park...

reportz...

skul...

prob...

troop withdrawal...

30 Jun '09

Fact file on security in Iraq.

Iraqi forces prepared to take control of towns and cities nationwide as American troops finally withdrew in a milestone for the country's recovery six years after the US-led invasion. Photo:null/AFP

Iraqis take control as US troops leave cities...

1 hour, 41 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi forces prepared to take control of towns and cities nationwide, Tuesday, as American troops withdrew, in a milestone for the country's recovery six years after the US-led invasion.

Baghdad's streets were quiet and traffic much lighter than usual as people stayed at home for a national holiday to mark the 30 June pullback, ahead of a complete US withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the nation's joy at the handover was mixed with sorrow for "beloved friends and relatives" who had been "targeted by terror".

But he also took aim at critics of the Iraqi security forces, saying the nation's army and police were up to the task of defending the country in the wake of the US pullout.

"It is a big mistake for people to think the Iraqis will not handle the security issue," Maliki said.

"It is an offence to the Iraqis.

The people who said that the foreign troops would never withdraw and would keep permanent bases in our country were giving a green light to the terrorists to kill civilians."

Iraqis had celebrated into Monday night, but soldiers and police were out in force to prevent insurgent groups spoiling the party as American troops quit their posts in urban centers.

President Jalal Talabani, meanwhile, thanked US forces for the sacrifices they made in overthrowing, now executed dictator, Saddam Hussein, in 2003, and in the years of violence that followed.

"They bore the burden and dangers against the most cruel regime and against the mutual enemy -- the terror," Talabani said on state television.

The handover coincided with a US army announcement that four of its soldiers died from combat-related injuries, Monday, taking to 4,321 the number of American troops killed since the invasion.

Tuesday's pullout is part of a landmark security agreement signed last November between Baghdad and Washington covering the fate of the 133,000 US troops still in Iraq.

In the wake of bombings that have already killed more than 200 people this month, all leave for Iraqi security personnel has been canceled.

Motorcycles, a favored form of transport for several recent bombers, have also been banned from the streets.

Across Baghdad, tanks and armored vehicles manned by soldiers and police were decorated with artificial flowers, flags and banners, as nationalistic songs and popular music played.

"We are happy to receive the security responsibilities and we are able to totally protect our citizens," said policeman, Ibrahim al-Mashhadani.

Abu Mustapha, a carpenter, added: "I believe the security of the nation will improve when the US forces leave."

On Monday, the former defense ministry building in the capital, taken over in the wake of the invasion, was handed back to the Iraqi government.

"This marks the end of the rule of the multinational force," said General Abboud Qambar, the head of Baghdad Operation Command.

The security shake-up was celebrated by huge crowds in Baghdad's largest park, Monday evening.

Revelers had to undergo three security checks to enter, but no one seemed to complain amid a jubilant atmosphere, where an onstage banner declared Baghdad's sovereignty and independence had been recovered.

Even policemen joined in the fun, dancing with the partygoers.

Premier Maliki warned earlier this month insurgent groups and militias were likely to step up attacks in the run-up to 30 June, in a bid to undermine confidence in Iraq's own security forces.

There have been several huge bombings since, the deadliest near the northern oil hub of Kirkuk on 20 June, when a truck loaded with explosives was detonated, leaving 72 people dead and more than 200 wounded.

Only a small number of US forces, in training and advisory roles, will remain in urban areas, with the bulk of American troops in Iraq quartered elsewhere.

The Status of Forces Agreement, which set the pullback deadline, says US commanders must seek permission from Iraqi authorities to conduct operations, but American troops retain a unilateral right to "legitimate self-defense".

Copyright © 2009 Agence France Presse.

All rights reserved

latest crash...

30 Jun '09

Relatives and friends of passengers aboard the Airbus flight A310-300 from Yemen arrive at a crisis center at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris, 30 June 2009. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Child survives Yemeni plane crash with 153 on board...

46 minutes ago

By Ahmed Ali Amir

MORONI (Reuters) - An Airbus A310-300 from Yemen with 153 people on board, including 66 French nationals, crashed into the sea off the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, as it approached in bad weather, early Tuesday, officials said.

A doctor in the Comoros told Reuters a child had been plucked alive from the sea, and was being taken to a medical center.

The manager of the international airport in Moroni said the child was five.

He said five bodies had also been found.

The Paris airports authority said 66 French nationals were aboard the plane, which was flying the final leg of a trip from Paris and Marseille to Comoros via Yemen.

