the act.
Dramatizing the debate this week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) held up Senate floor proceedings to protest what he characterized as an unconstitutional overreach by the federal government into private affairs.
Earlier this year, unexpected opposition from a block of House Republicans thwarted a short-term extension of the retiring provisions, temporarily derailing the bill in that chamber.
Democrats similarly have opposed the post-Sept. 11 government authority, and this week's standoff risked an expiration of the provisions at midnight.
"We all want security — nobody wants what happened on 9/11 to happen again," Paul said. "But I think we don't need to simplify the debate to such an extent that we simply say we have to give up our liberties."
Supporters said that extending the provisions would ensure no disruption in the government's ability to conduct surveillance that they say has proved crucial to the ability of intelligence agencies to amass information vital to keeping the country safe.
By extending the measures through June 1, 2015, lawmakers codified a compromise with Republican leaders who preferred a permanent extension.
"The Patriot Act has been plagued by myths and misinformation for 10 years," said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.). "If Congress fails to reauthorize these laws before they expire, America's national security and that of its citizens will be the most vulnerable in a decade."
When authorized by Obama, the White House may use an "autopen" to replicate his signature. Similar machines have been used by past presidents, other public officials and celebrities and business officials to replicate their signatures.
One of the sections of the Patriot Act extended by Congress is the "roving wiretap" power, which allows federal authorities to listen in on conversations of foreign suspects even when they change phones or locations.
Another section gives the government access to the personal records of terrorism suspects; it's often called the "library provision" because of the wide range of personal material that can be investigated.
A third section is known as the "lone wolf" provision because it gives the government the authority to investigate foreigners who have no known affiliation with terrorist groups.
All of these government powers require an order from secret federal courts.
Senate leaders reached an agreement that allowed two amendments from Paul that sought to rein in the authority to investigate gun records and financial transactions, but both failed to advance.
The House voted 250 to 153, with 31 Republicans and 122 Democrats opposed.
Earlier, the Senate approved the bill 72 to 23. Four Republicans — Paul and Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, Mike Lee of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined 18 Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in opposition.
that played out over several months, a sign of increased unease with powers granted to the federal government to investigate citizens and foreigners in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Conservative Republicans, many of them elected with backing from the "tea party" movement, and liberal Democrats resisted attempts to extend the three expiring provisions of the act.
Dramatizing the debate this week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) held up Senate floor proceedings to protest what he characterized as an unconstitutional overreach by the federal government into private affairs.
Earlier this year, unexpected opposition from a block of House Republicans thwarted a short-term extension of the retiring provisions, temporarily derailing the bill in that chamber.
Democrats similarly have opposed the post-Sept. 11 government authority, and this week's standoff risked an expiration of the provisions at midnight.
"We all want security — nobody wants what happened on 9/11 to happen again," Paul said. "But I think we don't need to simplify the debate to such an extent that we simply say we have to give up our liberties."
Supporters said that extending the provisions would ensure no disruption in the government's ability to conduct surveillance that they say has proved crucial to the ability of intelligence agencies to amass information vital to keeping the country safe.
By extending the measures through June 1, 2015, lawmakers codified a compromise with Republican leaders who preferred a permanent extension.
"The Patriot Act has been plagued by myths and misinformation for 10 years," said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.). "If Congress fails to reauthorize these laws before they expire, America's national security and that of its citizens will be the most vulnerable in a decade."
When authorized by Obama, the White House may use an "autopen" to replicate his signature. Similar machines have been used by past presidents, other public officials and celebrities and business officials to replicate their signatures.
One of the sections of the Patriot Act extended by Congress is the "roving wiretap" power, which allows federal authorities to listen in on conversations of foreign suspects even when they change phones or locations.
Another section gives the government access to the personal records of terrorism suspects; it's often called the "library provision" because of the wide range of personal material that can be investigated.
A third section is known as the "lone wolf" provision because it gives the government the authority to investigate foreigners who have no known affiliation with terrorist groups.
All of these government powers require an order from secret federal courts.
Senate leaders reached an agreement that allowed two amendments from Paul that sought to rein in the authority to investigate gun records and financial transactions, but both failed to advance.
The House voted 250 to 153, with 31 Republicans and 122 Democrats opposed.
Earlier, the Senate approved the bill 72 to 23. Four Republicans — Paul and Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, Mike Lee of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined 18 Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in opposition.
2011年5月25日星期三
The district stretches from the suburbs of Buffalo to the suburbs of Rochester
History shows special elections can be good predictors of the next election cycle. Tom Brunell, a political scientist at the University cheap wholesale clothing of Texas-Dallas, studied special elections from 1900 to 2008. When Democrats gained seats in special elections, they also gained in the next general election 82% of the time, he found. "It's a horse race, and we're definitely out of the gate for the 2012 election," Brunell said. "But we're at the first post here."
One pollster who correctly predicted the outcome said he's not sure it means anything nationally. "Jane Corwin and her team ran a lousy campaign," said Siena College's Steven Greenberg. "They let Hochul beat them up on the Medicare issue, and they didn't come up with a response."
Tuesday's election followed the resignation of Rep. Chris Lee, a Republican who sent shirtless photos to a woman he met through the Craigslist website.
Final, unofficial results gave Hochul, the Erie County clerk, 47%. Corwin, a state assemblywoman, received 43%. Tea Party candidate Jack Davis took 9% of the vote. He has run as a Democrat in the past, and polls say he took votes from both major candidates.
The district stretches from the suburbs of Buffalo to the suburbs of Rochester. Decimated by manufacturing losses over decades, the district's demographics skew older than the rest of America. Republicans have an 8-point advantage in voter registration.
"New York Republicans, even upstate Republicans, are not like Republicans across the nation," Greenberg said. Although they have a favorable view of House Speaker John Boehner and support repealing the health care law, they also overwhelmingly favor tax hikes on the wealthy.
The architect of the Republicans' Medicare plan, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, didn't object to the idea that it was a defining issue in the race.
"There is a Medicare story to be told cheap fashion here," Ryan said on MSNBC. "The president and his party have decided to shamelessly distort and demagogue Medicare."
By the time Democrat Kathy Hochul declared an upset victory over Republican Jane Corwin in the special election Tuesday night in the western New York district, Medicare was the defining issue.
According to a Siena College Research Institute poll conducted late last week, 74% of voters who identified Medicare as the top issue supported Hochul.
Democrats seized on the result as evidence that the Republican plan for sweeping changes to Medicare was backfiring, and the GOP was cracking over the issue. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 57-40 to reject the Medicare plan. Five Republicans voted with the Democrats.
Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the New York election shows his party could pick up 97 House seats next year — more than the 63 they lost to the GOP last fall. "I'm not going to get cocky," he said. "The fact is if we can win in one of most conservative Republican districts in America, then we can win in many other places."
"To predict the future based on the results of this wholesale clothing unusual race is naive and risky," Pete Sessions, Israel's GOP counterpart, said in a statement. He made no mention of Medicare.
One pollster who correctly predicted the outcome said he's not sure it means anything nationally. "Jane Corwin and her team ran a lousy campaign," said Siena College's Steven Greenberg. "They let Hochul beat them up on the Medicare issue, and they didn't come up with a response."
Tuesday's election followed the resignation of Rep. Chris Lee, a Republican who sent shirtless photos to a woman he met through the Craigslist website.
Final, unofficial results gave Hochul, the Erie County clerk, 47%. Corwin, a state assemblywoman, received 43%. Tea Party candidate Jack Davis took 9% of the vote. He has run as a Democrat in the past, and polls say he took votes from both major candidates.
The district stretches from the suburbs of Buffalo to the suburbs of Rochester. Decimated by manufacturing losses over decades, the district's demographics skew older than the rest of America. Republicans have an 8-point advantage in voter registration.
"New York Republicans, even upstate Republicans, are not like Republicans across the nation," Greenberg said. Although they have a favorable view of House Speaker John Boehner and support repealing the health care law, they also overwhelmingly favor tax hikes on the wealthy.
The architect of the Republicans' Medicare plan, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, didn't object to the idea that it was a defining issue in the race.
"There is a Medicare story to be told cheap fashion here," Ryan said on MSNBC. "The president and his party have decided to shamelessly distort and demagogue Medicare."
By the time Democrat Kathy Hochul declared an upset victory over Republican Jane Corwin in the special election Tuesday night in the western New York district, Medicare was the defining issue.
According to a Siena College Research Institute poll conducted late last week, 74% of voters who identified Medicare as the top issue supported Hochul.
Democrats seized on the result as evidence that the Republican plan for sweeping changes to Medicare was backfiring, and the GOP was cracking over the issue. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 57-40 to reject the Medicare plan. Five Republicans voted with the Democrats.
Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the New York election shows his party could pick up 97 House seats next year — more than the 63 they lost to the GOP last fall. "I'm not going to get cocky," he said. "The fact is if we can win in one of most conservative Republican districts in America, then we can win in many other places."
"To predict the future based on the results of this wholesale clothing unusual race is naive and risky," Pete Sessions, Israel's GOP counterpart, said in a statement. He made no mention of Medicare.
2011年5月20日星期五
The largest crowds nationwide Friday were in Madrid wholesale sandals
The decision comes as protests against Spain's economic crisis continued for a sixth day on Friday in many wholesale sandals cities, just two days ahead of local and regional elections that are scheduled across the Iberian nation. The ruling means no such protests can legally occur on Saturday.
This follows a ruling from late Thursday, when Spain's electoral board said that the demonstrations, organized largely via social media networks, would be banned on Saturday. That day is supposed to be a "day of reflection" for voters -- the idea being that there should be no campaigning immediately preceding Sunday's balloting -- the board said.
Now the government of the ruling Socialist Party must decide whether the police should keep a safe distance, as they did last Wednesday when a demonstration was banned but wholesale sandals went ahead anyway, or if they will crack down. Socialist politicians are widely expected to suffer deep losses to the conservatives, according to recent polls.
"What we are going to do is comply with the law," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters Friday.
Yet Perez, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, added that the police would not be there to create even more wholesale sandals problems than already exist in the streets.
Economist Fernando Fernandez of the IE Business School predicted that police late Friday would try to peacefully seal off Puerta del Sol plaza to prevent more demonstrators from arriving, and let those in the plaza eventually leave.
"The government does not want to have any sort of violence taking place the day prior to the elections. This would have a very large political cost and electoral cost," Fernandez told CNN.
