BUCHAREST, Romania ? Romanian authorities are investigating a 20-year-old who is suspected of hacking into several Pentagon and NASA servers and posting confidential data he retrieved from those servers on his blog, officials said Tuesday.
The suspect was identified as Razvan Manole Cernaianu, reportedly an information technology student known online as TinKode. Organized crime prosecutors allege Cernaianu also offered to sell an application that showed how he accessed the servers.
Prosecutors said in a statement that they are cooperating with FBI and NASA representatives.
The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest said Cernaianu "used sophisticated hacking tools to gain unauthorized access to government and commercial systems." The case demonstrates that "countries and agencies around the globe" could cooperate "to counter these types of threats," it said.
Forum rules This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Age of the Colossus?. Anything posted here will also show up there.
Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
RP Tab
[url=/]IC[/url]
OOC
The World
[url=/]Colossi[/url]
Chat Pad
OOC Welcome to Age of the Colossus. This will be the OOC page for the roleplay. Here you can feel free to discuss problems of the day, what you just ate, events in the RP, spam RPs of yours, whatever. We don't care what you do here, as long as you actually belong to this RP you can post anything here. Just make sure to do it here and not in the IC. If there is a problem in the IC, post it here and/or PM that person and one of the GMs, that way it can be dealt with.
Crooked Thoughts
Member for 3 years
Post a reply
RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.
If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.
New method to manage stress responses for more successful tumor removalPublic release date: 30-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: George Hunka ghunka@aftau.org 212-742-9070 American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University drug treatment in clinical trials may improve the outcome for cancer surgery patients
The week before and two weeks after surgery are a critical period for the long-term survival rate of cancer patients. Physiological and psychological stresses caused by the surgery itself can inhibit the body's immune responses, heightening vulnerability to tumor progression and spreading.
Now a new clinical trial by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences and Dr. Oded Zmora will combine two medications originally used to treat excessive stress and inflammatory responses at Israel's Tel Hashomer Sheba Medical Center. The trial is the culmination of 15 years of research on the connection between the body's stress responses, immune functions, and tumor metastasis the process of cancer cells spreading to new tissue. In pre-clinical studies on animal models, long-term post-operative survival rates increased by up to 300 percent.
"Given our current understanding of how psychological and physiological stress help tumor cells to spread, we can now intervene in a simple and effective manner," says Prof. Ben-Eliyahu, whose research has been published in a number of journals, including the Journal of Immunology, PLoS One, and Annals of Surgery.
The mind-body connection
Though critical for the treatment of cancerous tumors, surgery can cause untold stress on the patient. The psychological stress and anxiety surrounding the surgery itself is obvious, but physiological processes that occur due to the surgical removal of the primary tumor also cause the body to release stress hormones that markedly inhibit the functioning of the immune system.
And just when the body is lowering its defenses, tumor cells are shifting into high gear. Hormones like prostaglandins and catecholamines, which weaken the body's immune defence, also directly strengthen cancer cells, making them more aggressive and efficient in their invasion of new tissues throughout the body, Prof. Ben-Eliyahu explains. "Through selection, similar to evolutionary processes, tumor cells have acquired a mechanism to synchronize the timing of their progression when the body is more vulnerable to metastasis. When the entire body is under stress, they metastasize because they have a greater chance of surviving," he says.
Prof. Ben-Eliyahu's clinical approach addresses this problem, hindering tumor metastasis by addressing the patient's anxiety and physiological stress responses to surgery. The two-drug cocktail, which includes a generic version of a beta-adrenergic antagonist and a COX2 inhibitor used to treat hypertension and anxiety, and to inhibit inflammation and pain will be administered to patients over a twenty day period before, during and after surgery.
Saving on healthcare costs
For the first phase of the trial, Prof. Ben-Eliyahu and his team have already begun to recruit the 400 patients they want to include. The researchers are seeking grants and outside funding for a trial that is a crucial step in testing this treatment and hopefully making it widely available.
Typically, he says, pharmaceutical companies have strong financial incentives to support clinical trials, knowing that they could benefit from a new drug. In this case, however, the trial is based on medications that have been previously approved, are safe, inexpensive, and already widely used. Prof. Ben-Eliyahu is currently aiming to recruit the necessary funds to conduct this clinical trial without the help of commercial resources.
"In the broader scheme of health and healthcare systems, we can help save lives and a lot of money," he notes, pointing out that with this drug treatment, governments and individuals will spend less on the long-term care of cancer patients, with fewer numbers experiencing tumor recurrence.
###
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New method to manage stress responses for more successful tumor removalPublic release date: 30-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: George Hunka ghunka@aftau.org 212-742-9070 American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University drug treatment in clinical trials may improve the outcome for cancer surgery patients
The week before and two weeks after surgery are a critical period for the long-term survival rate of cancer patients. Physiological and psychological stresses caused by the surgery itself can inhibit the body's immune responses, heightening vulnerability to tumor progression and spreading.
Now a new clinical trial by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences and Dr. Oded Zmora will combine two medications originally used to treat excessive stress and inflammatory responses at Israel's Tel Hashomer Sheba Medical Center. The trial is the culmination of 15 years of research on the connection between the body's stress responses, immune functions, and tumor metastasis the process of cancer cells spreading to new tissue. In pre-clinical studies on animal models, long-term post-operative survival rates increased by up to 300 percent.