A Yemeni aviation official said there were also nationals from Canada, Comoros, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, the Philippines, and Yemen on the plane.

Two French military planes and a French ship left the Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte and Reunion to search for the plane.

"A doctor from the military hospital aboard one of the rescue boats called the Mitsamiouli hospital to tell them a child had been rescued alive," Halidi Ahmed Abdou, a doctor at a medical center opened for survivors, told Reuters.

It is the second Airbus to plunge into the sea this month. An Air France Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing 228 people on board on 01 June.

A preliminary report on that crash is due on Thursday.

The Paris-Marseille-Yemen leg of the Yemenia flight was flown by an Airbus A330.

In Sanaa, those passengers who were flying on to the Comoros changed onto a second Yemenia plane, the A310 that crashed.

FAULTS DETECTED

French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said faults had been detected during inspections in France in 2007 on the Yemenia A310, and it had not flown to France since.

"The A310 in question was inspected in 2007 by the DGAC (French transport authorities) and they noticed a certain number of faults," he told the I-tele television channel.

"The company was not on the black list but was subject to stricter checks on our part, and was due to be interviewed shortly by the European Union's safety committee."

But Yemen's transport minister said the plane was thoroughly checked in May under Airbus supervision.

"It was a comprehensive inspection carried out in Yemen ... with experts from Airbus," Khaled Ibrahim al-Wazeer told Reuters from Sanaa.

"It was in line with international standards."

The EU's Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said it would contact Yemenia to see what had happened and planned to propose a global blacklist of airlines deemed unsafe.

French television showed pictures of friends and relatives of the passengers weeping at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, many of them railing at the airline.

Airbus said it was dispatching a team of investigators to the Comoros.

It said the aircraft was built in 1990 and had been used by Yemenia since 1999.

Its engines were built by Pratt and Whitney, a unit of United Technologies.

"We still do not have information about the reason behind the crash, or survivors," Mohammad al-Sumairi, deputy general manager for Yemenia operations, told Reuters.

A Yemenia official said there were 142 passengers including three infants, and 11 crew.

The plane was flying to Moroni, capital of Grande Comore, the main island of the archipelago.

"The weather conditions were rough; strong wind and high seas.

"The wind speed recorded on land at the airport was 61 kph (38 mph).

'There could be other factors," Sumairi said.

"We think the crash is somewhere along its landing approach," said Ibrahim Kassim from ASECNA, an aviation security agency which covers Francophone Africa.

"The weather is really not very favourable.

"The sea is very rough."

FRENCH HELP

The French military said it had sent army and civilian medical teams, boats and divers to the crash site aboard the plane from Reunion.

Comoros authorities sent small speedboats.

France and the Comoros have enjoyed close ties since the islands' independence in 1975.

France estimates 200,000 people from Comoros live in mainland France, and remittances from France are an important part of the islands' economy.

A United Nations official at Moroni airport, who declined to be named, said the control tower had received notification the plane was coming in to land, and then lost contact with it.

Yemenia is 51 percent owned by Yemen and 49 percent by Saudi Arabia.

Its fleet includes two Airbus 330-200s, four Airbus 310-300s and four Boeing 737-800s, according to its website.

The Comoros comprises three small volcanic islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, in the Mozambique channel, 300 km (190 miles) northwest of Madagascar and a similar distance east of the African mainland.

(Additional Richard Lough in Antananarivo, Inal Ersan in Dubai, David Clarke in Nairobi, Pascal Lietout, Anna Willard, Thierry Leveque and Guy Kerivel in Paris; Writing by David Clarke; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

italian train wreck...

30 Jun '09

A rescue worker works near a burned cars after rail tanker derailment and exploded in Viareggio, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Rome, 30 June 2009.

At least 14 people were killed and 50 injured overnight in Italy when a freight train hauling liquefied petroleum gas derailed and exploded as it passed their homes, officials said.

REUTERS /Stefano Rellandini (ITALY DISASTER)

Italy gas train explosion kills 14...

58 minutes ago

By Silvia Ognibene

VIAREGGIO, Italy (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed, and 50 injured, overnight in Italy when a freight train hauling liquefied petroleum gas derailed and exploded as it passed their homes, officials said.

About 1,000 people were evacuated following the blast just before midnight on Monday in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Rome.

Thirty-seven people were serious injured, with 16 of them in critical condition, including a 2-year-old who was badly burned and was being transferred to a hospital in Florence, rescue workers said.

