| Dutch Comedian Serious About Human Rights in China
A 20-year veteran of Dutch stand-up comedy, television and film, Van Muiswinkel is closely tied to Holland's world of sport. He is best-known for his impersonations of leading sports figures and was himself a member of the National Youth Cricket team and is still active as a cricket coach. Now he is making a name for himself in the sporting world in a different way. Van Muiswinkel said he couldn't understand the world's silence while watching the last large totalitarian state proceed with the Olympics, particularly in Holland where people are normally quite vocal in defense of personal freedoms and human rights. So he decided to put his sure-to-be controversial views in the spotlight to jump-start the debate. Van Muiswinkel began last December by writing an open letter to Volkskrant, a social democrat paper in Holland popular with intellectuals, under the title "Don't party along with the Games" advocating a boycott of the Beijing Olympics.
Blog Central
WASHINGTON The Homeland Security Department will soon require advance information on private flights to the United States to prevent a terrorist from smuggling a nuclear bomb into the country. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday that the new regulations could eventually be expanded to include radiation scans at points in Europe and Asia for private planes flying to the U.S. Private aircraft have not undergone the intense screening given to U.S.-bound cargo and commercial flights. .
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TiVo narrows loss in fourth quarter, beats analysts' expectations
TiVo's stock rose 31 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $8.45 in after-hours trading Wednesday. Quarterly revenue fell to $74.1 million, down 3.6 percent from $76.9 million during the year ago period, as service and hardware revenue slipped. Annual revenue rose to $272.7 million, up 5.3 percent from $258.9 million in fiscal 2007. For the year, TiVo lost $31.4 million, or 32 cents per share. That's 34 percent less than in fiscal 2007, when the company lost $47.7 million, or 53 cents per share. Analysts had forecast, on average, an annual loss 37 cents per share on revenue of $232 million. "This is TiVo's best annual performance in its history," Rogers told investors. The company said it sold more standard-definition set-top boxes than expected and provided fewer subsidies on its $299 high-definition products in the fourth quarter.
Week in review: Snuffing out OS bugs
Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief executive, said the initial $6.7 billion, or $17 a share, offer for BEA seems overpriced these days. "If we made another offer, the price would be lower," Ellison said during a Webcast of the analyst meeting. "They have done enough things now--and we'll have to see all the data--that clearly, the $17 price seems too high now." The comments came during Oracle's OpenWorld conference in San Francisco. Ellison kicked off the conference with a little trip down company memory lane by revealing some little-known tidbits about Oracle's history. For instance, what was Oracle's original name, and who was the company's first official bean counter? Oracle President Charles Phillips played tour guide, pointing out that virtualization and the company's application integration architecture will be two key areas to watch as the software giant moves forward in building its application "stack." The company, for example, unveiled its Oracle VM, which is open-source server virtualization software designed to support Oracle and third-party applications.
Cape & Islands News
Regardless, Gulf of Mexico estuaries are proportionally less impacted than those in the heavily populated Mid-Atlantic. The Pacific region has very little nutrient load data available, making it difficult to provide an overall assessment. In looking ahead, the report predicts that conditions in 65 percent of the nation's estuaries are likely to worsen in the next decade, while only 20 percent will improve. The remaining 15 percent will remain unchanged. Read the complete NOAA report here. .
Va. hookup thief released after pleading guilty Gay
A Richmond resident was sentenced to jail time Jan. 10 but released soon after for stealing money and credit cards from men he hooked up with in Arlington. Shawn Boyd, 36, was sentenced at the Arlington County General District Court to 12 months in jail and 10 months probation. Since he had already served jail time while awaiting his trial, he was released on the same day he was sentenced. Boyd served his time in the Arlington County Detention Facility. As part of a plea bargain, Boyd pleaded guilty to petty larceny and failure to appear in court in September 2005. Boyd stole a credit card from an Arlington resident on Feb. 15, 2005. He also stole less than $200 from another Arlington resident on March 19, 2005. Officer Loreann Grimes, team coordinator for the Arlington County Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, said Boyd had been hooking up with men he met online and stealing their money and credit cards afterward.
Give the Steelers their due
The Jets' loss was atrocious. The pass protection resembled a turnstile at a New York City subway station, allowing the defensively challenged Jets to sack Ben Roethlisberger seven times. The anemic Jets pass rush had nine sacks all year before the game. Willie Parker had one of his worst games of a great season against a porous run defense. You never run against the Steelers' vaunted defense. Thomas Jones carved them up, becoming the first back to register a 100-yard rushing game in over two years. Kellen Clemens looked like a cross between Steve Young and Randall Cunningham making plays with his arm, legs and brain in crunch time. The Jets won in overtime. It was inexplicable and awful. And you figured Pittsburgh, looking to take out its frustration, would pound poor John Beck and the winless Dolphins into the ground.
Economy-Economics- World
Stephen Pizzo: It Really IS the Economy, Stupid (21 comments) While his heart tells him this election should be about the war in Iraq, the author's head tells him that the subject better quickly become the US economy. If it doesn't the war will end anyway. Monday, February 25: Rowan Wolf: Economy Anyone? (5 comments) The economic "disturbance" is well past "risky" loans. Sunday, February 17: Ed Tubbs: Econ 202, and why understanding it is critical to your health Ignorance and stupidity do more to promote and enable governmental abuse of power than perhaps anything else. Over history, more governments have failed from within than have perished because of external assault. Wednesday, January 30: Bernie Sanders: The State of the Union Bush Forgot to Talk About (17 comments) I listened intently to President Bush's State of the Union speech.
Higher Credit Card Rates May Be Lurking in Your Mailbox
You'd think that an economic environment chock-full of interest rate cuts from the Fed would lead credit card issuers to gradually decrease the rates they charge us on our plastic. But no -- many cards have actually been raising their rates recently. Bill Hardekopf of LowCards.com, for example, has noted rates moving in directions other than down at cards from American Express (NYSE: AXP), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). What's going on? Well, there's been a bit of a financial crisis at many banks (you may have heard about it). It's related to their having issued a few regrettable mortgages to risky borrowers. So, perhaps feeling pressured, they're seeking out additional income from the likes of you and me, via the debt that we carry. We don't have to be their suckers, though.
Beginning of a New Era
Pledging to "roll up our sleeves, work cooperatively and get things done," Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney outlined the agenda for her first year of office Tuesday in her first State of the County address. The national economy shows signs of slowing and the proposed state budget could cost county taxpayers, Mahoney said. "However, I believe our underlying strength will allow us to wea- ther a storm and still chart a new course that will enrich the lives of our residents, promote the growth of businesses and begin to fulfill the enormous potential of our community," Mahoney told an audience of more than 350 legislators, political leaders, administration officials and friends at Bellevue Middle School Academy in Syracuse. Mahoney spent about a third of her 50-minute speech talking about the economy.
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