"Given our current understanding of how psychological and physiological stress help tumor cells to spread, we can now intervene in a simple and effective manner," says Prof. Ben-Eliyahu, whose research has been published in a number of journals, including the Journal of Immunology, PLoS One, and Annals of Surgery.
The mind-body connection
Though critical for the treatment of cancerous tumors, surgery can cause untold stress on the patient. The psychological stress and anxiety surrounding the surgery itself is obvious, but physiological processes that occur due to the surgical removal of the primary tumor also cause the body to release stress hormones that markedly inhibit the functioning of the immune system.
And just when the body is lowering its defenses, tumor cells are shifting into high gear. Hormones like prostaglandins and catecholamines, which weaken the body's immune defence, also directly strengthen cancer cells, making them more aggressive and efficient in their invasion of new tissues throughout the body, Prof. Ben-Eliyahu explains. "Through selection, similar to evolutionary processes, tumor cells have acquired a mechanism to synchronize the timing of their progression when the body is more vulnerable to metastasis. When the entire body is under stress, they metastasize because they have a greater chance of surviving," he says.
Prof. Ben-Eliyahu's clinical approach addresses this problem, hindering tumor metastasis by addressing the patient's anxiety and physiological stress responses to surgery. The two-drug cocktail, which includes a generic version of a beta-adrenergic antagonist and a COX2 inhibitor used to treat hypertension and anxiety, and to inhibit inflammation and pain will be administered to patients over a twenty day period before, during and after surgery.
Saving on healthcare costs
For the first phase of the trial, Prof. Ben-Eliyahu and his team have already begun to recruit the 400 patients they want to include. The researchers are seeking grants and outside funding for a trial that is a crucial step in testing this treatment and hopefully making it widely available.
Typically, he says, pharmaceutical companies have strong financial incentives to support clinical trials, knowing that they could benefit from a new drug. In this case, however, the trial is based on medications that have been previously approved, are safe, inexpensive, and already widely used. Prof. Ben-Eliyahu is currently aiming to recruit the necessary funds to conduct this clinical trial without the help of commercial resources.
"In the broader scheme of health and healthcare systems, we can help save lives and a lot of money," he notes, pointing out that with this drug treatment, governments and individuals will spend less on the long-term care of cancer patients, with fewer numbers experiencing tumor recurrence.
###
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
So we all know that sometimes fails just happen, comments are guttered, and chat just gets a bit...weird.
But it usually winds up being pretty damn funny don't it? So I've decided to build a topic devoted to capturing our less then graceful moments and sharing it for all to see.
So without further ado, I proudly present to you:
RPG Moments: The Best of the Worst
So, let's get things started with one of our more failure prone members, the mind that birthed Adenovirus 423, the one, the only:
Crim:
Up next we have she who could be considered the busiest and most wanted woman when it comes to Ic in the Multiverse:
Moon:
And Finally we conclude this post with something less of fail and more of sketch. One of the longest lasting couples on Gateway:
Skulljester and CelticCat:
So that's the end of our first post, I hope there will be plenty to follow. And remember, even the best of us fail once and a while so when it happens, make sure we all laugh at it.
DUBLIN (Reuters) ? Irish voters would narrowly back a proposed European Union treaty to tighten budget rules if it was put to a referendum, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, but a quarter of those questioned said they were still undecided.
European leaders are expected to agree on the fiscal compact on Monday in a bid to regain market confidence in the public finances of the 17 countries sharing the euro.
Irish citizens, who are entitled to vote on any major transfers of powers to Brussels, are seen as one of the biggest obstacles to overhaul of the bloc. They have twice rejected changes to EU treaties before voting through amended versions.
Forty percent of the 1,000 people questioned in the Sunday Business Post/Red C poll said they would vote in favor of the treaty, with 36 percent opposed. Twenty-four percent said they did not yet know how they would vote.
The government has said it will seek legal advice before deciding whether to hold a referendum, but 72 percent of those polled said the treaty should go to a vote.
EU officials agreed to the new treaty in December, aiming to push ahead with deeper economic integration and tackle a euro zone debt crisis.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Ben Harding)
FRANKFURT, Germany ? Fitch Ratings downgraded the debt of Italy, Spain and three other countries that use the euro on Friday, a possible setback as European leaders work to contain the continent's debt crisis.
The lower government-debt ratings for Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia could make it more expensive for these countries to borrow.
Fitch said its decision was based on the deteriorating economic outlook in Europe, a concern that Europe's bailout fund is not large enough and a belief that European leaders are not acting quickly or boldly enough to prevent the debt crisis from worsening.
The downgrade came after European financial markets had closed. The major stock indexes of Germany, France and Britain fell slightly on Friday, while the euro rose 0.83 percent to $1.3189.
Government debt ratings can play a significant role in determining countries' borrowing costs. The higher the costs the greater the likelihood of default for a heavily indebted country.
Ireland, Greece and Portugal have been cut off from bond market borrowing because of investors' fears that they might default. They have had to take bailout loans from other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund.
Lower debt ratings do not guarantee higher borrowing costs, however.
Borrowing costs for many European countries have fallen in recent weeks despite Standard and Poor's decision on Jan. 13 to lower its ratings for nine countries that use the euro. This reflects growing investor confidence in those countries' economic policies and the impact of the European Central Bank's decision to loan hundreds of billions of euros to banks at very low rates. Some of that money has been used to buy government bonds, which are paying higher interest rates and enabling banks to earn a tidy profit.
The latest example was on Thursday, when Italy borrowed nearly $6.5 billion in two-year bonds at an interest rate of 3.76 percent. It paid 4.85 percent in a comparable bond auction in December.