"People want to participate. This is a fiesta of democracy," Sofia de Roa, a spokeswoman for the protesters, told CNN.
The largest crowds nationwide Friday were in Madrid, where thousands of mostly young demonstrators returned to the central Puerta del Sol plaza.
Demonstrators are protesting Spain's 21% unemployment rate, the highest in the euro zone, and a record 4.9 million wholesale sandals people who are out of work. The jobless rate for youth -- those between ages 15 and 24 -- is 42%.
Protesters say that many temporary labor contracts offer few or no job benefits. In addition, some are protesting against the political and financial establishment that they say is to blame.
The protests appear to have gained momentum in the closing days of the campaign. They have captured considerable news media coverage, and all major parties have acknowledged them.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.
On Sunday, voters in Spain's 8,000 cities and towns will elect mayors, along with 13 out of 17 regional presidents and parliaments. The results are expected to be a bellwether for national elections, which must happen no later than March 2012.
De Roa, a journalist who works for a university communications office, said protester assemblies, their ad hoc decision-making bodies, have called for a demonstration on Saturday night despite the no-campaigning tradition on the eve of a Spanish election.
She said the protests also are expected to continue nightly, even after the elections.
"We're not leaving until there's a change," she said, standing amid thousands of protesters in Madrid's emblematic central square. "Until a politician commits to implementing the proposals here."
Beatriz Elosegui, a government worker, said Thursday she had been to several protests since they started on Sunday. Her husband, an advertising executive, is out of work and her wholesale sandals son is about to finish his training to become an electrician but has few job prospects, she said.
Two young men who appeared to be the only ones wearing suits and ties in the crowd said they showed up Thursday for the first time. Both said they work as accountants, and one, Andres Maldonado, complained of tight credit that is squeezing homeowners wholesale cheap fashion and small businesses. He said government efforts to inject liquidity into the financial system are not working.
Besides Madrid, there were also wholesale sandals protests in Barcelona, Valencia and other cities in Spain. Up to a few hundred protesters have camped out in central squares each night, but the main protests are in the evening.
This follows a ruling from late Thursday, when Spain's electoral board said that the demonstrations, organized largely via social media networks, would be banned on Saturday. That day is supposed to be a "day of reflection" for voters -- the idea being that there should be no campaigning immediately preceding Sunday's balloting -- the board said.
Now the government of the ruling Socialist Party must decide whether the police should keep a safe distance, as they did last Wednesday when a demonstration was banned but wholesale sandals went ahead anyway, or if they will crack down. Socialist politicians are widely expected to suffer deep losses to the conservatives, according to recent polls.
"What we are going to do is comply with the law," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters Friday.
Yet Perez, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, added that the police would not be there to create even more wholesale sandals problems than already exist in the streets.
Economist Fernando Fernandez of the IE Business School predicted that police late Friday would try to peacefully seal off Puerta del Sol plaza to prevent more demonstrators from arriving, and let those in the plaza eventually leave.
"The government does not want to have any sort of violence taking place the day prior to the elections. This would have a very large political cost and electoral cost," Fernandez told CNN.
"People want to participate. This is a fiesta of democracy," Sofia de Roa, a spokeswoman for the protesters, told CNN.
The largest crowds nationwide Friday were in Madrid, where thousands of mostly young demonstrators returned to the central Puerta del Sol plaza.
Demonstrators are protesting Spain's 21% unemployment rate, the highest in the euro zone, and a record 4.9 million wholesale sandals people who are out of work. The jobless rate for youth -- those between ages 15 and 24 -- is 42%.
Protesters say that many temporary labor contracts offer few or no job benefits. In addition, some are protesting against the political and financial establishment that they say is to blame.
The protests appear to have gained momentum in the closing days of the campaign. They have captured considerable news media coverage, and all major parties have acknowledged them.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.
On Sunday, voters in Spain's 8,000 cities and towns will elect mayors, along with 13 out of 17 regional presidents and parliaments. The results are expected to be a bellwether for national elections, which must happen no later than March 2012.
De Roa, a journalist who works for a university communications office, said protester assemblies, their ad hoc decision-making bodies, have called for a demonstration on Saturday night despite the no-campaigning tradition on the eve of a Spanish election.
She said the protests also are expected to continue nightly, even after the elections.
"We're not leaving until there's a change," she said, standing amid thousands of protesters in Madrid's emblematic central square. "Until a politician commits to implementing the proposals here."
Beatriz Elosegui, a government worker, said Thursday she had been to several protests since they started on Sunday. Her husband, an advertising executive, is out of work and her wholesale sandals son is about to finish his training to become an electrician but has few job prospects, she said.
Two young men who appeared to be the only ones wearing suits and ties in the crowd said they showed up Thursday for the first time. Both said they work as accountants, and one, Andres Maldonado, complained of tight credit that is squeezing homeowners wholesale cheap fashion and small businesses. He said government efforts to inject liquidity into the financial system are not working.
Besides Madrid, there were also wholesale sandals protests in Barcelona, Valencia and other cities in Spain. Up to a few hundred protesters have camped out in central squares each night, but the main protests are in the evening.
2011年5月18日星期三
Gross domestic product contracted an annualized 3.7 percent
Japan’s economy shrank more cheap feather hair extensions than estimated in the first quarter after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disrupted production and prompted consumers to cut back cheap fashion spending, sending the nation to its third recession in a decade.
in the three months through March, following a revised 3 percent drop in the previous quarter, the feather hair extensions Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median forecast of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.9 percent drop. Economists typically define a recession as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
The March disaster hit an economy already weighed down by years of deflation and subdued consumer spending and that was reliant on exports for growth. The economy will probably shrink further this quarter before rebounding in the second half as supply constraints ease and reconstruction begins, according to a survey of analyst forecasts by a government-affiliated group.
“The negative economic impact from the disaster will be on full display during the second quarter,” Hiroshi Watanabe, a senior economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo, said before the report. “This recession may be deep, but short.”
The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average rose 0.3 percent at 9:28 a.m., after the Federal Reserve signaled U.S. interest rates will remain low and commodity prices advanced. The Nikkei has lost 7 percent since the quake and tsunami, which left more than 24,000 dead or missing. The yen traded at 81.70 against the dollar, compared with 81.69 before the report was published.
Highlighting the disaster’s effect on companies, Toyota Motor Corp. said profits plunged while Nippon Stee feather hair extensions l Corp. reported its first net loss in six quarters, after the quake closed plants, cut supply chains and caused power shortage.
Factory output fell by a record and retail sales and exports declined in March because of power shortages spurred by a nuclear accident in Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo, and damage to transportation facilities after the temblor.
“It’s hard to think that companies will become aggressive about increasing business spending when uncertainties remain strong,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. “Capital spending will likely be in a declining trend as corporate profits may do worse than expected.”
Capital investment dropped 0.9 cheap fashion percent in the first quarter, the first decline in six quarters, today’s data showed.
Consumer spending fell 0.6 percent in the January-March period from the previous three months, today’s report showed.
From the previous quarter, the economy shrank 0.9 percent in the first three months of 2011, today’s report showed. In nominal terms, the economy contracted an annualized 5.2 percent in the first quarter, today’s report showed.
Net exports, or shipments less imports, subtracted 0.2 percentage point from GDP.
The economy will probably contract cheap feather hair extensions 2011 at a 3.3 percent annual pace this quarter, and then resume growth the next two quarters, according to the average forecast of 43 economists in a survey by the government-affiliated Economic Planning Association released on May 16.
Japan’s GDP shrank for four straight quarters during the global financial crisis, and contracted for cheap feather hair extensions three straight quarters in 2001. Consumer prices excluding fresh food costs have dropped every month since March 2009, underscoring the deflationary pressure that has sapped consumer demand.
The GDP deflator, a gauge of price trends, fell 1.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, today’s report showed.
The Japanese government, like the U.S., doesn’t define a recession as two consecutive quarterly GDP declines. The Cabinet Office appoints a committee of academics to determine when recoveries and recessions begin and end.
Toyota Motor, the world’s largest carmaker, said last week that profit slumped 77 percent to the lowest in 1 1/2 years for the three months ended March 31 after the earthquake forced it to halt production and depressed its domestic sales.
Nippon Steel, Japan’s biggest steelmaker, said in April it posted a worse-than-expected loss in the fiscal fourth-quarter after the temblor damaged plants. The company’s output is expected to drop by 7 percent to 8 percent this quarter as damaged carmaker facilities damp orders.
Kan Stimulus
Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to come up with second extra budget for reconstruction after parliament approved a 4 trillion yen ($49 billion) budget this month. He will need the cooperation of opposition party politicians, who control the Upper House of parliament, to get the second budget enacted. The government in March estimated that damage from the disaster will swell to as high as 25 trillion yen.
Japan’s central bank injected record amounts of cash into the money market after the quake, and doubled to 10 trillion yen a fund to buy assets such as corporate bonds and real estate investment trusts. The Bank of Japan’s policy board last month rejected a proposal by a deputy governor to expand that fund.
Some data suggest that demand may recover earlier than expected after the quake.
Machinery orders, an indicator cheap fashion of future capital spending, unexpectedly increased in March, while companies said they plan to increase factory output in April and May.
Honda Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest automaker, said this week it will return to normal production before the cheap feather hair extensions end of the year as its production has recovered faster than it expected. Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor Co. have also said the recovery in production is quicker than expected.
“We look for a classic 2011 cheap fashion wholesale V-shaped recovery in the July-to- September period and after,” said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo. “A self-sustaining recovery in production, an increase in government consumption and reconstruction demand centered around public works will likely support the economy.”
in the three months through March, following a revised 3 percent drop in the previous quarter, the feather hair extensions Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median forecast of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.9 percent drop. Economists typically define a recession as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
The March disaster hit an economy already weighed down by years of deflation and subdued consumer spending and that was reliant on exports for growth. The economy will probably shrink further this quarter before rebounding in the second half as supply constraints ease and reconstruction begins, according to a survey of analyst forecasts by a government-affiliated group.
“The negative economic impact from the disaster will be on full display during the second quarter,” Hiroshi Watanabe, a senior economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo, said before the report. “This recession may be deep, but short.”
The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average rose 0.3 percent at 9:28 a.m., after the Federal Reserve signaled U.S. interest rates will remain low and commodity prices advanced. The Nikkei has lost 7 percent since the quake and tsunami, which left more than 24,000 dead or missing. The yen traded at 81.70 against the dollar, compared with 81.69 before the report was published.
