Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/204338876?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, February 26, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
CALIFORNIA INVESTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO BID RIGGING AND ...
SACRAMENTO,Calif. ? A real estate investor pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County,Calif.,Sharis A. Pozen,Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice?s Antitrust Division,and Benjamin B. Wagner,U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California,announced.
Wiley C. Chandler pleaded guilty to conspiring with a group of real estate speculators who agreed to rig bids and commit mail fraud when purchasing selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County. The goals of the conspiracies were to suppress and restrain competition,to fraudulently obtain selected real estate at noncompetitive prices and to divert money to coconspirators that would have gone to the beneficiaries,the department said in court papers.
According to the court documents,after the conspirators? designated bidder bought a property at a public auction,they would hold a second,private auction,at which each participating conspirator would bid the amount above the public auction price he or she was willing to pay. The conspirator who bid the highest amount at the end of the private auction won the property. The difference between the price at the public auction and that at the second auction was the group?s illicit profit. The illicit profit was divided among the conspirators in payoffs. According to Chandler?s plea agreement,the conspiracies began at least early as September 2008 and continued until at least October 2009.
To date,10 individuals,including Chandler,have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in connection with the investigation. They are:Anthony B. Ghio;John R. Vanzetti;Theodore B. Hutz;Richard W. Northcutt;Yama Marifat;Gregory L. Jackson;Walter Daniel Olmstead;Robert Rose;and Kenneth A. Swanger.
Chandler was indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on Dec. 7,2011 with three investors ? Andrew B. Katakis,Donald M. Parker and Anthony B. Joachim ? and one auctioneer,W. Theodore Longley. Trial dates for these individuals have yet to be set.
?The Antitrust Division will continue to cooperate with its law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who undermine the competitive market for foreclosed properties and harm consumers,? said Acting Assistant Attorney General Pozen.
?Public auctions are meant for the public,not for an elite group conspiring together for their own profit,? U.S. Attorney Wagner stated. ?The prosecution of these defendants is necessary to protect the integrity of the housing market.?
Chandler pleaded guilty to bid rigging,a violation of the Sherman Act,which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. Chandler also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud,which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
These charges arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation of fraud and bidding irregularities in certain real estate auctions in San Joaquin County. The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division?s San Francisco Field Office,the U.S. Attorney?s Office for the Eastern District of California,the FBI?s Sacramento Division and the San Joaquin County District Attorney?s Office. Trial attorneys Anna Pletcher and Tai Milder from the Antitrust Division?s San Francisco Field Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell L. Carlberg are prosecuting the case.
Today?s charges are part of efforts underway by President Barack Obama?s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive,coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies,regulatory authorities,inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who,working together,bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch,and with state and local partners,to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes,ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes,combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets,and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. One component of the task force is the national Mortgage Fraud Working Group,co-chaired by U.S. Attorney Wagner. For more information on the task force,visit www.StopFraud.gov.
Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or fraud related to real estate foreclosure auctions should contact the Antitrust Division?s San Francisco Field Office at 415-436-6660,visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm,contact the U.S. Attorney?s Office for the Eastern District of California at 916-554-2700 or contact the FBI?s Sacramento Division at 916-481-9110.
Related posts:
- California Investor Pleads Guilty To Bid Rigging And Fraud At Public Real Estate Foreclosure Auctions A real estate investor pleaded guilty today in U.S. District...
- CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE INVESTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO BID RIGGING AT PUBLIC FORECLOSURE AUCTIONS Eighth Guilty Plea in the Investigation to Date WASHINGTON ?...
- Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging At Foreclosure Auctions SACRAMENTO,Calif. ? A real estate investor pleaded guilty last...
- Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Bid-Rigging at Foreclosure Auctions A real estate investor pleaded guilty this week in...
- California Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Foreclosure-Auction Bid-Rigging Fifth Guilty Plea in Bid Rigging Investigation A real estate...
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TechFaith Schedules 4Q 2011 Financial Results Conference Call ...
VANCOUVER, Feb. 23, 2012 - Intelimax Media Inc. (the "Company") (OTCQB: IXMD) (CNSX: IMD) today announces that the share registrar and transfer agent of the Company has been changed to Computershare Investor Services Inc. of 510 Burrard Street, 3rd Floor, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3B9, effective from February 23, 2012.