It was Italy's most deadly rail accident since 17 people were killed in January 2005, when a passenger train collided with a freight train near the northern city of Bologna.

"The emergency and danger are not over.

"The area has been sealed off and search and rescue operations are ongoing," said Guido Bertolaso, head of Italy's civil protection agency.

"We have a convoy with four train wagons still carrying liquefied petroleum and are off the tracks, on their sides ....so the area is still at a really high risk level because the fire is still smoldering."

Firefighters battled overnight to contain blazes started by the explosion, which spread to nearby buildings and even set cars alight.

The area around the tracks was blackened and some homes collapsed.

Rescue workers were trying to determine the whereabouts of some 30 people, registered living in buildings damaged or destroyed by the accident.

But of these, only three or four people were feared buried, they said.

The civil protection agency pegged the number of dead at 14, compared to an estimate of 15 dead by rescue workers. the explosion and, as a precaution, were siphoning off liquefied petroleum gas from other, unexploded tanks in the wrecked train.

GATX Rail Europe, a unit of the U.S.-based GATX Corp, which owns the rail cars -- each one made of a gas tank attached to a wagon -- told Reuters it did not know the cause of the explosion and was gathering information from news reports.

Chief Financial Officer Werner Mitteregger said the tanks being transported on the Italian railways were new.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called the episode "serious and upsetting" and was expected to visit the area on Tuesday.

At least two children were among the dead, officials said.

"Let me see him!

"Let me see him!" screamed one man, trying to see his grandson, who was among the dead, ANSA news agency reported.

State railways said the accident occurred when one carriage derailed, pulling another four with it.

Liquefied petroleum gas escaped from a tank on one of the carriages and caught fire.

(Additional reporting by Gavin Jones and Phil Stewart; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

here...

dirty 30... 22

**

Queen...

From a tender age she was forced to learn proper court etiquette, and hated it... she'd rather have played with other children.

Then de Sade taught her some neat tricks.

~2009 laughingwolf

[~mia makila]

***

day ...

Mini 135...

***

Elsinore...

From their wedding night, when he cheated on her with a chambermaid, she plotted her revenge.

It took three years of secret consultation with trusted advisors, but a surefire plan took shape.

The bait was set in the trap, but at the last minute the king was tipped off by one who would be queen.

~2009 laughingwolf

*****

new friends award... [thx dianne]

...from the land downunder, my new friend dianne has bequeathed this award upon me, for which i am truly thankful

in recognition of my own new friends, in no particular order, i'd like to award this to:

~alex sokoloff

~spotted wolf

~skywind

~cherie

~silver

~valerie

~beth

~suzy soro

~spiral dancer

~bodichicklet

~vulture peak muse

~absolute vanilla

~becky

~tena russ

~janine


...of course, all my old friends are equally bequeathed as well, and those i missed, especially in my followers list, my apologies for the oversight and please accept it, too

***

sleep . . .

wolf/goat/kid...

Wolf, Goat, and Kid [*]

As went the goat her pendent dugs to fill,
And browse the herbage of a distant hill,
She latched her door, and bid,
With matron care, her kid;—
"My daughter, as you live,
This portal don't undo
To any creature who
This watchword does not give:
"Deuce take the wolf and all his race!""
The wolf was passing near the place
By chance, and heard the words with pleasure,
And laid them up as useful treasure;
And hardly need we mention,
Escaped the goat's attention.
No sooner did he see
The matron off, than he,
With hypocritic tone and face,
Cried out before the place,
"Deuce take the wolf and all his race!"
Not doubting thus to gain admission.
The kid, not void of all suspicion,
Peered through a crack, and cried,
"Show me white paw before
You ask me to undo the door."
The wolf could not, if he had died,
For wolves have no connection
With paws of that complexion.
So, much surprised, our gormandizer
Retired to fast till he was wiser.
How would the kid have been undone
Had she but trusted to the word
The wolf by chance had overheard!
Two sureties better are than one;
And caution's worth its cost,
Though sometimes seeming lost.

[*] Corrozet; and others

~Jean de la Fontaine

nom?

eat right...