Fitch lowered its ratings for the five countries by one notch and placed a negative outlook on all of them ? meaning there is more than a 50 percent chance of a further downgrade over the next two years.
Italy was lowered to a rating of A-, while Spain was downgraded to A. The rating of a sixth country, Ireland, was affirmed at BBB+, but it also received a negative outlook.
Fitch also issued a warning to Italy, a recent focus of the crisis because of its euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in debt and sluggish, bureaucracy-choked economy. The agency said the third-largest eurozone economy would face permanently higher borrowing costs that would make it harder to keep its debt under control. It resisted stronger ratings action because of the "strong commitment" of the new Italian government under Prime Minister Mario Monti to balance the country's budget and make Italy a better place to do business.
European leaders have been criticized for moving too slowly in tackling the crisis, which started in October 2009 when Greece admitted it was in deep financial trouble.
Led by Germany, the eurozone's largest member, governments have resisted sweeping solutions such as pooling their borrowing power in so-called eurobonds and have balked at increasing the financing of their bailout funds from euro500 billion. Efforts have focused instead on making bailed-out countries try to cut spending and reduce their budget deficits. The 17 members have also agreed to come up with a treaty requiring national laws to limit deficits.
At the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos this week, leading European finance chiefs have sought to reassure anxious global business leaders that Europe is on track to solve its debt crisis.
But Fitch said that European leaders' "gradualist" approach to tackling the crisis meant that Europe will continue to face episodes of severe financial volatility that would erode government's ability to repay debt.
Fitch said the eurozone's difficulties would be compounded by a shrinking economy.
"The eurozone crisis will only be resolved as and when there is broad economic recovery," Fitch said. "It is evident that further substantial reforms of the governance of the eurozone will be required to secure economic and financial stability, including greater fiscal integration."
Greece is locked in talks to secure a crucial debt relief deal with private investors while also tackling demands from its European partners and the IMF for deeper economic reforms.
Failure on either front would force the recession-bound country to default on its debt in less than two months, pouring new fuel on the fires of Europe's debt crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The federal government's plan to expand computer security protections into critical parts of private industry is raising concerns that the move will threaten Americans' civil liberties.
In a report for release Friday, The Constitution Project warns that as the Obama administration partners more with the energy, financial, communications and health care industries to monitor and protect networks, sensitive personal information of people who work for or communicate with those companies could be improperly or inadvertently disclosed.
While the government may have good intentions, it "runs the risk of establishing a program akin to wiretapping all network users' communications," the nonpartisan legal think tank says. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report in advance.
Cybersecurity has become a rapidly expanding priority for the government as federal agencies, private companies and everyday people come under persistent and increasingly sophisticated computer attacks. The threat is diverse, ranging from computer hackers going after banking and financial accounts to terrorists or other nations breaching government networks to steal sensitive data or sabotage critical systems such as the electrical grid, nuclear plants or Wall Street.
Privacy has been a hotly debated issue, particularly as the Pentagon broadens its pilot program to help defense contractors protect their networks and systems. Several companies, including critical jet fighter and drone programs, have been attacked, although the Pentagon has said that no classified information was lost.
And there are plans for the Homeland Security Department to use the defense program as a model to prevent hackers and hostile nations from breaching critical infrastructure. Officials have suggested that Congress needs to craft legislation that would protect companies from certain privacy and other laws in order to share information with the government for cybersecurity purposes.
DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said the legislative proposals reflect the administration's commitment to privacy protections and contain standards to minimize contact with personal information while dealing with cybersecurity threats. "DHS builds strong privacy protections into the core of all cybersecurity programs and initiatives," Chandler said, adding that the agency realizes that providing assistance to private companies is a sensitive task that requires "trust and strict confidentiality."
The Constitution Project report recommends that officials limit the amount and nature of personal information shared between the public and private sectors. And it calls for strict oversight of the cyber programs by Congress and independent audits, to ensure that privacy rights have not been violated.
"The government should not be permitted to conduct an end-run around Fourth Amendment safeguards by relying upon private companies to monitor networks," it said.
In addition, the report raised concerns about the ongoing development of the Einstein 3 program, a government network monitoring system that would both detect and take action against cyberattacks on federal systems. DHS officials have said that extensive privacy protections are in place.
But the report expressed concerns that as DHS and the secretive National Security Agency share information about potential computer-based threats, the NSA could review communications from U.S. individuals without setting up privacy safeguards.
"With more and more people needing to share sensitive personal and financial data over the Internet, it is absolutely vital that, while we are looking to protect our networks against cyberattack, we also preserve our constitutionally guaranteed rights to privacy," said Constitution Project committee member Asa Hutchinson, a former DHS undersecretary who also served as a GOP congressman from Arkansas.
Lawmakers who have been wrestling with these issues over the past several years have several bills in the works, and most include some privacy provisions.
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea ? A day after a retired colonel seized Papua New Guinea's military headquarters in an attempt to force out the prime minister, the ex-soldier was holed up in a nearby barracks on Friday, demanding a pardon for himself and his supporters.
A small group of soldiers led by retired Col. Yuara Sasa put the military's top commander under house arrest Thursday in a bloodless, pre-dawn takeover, but later that day Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said Brig. Gen. Francis Agwi had been released and remained in charge of most of the military. O'Neill said Sasa had been "dealt with," but did not say how.
The mutiny was part of a power struggle in which O'Neill and former Prime Minister Michael Somare claim to be the rightful leader of the South Pacific island nation.