Highlighting the disaster’s effect on companies, Toyota Motor Corp. said profits plunged while Nippon Stee feather hair extensions l Corp. reported its first net loss in six quarters, after the quake closed plants, cut supply chains and caused power shortage.
Factory output fell by a record and retail sales and exports declined in March because of power shortages spurred by a nuclear accident in Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo, and damage to transportation facilities after the temblor.
“It’s hard to think that companies will become aggressive about increasing business spending when uncertainties remain strong,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. “Capital spending will likely be in a declining trend as corporate profits may do worse than expected.”
Capital investment dropped 0.9 cheap fashion percent in the first quarter, the first decline in six quarters, today’s data showed.
Consumer spending fell 0.6 percent in the January-March period from the previous three months, today’s report showed.
From the previous quarter, the economy shrank 0.9 percent in the first three months of 2011, today’s report showed. In nominal terms, the economy contracted an annualized 5.2 percent in the first quarter, today’s report showed.
Net exports, or shipments less imports, subtracted 0.2 percentage point from GDP.
The economy will probably contract cheap feather hair extensions 2011 at a 3.3 percent annual pace this quarter, and then resume growth the next two quarters, according to the average forecast of 43 economists in a survey by the government-affiliated Economic Planning Association released on May 16.
Japan’s GDP shrank for four straight quarters during the global financial crisis, and contracted for cheap feather hair extensions three straight quarters in 2001. Consumer prices excluding fresh food costs have dropped every month since March 2009, underscoring the deflationary pressure that has sapped consumer demand.
The GDP deflator, a gauge of price trends, fell 1.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, today’s report showed.
The Japanese government, like the U.S., doesn’t define a recession as two consecutive quarterly GDP declines. The Cabinet Office appoints a committee of academics to determine when recoveries and recessions begin and end.
Toyota Motor, the world’s largest carmaker, said last week that profit slumped 77 percent to the lowest in 1 1/2 years for the three months ended March 31 after the earthquake forced it to halt production and depressed its domestic sales.
Nippon Steel, Japan’s biggest steelmaker, said in April it posted a worse-than-expected loss in the fiscal fourth-quarter after the temblor damaged plants. The company’s output is expected to drop by 7 percent to 8 percent this quarter as damaged carmaker facilities damp orders.
Kan Stimulus
Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to come up with second extra budget for reconstruction after parliament approved a 4 trillion yen ($49 billion) budget this month. He will need the cooperation of opposition party politicians, who control the Upper House of parliament, to get the second budget enacted. The government in March estimated that damage from the disaster will swell to as high as 25 trillion yen.
Japan’s central bank injected record amounts of cash into the money market after the quake, and doubled to 10 trillion yen a fund to buy assets such as corporate bonds and real estate investment trusts. The Bank of Japan’s policy board last month rejected a proposal by a deputy governor to expand that fund.
Some data suggest that demand may recover earlier than expected after the quake.
Machinery orders, an indicator cheap fashion of future capital spending, unexpectedly increased in March, while companies said they plan to increase factory output in April and May.
Honda Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest automaker, said this week it will return to normal production before the cheap feather hair extensions end of the year as its production has recovered faster than it expected. Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor Co. have also said the recovery in production is quicker than expected.
“We look for a classic 2011 cheap fashion wholesale V-shaped recovery in the July-to- September period and after,” said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo. “A self-sustaining recovery in production, an increase in government consumption and reconstruction demand centered around public works will likely support the economy.”
2011年5月16日星期一
I emphasised to our Pakistani friends
Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article Many members of Congress have suggested it was inconceivable that Pakistani officials did not know the al-Qaeda leader was on Pakistani soil, and have argued that the roughly $3bn a year Islamabad gets from the US a year was not well spent.
“I emphasised to our Pakistani friends – and they are friends – that many in Congress are raising tough questions about our ongoing economic assistance to the government of Pakistan because of the events as they unfolded, and because of the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan,” Mr Kerry said.
At the same time, Pakistani legislators have expressed deep anger at the US Navy Seals strike in Abbottabad, a military town, and have suggested that Pakistan’s vital logistical support for the Afghanistan war could be thrown into question.
Because 40 per cent of supplies for the Afghan war effort go through Pakistan, US officials argue that scope for reducing US aid for Islamabad is limited, because of the risk that Pakistan could cut off transit routes in retaliation.
The US is also seeking to maintain good relations with Pakistan because of the country’s status as a nuclear weapons state outside the non-proliferation treaty.
The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based think-tank, said on Monday that Islamabad was ramping up its nuclear weapons programme with three new reactors that would “roughly double Pakistan’s annual ability to build nuclear weapons to about 19-26 nuclear weapons per year”.
ISIS and other groups are particularly worried about the safety of weapons-grade nuclear materials kept in Pakistani laboratories.
A joint statement agreed by Mr Kerry and the Pakistani government struck a note of harmony and said the two countries would work together in any future action against “high value targets” – in contrast to the Abbottabad raid.
But Congressional officials made clear that Mr Kerry was speaking only on his own behalf. Barack Obama won the US presidency promising he would take action against al-Qaeda targets if Pakistan was unwilling to do so – and US officials have said they did not tell Pakistan of the raid for fear the extremist group could have been tipped off.
Mr Kerry added that Pakistan had agreed to hand over the wreckage of a US Blackhawk helicopter destroyed during the raid.
Some western officials had feared that Pakistan might pass the wreckage on to China, to allow Beijing an insight into US stealth technology.
.Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
“I emphasised to our Pakistani friends – and they are friends – that many in Congress are raising tough questions about our ongoing economic assistance to the government of Pakistan because of the events as they unfolded, and because of the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan,” Mr Kerry said.
At the same time, Pakistani legislators have expressed deep anger at the US Navy Seals strike in Abbottabad, a military town, and have suggested that Pakistan’s vital logistical support for the Afghanistan war could be thrown into question.
Because 40 per cent of supplies for the Afghan war effort go through Pakistan, US officials argue that scope for reducing US aid for Islamabad is limited, because of the risk that Pakistan could cut off transit routes in retaliation.
The US is also seeking to maintain good relations with Pakistan because of the country’s status as a nuclear weapons state outside the non-proliferation treaty.
The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based think-tank, said on Monday that Islamabad was ramping up its nuclear weapons programme with three new reactors that would “roughly double Pakistan’s annual ability to build nuclear weapons to about 19-26 nuclear weapons per year”.
ISIS and other groups are particularly worried about the safety of weapons-grade nuclear materials kept in Pakistani laboratories.
A joint statement agreed by Mr Kerry and the Pakistani government struck a note of harmony and said the two countries would work together in any future action against “high value targets” – in contrast to the Abbottabad raid.
But Congressional officials made clear that Mr Kerry was speaking only on his own behalf. Barack Obama won the US presidency promising he would take action against al-Qaeda targets if Pakistan was unwilling to do so – and US officials have said they did not tell Pakistan of the raid for fear the extremist group could have been tipped off.
Mr Kerry added that Pakistan had agreed to hand over the wreckage of a US Blackhawk helicopter destroyed during the raid.
Some western officials had feared that Pakistan might pass the wreckage on to China, to allow Beijing an insight into US stealth technology.
.Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
The earnings season is slowly coming to an end
Banks and utilities lost further ground on worries about how
much cheap fashion wholesale 2011 they will have to contribute to help troubled nuclear
operator Tokyo Electric cheap fashion wholesale 2011 Power (Tepco) compensate
victims of the crisis at its tsunami-hit nuclear plant. The mood was also soured after Goldman Sachs downgraded its
recommendation on Japanese stocks to "underweight" from "market
weight", citing a weaker global macro backdrop, supply chain and
electricity supply problems after the March 11 earthquake as
well as a stronger yen. "We have entered a 'risk-off' stage in Tokyo. The earnings season is slowly coming to an end so traders are again
shifting their focus from micro factors like earnings to the
broader macro picture," said Makoto Kikuchi, chief executive
officer at Myojo Asset Management. The benchmark Nikkei average ended down for a third
straight day, losing 0.9 percent to 9,558.30, while the broader
Topix shed 1.2 percent to 829.55. Analysts said a decisive break below its closing
level may push the Nikkei to the bottom of its daily Ichimoku
cloud at 9,533,88, and if that level is then broken, it would be
a major bearish signal triggering more selling. "If overseas stocks slip again, the Nikkei may fall as low
as 9,300," he added. Market participants said risk factors for Tokyo stocks
included volatile commodities markets, a possible correction
ahead for U.S. stocks as the Federal Reserve ends its supportive
policy, and the fear of a worsening euro-zone debt crisis. Goldman Sachs lowered its 12 month target for TOPIX to 970
from 1,050 and said its Japan index targets imply 1 percent, 4
percent and 15 percent upside over 3, 6 and 12 months
respectively, compared to 8 percent, 13 percent and 25 percent
for Asian stocks outside Japan for the same periods. The Nikkei has tumbled more than 8 percent since the March
11 disasters, while Asian stocks outside Japan
have gained 5 percent over the last two months.