30 June 2009 Fuel That Nurtures Eating Right to Feel Better At its simplest, food is fuel. Though our preferences regarding taste and texture can vary widely, we all rely on the foods we eat for energy. Most people are aware it is vital we consume a diverse assortment of foods if we aspire to maintain a state of physical well-being. However, the intimate connection between diet and our mental well-being is less understood. Just as the nutritional components in food power the body, so too do they power the mind. Some foods can impair cognitive functioning and sap our energy while others heighten our intellectual prowess and make us feel vigorous. What we eat and drink can have a powerful effect on our ability to focus, mental clarity, mood, and stress levels. Food allergies, which don't always manifest themselves in forms we recognize, can also play a significant role in the maintenance of mental health. Thus, for most of us, even a simple change in diet can have a profoundly positive impact on our lives. Taking the time to explore whether anxiety, muddled thoughts, or inexplicable tension can be linked to a food allergy or food sensitivity can empower you to treat your symptoms naturally. The benefits of a healthier, more personalized diet are often felt immediately. Sugar, saturated fats, wheat, and dairy products are frequently allergens, and can stress the body. For people who are allergic, consuming them can cause imbalances in the physical self that have a negative effect on the body's ability to nourish the brain. Water, fiber, nuts, unprocessed seeds, raw fruits and vegetables, and vegetable proteins, support physical and mental functioning by providing those nutrients we do need without additional substances we don't. A balanced, natural diet can ease mood swings, panic attacks, anxiety, and mild depression. Intellectual clarity and agility is improved when the mind receives proper nourishment. Even those individuals who are blessed with the ability to consume almost any food can benefit from a healthier and simpler diet. Since the mental and physical selves are closely bound to one another, we must feed each the foods upon which they thrive.

spotted dick...

Spotted Dick Recipe...

Gourmet

• 
  

89% would make it again

user rating:
4 forks

at a glance

main ingredients Dried Fruit, Lemon, Raisins, Currants

cuisine English/Scottish

type Cake

see all about:

• Baking

more resources

Food Dictionary Wine Dictionary cooking videos

yield: Makes 6 servings

active time: 40 min

total time: 2 1/2 hr

subscribe to Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mixed currants and golden raisins, or other assorted dried fruit
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated, fresh lemon zest
• Suet pastry dough
• Custard sauce

• Special equipment: 1-quart ceramic pudding mold

Preparation:

Fill a large, heavy pot (at least 8 inches across by 6 inches deep, with tight-fitting lid) with 1 1/2 inches water.

Make a platform for pudding by setting metal cookie cutters or egg-poaching rings in bottom of pot.

Knead fruit and zest into dough to form dough into a ball.

Put into well-buttered pudding mold and flatten top.

Top dough with a round of buttered wax paper, buttered side down, and cover top of mold with heavy-duty foil, crimping tightly around the edge.

Bring water in pot to boil, and set mold on platform.

Steam pudding, covered, over simmering water 1 1/2 to 2 hours (add more boiling water to pot if necessary), or until golden and puffed.

Transfer pudding in mold to a rack, let stand about 5 minutes.

Discard foil and wax paper, run a thin knife around edge of pudding.

Invert a plate over mold, then invert pudding onto plate.

Serve immediately, with custard sauce.

Cooks' note: Coarsely chop any large pieces of dried fruit.

***

sooooeeeeeeet!

tawk...

max sentence...

29 Jun '09

Wall Street swindler, Bernard Madoff, seen here in March 2009, was handed a 150-year jail term Monday, the maximum sentence possible for his massive financial scam over years, that ruined high-end Hollywood clients and middle-class pensioners alike.

Photo:Stan Honda/AFP

Madoff gets 150 years for vast investment fraud...

37 minutes ago

By Grant McCool and Martha Graybow

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, Monday, for perpetrating Wall Street's biggest and most brazen investment fraud, the maximum punishment allowed for what the judge called "extraordinarily evil" crimes.

Cheers and applause came from the courtroom -- filled with his fleeced investors -- as the judge handed down the penalty, apparently unconvinced Madoff had cooperated with investigators or told the full story.

Madoff, 71, stood passively with his hands clasped at his waist, showing no reaction when he heard the sentence that will send him to prison for the rest of his life.

The former non-executive chairman of the Nasdaq stock market has been jailed in a Manhattan cell since he pleaded guilty to 11 charges including securities fraud, money laundering, and perjury, in March.

"Here, the message must be sent Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil," U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin said.

"The breach of trust was massive.

"I simply do not get the sense Mr. Madoff has done all he could or told all he knows."

The gray-haired money manager, dressed in his signature dark gray suit and tie, was escorted out of the courtroom by marshals, but not handcuffed at any point.