??GWAVA to Exhibit at CeBIT (2012-02-23 23:17)
GWAVA announces that it will be exhibiting its secure messaging solutions at CeBIT, the world?s largest digital IT and telecommunications fair in Hannover, Germany. The fair will run from March 6-10, 2012. GWAVA will join more than 4200 other companies such as HP, Motorola and Epson at the huge event and will be exhibiting in Hall 12, where other security companies will also be demonstrating their products.
??KeyMark Awarded Diamond Support Honors from Hyland Software (2012-02-23 23:07)
KeyMark Inc., an award-winning document management solution provider, has once again received the Diamond support award from Hyland Software Inc.
??Church & Crawford Announces Its Multibillion Dollar Revenue Model (2012-02-23 22:57)
Church & Crawford, Inc. (OTC: CCWF) today announces its revenue model based on consultation with major global business consultants.
??Nokia Joins AVX in the "Solutions for Hope" Initiative, Uses Validated Conflict-Free DRC Tantalum in Products (2012-02-23 22:47)
AVX Corporation, a leading manufacturer of advanced passive components and interconnect solutions, is proud to announce that Nokia, a global leader in mobile communications, has joined AVX in the Solutions for Hope initiative.
??Appthority Named Finalist for "Most Innovative Company at RSA? Conference 2012" (2012-02-23 22:47)
Appthority, The Authority in App Security?, announced today its Appthority Platform? and has been named one of 10 finalists for the "Most Innovative Company at RSA? Conference 2012" contest, part of Innovation Sandbox, an exciting half-day program representing the new technologies that promise to transform the information security industry, now and in the future. On Monday, February 27, Appthority will have the opportunity to demonstrate its security breakthrough to the Conference?s esteemed panel of judges and be named top innovator at this year?s event.
??LifeHealthPro.com, Summit Business Media's Life and Health Insurance Website, Exceeds Projected Traffic (2012-02-23 22:42)
CENTENNIAL, Colo., Feb. 23, 2012 --?Summit Business Media announced its latest product launch, LifeHealthPro.com, exceeded initial traffic projections. In the first three months after the official launch, the site reached 1.2+ million page views? a 5% increase over the same time period in 2010. Perhaps more impressive to note is that the 2010 page views represent an aggregation of four well-known Websites for industry magazines, National Underwriter Life & Health, Senior Market Advisor, Life Insurance Selling and Agent's Sales Journal ? all of which combined to create LifeHealthPro.com in October 2011. Success continues in 2012 as well - in January, the site exceeded its projected traffic goal by 24% and its projected goal for unique visitors by 17%.
??eLong Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Unaudited Financial Results (2012-02-23 22:32)
BEIJING, Feb. 23, 2012 "> eLong, Inc. (Nasdaq: LONG), a leading online travel service provider in China, today reported unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011.
??SAP Executive Board Recommends Increased Dividend After Record Year Including Special Dividend (2012-02-23 22:22)
WALLDORF, Germany, Feb. 23, 2012 -- Today, the Executive Board of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has prepared the 2011 consolidated financial statements and will recommend to the SAP Supervisory Board to propose at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to increase the dividend by 83% from euro 0.60 to euro 1.10 per share for the fiscal year 2011. This includes a special dividend of euro 0.35 per share to celebrate SAP's 40th anniversary. If the SAP Supervisory Board and the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders approve this recommendation, the total amount distributed in dividends would be euro 1.3 billion (2010: euro 713 million). The dividend payout ratio would be 38% (2010: 39%).
??Hawk Ridge Systems Awarded #1 Worldwide SolidWorks Reseller at SolidWorks World 2012 (2012-02-23 22:17)
Hawk Ridge Systems? was named the Top SolidWorks Reseller Worldwide at the largest annual global 3D CAD conference, SolidWorks World 2012 in San Diego, California. A leader in parametric design since 1996, Hawk Ridge Systems sells, supports, services and offers training for the leading 3D Design Solutions on the market, SolidWorks. This is the second time in the last five years that Hawk Ridge Systems has received the Top Worldwide SolidWorks Reseller Award, from an international field of 435 Value-Add Resellers.