BANKS, UTILITIES EXTEND LOSSES Banks fell further after comments from the government's top
spokesman sparked concern on Friday that banks are likely to be
asked to ease troubled Tepco's cheap fashion wholesale 2011 loan burden. Although Japanese officials on Sunday denied the government
will ask banks to forgive loans to Tepco, investors still seemed
worried.[ID:nL4E7GF015] "The problem is that there seems to be a
difference of opinions on this issue inside the government. The
fact is that they don't seem to know what to do and that is
undermining investor confidence," said Masayuki Otani, chief
market analyst at Securities Japan Inc. "This uncertainty can keep a lid on bank stocks
for a longer while," Otani said. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 1.6 percent to
377 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group weakened
2.1 percent to 2,401 yen. SMFG also said on Friday it expects
core lending to remain sluggish this year.[ID:nL3E7GD29Y] Utility stocks extended losses into a third day after the
government approved on Friday a plan to help Tepco compensate
victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant and
said other utilities would be asked to pay annual premiums to
help fund compensation. Shares initially fell on Thursday in
anticipation of the move.[ID:nL3E7GD00T] Chubu Electric fell 4.5 percent to 1,417
yen and Tohoku Electric lost 5.4 percent to 1,060 yen. But surprisingly strong machinery orders data boosted shares
of construction companies cheap fashion wholesale 2011 and machinery makers on hopes that
reconstruction demand will bolster capital spending.
much cheap fashion wholesale 2011 they will have to contribute to help troubled nuclear
operator Tokyo Electric cheap fashion wholesale 2011 Power (Tepco) compensate
victims of the crisis at its tsunami-hit nuclear plant. The mood was also soured after Goldman Sachs downgraded its
recommendation on Japanese stocks to "underweight" from "market
weight", citing a weaker global macro backdrop, supply chain and
electricity supply problems after the March 11 earthquake as
well as a stronger yen. "We have entered a 'risk-off' stage in Tokyo. The earnings season is slowly coming to an end so traders are again
shifting their focus from micro factors like earnings to the
broader macro picture," said Makoto Kikuchi, chief executive
officer at Myojo Asset Management. The benchmark Nikkei average ended down for a third
straight day, losing 0.9 percent to 9,558.30, while the broader
Topix shed 1.2 percent to 829.55. Analysts said a decisive break below its closing
level may push the Nikkei to the bottom of its daily Ichimoku
cloud at 9,533,88, and if that level is then broken, it would be
a major bearish signal triggering more selling. "If overseas stocks slip again, the Nikkei may fall as low
as 9,300," he added. Market participants said risk factors for Tokyo stocks
included volatile commodities markets, a possible correction
ahead for U.S. stocks as the Federal Reserve ends its supportive
policy, and the fear of a worsening euro-zone debt crisis. Goldman Sachs lowered its 12 month target for TOPIX to 970
from 1,050 and said its Japan index targets imply 1 percent, 4
percent and 15 percent upside over 3, 6 and 12 months
respectively, compared to 8 percent, 13 percent and 25 percent
for Asian stocks outside Japan for the same periods. The Nikkei has tumbled more than 8 percent since the March
11 disasters, while Asian stocks outside Japan
have gained 5 percent over the last two months.
BANKS, UTILITIES EXTEND LOSSES Banks fell further after comments from the government's top
spokesman sparked concern on Friday that banks are likely to be
asked to ease troubled Tepco's cheap fashion wholesale 2011 loan burden. Although Japanese officials on Sunday denied the government
will ask banks to forgive loans to Tepco, investors still seemed
worried.[ID:nL4E7GF015] "The problem is that there seems to be a
difference of opinions on this issue inside the government. The
fact is that they don't seem to know what to do and that is
undermining investor confidence," said Masayuki Otani, chief
market analyst at Securities Japan Inc. "This uncertainty can keep a lid on bank stocks
for a longer while," Otani said. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 1.6 percent to
377 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group weakened
2.1 percent to 2,401 yen. SMFG also said on Friday it expects
core lending to remain sluggish this year.[ID:nL3E7GD29Y] Utility stocks extended losses into a third day after the
government approved on Friday a plan to help Tepco compensate
victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant and
said other utilities would be asked to pay annual premiums to
help fund compensation. Shares initially fell on Thursday in
anticipation of the move.[ID:nL3E7GD00T] Chubu Electric fell 4.5 percent to 1,417
yen and Tohoku Electric lost 5.4 percent to 1,060 yen. But surprisingly strong machinery orders data boosted shares
of construction companies cheap fashion wholesale 2011 and machinery makers on hopes that
reconstruction demand will bolster capital spending.
2011年5月13日星期五
Portugal joined Greece and Ireland in seeking a bailout
The figure underscores several dominant themes in Europe: A wide gap persists between wealthy, globally competitive countries in the north, and moribund economies such as Greece and Portugal that are unable to find new sources of private growth to replace a shrinking public sector.
The so-called core of Germany and its neighbors is increasingly decoupling from the debt crisis in Southern Europe cheap fashion wholesale and Ireland. That is a dilemma for the European Central Bank, which likely will be forced to combat signs of overheating in Germany and elsewhere with higher interest rates, even at the risk of doing further damage to the periphery.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal website, WSJ.com.)
Spain grew in the quarter, albeit slowly, raising hopes that its still-weak economy will withstand the contagion from Greece and keep the debt crisis from infecting the rest of the region. The euro zone as a whole "is definitely on better footing," said Greg Fuzesi, an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase in London.
Gross domestic product across the 17-member euro bloc surged 3.3% at an annualized rate in the first quarter from the previous quarter, according to figures from European Union statistics agency Eurostat. Economists had expected growth closer to 2.5%.
It is a sharp pickup from the fourth quarter of 2010, when the euro bloc expanded just 1.1%. Harsh weather depressed activity at the end of last year, economists said, and a more favorable climate helped boost output in the first quarter. Fuzesi forecasts the euro zone will settle into a roughly 2% growth rate this quarter and next.
Growth was led by Europe's biggest economy, Germany, which advanced at a 6.1% annual rate. Germany has benefited since last year from an upswing in investment and resurgent global demand, particularly from emerging markets, such as China, where German-built luxury cars and specialty machine tools have been selling at record levels.
Nonetheless, Friday's figures suggest Germany is becoming less dependent on other nations for its growth. Though it gave no detailed breakdown, Germany's statistics office said investment and consumer spending posted strong gains, while foreign trade made less of a contribution.
Stefan Kirschsieper, owner of German tool-making company Walter Kottmann GmbH, said orders rose 34% in the first quarter from a year ago, as strong export markets in Central Europe, Russia and Latin America offset weakness in Southern Europe. "Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece are still weak and Spain especially is far behind," said Kirschsieper, whose business depends heavily on the construction sector.
Germany's closest trading partners, such as Austria and the Netherlands, reported further output gains, each growing at roughly 4% annualized rates. Unlike in previous quarters, when France lagged behind its eastern neighbors, the euro's second-biggest economy grew a robust 3.9% last quarter, though it was driven partly by companies adding to inventories, which is unlikely to be repeated this quarter. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the numbers "confirm that the French economy is on the path to a solid recovery."
Germany, France, and other northern nations comprise the bulk of euro-zone GDP, raising fears that faster growth will lead to overheating and an upward spiral in prices. Mindful of those risks, the ECB last month became the first central bank among major developed economies to raise interest rates. But it paused at its May meeting and signaled it isn't likely to increase again until July at the soonest.
"Given the high wholesale feather extensions weight of core countries [in euro-zone GDP], the ECB has to continue to adjust interest rates, and that's not supportive of the countries in crisis," said Stefan Schneider, an economist at Deutsche Bank. He expects three more rate hikes by year end, a slightly more aggressive view than the consensus, and one that he said the GDP report supports.
Greece reported an unexpected 3.4% rise in first-quarter GDP, at an annualized rate, which its finance ministry called "encouraging." But analysts said they saw no indication that the severe recession gripping the euro's most troubled member has ended, given that last quarter's gain followed a 10% plunge in the fourth quarter of 2010. Output in smaller countries can post big swings from one quarter to the next, and despite last quarter's expansion, Greece's economy is still nearly 5% smaller than it was one year ago.
"For the moment, it is a real hardship," said Christos Kiriakoreizis, purchasing manager at Philkeram Johnson SA, a ceramic-tile maker in northern Greece.
Amid the collapse of Greece's construction sector, the firm halted production months ago, Kiriakoreizis said, and plans to revamp to sell tiles imported from places such as South Africa, India and the Baltics.
The company, which currently employs 224 people, will probably only keep a skeleton staff of around 20 for merchandising, Kiriakoreizis said. "I don't see any new opportunities in Greece right now."
Portugal, meanwhile, slid deeper into recession, shrinking for a second straight quarter as austerity measures drained spending and investment.
Last month, Portugal joined Greece and Ireland in seeking a bailout from Europe and the International Monetary Fund. All three face years of economic pain as they enact deep budget cuts to trim soaring levels of government red ink. But together they wholesale feather extensions only account for 6% of euro-zone GDP, so even steep recessions along the fringe only have a small effect on the ???9.5 trillion euro-zone economy.
A small amount of extra growth at home makes it much easier for Germany and others in the north wholesale cheap to fund the periphery via loan guarantees or, if needed, outright transfers. On Thursday, Germany reported that, thanks to faster growth, the government can expect an extra ???18 billion in revenues this year, which by itself would finance a sizable portion of Greece's deficit.
Still, aiding the periphery is a tough sell in Germany, which went through a series of reforms last decade to improve its competitiveness and expects its southern neighbors to do the same. "I don't think [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel will say because the outlook for growth is better and there are windfall [revenue] gains, we'll spend them on Greece," said Schneider of Deutsche Bank.
The political risks cut both ways. Athens is imposing stringent and unpopular austerity measures at the insistence of the EU, IMF and ECB. The longer the north-south divide lingers, the wholesale feather extensions greater the risk that political leaders in the periphery balk at taking orders from Brussels and Frankfurt.
One bright spot for the beleaguered fringe was a 1.2% rise in Spanish GDP, raising hopes that despite a difficult climb from a severe housing slump and 20%-plus unemployment, Spain will avoid the fate of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
"Spain is fundamentally different," said Fernando Eguidazu, vice president at Circulo de wholesale feather extensions Empresarios, a free-market think tank in Madrid, citing Spain's low debt ratio and global companies. But he was careful not to declare victory.
The so-called core of Germany and its neighbors is increasingly decoupling from the debt crisis in Southern Europe cheap fashion wholesale and Ireland. That is a dilemma for the European Central Bank, which likely will be forced to combat signs of overheating in Germany and elsewhere with higher interest rates, even at the risk of doing further damage to the periphery.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal website, WSJ.com.)
Spain grew in the quarter, albeit slowly, raising hopes that its still-weak economy will withstand the contagion from Greece and keep the debt crisis from infecting the rest of the region. The euro zone as a whole "is definitely on better footing," said Greg Fuzesi, an economist at J.P. Morgan Chase in London.
Gross domestic product across the 17-member euro bloc surged 3.3% at an annualized rate in the first quarter from the previous quarter, according to figures from European Union statistics agency Eurostat. Economists had expected growth closer to 2.5%.
It is a sharp pickup from the fourth quarter of 2010, when the euro bloc expanded just 1.1%. Harsh weather depressed activity at the end of last year, economists said, and a more favorable climate helped boost output in the first quarter. Fuzesi forecasts the euro zone will settle into a roughly 2% growth rate this quarter and next.
Growth was led by Europe's biggest economy, Germany, which advanced at a 6.1% annual rate. Germany has benefited since last year from an upswing in investment and resurgent global demand, particularly from emerging markets, such as China, where German-built luxury cars and specialty machine tools have been selling at record levels.