On Friday, police said Sasa was at Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby, near the military headquarters, with about 20 supporters. Police spokesman Dominic Kakas said Col. Sasa had asked for a pardon.
"That is correct, yes," Kakas said. "They are trying to sort something out."
On Thursday, Sasa had told reporters in Port Moresby he was giving O'Neill seven days to comply with a Supreme Court order reinstating Somare as prime minister. The government responded by calling on Sasa's group to surrender and saying the mutiny had little support.
Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah told reporters Thursday that about 30 soldiers were involved in the mutiny and that 15 of them were arrested. Namah said Sasa could be charged with treason, which carries the death sentence.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned the mutiny, saying in a written statement that the military has no place in Papua New Guinea's politics. Australia is the main provider of foreign aid to its former colony.
"It is critical therefore that this situation be resolved peacefully as soon as possible, with the PNG Defense Force chain of command restored," she added.
Somare was Papua New Guinea's first prime minister when it became independent in 1975, and was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Papua New Guinea's Parliament replaced him with O'Neill in August, while Somare was getting medical treatment outside the country.
Last month, the country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Michael Ogio backed Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed. But Ogio changed his mind days later, saying bad legal advice had led him to incorrectly reinstate Somare.
Sasa, who was Papua New Guinea's defense attache to Indonesia before retiring from the military, has said Somare appointed him defense chief. Somare's spokeswoman and daughter, Betha Somare, said that his ousted Cabinet had confirmed Sasa's appointment several days ago. She did not respond to a request for comment on Friday's developments.
RAMALLAH, West Bank ? A low-level dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians about a future border has ended without any breakthrough, the Palestinian president said Wednesday, reflecting the impasse plaguing the negotiations for at least three years.
President Mahmoud Abbas said he would consult with Arab allies next week to figure out how to proceed now. While frustrated with the lack of progress, Abbas is under pressure to extend the Jordanian-mediated exploratory talks, which the international community hopes will lead to a resumption of long-stalled formal negotiations on establishing a Palestinian state.
Israel said Wednesday it's willing to continue the dialogue. Abbas didn't close the door to continued meetings, saying he'll decide after consultations with the Arab League on Feb. 4.
A Palestinian walkout could cost Abbas international sympathy at a time when he seeks global recognition of a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
The gaps between the leaders are vast, and Abbas believes there is no point in returning to formal negotiations without assurances, such as marking the pre-1967 war lines as a basis for border talks and halting Israeli settlement building on occupied lands. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says everything should be discussed in negotiations and insists he is serious about reaching a deal by year's end.
Though there have been talks off and on, the last substantive round was in late 2008, when Israel informally proposed a deal and the Palestinians did not respond. When Netanyahu took office the next year, he took the proposal, including a state in most of the territories the Palestinians claim, off the table.
A round started in late 2010 by President Barack Obama quickly sputtered over the settlement issue.
Visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is scheduled to meet separately over the next two days with Abbas and Netanyahu to try to salvage the exploratory talks. Two officials involved in the contacts said she is trying to put together a package of Israeli incentives that would keep the Palestinians from walking away.
"We need to keep talks going and increase the potential of these talks to become genuine negotiations," Ashton said.
Before his meeting with Ashton, Netanyahu said, "We've been trying to make sure that the talks between us and the Palestinians will continue. That is our desire."
Under Jordanian mediation, Israeli and Palestinian envoys have met several times over the past month, including on Wednesday. The Quartet of international mediators ? the U.S., the U.N., the EU and Russia ? said last fall that it expected both sides to submit detailed proposals on borders and security arrangements in these meetings.
Palestinian officials said they submitted their proposals, but that Israel did not. Abbas suggested that exploratory talks could continue if Israel presented a detailed border plan.
"If we demarcate the borders, we can return to negotiations, but Israel does not want to do that," Abbas said Wednesday, after talks in Jordan with Jordan's King Abdullah II. His remarks were carried by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The Palestinians are flexible on security arrangements, but would object to any Israeli presence in a Palestinian state, he said.
Netanyahu has said he would not give up east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital, but has never outlined where he would draw a border.
Such a demarcation could set off a political firestorm in his governing coalition, particular among pro-settler parties, because it would spell out how many settlements would have to be dismantled at a minimum.
In the exploratory talks, Israel submitted a list of 21 issues that would need to be discussed, but didn't present positions.
The Palestinians have accused Netanyahu ? a reluctant latecomer to the idea of Palestinian statehood ? of seeking negotiations as a diplomatic shield, with no real intention of reaching an agreement.
An Israeli government official said Israel is committed to reaching a full accord before the end of the year. "We hope that the Palestinians aren't looking for an excuse to walk away from the table," the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
The two sides even disagree on how much time was set aside for these talks. The Palestinians said the deadline is Thursday, or three months after the Quartet issued its marching orders, while Israel believes it has until early April, or three months after the start of meetings.
In other developments Wednesday, the Geneva-based Interparliamentary Union protested the arrest of Hamas lawmakers by Israel in recent days. Five legislators have been arrested since last week, including Speaker Abdel Aziz Dwaik. The IPU, which represents 159 parliaments worldwide, said it is "extremely concerned" and demanded that the lawmakers be released.
Currently, 24 of 45 Hamas legislators from the West Bank are in Israeli detention on charges of membership in an illegal organization. Hamas lawmakers have been subject to arrest by Israel since the group defeated Abbas' Fatah movement in the 2006 parliament election.