??Nintendo Delivers Real-Life Mario Kart to GameStop Epic Reward Giveaway Winner in Tennessee (2012-02-23 22:17)
Nintendo:
??Sonomed Escalon? Announces Release of AXIS? iPad App (2012-02-23 22:12)
WAYNE, Pa., Feb. 23, 2012 --?Escalon Medical Corp.'s (Nasdaq Market: ESMC) subsidiary,? Sonomed Escalon? announced the release of its new iPad App for the AXIS? Image Management System at the recent World Ophthalmology Congress held February 16-20 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
??Groupon to Present at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (2012-02-23 22:07)
Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS: GRPN) today announced that Jason Child, Chief Financial Officer, will present at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Monday, February 27, 2012 at 8:00 AM (PT) at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
??TEKTELIC Communications delivers smallest and most-powerful complete LTE small cell eNodeB (2012-02-23 22:07)
TEKTELIC Communications, a leading provider of high quality and high efficiency cellular radio solutions and 4G micro base stations today announced the availability of their smallest fully integrated micro eNodeB. In conjunction with Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. and the Aricent Group, acknowledged leaders in the 4G eco-system, the ultra-compact TEKTELIC LTE 2210 micro eNodeB is a full featured product that strikes a balance between output power, physical size, and cost with a 2x5W radio in just 8.5L and 7Kg form factor.
??TM Launches Its First Media Delivery Service Leveraging Octoshape Streaming Technologies (2012-02-23 22:07)
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), Malaysia?s leading new generation communications provider, today added a new service to its host of global solutions when it unveiled its TM Media Delivery Service (TM MDS) in collaboration with Octoshape, an industry leader in global streaming technologies.
??Axtel Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2011 Results (2012-02-23 22:07)
Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. (?AXTEL? or ?the Company?), a leading Mexican fixed-line integrated telecommunications company, announced today its unaudited fourth quarter results ended December 31, 2011 (1)
??ITT declares first-quarter dividend of 9.1 cents per share (2012-02-23 22:07)
The board of directors of ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT) today declared a cash dividend of 9.1 cents per share for the first quarter of 2012. This cash dividend will be payable April 1, 2012, to shareholders of record on March 7, 2012.
??MetroPCS Communications, Inc. to Present at the 2012 Deutsche Bank Media & Telecommunications Conference (2012-02-23 22:07)
Thomas C. Keys, President and Chief Operating Officer, and J. Braxton Carter, Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman, of MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS), will speak at 1:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Tuesday, February 28th at the 2012 Deutsche Bank Media & Telecommunications Conference in FL.
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Friday, February 24, 2012
Breaking IT News | EU seeks legal opinion on global copyright
Apps
Business InsiderFive Apps That Would Get Me To Put On Google's Weird New Computer Glasses (GOOG)San Francisco ChronicleThey just better not have me running into traffic. Shopping: It'd be nice to look at a product, have the glasses recognize it?
appsbar Introduces Web and Facebook AppsSacramento Bee23, 2012 ? /PRNewswire/ ? appsbar (appsbar.com), the free-to-use resource for creating and publishing smartphone apps, is building on its success with the introduction of tools to share apps acros?
Luminate looks to revolutionize the image with a new app store for image appsITworld.comFebruary 23, 2012, 9:07 AM ? Luminate announced Thursday the launch of a store for apps that enable users to interact directly with images, in a move meant to bri?
Source: http://newstech24.com/2012/02/eu-seeks-legal-opinion-on-global-copyright/
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Obayashi To Build Space Elevator By 2050
Look, ultimately you can't know if a technology is a good idea without actually building the tech, full scale, and spending the time and money to create revised versions to fix the major problems.
After you do that, some technologies are still a dog, no matter how you try to hide it. Nuclear power is an instance of that : sure it works, but the risk of catastrophe overshadows everything, and means that if you try to build and run a reactor everything costs too much because of the dangers. In the long run, nuclear is not feasible because other technologies will keep getting cheaper.
I feel a space elevator is a dog for a similar fundamental reason : there's one 36,000 km high structure.