Nonetheless, Friday's figures suggest Germany is becoming less dependent on other nations for its growth. Though it gave no detailed breakdown, Germany's statistics office said investment and consumer spending posted strong gains, while foreign trade made less of a contribution.
Stefan Kirschsieper, owner of German tool-making company Walter Kottmann GmbH, said orders rose 34% in the first quarter from a year ago, as strong export markets in Central Europe, Russia and Latin America offset weakness in Southern Europe. "Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece are still weak and Spain especially is far behind," said Kirschsieper, whose business depends heavily on the construction sector.
Germany's closest trading partners, such as Austria and the Netherlands, reported further output gains, each growing at roughly 4% annualized rates. Unlike in previous quarters, when France lagged behind its eastern neighbors, the euro's second-biggest economy grew a robust 3.9% last quarter, though it was driven partly by companies adding to inventories, which is unlikely to be repeated this quarter. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the numbers "confirm that the French economy is on the path to a solid recovery."
Germany, France, and other northern nations comprise the bulk of euro-zone GDP, raising fears that faster growth will lead to overheating and an upward spiral in prices. Mindful of those risks, the ECB last month became the first central bank among major developed economies to raise interest rates. But it paused at its May meeting and signaled it isn't likely to increase again until July at the soonest.
"Given the high wholesale feather extensions weight of core countries [in euro-zone GDP], the ECB has to continue to adjust interest rates, and that's not supportive of the countries in crisis," said Stefan Schneider, an economist at Deutsche Bank. He expects three more rate hikes by year end, a slightly more aggressive view than the consensus, and one that he said the GDP report supports.
Greece reported an unexpected 3.4% rise in first-quarter GDP, at an annualized rate, which its finance ministry called "encouraging." But analysts said they saw no indication that the severe recession gripping the euro's most troubled member has ended, given that last quarter's gain followed a 10% plunge in the fourth quarter of 2010. Output in smaller countries can post big swings from one quarter to the next, and despite last quarter's expansion, Greece's economy is still nearly 5% smaller than it was one year ago.
"For the moment, it is a real hardship," said Christos Kiriakoreizis, purchasing manager at Philkeram Johnson SA, a ceramic-tile maker in northern Greece.
Amid the collapse of Greece's construction sector, the firm halted production months ago, Kiriakoreizis said, and plans to revamp to sell tiles imported from places such as South Africa, India and the Baltics.
The company, which currently employs 224 people, will probably only keep a skeleton staff of around 20 for merchandising, Kiriakoreizis said. "I don't see any new opportunities in Greece right now."
Portugal, meanwhile, slid deeper into recession, shrinking for a second straight quarter as austerity measures drained spending and investment.
Last month, Portugal joined Greece and Ireland in seeking a bailout from Europe and the International Monetary Fund. All three face years of economic pain as they enact deep budget cuts to trim soaring levels of government red ink. But together they wholesale feather extensions only account for 6% of euro-zone GDP, so even steep recessions along the fringe only have a small effect on the ???9.5 trillion euro-zone economy.
A small amount of extra growth at home makes it much easier for Germany and others in the north wholesale cheap to fund the periphery via loan guarantees or, if needed, outright transfers. On Thursday, Germany reported that, thanks to faster growth, the government can expect an extra ???18 billion in revenues this year, which by itself would finance a sizable portion of Greece's deficit.
Still, aiding the periphery is a tough sell in Germany, which went through a series of reforms last decade to improve its competitiveness and expects its southern neighbors to do the same. "I don't think [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel will say because the outlook for growth is better and there are windfall [revenue] gains, we'll spend them on Greece," said Schneider of Deutsche Bank.
The political risks cut both ways. Athens is imposing stringent and unpopular austerity measures at the insistence of the EU, IMF and ECB. The longer the north-south divide lingers, the wholesale feather extensions greater the risk that political leaders in the periphery balk at taking orders from Brussels and Frankfurt.
One bright spot for the beleaguered fringe was a 1.2% rise in Spanish GDP, raising hopes that despite a difficult climb from a severe housing slump and 20%-plus unemployment, Spain will avoid the fate of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
"Spain is fundamentally different," said Fernando Eguidazu, vice president at Circulo de wholesale feather extensions Empresarios, a free-market think tank in Madrid, citing Spain's low debt ratio and global companies. But he was careful not to declare victory.
2011年5月11日星期三
Bin Laden used the journal
outlined his thinking for mounting attacks with mass casualties and playing U.S. politicians off one another in a hand-written journal, letters and other documents recovered by Navy SEALs who killed the al- Qaeda leader, a U.S. official said.
Bin Laden used the journal, which is between 10 to 20 pages long, to brainstorm ideas about making attacks more deadly and choosing specific targets, such as trains, the official said. The terrorist group’s leader then detailed his thoughts in correspondence to al-Qaeda affiliates and allies around the world, the official said.
The official, lacking authorization to discuss the documents publicly, asked for anonymity. The Associated Press earlier reported on the journal.
The portrait emerging from the documents shows bin Laden was more involved in daily operations than U.S. national- security leaders had suspected.
The journal was among a vast store of documents and equipment including computer hard drives and portable thumb drives seized by the SEALs in the raid on the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed bin Laden earlier this month.
In some documents, bin Laden talked about the importance of an attack resulting in mass casualties and wonders how many Americans would need to be killed before the U.S. removed troops from Muslim countries.
U.S. Cities
The journal and documents discuss launching attacks in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, the official said.
In the dozens of letters, bin Laden helps with operational planning, including a plot uncovered in Europe last year, the official said. Bin Laden also shares his thoughts on who should or shouldn’t be appointed leaders of al-Qaeda affiliates, the official said.
U.S. intelligence experts and other specialists from 10 government agencies are combing through the material and still quantifying and cataloging the haul, which may produce more hand-written accounts, a second U.S. official said.
The U.S. already has shared certain potential threat information with foreign partners, this official said, declining to specify which countries or organizations or how many.
The U.S. also has female interrogators on standby to interview bin Laden’s widows as soon as they get access that Pakistan has promised, the official said. The commandos conducting the raid left behind three wives of bin Laden and nine children whom Pakistani authorities took into their custody when they arrived on the scene afterwards.
The U.S. last week issued an alert to law enforcement officials based on an item in bin Laden’s notebook that described a plot in February 2010 to attack U.S. trains, a third U.S. official said.
Bin Laden used the journal, which is between 10 to 20 pages long, to brainstorm ideas about making attacks more deadly and choosing specific targets, such as trains, the official said. The terrorist group’s leader then detailed his thoughts in correspondence to al-Qaeda affiliates and allies around the world, the official said.
The official, lacking authorization to discuss the documents publicly, asked for anonymity. The Associated Press earlier reported on the journal.
The portrait emerging from the documents shows bin Laden was more involved in daily operations than U.S. national- security leaders had suspected.
The journal was among a vast store of documents and equipment including computer hard drives and portable thumb drives seized by the SEALs in the raid on the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed bin Laden earlier this month.
In some documents, bin Laden talked about the importance of an attack resulting in mass casualties and wonders how many Americans would need to be killed before the U.S. removed troops from Muslim countries.
U.S. Cities
The journal and documents discuss launching attacks in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, the official said.
In the dozens of letters, bin Laden helps with operational planning, including a plot uncovered in Europe last year, the official said. Bin Laden also shares his thoughts on who should or shouldn’t be appointed leaders of al-Qaeda affiliates, the official said.
U.S. intelligence experts and other specialists from 10 government agencies are combing through the material and still quantifying and cataloging the haul, which may produce more hand-written accounts, a second U.S. official said.
The U.S. already has shared certain potential threat information with foreign partners, this official said, declining to specify which countries or organizations or how many.
The U.S. also has female interrogators on standby to interview bin Laden’s widows as soon as they get access that Pakistan has promised, the official said. The commandos conducting the raid left behind three wives of bin Laden and nine children whom Pakistani authorities took into their custody when they arrived on the scene afterwards.
The U.S. last week issued an alert to law enforcement officials based on an item in bin Laden’s notebook that described a plot in February 2010 to attack U.S. trains, a third U.S. official said.
One writer took the opportunity to draw a comparison
The L.A. Lakers, the two-time defending NBA champions, were unceremoniously dispatched from this year's playoffs in a sweep at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, and the 2011 fashion wholesale final blow came on Sunday.
What has many people still talking isn't just that the Lakers were eliminated but rather how they left the NBA's big stage. In the fourth quarter of their blowout loss to the Mavs, both Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum took cheap shots at their opponents. Both were assessed flagrant fouls and were ejected. Bynum's elbow shiver to J.J. Barea was rewarded with a five-game suspension for the beginning of next season.
One writer took the opportunity to draw a comparison between defending champs who couldn't handle defeat well.
New York Times writer Harvey Araton brought up Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference finals. As you may remember, the Michael Jordan-led Bulls, who has fallen to Detroit in the previous three playoffs, completed a sweep of the two-time champion Pistons. Many remember how Isiah Thomas and crew walked off the floor and neglected to shake hands with Chicago with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. But Araton recalls another lowlight from that game.
Araton: " ... the mood was startlingly similar, as a proud team — though one with a reputation for physicality — boiled over in frustration as a harsh reality set in.
In the second quarter of Game 4 that year, Scottie Pippen drove the lane and was met with an elbow to the chest from Bill Laimbeer, then was shoved into the first row of stands by his cheap power balance fellow Bad Boy Dennis Rodman. Fortunate to escape injury, Pippen remained down for 30 seconds while Rodman was given a flagrant foul."
To be fair, we went to YouTube to check out the foul. After further review, it doesn't look that bad (at least not the first shove). Not nearly as bad as Bynum's foul on Sunday.
What has many people still talking isn't just that the Lakers were eliminated but rather how they left the NBA's big stage. In the fourth quarter of their blowout loss to the Mavs, both Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum took cheap shots at their opponents. Both were assessed flagrant fouls and were ejected. Bynum's elbow shiver to J.J. Barea was rewarded with a five-game suspension for the beginning of next season.
One writer took the opportunity to draw a comparison between defending champs who couldn't handle defeat well.
New York Times writer Harvey Araton brought up Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference finals. As you may remember, the Michael Jordan-led Bulls, who has fallen to Detroit in the previous three playoffs, completed a sweep of the two-time champion Pistons. Many remember how Isiah Thomas and crew walked off the floor and neglected to shake hands with Chicago with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. But Araton recalls another lowlight from that game.