Hamas alleged that the arrests are meant to sabotage presidential and parliamentary elections, tentatively set for late spring. Hamas has said it would only participate in elections if its candidates are safe from arrest by Israel.
Israel says the arrests are not politically motivated.
WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney's newly released tax returns represent an extraordinary accounting of the household finances and far-reaching corporate investments of one of the richest U.S. presidential candidates in generations, with an annual income that tops $20 million.
How the details of Romney's extensive wealth will play among Republican taxpayers, rival campaigns, the media and the American public only started to emerge Tuesday, as more than 500 pages from a 2010 tax return and a 2011 estimate spilled out both significant and minor revelations about Romney's scattered holdings, tax strategies and charitable donations.
The returns outline both the dimensions of Romney's finances and the complexity of the tactics used to reduce his effective tax rate close to the low 15 percent paid by many middle-class Americans. Among the new details contained in the documents are Romney's continuing profits from the private equity firm he founded but no longer runs, a Swiss bank account closed just as Romney launched his White House run and new listings of investment funds that were set up in offshore locations from the Caribbean to Ireland and Luxembourg.
Romney's advisers stressed that he met all his federal tax obligations, provided maximum transparency and did not take advantage of "aggressive" strategies often used by the ultra-rich. Still, for millions of American taxpayers who are just beginning to grapple with their latest returns as tax season looms, Romney's multimillion-dollar returns provide a window into an unfamiliar world.
Tax law experts familiar with the formidable financial portfolios of investment fund managers said Romney's returns would at the very least reinforce the rising public issue of income inequity.
"The average American has a hard time understanding their own two-page tax return let alone Gov. Romney's 200-page return," said Joseph Bankman, a Stanford University professor of business and law who has testified to Congress on tax issues. "What would jump out at anyone is the sheer amount of money and low tax rate he pays, as well as the enormous complexity of his financial transactions."
Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments. That income, $21.7 million, put him among the wealthiest of American taxpayers. Romney's campaign said Tuesday he followed all tax laws.
At the same time, Romney gave nearly $3 million to charity ? about half of that amount to the Mormon Church ? which helped lower his effective tax rate to a modest 14 percent, according to records his campaign released Tuesday.
Romney's income puts him in the top 0.006 percent of Americans, based on the most recent Internal Revenue Service data, from 2009. That year, only 8,274 filers reported income above $10 million.
He could be worth up to $250 million, based on previously released financial information.
The documents were released as President Barack Obama prepared to deliver his State of the Union message, in which he is expected to talk about economic fairness.
Asked during a round of TV interviews Tuesday about Romney's tax rate, given that he's a multimillionaire, White House adviser David Plouffe said: "We need to change our tax system. We need to change our tax code so that everybody is doing their fair share."
Other Democratic Party voices were less restrained. "He used every loophole in the book available to the wealthy and corporations to avoid paying his fair share," said Democratic National Committee Executive Director Patrick Gaspard.
Romney's GOP rivals had no immediate comment. But House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, defended the Romney's tax rate as being close to what most Americans pay on long-term capital gains from the sale of investments.
"We all know that there's a reason we have low rates on capital gains," Boehner told reporters "That is because it spurs new investment in our economy and allows capital to move more quickly."
Romney had long refused to disclose any federal tax returns, then hinted he would only offer a single year's return in April. But mounting criticism from his rivals and a hard loss in last week's South Carolina primary forced his hand.
For 2011, Romney will pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said. Those returns haven't yet been filed yet.
In total, he would pay more than $6.2 million in taxes on $45 million in income in the past two years, his campaign said.
"Gov. Romney has paid 100 percent of what he owes," said Benjamin Ginsberg, the Romney campaign's legal counsel. Ginsberg and other advisers insisted Romney did not use any aggressive tax strategies to help reduce or defer his tax income.
The advisers acknowledged that Romney continues to earn money from investments from Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity firm the candidate founded and managed between 1984 and early 1999. Under an agreement with the firm when he left, Romney continued to earn "carried interest" on new Bain investments as a former partner in the firm even though he no longer ran the operation.
Romney earned $7.5 million in Bain earnings in 2010 and expects to make $5.5 million in 2011, Ginsberg said.
The former Massachusetts governor had been cast by his GOP opponents as a wealthy businessman who earned lucrative payouts from his investments while Bain slashed jobs in the private sector. Rival Newt Gingrich released his 2010 returns last Thursday showing he paid almost $1 million in income taxes, a tax rate of about 31 percent.
Romney's advisers acknowledged Tuesday that Romney and his wife, Ann, had a bank account in Switzerland as part of her trust. The account was worth $3 million and was held in the United Bank of Switzerland, said R. Bradford Malt, a Boston lawyer who makes investments for the Romneys and oversees their blind trust, which was set up to avoid any conflicts of interest in investments during his run for the presidency.
In 2009, UBS admitted assisting U.S. citizens in evading taxes, and agreed to pay a $780 million penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department.
Malt said he closed the account in early 2010 for "diversification" and because it "just wasn't worth it." He sidestepped a question about whether he did so because the account could have been a political liability, saying it "might or might not be inconsistent with Gov. Romney's political views." Malt has sold off other accounts in recent years ? including investments in firms that did business with Iran and China ? because of possible political inconsistency or embarrassment with Romney's political positions.