It was not yet known where Madoff will serve his sentence for orchestrating what prosecutors described as a $65 billion worldwide fraud of small and wealthy investors, charities, and financial institutions.

Chin pronounced the punishment after hearing emotional statements from nine of Madoff's victims, some of whom said they had lost their life savings, were forced to sell their homes, had to apply for government assistance to buy food, and feared an old age in poverty.

"I only hope that his prison sentence is long enough so that his jail cell will become his coffin," said Michael Schwartz, 33, who said his family had been robbed of savings to be used to care for his mentally disabled brother.

MADOFF'S APOLOGY

Madoff sat passively throughout the hour-and-a-half hearing as his victims called him a "beast", an "animal" and a "lowlife".

He apologized to his victims, at one point briefly turning in the direction of the 250 people gathered in the courtroom.

"I will live with this pain, with this torment, for the rest of my life," he said in calm, measured tones, standing and buttoning his suit jacket.

"I live in a tormented state knowing the pain and suffering I have created."

His arrest last December came just as investors were suffering the worst financial crisis since the 1930s' Great Depression.

The case has triggered widespread criticism of U.S. securities regulators accused of missing numerous red flags about his asset management business.

While a much lower sentence would also have sent Madoff to prison for life, Chin said Madoff deserved the maximum, typically handed down to organized crime bosses.

"The fraud here was staggering," the judge said.

None of the swindler's family came to court to see the drama.

Madoff has made all of his court appearances in the last six months alone with his lawyers.

The judge said he had not received a single letter on Madoff's behalf, testifying to any good deeds or charitable works.

"The absence of such support is telling," Chin said.

Madoff's wife Ruth, 68, has not been charged with any crimes, but has been vilified by defrauded investors, shunned by people she once knew well, and pursued by the New York press.

Breaking her long silence on the case, she said in a statement after the sentencing she was "betrayed and confused" by her husband's scam.

"From the moment I learned from my husband he had committed an enormous fraud, I have had two thoughts -- first, that so many people who trusted him would be ruined financially and emotionally, and second, that my life, with the man I have known for over 50 years was over," she said.

FALL FROM GRACE

Madoff was arrested in December after his two sons told authorities he had confessed his massive scam to them.

He admitted running a multibillion-dollar "Ponzi scheme", in which investors were paid returns from money paid by later investors.

Madoff's swindle was global, but many of his victims were in New York or Florida, where he had a mansion in the luxury seaside enclave of Palm Beach, and recruited many of his victims.

Madoff has said he committed the fraud on his own.

He has not named any accomplices, and the only other person charged is his outside accountant.

His brother, Peter, and his sons, Mark and Andrew, held executive positions in the brokerage unit of Madoff's firm.

Their lawyers say they were not aware of or involved in the crooked asset management side.

Investigators do not know how much was stolen, according to court papers.

Prosecutors say $170 billion flowed through the principal Madoff account over decades, and weeks before the financier's December arrest the firm's statements showed a total of $65 billion in accounts.

The trustee winding down the Madoff firm has so far collected $1.2 billion to return to investors.

Swindled investors fear they may never recover the millions some of them have lost.

Madoff and his wife have agreed to the sale of three of their luxury properties and other assets and valuables, according to court documents filed Friday.

Proceeds from asset sales will be distributed to defrauded investors.

Ruth Madoff will be left with $2.5 million, and have to look for a new home as she forfeits claim to some $80 million in assets.

Madoff told investors he could offer no excuses for his behavior, saying he tried to undo his crimes, but "the harder I tried, the deeper a hole I dug for myself."

Investors said the apologies left them cold.

"How can he look people in the eye?" asked George Nierenberg, 57.

"There's something very pathological.

"He is still making excuses for himself."

Madoff's lawyer said no decision had been made on whether to appeal the sentence.

He had argued for a 12-year prison sentence, arguing even with that, Madoff would likely be imprisoned for most, or all of, the rest of his life.

(Reporting by Grant McCool, Martha Graybow, Daniel Trotta, Mike Erman and Christine Kearney; editing by John Wallace)

Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

secret ...

adult ...

ded...

conventions...

Cartoon by Andy Singer
Send this Cartoon to a Friend!



Check out our collection of cartoons called "Summer" LOOK!

The AAEC and the NCS - My Advice
by Daryl Cagle - Comment on the column

This week I'll be traveling to Seattle for the annual Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention.

In recent years, the convention has had the flavor of a wake, as cartoonists mourn the loss of full-time newspaper positions.