Araton: " ... the mood was startlingly similar, as a proud team — though one with a reputation for physicality — boiled over in frustration as a harsh reality set in.
In the second quarter of Game 4 that year, Scottie Pippen drove the lane and was met with an elbow to the chest from Bill Laimbeer, then was shoved into the first row of stands by his cheap power balance fellow Bad Boy Dennis Rodman. Fortunate to escape injury, Pippen remained down for 30 seconds while Rodman was given a flagrant foul."
To be fair, we went to YouTube to check out the foul. After further review, it doesn't look that bad (at least not the first shove). Not nearly as bad as Bynum's foul on Sunday.
2011年5月9日星期一
Court documents released in November 2011
It all began with a phone call to police nike sandals, 70% off, mens, kids, womens nike sandals on sale in July 2008 from the grandmother of 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony, who reported the toddler missing and said her daughter’s car smelled like a "dead body.”
Now, almost three years later, the child’s 25-year-old mother, Casey Anthony, is on trial for murder in a case that has captivated the American public.
Caylee was allegedly last seen by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, on June 15, 2008, when she said the two visited a nursing home together. The toddler’s body was found six months later in swampy woods not far from the Orlando home she shared with her mother and grandparents – her tiny remains wrapped in a bag with a piece of duct tape found over the mouth of her skull.
Cindy Anthony reported the child as possibly missing to an Orange County Police dispatcher on July 15, 2008. Cindy asked that an officer be sent to her home to arrest her daughter for “stealing an auto” and money.
“I have someone here that I need to be arrested,” Cindy said in her first 911 call. “I have a possible missing child. I have a 3-year-old that’s been missing for a month.”
A second, more distressed phone call followed about an hour later in which Cindy claimed Casey said the girl was taken by a baby sitter.
“My daughter finally admitted that the baby sitter stole her,” Cindy said. “I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
Casey allegedly told investigators that she dropped her daughter off with a baby sitter named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez on June 9, and never saw the two again. She said she didn’t notify police because she had been investigating the disappearance on her own and was scared, according to multiple press accounts.
But investigators say Casey fed them a string of lies from the beginning – like claiming she worked at Universal Studios when she didn't. Pictures later surfaced that purportedly showed the young mother partying in the days after she claimed her daughter went missing.
Police arrested Casey on July 16, 2008, for child neglect, giving false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation.
Prosecutors say the evidence against Casey is overwhelming in the case.
Court documents released in November 2011 wholesale sandals, 2011 flip flops, cheap wholesale sandals online, for example, show that someone searched the Internet in the Anthony home for phrases like “neck-breaking,” “shovel,” and “household weapons.” A law enforcement official said air samples showed a human body had once been held inside the trunk of Casey’s car. Traces of chloroform, a substance used to induce unconsciousness, were also detected inside the woman’s car, according to officials.
What’s more, Casey allegedly told fellow inmates at the Orange County Jail details about her daughter’s death that only authorities knew. She also said that she sometimes drugged Caylee when she wanted to go out and party, the inmates allege.
Caylee's skeletal remains were found by a utility worker in a wooded area about a quarter mile from her home on Dec. 11, 2008. The bones showed no signs of trauma and her death was ruled a "homicide of undetermined means."
Casey has pleaded not guilty in the death of her daughter. She also is charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to law enforcement. If convicted on murder charges, Casey could face the death penalty.
A judge ruled Friday that Anthony's parents can be in the courtroom throughout her murder trial, despite cheap fashion - wholesale 2011 sunglasses, shoes, handbags online being witnesses for both the defense and prosecution, MyFoxOrlando.com reports.
Now, almost three years later, the child’s 25-year-old mother, Casey Anthony, is on trial for murder in a case that has captivated the American public.
Caylee was allegedly last seen by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, on June 15, 2008, when she said the two visited a nursing home together. The toddler’s body was found six months later in swampy woods not far from the Orlando home she shared with her mother and grandparents – her tiny remains wrapped in a bag with a piece of duct tape found over the mouth of her skull.
Cindy Anthony reported the child as possibly missing to an Orange County Police dispatcher on July 15, 2008. Cindy asked that an officer be sent to her home to arrest her daughter for “stealing an auto” and money.
“I have someone here that I need to be arrested,” Cindy said in her first 911 call. “I have a possible missing child. I have a 3-year-old that’s been missing for a month.”
A second, more distressed phone call followed about an hour later in which Cindy claimed Casey said the girl was taken by a baby sitter.
“My daughter finally admitted that the baby sitter stole her,” Cindy said. “I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
Casey allegedly told investigators that she dropped her daughter off with a baby sitter named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez on June 9, and never saw the two again. She said she didn’t notify police because she had been investigating the disappearance on her own and was scared, according to multiple press accounts.
But investigators say Casey fed them a string of lies from the beginning – like claiming she worked at Universal Studios when she didn't. Pictures later surfaced that purportedly showed the young mother partying in the days after she claimed her daughter went missing.
Police arrested Casey on July 16, 2008, for child neglect, giving false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation.
Prosecutors say the evidence against Casey is overwhelming in the case.
Court documents released in November 2011 wholesale sandals, 2011 flip flops, cheap wholesale sandals online, for example, show that someone searched the Internet in the Anthony home for phrases like “neck-breaking,” “shovel,” and “household weapons.” A law enforcement official said air samples showed a human body had once been held inside the trunk of Casey’s car. Traces of chloroform, a substance used to induce unconsciousness, were also detected inside the woman’s car, according to officials.
What’s more, Casey allegedly told fellow inmates at the Orange County Jail details about her daughter’s death that only authorities knew. She also said that she sometimes drugged Caylee when she wanted to go out and party, the inmates allege.
Caylee's skeletal remains were found by a utility worker in a wooded area about a quarter mile from her home on Dec. 11, 2008. The bones showed no signs of trauma and her death was ruled a "homicide of undetermined means."
Casey has pleaded not guilty in the death of her daughter. She also is charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to law enforcement. If convicted on murder charges, Casey could face the death penalty.
A judge ruled Friday that Anthony's parents can be in the courtroom throughout her murder trial, despite cheap fashion - wholesale 2011 sunglasses, shoes, handbags online being witnesses for both the defense and prosecution, MyFoxOrlando.com reports.
2011年5月8日星期日
We need a bend but don't break approach to flood management
Now, the heavy strains on the system and concerns floods are getting more frequent and damaging are sparking a re-examination of flood control at www.cheapfashionwholesale.com/. In years past, the call likely would have gone out for higher levees and more so-called gray infrastructure—concrete and cement structures to keep the Mississippi inside its banks. Now some flood experts, along with some states, are saying that trying to control the river won't do the job.
"We need a bend but don't break approach to flood management," said Andrew Fahlund, senior vice president for conservation at American Rivers, a nonprofit group that advocates for more open land and fewer levees and other hard structures that tend to add to flooding problems downstream. "Right now, there's very little bending and the breaking has catastrophic consequences."
Even the Corps itself is in the process of officially changing its approach. For decades, the agency has focused on preventing floods, with the Mississippi flood-control system dating to the aftermath of the great flood of 1927. This summer, it expects to win federal approval for a policy it has begun phasing in over the past several years: allowing more flooding to occur, while working with local and state governments to manage development on surrounding land to reduce economic damage when a flood happens.
The idea is not to dismantle the hard structures, but to use other techniques to prevent the river from getting so high. "Whenever possible, the best way to manage floods is with a natural floodplain," said Terrence "Rock" Salt, the U.S. Army's deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Corps of Engineers' water-resource policy.
But the change won't be easy.
Political battles to control development can dwarf the engineering challenge of building a levee. "People own the land, and they want to develop there," Mr. Salt said. "You end up with what is not a simple proposition."
Sandbagging and evacuations continued Sunday from southern Missouri to Louisiana as the rising water headed further south. The river is expected to crest in Memphis on Tuesday at a near record. Several thousand people there have been forced to evacuate their homes.
A myriad of interests lay claim to the Mississippi: It drains all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces, lies at the heart of the most productive agricultural lands in the U.S. cheap fashion wholesale and serves as a major conduit of interstate trade. Control of the river is all the more critical at a time when global demand has driven grain prices sharply higher.
"To abandon the flood plains for crop production would shift the cost of food," said Harold Deckerd, Missouri's assistant state conservationist for water resources. "The cost of food would become astronomical."
Many people concerned about flooding and the long-term interests of different uses for the river call for a balanced approach.
"There's no silver bullet on these big river systems," said Michael Reuter, director of the Nature Conservancy's North America Freshwater Program.
His group backs a blend of options for flood control. These include taking some land out of agricultural use and helping farmers change practices that can contribute to flooding and agricultural run-off that hurts marine life downstream in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Nature Conservancy has bought tracts of land in Illinois and worked with the government to buy others in Louisiana, gradually turning them back into natural wetlands that absorb and filter water from rainfall and floods.
A study by the state of Illinois found that fully exploiting the water absorption capacity of one such tract near Peoria, would reduce flooding in the city by a few inches and affect flood levels as much as 80 miles downstream, Mr. Reuter said.
There are also ways to make flood control work together with agriculture—adding retention ponds to slow and filter run-off and trying new crops. "We need to grow more plants that like to get their feet wet," Mr. Reuter said.
Louisiana, meanwhile, is trying to counteract the environmental effects of decades of river engineering by tweaking levees in a way that tries to "mimic what Mother Nature used to do," said Garret Graves, chairman of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
The state is seeking federal approval for more channels—essentially relief valves—that lead from the river to the Gulf coast. The idea is to recreate natural river branches that once helped drain the Mississippi—but that decades of development have closed off.
One thing Louisiana is not considering: breaching levees in a way that lets the river flow wholesale hats, 70% off, 2011 cheap wholesale hats at low price uncontrolled by humans. That could jeopardize the Mississippi River's reliability as "America's commerce superhighway," Mr. Graves said. "And that's simply not an option."
"We need a bend but don't break approach to flood management," said Andrew Fahlund, senior vice president for conservation at American Rivers, a nonprofit group that advocates for more open land and fewer levees and other hard structures that tend to add to flooding problems downstream. "Right now, there's very little bending and the breaking has catastrophic consequences."
Even the Corps itself is in the process of officially changing its approach. For decades, the agency has focused on preventing floods, with the Mississippi flood-control system dating to the aftermath of the great flood of 1927. This summer, it expects to win federal approval for a policy it has begun phasing in over the past several years: allowing more flooding to occur, while working with local and state governments to manage development on surrounding land to reduce economic damage when a flood happens.