Any serious failure to a manufacturing defect along 36,000 km of cable, and you lose every last dime invested in the project. (not to mention the falling cable might cause some nasty problems). If someone ever wants to attack a space elevator, it's a perfect terrorism target. One homemade cruise missile (in 2050, I suspect making a cruise missile won't be much harder than RC airplanes are today. Heck, some garage tinkerers already have done similar projects) and the ENTIRE elevator falls.
Not to mention laser fire, railgun fire, bad weather, etc etc. There's a lot of things and it only has to fail at one point.
Furthermore, you have to complete the elevator project before it is worth anything. Invest all that money to FINISH the cable, you can't get incremental results. And this multi-billion dollar structure (realistically probably hundreds of billions) has a rather limited cargo capacity : one load of passengers a week is NOT a rapid movement to space.
So, no. It's an idea that has somehow gained traction, but it is most likely a non-starter.
I propose a much simpler idea : rather than use lasers on the ground to transmit power to the elevator climber car, scale up those laser arrays a few orders of magnitude to the point that they can vaporize propellant off the bottom of the spacecraft. Pulse the beams right, and planar shockwaves will be created, giving net thrust without any kind of nozzle.
Advantages :
? ? 1. Ablative Laser propulsion doesn't require anything in the spacecraft in the way of aerospace hardware but a small instrument package to report attitude and accelerations back to the ground. Gyroscopes for stabilization would be nice, but not essential.
2. If a laser module on the ground fails or wears out, the launch continues..10 or 50% redundancy is entirely feasible.
3. You can do one launch every few minutes, assuming you use LED diode pumped fiber optic lasers, and have sufficient cooling capacity to remove the waste heat and sufficient power generation. That could be a metric ton or so to orbit every 15 minutes, 24/7, 7 days a week.
4. You do 1000 or 10,000 unmanned cargo launches before you send the first man up in a spacecraft identical to the one used for cargo (well, with life support inside, but identical flight hardware). This kind of sampling size allows you to honestly evaluate the safety of the system. In the event of a problem, you turn the beam off instantly and deploy parachutes. (such as beam heating of the side walls or something). No rocket to explode.
5. Each spacecraft will be extremely cheap, just a block of an inert solid bolted to the bottom, and a small instrument package (an iphone has all the circuitry needed, although of course you would use more sensitive accelerometers) and a radio. Obviously, some kind of orbital maneuvering system is also needed, but you can get to orbit without it.
Disadvantages :
1. Reflected beams from the lasers might cause problems for observers on the ground. Might have to create a large exclusion zone around the launch site, with air travel forbidden in a large radius. Not a big deal, tons of places in the Arizona desert. Still, with so many people involved, it seems likely a few people would be blinded if the lasers used were visible light.
2. It would require tens of thousands of dollars of electric power for every launch. Meaning, a ticket to space would still cost tens of thousands of dollars just to launch the capsule + life support for yourself, plus supply capsules. Even though this technology would make it orders of magnitude cheaper than anything we have now, it would still be too expensive for a member of the middle class to routinely go to space.
3. If the laser array fails or has to be shut down RIGHT after lift off, the capsule will be moving too slowly for parachutes to work, and so it would plummet to the ground and kill passengers. One proposal is to use a simple steam catapault to launch the capsule vertically at a high enough velocity that parachutes can be used. Then, if anything goes wrong, you turn off the lasers and deploy chutes.
4. A cost effective system won't launch more than 1000 or so kilograms of payload per launch. You get the volume by doing many launches. This means that astronauts have to be launched one at a time in separate spacecraft that rendevouz in orbit. Large satellites have to be sent as several separate modules. In a few cases, this could pose a problem that cannot be easily solved, for instance spy satellites need a single mirror that may weigh more than 1000 kg alone.
With that said, the cost estimates I have seen say that for a mere 200 billion or so, at current prices, enough lasers could be bought to launch a space-shuttle load every launch.
Anyways, space elevators aren't ever going to be built, if a superior alternative like this is feasible.
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Ohio church offers drive-thru for Ash Wednesday (AP)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - An Ohio church is offering a drive-thru Ash Wednesday blessing for parishioners pressed for time or reluctant to come inside the church for the Lenten observance.
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Science Fiction is Bigger Than You Think! ? Grasping for the Wind
What is that theory?? In grandiose terms, it is the concept that science fiction has been used as a vehicle to introduce and gain acceptance for virtually every form of media currently known to mankind ? and will no doubt be used in a similar manner to introduce and gain acceptance for any new forms that may be coming in the future.