Malt also confirmed that some of Romney's investments are routed through affiliate funds set up in the Cayman Islands. He insisted there were no actual offshore accounts, and added that Romney paid the same amount of U.S. taxes using the Cayman affiliates as he would have if the investment funds were set up in the U.S.
Romney's 2010 tax return also shows a number of foreign investments, including funds based in Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg. The documents also detailed another investment fund routed through a Bain Capital affiliate set up in Bermuda.
The returns showed about $4.5 million in itemized deductions, including $1.5 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Romney's charitable giving is above average, even for someone at his income level. In 2009, more than 37 million filers claimed charitable deductions averaging more than $4,000. Among those making more than $10 million, the average charitable deduction was about $1.7 million, according to the IRS.
Before the tax records were released, Romney's old investments in two government-backed housing lenders stirred up new questions at the same time his campaign targeted Gingrich for his work for Freddie Mac.
Gingrich earned $1.6 million in consulting fees from Freddie Mac. Romney has as much as $500,000 invested in the U.S.-backed lender and its sister entity, Fannie Mae.
The fight over releasing the tax information highlighted an argument that Democrats are already starting to use against Romney ? that he is out-of-touch with normal Americans. And it probably hurt him in the South Carolina primary, where he lost by 12 percentage points to Gingrich after spending several days resisting calls to release the returns.
___
Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt reported from Tampa and Stephen Ohlemacher from Washington.
by David Fessler, Investment U?s Energy and Infrastructure Specialist Monday, January 23, 2012
No, this isn?t another investment primer to add to the thousands already out there. It?s actually about nuts and bolts. Real ones. Billions of them. As well as hundreds of thousands of other types of fasteners, connectors and tools.
One of the hobbies I enjoy with my two sons is working on and restoring vintage automobiles. If you?ve ever ?enjoyed? this yourself, you know it?s no secret that you need lots of nuts and bolts, and a myriad of other fasteners and connectors, too.
And even if you have tons of them like I do, there?s a real good chance that the one you need is the one you don?t have. I seem to run into this problem just about every weekend.
Home Depot and Lowe?s have many of the run-of-the-mill fasteners you?re likely to need, but if your project calls for an unusual one, or you?re a commercial contractor looking to buy a five-gallon bucket or a truckload of them, Home Depot and Lowe?s won?t help you.
The place that will is a Fastenal Company (Nasdaq: FAST) store. Fortunately for me, one just opened not too far away from our house. With 2,585 stores located around the country, chances are there?s one near you, too.
Fastenal wholesales and retails construction and industrial supplies, including nuts and bolts. It also sells other fasteners, hydraulic tools, cutting tools, plumbing, electrical supplies, chemicals, paints and janitorial supplies.
The company plans to continue opening new stores this year, with plans to add between 100 and 150 throughout the United States. The company?s stores chalked up revenue of $697.8 million, an increase of 22% year over year for the same quarter. Last quarter?s profits rose 34% to $87.5 million, or $0.30 per share.
While revenue was above estimates, profits were at the low end of the company?s expected range. It attributed vendor incentives and lower freight utilization to the slip in profits.
The company?s CEO, Will Oberton, believes this quarter?s results will be even better than last. ?Overall it was a disciplined quarter on margin.?
Oberton believes margins will significantly increase in the coming quarter, and that the vendor incentives and lower freight utilization were seasonal issues.
Investors seem to believe the company, too. The stock recently eclipsed its 52-week high, and closed last week within a few cents of it.
Why would we be recommending a stock like Fastenal that?s up over 77% in just the last year? Two reasons:
The first, it?s yet another backdoor indication that the construction industry is slowly recovering, and that?s a proxy for the housing market.
Second, with plans to open over 100 new stores in 2012, there?s still plenty of room for growth. Stores become accretive to the bottom line of the company almost from the day they?re opened.
As the U.S. economy slowly recovers, the nuts and bolts of the economic growth will be supplied by Fastenal. It?s the perfect time to consider backing up the truck and adding this ?nuts and bolts? growth stock to your portfolio.
Good Investing,
David Fessler
Any investment contains risk. Please see our disclaimer Related Investment U Articles:**By submitting your comment you agree to adhere to our Comment Policy and Privacy Policy.
Check out our selection of daily Investment Research:
FRANKFURT/NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Research in Motion Ltd's could have chosen a fiery, inspirational new CEO but they chose a stoic engineer instead, dashing investor hopes for a quick turnaround for the struggling BlackBerry maker.
The softspoken and bespectacled Thorsten Heins, who had worked at Germany's Siemens AG for more than 20 years before RIM, failed to inspire Wall Street on Monday as he pledged to continue on the same path as his predecessors.
RIM shares closed down 8.5 percent at $15.56 on Nasdaq as the promotion of the largely unknown former chief operating officer was a disconcerting surprise for investors who were skeptical about his ability to turn around the Canadian group's fortunes, particularly after Heins suggested RIM didn't need new a strategic overhaul in his first TV appearances.
"I am a little concerned about some of the statements that the new CEO made around not needing drastic changes, focusing on marketing and having had issues with being too innovative," Carolina Milanesi, analyst at research firm Gartner said.
For his part, Heins tried mightily to rally RIM employees, analysts and investors around the sudden executive suite change.
"We will take this to new heights," he promised after taking over from co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, who finally bowed to investor pressure and resigned. "Innovation is endless, we will have a lot of fun."
But taking a look at his past at former employer, German engineering group Siemens, Heins is not one for transformation.
The Munich-born Heins, 54, started working at Siemens straight out of university in 1984, where he also met his wife Petra, a mathematician and physicist, and where he stayed until his move to RIM in December 2007.