The idea is not to dismantle the hard structures, but to use other techniques to prevent the river from getting so high. "Whenever possible, the best way to manage floods is with a natural floodplain," said Terrence "Rock" Salt, the U.S. Army's deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Corps of Engineers' water-resource policy.
But the change won't be easy.
Political battles to control development can dwarf the engineering challenge of building a levee. "People own the land, and they want to develop there," Mr. Salt said. "You end up with what is not a simple proposition."
Sandbagging and evacuations continued Sunday from southern Missouri to Louisiana as the rising water headed further south. The river is expected to crest in Memphis on Tuesday at a near record. Several thousand people there have been forced to evacuate their homes.
A myriad of interests lay claim to the Mississippi: It drains all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces, lies at the heart of the most productive agricultural lands in the U.S. cheap fashion wholesale and serves as a major conduit of interstate trade. Control of the river is all the more critical at a time when global demand has driven grain prices sharply higher.
"To abandon the flood plains for crop production would shift the cost of food," said Harold Deckerd, Missouri's assistant state conservationist for water resources. "The cost of food would become astronomical."
Many people concerned about flooding and the long-term interests of different uses for the river call for a balanced approach.
"There's no silver bullet on these big river systems," said Michael Reuter, director of the Nature Conservancy's North America Freshwater Program.
His group backs a blend of options for flood control. These include taking some land out of agricultural use and helping farmers change practices that can contribute to flooding and agricultural run-off that hurts marine life downstream in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Nature Conservancy has bought tracts of land in Illinois and worked with the government to buy others in Louisiana, gradually turning them back into natural wetlands that absorb and filter water from rainfall and floods.
A study by the state of Illinois found that fully exploiting the water absorption capacity of one such tract near Peoria, would reduce flooding in the city by a few inches and affect flood levels as much as 80 miles downstream, Mr. Reuter said.
There are also ways to make flood control work together with agriculture—adding retention ponds to slow and filter run-off and trying new crops. "We need to grow more plants that like to get their feet wet," Mr. Reuter said.
Louisiana, meanwhile, is trying to counteract the environmental effects of decades of river engineering by tweaking levees in a way that tries to "mimic what Mother Nature used to do," said Garret Graves, chairman of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
The state is seeking federal approval for more channels—essentially relief valves—that lead from the river to the Gulf coast. The idea is to recreate natural river branches that once helped drain the Mississippi—but that decades of development have closed off.
One thing Louisiana is not considering: breaching levees in a way that lets the river flow wholesale hats, 70% off, 2011 cheap wholesale hats at low price uncontrolled by humans. That could jeopardize the Mississippi River's reliability as "America's commerce superhighway," Mr. Graves said. "And that's simply not an option."
2011年5月6日星期五
Gonzalez said it felt more like a film
"They send a treatment over and I read it, and I was like, 'Wow, I'm honored to be even a part of it.' I really love the story and what she did and [where] she was thinking of going with it and I was really honored to be a part of it. So I was really stoked."
Once on set, Gonzalez said it felt more like a film than a music video.
"Laurieann Gibson, who directed along with Gaga — I mean, they really had great shots and they had this amazing huge production set up for the video," Gonzalez said. "It really cheap fashion wholesale did feel that way. We were on a bike, on a flatbed truck, and I have Gaga behind me, and we're like moving around the lot, just running around. So it was definitely grand in that scheme."
While Gonzalez had the honor of manning Gaga's motorcycle in the opening shots, he was relieved that he didn't have to actually drive it for the wide shots.
"Those shots, that's not me riding," the actor revealed. "So the shots with me and her, we're literally being dragged on a truck. I didn't want the responsibility of dropping a bike with Gaga on it."
The actor developed newfound respect for Gaga after witnessing just how hands-on she was with all aspects of the clip. But there was one area that Gaga and co-director Gibson ceded to Gonzalez.
"The beautiful thing about playing Jesus in the video was they really gave me the freedom to find it in my own way and they gave me a lot of confidence in that, and I was really impressed in Laurieann's direction and just giving me the space and letting me find it," Gonzalez said.
He was equally impressed with how Gaga and Gibson communicated, which at times wasn't even verbal.
"I think the chemistry between Laurieann and Lady Gaga, it was interesting to watch because they were totally in sync with each other creatively, and I think that you're going to see a lot more amazing things with them, 'cause they totally have like this synergy with them," he predicted, adding, "And I've overheard them say they're totally gonna do a lot more things together, so I'm excited to see what that stuff's gonna be."
Once on set, Gonzalez said it felt more like a film than a music video.
"Laurieann Gibson, who directed along with Gaga — I mean, they really had great shots and they had this amazing huge production set up for the video," Gonzalez said. "It really cheap fashion wholesale did feel that way. We were on a bike, on a flatbed truck, and I have Gaga behind me, and we're like moving around the lot, just running around. So it was definitely grand in that scheme."
While Gonzalez had the honor of manning Gaga's motorcycle in the opening shots, he was relieved that he didn't have to actually drive it for the wide shots.
"Those shots, that's not me riding," the actor revealed. "So the shots with me and her, we're literally being dragged on a truck. I didn't want the responsibility of dropping a bike with Gaga on it."
The actor developed newfound respect for Gaga after witnessing just how hands-on she was with all aspects of the clip. But there was one area that Gaga and co-director Gibson ceded to Gonzalez.
"The beautiful thing about playing Jesus in the video was they really gave me the freedom to find it in my own way and they gave me a lot of confidence in that, and I was really impressed in Laurieann's direction and just giving me the space and letting me find it," Gonzalez said.
He was equally impressed with how Gaga and Gibson communicated, which at times wasn't even verbal.
"I think the chemistry between Laurieann and Lady Gaga, it was interesting to watch because they were totally in sync with each other creatively, and I think that you're going to see a lot more amazing things with them, 'cause they totally have like this synergy with them," he predicted, adding, "And I've overheard them say they're totally gonna do a lot more things together, so I'm excited to see what that stuff's gonna be."
Girls think about their dress
"You need to cover a lot of girls, and a lot of girls who want to show their personality, but you always, always need certain styles," says Michael Shettel, the http://www.cheapfashionwholesale.com/ designer of bridal and eveningwear label Alfred Angelo.
Girls think about their dress — a lot — and they started this process months ago. That means that while red-carpet style and runway looks might influence some girls, you can count on some wanting a retro '50s ball gown while others want to be all grown up in something slinky with a slit.
Shettel collaborated with Walt Disney Pictures for the movie "Prom," and covered the bases. One of the main characters wears a champagne-coloured strapless with a short hemline, another a bright purple corset style, and another in a hippie-esque halter.
High schoolers are a whole "new crop" of girls learning to embrace fashion and use it as a tool of self-expression, says Jane Keltner de Valle, fashion news director of Teen Vogue. The prom outfit is more than just a dress — it's a statement of who they want to be remembered as with their old friends, and it's a glimpse at who they will be in the future, she says.
The film accurately mirrors the cheap fashion – wholesale 2011 sunglasses, shoes, handbags online scenes playing out across the country, Shettel says. Girls go into stores and try on sometimes dozens of dresses, but they know when they hit the right one.
"They might go through a frenzy of dresses, like they'll try on every green dress. But," says Shettel, "they're such quick changers, they're in and out of the dressing room to show their friends or their parents standing around in the background like lightning."
Recognizing that girls shop more by type than by specific silhouette, Lord & Taylor is merchandising its prom dresses by personality, says Amy Avitabile, senior vice-president of marketing. There's an online quiz girls can take to guide them.
She breaks it down:
—The trendsetter this year might consider something with cutouts, a one-shoulder neckline or an asymmetrical hemline; neon is a possibility.
—The glamour girl loves embellishment and beading. Look for her in something fit for a princess or a goddess.
—The daring diva will take a plunge with a more revealing neckline and go for a bright colour.
—The romantic might be taking style cues from a Taylor Swift type. She likes flowy fabrics, laces, bows and ruffles.
A kooky lace veil, chunky shoe or other bells and whistles are becoming more common as a way to put a personal twist on the outfit, adds Keltner de Valle, but underneath all that, the dresses are typically classic.
That doesn't necessarily mean timeless, though.
Shettel recalls his own prom date, decades ago, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in a blue-and-pink floral print, with a ruffle at the neckline and hemline.
Girls think about their dress — a lot — and they started this process months ago. That means that while red-carpet style and runway looks might influence some girls, you can count on some wanting a retro '50s ball gown while others want to be all grown up in something slinky with a slit.
Shettel collaborated with Walt Disney Pictures for the movie "Prom," and covered the bases. One of the main characters wears a champagne-coloured strapless with a short hemline, another a bright purple corset style, and another in a hippie-esque halter.
High schoolers are a whole "new crop" of girls learning to embrace fashion and use it as a tool of self-expression, says Jane Keltner de Valle, fashion news director of Teen Vogue. The prom outfit is more than just a dress — it's a statement of who they want to be remembered as with their old friends, and it's a glimpse at who they will be in the future, she says.
The film accurately mirrors the cheap fashion – wholesale 2011 sunglasses, shoes, handbags online scenes playing out across the country, Shettel says. Girls go into stores and try on sometimes dozens of dresses, but they know when they hit the right one.
"They might go through a frenzy of dresses, like they'll try on every green dress. But," says Shettel, "they're such quick changers, they're in and out of the dressing room to show their friends or their parents standing around in the background like lightning."
Recognizing that girls shop more by type than by specific silhouette, Lord & Taylor is merchandising its prom dresses by personality, says Amy Avitabile, senior vice-president of marketing. There's an online quiz girls can take to guide them.
She breaks it down:
—The trendsetter this year might consider something with cutouts, a one-shoulder neckline or an asymmetrical hemline; neon is a possibility.
—The glamour girl loves embellishment and beading. Look for her in something fit for a princess or a goddess.
—The daring diva will take a plunge with a more revealing neckline and go for a bright colour.
—The romantic might be taking style cues from a Taylor Swift type. She likes flowy fabrics, laces, bows and ruffles.
A kooky lace veil, chunky shoe or other bells and whistles are becoming more common as a way to put a personal twist on the outfit, adds Keltner de Valle, but underneath all that, the dresses are typically classic.
That doesn't necessarily mean timeless, though.