Ironically, the loss of jobs hasn't resulted in fewer political cartoons or fewer political cartoonists, as the cartoonists continue to draw on a freelance basis when they lose their jobs and more people are attracted to the art-form through exposure on the Internet.

Our cartoons are more popular than ever, but the profession, and the AAEC are troubled.

Many newspapers used to cover the cost of their employee/cartoonists attending the long, four-day AAEC convention and now cartoonists have to find a way to cover the cost on their own.

The group depends on newspaper sponsorship to subsidize the conventions and this year's get-together is slated for Seattle because it was sponsored by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, which then went out of business, leaving the AAEC in a pickle.

It seems likely there will be few or no newspaper sponsors for the conventions in the future.

Compounding the problem, the AAEC lost money on a recent convention in Washington, DC, cleaning out their coffers. AAEC president, Ted Rall, wrote a public letter to the membership, detailing the quest for solutions to the question of "The Future of the AAEC".

One paragraph from Ted's letter piqued my interest:

... READ MORE

---

Follow Daryl each day on Twitter at: twitter.com/dcagle

take 2...

mj mourned...

Cartoon by Brian Fairrington
Send this Cartoon to a Friend!



We have a great collection of cartoons called "Michael Jackson, 1958-2009" LOOK!

Cartoonists Mourn Michael Jackson
by Daryl Cagle - Comment on the column

Michael Jackson was God's gift to editorial cartoonists.

Now the gift has been "returned to sender", the cartoonists are mourning the loss of one of their most evergreen gags.

Jackson was a wonderful character for cartoons.

From "Jesus Juice" to chimps and burning hair, he was a cartoon treasure.

One of my all time favorites was a Mr. Fish cartoon during the jury selection process from Michael's trial, showing Michael's "nightmare jury", or "nightmare witnesses", of scowling Fruit of the Loom fruit characters in the jury box.

Political cartoonists have been emailing each other, warning we should not do the obvious obit cartoons, like Michael at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter says, "You're bad, beat it"; or Jesus dangling little Michael from a heavenly window; or Michael and St. Peter "moon-walking" backwards through the Pearly Gates into heaven.

And I can't help but think of how Jackson's children...

READ MORE

---

Follow Daryl each day on Twitter at: twitter.com/dcagle

canuck again!

29 Jun '09

A man walks past a Tim Hortons coffee shop in Toronto.

Coffee giant, Tim Hortons Inc., is returning its home base to Canada, with a plan to reorganize and convert to a Canadian-based corporation. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tim Hortons returns officially to Canuck roots: will ditch U.S. parent...

23 minutes ago

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Coffee giant Tim Hortons Inc. (TSX:THI) is returning its home base to Canada, with a plan to reorganize and convert to a Canadian-based corporation.

The popular coffee house chain is currently owned by a U.S.-based parent company, after its spinoff from U.S.-based burger giant Wendy's in 2007.

Tims says the reorganization will save money due to Canada's lower tax rates and make international expansion easier.

The move will create a Canadian subsidiary with which Tims will merge, creating a company incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

Tim Horton's shareholders will hold the same amount of stock as before, and the company will continue to operate under the Tim Horton's name with stock listings on the TSX and the New York Stock Exchange.

The chain has struggled to boost sales in the United States, despite thriving in Canada.

Copyright © 2009 Canadian Press

trio...

blame ...

found ...

big win ...

12 May '09

Agustin Marcos, an employee of the Black Cat lottery kiosk in central Madrid, points to a sign reading 'Sole Winner of Euro Millions 126,231,764 in Madrid, 09 May 2009. REUTERS/Paul Hanna

US man working 3 jobs to support family wins $39 million lottery...

27 Jun '09

~The Associated Press

SANTA CRUZ, California - A man who works three jobs to support his family - including one as a limousine driver - has won a $39 million jackpot in California's SuperLotto Plus.

Clyde Persley, who is married, with a 4-year-old daughter, turned in his winning ticket Tuesday night, and should get his first check for about $16 million in four to six weeks, said a California lottery spokeswoman.

The 49-year-old Santa Cruz man operates candy-making machines for Santa Cruz Nutritionals, drives a limousine, and picks up extra hours at a restaurant.

He says his first moves will be taking his wife on a trip to Hawaii, and hiring a financial adviser.

He bought his winning ticket at a Santa Cruz market, where he has played the lottery twice a week for several years.

-

Information from: Santa Cruz Sentinel, http://www.santacruzsentinel.com

upset...

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men...

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