Described as easy to deal and work with, Heins steadily moved up the ranks and eventually was CTO of Siemens' communications unit.
However, while colleagues attest to his calm and collected manner, Heins did not fit Siemens' efforts to build a more dynamic image and an emotional brand.
The criticism back then was that his style and rhetoric would rather reinforce this to-be-shed engineering image rather than selling handsets as life-style products which was one of the strategic guidelines.
Someone who is deemed to be too boring even for Siemens may not be what activist investors had in mind when they called for a new, "transformational" leader to help RIM compete with Apple's hugely popular iPhone and iPad and the slew of large-screen and powerful devices from Samsung and others using Google's Android operating system.
NOT REALLY CEO MATERIAL?
Heins' former boss at Siemens, Thomas Ganswindt, expressed his faith in Heins's abilities and said that Heins was a "very strong" leader and someone "able to recognize what is needed by an ailing business".
But Heins will have a lot of convincing to do.
One analyst who has met Heins but asked not to be named said RIM's new CEO is "definitely competent" but not necessarily charismatic enough to lead a company.
"He doesn't strike me or a lot of people as being CEO material," said the analyst. "You don't see him leading a group of people through the desert for 40 years."
According to CCS Insight's Ben Wood, "Thorsten is highly respected in terms of his knowledge of the industry and given that this appears to be a rather sudden turn of events, they needed someone who can quickly takeover the helm."
Others questioned whether Heins brings the right set of skills to the job.
"In our view, a CEO with a strong consumer electronics and supply chain background would have been ideal," Shaw Wu, senior technology analyst at Sterne Agee, said, arguing that whether RIM likes it or not around 70 percent of its business is consumer driven.
By the end of a mid-2011 restructuring, Heins was one of two chief operating officers at RIM, responsible for sales and for both hardware and software product engineering.
RIM marked Heins's ascent to the top role with a seven-minute YouTube video in which the 6-foot, 6-inch CEO gave his vision for success with a noticeable German accent.
"He is not very well known outside of the company. He has been working in both Balsillie's and Lazaridis' shadow," said Alexandre Peterc, analyst at Exane BNP Paribas.
"He does strike me as someone who knows the industry very well given his background at Siemens. On the plus side he is a veteran of the industry and he knows his stuff, but that said, his background is very much tech and process orientated as opposed to strategic vision orientated."
RIM has been at pains to underline the orderly nature of the handover.
However, another analyst who requested anonymity because of his relationship with the group, said it was astounding that the COO at a company of this size should have been so invisible to the market and investor community.
He said he had heard previously from executives within RIM that Heins was very highly regarded and that he was very much on top of his brief. "His name came up repeatedly, with regards to people at RIM who really rate him."
Nevertheless, the move was reminiscent of Hewlett-Packard's rush to find a replacement after it ousted CEO Mark Hurd. It decided on former SAP AG CEO Leo Apotheker but reversed the much-criticized step four months ago by hiring former eBay Inc CEO Meg Whitman to replace Apotheker.
As takeover talk swirled and the financial world pondered whether Heins had been appointed to lead a turnaround or prepare RIM for sale, he clearly now is going to have to communicate quickly, get to know investors and raise his public profile.
That will likely leave Heins little time to follow the games of his favorite basketball team the Miami Heat or ride his motorcycle, which true to his German roots is a BMW model.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Additional reporting by Marilyn Gerlach, Sinead Carew, Kate Holton, Georgina Prodhan and Paul Sandle)
RolePlayGateway is proudly powered by obscene amounts of caffeine, duct tape, Wordpress, Moodle, phpBB, AJAX Chat, Mantis, and the efforts of many dedicated writers and roleplayers. It operates under a "don't like it, suggest an improvement" platform, and we gladly take suggestions for improvements or changes.
The custom-built "roleplay" system was designed and implemented by Eric Martindale as of July 2009. All attempts to replicate or otherwise emulate this system and its method of organizing roleplay are strictly prohibited without his express written and contractual permission; violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.
According to Radar, Camille Grammer might not be back on "RHOBH."
By Anna Chan
Fans of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" have watched Camille Grammer go through some trying times on the hit?Bravo reality show. And now, Radar Online is reporting that the reality personality may not return next season.
"Producers are asking Lisa Vanderpump, Adrienne Maloof and Kyle Richards if any of their wealthy female friends would be interested in appearing on the show," a network insider reportedly told the website. "It's an open secret that Camille most likely won't be back for a third season."
A source close to the show told us that casting decisions have not yet?been made.
Bravo had no comment on Camille's rumored exit on Friday.
Would you miss Camille if she left? Who do you think should leave the show? Take our poll, and share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
If one person had to leave 'RHOBH,' who should it be?
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) ? More than 100 people were killed in bomb attacks and gunbattles in the Nigerian city Kano late on Friday, a local government security source said, in the deadliest strike claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram to date.
"Definitely more than 100 have been killed," the senior source, who could not be named, told Reuters.
"There were bombs and then gunmen were attacking police and police came back with attacks." Hospital staff said there were still bodies arriving at morgues in Kano.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility on Saturday for the wave of strikes. The sect has killed hundreds in the north of Africa's most populous nation in the last year.
The attacks late on Friday prompted the government to announce a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the city of more than 10 million people, the country's second biggest.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticized for failing to act quickly and decisively enough against Boko Haram, said the killers would face "the full wrath of the law."