Shettel recalls his own prom date, decades ago, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in a blue-and-pink floral print, with a ruffle at the neckline and hemline.
2011年5月5日星期四
LastPass said it first noticed a network traffic irregularity on Tuesday
In a blog post on Wednesday, LastPass said it first noticed a network traffic irregularity on Tuesday morning when looking at the logs for one of its non-critical systems. It decided to dig deeper into the problem after it was unable to find a root cause for the problem.
"After delving into the anomaly we found a similar but smaller matching traffic anomaly from one of our databases in the opposite direction (more traffic was sent from the database compared to what was received on the server)," the blog post noted.
Because LastPass has been unable to account for this anomaly, it has decided to assume that the database has been compromised. The amount of data that was transferred out of its system is big enough to have contained people's email addresses, their salted password hashes and the server salt, LastPass said.
Salting is a technique that is used to make it harder for people to misuse stolen passwords. A randomly generated key is added to the password before it is obscured, or hashed.
"We also know that the amount of data taken isn't remotely enough to have pulled many users encrypted data blob," LastPass noted.
LastPass is a service that lets users store their usernames, passwords and form-fill data online. The service then automatically fills in the information when the user visits a site that requires the information. The company offers a free service as well as a fee-based service.
Such services are designed to let people create strong and unique passwords for each site they use without having to worry about remembering each one of them. Users tend to use the same passwords for multiple sites because of this worry.
With services such as LastPass, users need to only remember one master password for logging into the service.
In its blog post, LastPass noted that the possible compromise is unlikely to affect anyone with a "strong, non-dictionary"-based master password or pass phrase.
The reason that LastPass is requiring everyone to change their master password is because of the potential for the intruders to use brute-force methods to guess at weaker master passwords, the company noted. "Unfortunately, not everyone picks a master password that's immune to brute forcing."
According to LastPass, the incident has accelerated its decision to implement stronger authentication measures. The company is also rebuilding the servers that were compromised and all source code underlying the Web site have been verified against the original repository to ensure no tampering was done.
Users will need to validate their email addresses or log in from an IP address they have used before to reset their master password, the company added.
"We realize this may be an overreaction and we apologize for the disruption this will cause, but we'd rather be paranoid and slightly inconvenience you than to be even more sorry later," it said.
Several of the more than 700 comments posted by LastPass users on its blog site suggested that users had some trouble accessing their accounts following the master password reset request.
In most of the cases, the problems appeared to be the result of users not knowing how to proceed with the reset or not knowing about the need for them to do it.
In some cases, users appeared unsure what to do because the passwords to their email system had been stored in LastPass.
"After delving into the anomaly we found a similar but smaller matching traffic anomaly from one of our databases in the opposite direction (more traffic was sent from the database compared to what was received on the server)," the blog post noted.
Because LastPass has been unable to account for this anomaly, it has decided to assume that the database has been compromised. The amount of data that was transferred out of its system is big enough to have contained people's email addresses, their salted password hashes and the server salt, LastPass said.
Salting is a technique that is used to make it harder for people to misuse stolen passwords. A randomly generated key is added to the password before it is obscured, or hashed.
"We also know that the amount of data taken isn't remotely enough to have pulled many users encrypted data blob," LastPass noted.
LastPass is a service that lets users store their usernames, passwords and form-fill data online. The service then automatically fills in the information when the user visits a site that requires the information. The company offers a free service as well as a fee-based service.
Such services are designed to let people create strong and unique passwords for each site they use without having to worry about remembering each one of them. Users tend to use the same passwords for multiple sites because of this worry.
With services such as LastPass, users need to only remember one master password for logging into the service.
In its blog post, LastPass noted that the possible compromise is unlikely to affect anyone with a "strong, non-dictionary"-based master password or pass phrase.
The reason that LastPass is requiring everyone to change their master password is because of the potential for the intruders to use brute-force methods to guess at weaker master passwords, the company noted. "Unfortunately, not everyone picks a master password that's immune to brute forcing."
According to LastPass, the incident has accelerated its decision to implement stronger authentication measures. The company is also rebuilding the servers that were compromised and all source code underlying the Web site have been verified against the original repository to ensure no tampering was done.
Users will need to validate their email addresses or log in from an IP address they have used before to reset their master password, the company added.
"We realize this may be an overreaction and we apologize for the disruption this will cause, but we'd rather be paranoid and slightly inconvenience you than to be even more sorry later," it said.
Several of the more than 700 comments posted by LastPass users on its blog site suggested that users had some trouble accessing their accounts following the master password reset request.
In most of the cases, the problems appeared to be the result of users not knowing how to proceed with the reset or not knowing about the need for them to do it.
In some cases, users appeared unsure what to do because the passwords to their email system had been stored in LastPass.
2011年5月3日星期二
Three Celtics played through discomfort Tuesday
They aren’t broken, but to climb back in this series, they’ll need more from their marquee players. They’ll need to solve the Heat’s suffocating defense and avoid lulls like the 3:50 stretch of the fourth quarter when the Heat unleashed a 14-0 run after the score was tied.
“We’ve got to get better ball movement and get the ball to the right guys and that’s always on me,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “Today was tough because I didn’t know who the hell was healthy.”
Three Celtics played through discomfort Tuesday. First, it was Paul Pierce who went down with what he identified as a “strain in my Achilles,” apparently after being stepped on by Joel Anthony following a free throw. He left with 5:05 left in the first quarter and returned with 7:41 remaining in the second.
Pierce played through the injury in the second half but attempted only four shots after intermission and closed with 13 points – five below his average against the Heat this season. “Every step is like a slight pain,” he said. “But it didn’t affect me the rest of the game.”
Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo was bothered by a sore back that prompted him to lie on his stomach when he was out on the game. His play didn’t seem to be affected; he had 20 points and 12 assists.
“One time he asked to come out at the beginning of the fourth because it got tight,” Rivers said. “It was bothering him this morning.”
And Ray Allen went to the locker-room in the fourth quarter to receive treatment on a bruised chest before returning. “I took an elbow into the chest from LeBron James and I sat on the bench and started to get shortness of breath,” Allen said. “It is just something I have to deal with.”
Allen, who shot a ridiculous 21 for 36 on three-pointers against the Heat in the teams’ previous five meetings, had a lackluster night: seven points on 2 for 7 shooting, including 1 for 2 on threes.
Allen was one of a trio of Celtics players who shot 2 for 7, with Jermaine O’Neal and backup Glen Davis also in that group. Kevin Garnett scored 16, missing 12 of 20 shots.
Celtics starters shot 9 for 32 in the first half and 5 for 12 in the fourth quarter. “We didn’t have great fluidity down the stretch,” Allen said.
Said Rivers: “We’re not a one-on-one team. Paul is the only guy who can beat guys one-on-one on his own.”
And defensively, “we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and do a better job on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade,” Pierce said. “One part that’s killing us is finishing off quarters.”
Some other Game 2 postscripts:
• The Heat shot 14 more free throws than Boston for the second consecutive game and now holds a 53-31 edge at the line. “That’s hurting us as much as anything,” Rivers said. “We fouled a ton of jump shooters tonight, which we can’t do.”
• The Heat’s starting unit hasn’t played well, as a group, throughout this postseason and that continued Tuesday. Outscored by five as a unit in Game 2, Miami’s starters have now been outscored by 51 points in seven postseason games. Coach Erik Spoelstra never went back to that starting lineup in the second or fourth quarters.
• Allen made one thing clear: “Being down 2-0 doesn’t scare any of us, doesn’t make us nervous.”
• The Celtics did a much better job defending James Jones, who on Sunday set a playoff record for most playoff points without attempting a two-point shot. Jones, who scored 25 Sunday, was held to one shot (a missed two pointer) in 19 scoreless minutes.
“We’ve got to get better ball movement and get the ball to the right guys and that’s always on me,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “Today was tough because I didn’t know who the hell was healthy.”
Three Celtics played through discomfort Tuesday. First, it was Paul Pierce who went down with what he identified as a “strain in my Achilles,” apparently after being stepped on by Joel Anthony following a free throw. He left with 5:05 left in the first quarter and returned with 7:41 remaining in the second.
Pierce played through the injury in the second half but attempted only four shots after intermission and closed with 13 points – five below his average against the Heat this season. “Every step is like a slight pain,” he said. “But it didn’t affect me the rest of the game.”
Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo was bothered by a sore back that prompted him to lie on his stomach when he was out on the game. His play didn’t seem to be affected; he had 20 points and 12 assists.
“One time he asked to come out at the beginning of the fourth because it got tight,” Rivers said. “It was bothering him this morning.”
And Ray Allen went to the locker-room in the fourth quarter to receive treatment on a bruised chest before returning. “I took an elbow into the chest from LeBron James and I sat on the bench and started to get shortness of breath,” Allen said. “It is just something I have to deal with.”
Allen, who shot a ridiculous 21 for 36 on three-pointers against the Heat in the teams’ previous five meetings, had a lackluster night: seven points on 2 for 7 shooting, including 1 for 2 on threes.
Allen was one of a trio of Celtics players who shot 2 for 7, with Jermaine O’Neal and backup Glen Davis also in that group. Kevin Garnett scored 16, missing 12 of 20 shots.
Celtics starters shot 9 for 32 in the first half and 5 for 12 in the fourth quarter. “We didn’t have great fluidity down the stretch,” Allen said.
Said Rivers: “We’re not a one-on-one team. Paul is the only guy who can beat guys one-on-one on his own.”
And defensively, “we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and do a better job on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade,” Pierce said. “One part that’s killing us is finishing off quarters.”
Some other Game 2 postscripts:
• The Heat shot 14 more free throws than Boston for the second consecutive game and now holds a 53-31 edge at the line. “That’s hurting us as much as anything,” Rivers said. “We fouled a ton of jump shooters tonight, which we can’t do.”
• The Heat’s starting unit hasn’t played well, as a group, throughout this postseason and that continued Tuesday. Outscored by five as a unit in Game 2, Miami’s starters have now been outscored by 51 points in seven postseason games. Coach Erik Spoelstra never went back to that starting lineup in the second or fourth quarters.
• Allen made one thing clear: “Being down 2-0 doesn’t scare any of us, doesn’t make us nervous.”
• The Celtics did a much better job defending James Jones, who on Sunday set a playoff record for most playoff points without attempting a two-point shot. Jones, who scored 25 Sunday, was held to one shot (a missed two pointer) in 19 scoreless minutes.
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