How this is important to the business plan can?t be easily summarized, so you will have to be content with this less than perfect description:? Science fiction is directly responsible for generating billions of dollars of sales in our economy and indirectly responsible for generating HUNDREDS of billions more.
But you all don?t come here for dry business subjects nor the dirty art of convincing people with money to give you some so you can make them even more, so I?ll dispense with that and return to the main theory.
We can?t know what the environment was way back when Lucien was penning his tale, nor what was going on around the campfire when the ?Tale of Gilgamesh? was being recounted, but considering that both works have survived for thousands of years, it?s a pretty good bet that they made a large impression.? It might not be too far off the mark to suppose that both tales ? considered at a minimum to be progenitors of the scientifiction story ? were useful in getting the idea of storytelling to catch on.
Jump forward a few hundred years and we find Gutenberg staining his fingers with ink.? It is interesting to note that ? despite the contemporary expense of printing at the time, numerous precursor works of science fiction were published ? Cyrano?s adventures among them.
Move forward another half-millennia and we arrive at the era of the mass-market magazine, a concept that originated in France and Britain in the late 1800s, where we find titles like the All Story and Munseys ? featuring tall tales of a proto-SF variety.? Less than 30 years later, Amazing Stories would arrive on the scene and largely give rise not only to science fiction but the success of the genre fiction magazine.
But ? a short decade before we find moving pictures arriving on the scene and what do we find?? George Melies?s A Trip To The Moon, closely followed by other short features featuring ? science fiction concepts.? In fact, a few years following Melies?s experiment with special effects and fantastic story lines, we find Metropolis, perhaps the most revered epic silent film of all time.
Moving on through the years we arrive at the introduction of comic books and comic strips:? Superman and Flash Gordon are still with us and going strong.
Broadcast radio comes into play and what do we hear presented as some of the first regularly scheduled dramas?? Science Fiction, fantasy and horror based radio plays, Flash Gordon still there plugging along, accompanied by other familiar names like The Shadow, Thriller, not to mention the most epic radio play of all time ? Welles? presentation of War of the Worlds.
A few years later and television comes onto the scene.? How did the broadcasters decide to hook kids on this new medium?? Captain Video, that?s how.
Role Playing Games are introduced by ? Dungeons & Dragons.? Massive Multi-player games of our era are largely given success through the introduction of World of Warcraft.
Video games enter the picture and, once we move beyond pong, what do we see?? SF & fantasy title after SF & Fantasy title.
Finally, the internet era.? Who created the internet & the web?? SF geeks, that?s who.? What was the world?s first email list server devoted to?? The SFLovers mailing list out of Rutgers University.? Who was one of the first, if not the first bloggers?? One of our own ? Jerry Pournelle.
Of course one could easily say that making a connection here is largely the result of circumstance, and you might be correct in some regards, but I see a different picture.? I see a situation in which time and time again, those who were looking for appropriate fare for their new media introduction turned to the only place they could reasonably go ? the fantastic, stories and iconography that embodied the concepts of new, the future, the whiz-bang:? it seems to be a natural pairing, combining stories about the future and the fantastical with new forms of entertainment.? (What films did they roll 3D out for?)
One has to begin to wonder how well the ?new? media would have caught on if other subjects had been used to introduce them.? Would TV be the medium it is today if they?d started with Julia Child cooking shows?? Something tells me they wouldn?t have captured the children?s audience with that?.
The big question however, (the same question asked in my business plan) is this:? what would happen if the genre itself were to receive the kind of recognition and respect it deserves if it was, in fact, largely responsible for helping to introduce these media and, perhaps more importantly:? what if, knowing this history, we consciously enlist it to aid in the introduction of something new?
Related posts:
- Religion, Science, and Science Fiction
- Science Fiction and Graphic Storytelling
- Reading Old Science Fiction
- Science Fiction and Religion ? a Marriage NOT Made in Heaven, Nor Even the Laboratory
- PILE ON THE HUGE: SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY ON (OR OFF) A BUDGET
Source: http://www.graspingforthewind.com/2012/02/21/science-fiction-is-bigger-than-you-think/
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