Kano and other northern cities have been plagued by an insurgency led by Boko Haram, which is blamed for scores of bombings and shootings. These have taken place mostly in the Muslim-dominated north of Africa's top oil producer, whose main oil-producing facilities are located to the south.
Aimed mainly at government targets, the Boko Haram attacks have been growing in scale and sophistication.
A spokesman for Boko Haram contacted reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where the sect is based, to claim responsibility for Friday's bombings. Copies of a letter apparently from the group were also dropped around Kano.
The letter, written in the Hausa language spoken in northern Nigeria, said the attacks were retribution for police arrests and killings of members of the sect.
CHAOS
Police Corporal Aliu Abdullahi, who survived multiple gunshots, described a scene of chaos.
"We were in the mess when we saw people running and heard gunshots from the gate, I saw them shooting. You could not differentiate the Boko Haram members from our Police Mobile Force men because they wore the same uniform," he said.
"They were more than 50. As I tried to run a bullet hit me on my left hand and another shot hit me on my chest I fell."
The police said eight buildings were attacked, including police headquarters, three police stations, the headquarters of the secret services and the immigration head office.
"It is with a heart full of sadness and pain that I convey my condolences ... to the families, friends, associates and relatives of all those who lost their lives in the acts of violence in Kano," President Jonathan said in a statement.
"I want to re-assure Nigerians ... that all those involved in that dastardly act will be made to face the full wrath of the law."
Shooting between police and gunmen went on into the night, residents said. Witnesses said most died from gunshots.
"We are still going around collecting corpses," a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency in Kano told Reuters. "They are mostly police officers ... some died from injuries from explosions, some from gunshot wounds."
Witnesses said smoke billowed from the police headquarters after the blast blew out the windows, wrecked the roof and triggered a blaze that firefighters struggled to control.
AFRICAN UNION CONDEMNS ATTACKS
In one shooting late on Friday, unidentified gunmen killed a cameraman for Nigeria's Channels TV, Akogwu Enenche, who had recently also contributed stories to Reuters Television, while he was filming at the scene of one of the bombings, witnesses and his family said.
The police did not comment. Enenche was on a Channels TV assignment when he was shot.
"We are shocked and saddened at the death of Channels TV reporter Akogwu Enenche who has contributed footage to Reuters over the last few months. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this very sad time," Thomson Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said in a statement.
Boko Haram became active around 2003 in the northeast state of Borno but its attacks have spread into other northern states, including Yobe, Kano, Bauchi and Gombe.[nLDE80K00V]
Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on Afghanistan's Taliban.
The sect originally said it wanted sharia, Islamic law, to be applied more widely across Nigeria but its aims appear to have changed. Recent messages from its leaders have said it is attacking anyone who opposes it, at present mainly police, the government and Christian groups.
The African Union on Saturday condemned what it said were the latest "terrorist" attacks in Kano.
A bomb attack on a Catholic church just outside the capital Abuja on Christmas Day, claimed by Boko Haram, killed 37 people and wounded 57.
The main suspect in that attack, Kabiru Sokoto, escaped from police custody within 24 hours of his arrest, and police have offered a 50 million naira ($310,000) reward for information leading to his recapture.
Police arrested him on Tuesday but he escaped when their vehicle came under fire as they were taking him from police headquarters to his house in Abaji, just outside Abuja, to conduct a search.
Last August, a suicide bomber blew up the U.N. Nigeria headquarters in Abuja, killing at least 24 people.
There were two blasts in the southern state of Bayelsa in the oil-producing Niger Delta late on Friday but no one was killed. Police said they were not linked to Boko Haram.
Bayelsa, the home state of President Jonathan, is holding a governorship election next month. Troops have been deployed in the state in recent weeks to stem political unrest.
(Additional reporting by Felix Onuah, Segun Owen, Samuel Tife, Joe Brock, Tim Cocks and Austin Ekeinde in Nigeria and Richard Lough in Nairobi; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Tim Cocks)
China Finance Online Co. Limited (Nasdaq: JRJC) announces that its Board of Directors (the "Board") has approved the increase of the Board's size and the election of Mr. Neo Chee Beng ("Mr. Neo") as an independent director and a member of each of the Board's audit committee and compensation committee, effective immediately.
(c) 2011 Benzinga.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published in its entirety or redistributed without the approval of Benzinga.
Alright, Feds. You've had your fun. You've arrested some people you deem bad and seized their Mercedes-Benz collection. Great. So how about turning MegaUpload back on for a quick minute? The United States Department of Justice seized and shut down MegaUpload yesterday in an impressive (and scary) show of force. The site is effectively nuked, which is bad news bears for its zillions of users. Sure, the site was infamous for hosting illegal files, but it was also one of the best ways to share large files online. The closure leaves users unable to access their files. Those using MegaUpload for legitimate reasons are the real victims.
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama says Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney and his rivals are "playing to their base" in attacking his foreign policy record.
Obama tells Time magazine that they'll keep doing so until the primary season is over. But the president contends that overall it will be hard to argue that he hasn't executed a strategy that's put the country in a stronger position.
Responding to a question in the Time interview, Obama invokes Romney by name ? something he rarely does ? referring to "Mr. Romney and the rest of the Republican field" in saying they were playing to their base but that their attacks won't withstand what he calls "serious debate."
Obama also dismisses GOP claims that he has a policy of appeasement or apologizes for America.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
Share ] 
Alright, Feds. You've had your fun. You've arrested some people you deem bad and