Author: Serkadis

Some 225 participants, the bulk of them journalists from Mekong countries, are set to discuss, debate and take stock of their media environment against a backdrop of changing and often quite different news cultures at the Mekong Media Forum, which started in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 9 December. Follow the event through the daily IPS TerraViva Mekong Media Forum.

The four-day media conference brings together a mix of participants, from print, television journalists and photojournalists to civil society, academics and development workers, who will be discussing a menu of issues such as changes in the Mekong media scene, new trends, citizen journalism and new media, training, media challenges and reporting on water governance, children, as well as gender and sexuality.

Johanna Son, regional director of Inter Press Service (IPS) Asia-Pacific news agency, which is a co-organiser of the MMF along with the Probe Media Foundation Inc (PMFI), hopes that the Forum will capture the uniqueness of this region in ways different from other media conferences in the past. “There are a host of media conferences in Asia each year, but I haven’t heard of one focusing on the Mekong countries in all the years I’ve been working on Mekong issues,” she said. The Mekong countries are Burma, China (Yunnan and Guangxi provinces), Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Forum, to be held at the Holiday Inn Chiang Mai, has plenary, parallel and satellite sessions, talk shows, exhibits of Mekong photos and cartoons/illustrations exhibits. ‘Cinema Mekong’, which features screenings of 12 Mekong documentaries, will be on from Dec. 10 to 11.

The Forum is being organised with major support by The Rockefeller Foundation. The Dutch MDG3 Fund contributes to the two gender sessions to be held at the MMF on Dec. 11, 2009 as part of the “Communicating for Change: Voice, Visibility and Impact for Gender Equality” project of the IPS international news network. The Forum will see the launch of the IPS Gender and Development Glossary, and a gender needs assessment of the media in the Mekong region.

The other supporters of the Forum are UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific, Nobel Women’s Initiative, MPOWER, UNESCO and Japan Foundation. Participant supporters are UNDP Laos, Konrad Adenauer Asian Centre for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University and World Bank Laos. Media partners are ‘The Irrawaddy’ and Lao National Television.

French politicians have been quite upset about Google’s book scanning project for years. Way back in 2005, government officials announced that Google’s book scanning project was a threat to French culture. Why? Because the fear was that Google would just scan English books, and ignore the French. So, the French government mobilized. Or, rather, spoke as if it was going to mobilize and tossed a pile of money at a bunch of organizations with no real mandate to do anything. As such, the project fell apart.

Of course, the French politicians are still upset about the “threat” of Google and its book scanning, but whereas the original complaint was that French books would get ignored, it seems like the current complaint is that French books won’t be ignored. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the earliest supporters of kicking people off the internet under a “three strikes” regime — despite a history of copyright infringement himself — has spoken out about how France can’t let Google take away French heritage:

“We won’t let ourselves be stripped of our heritage to the benefit of a big company, no matter how friendly, big or American it is.”

I have to admit that I’m really struggling here to understand how Google is “stripping” anyone’s “heritage” in making such works more easily accessible by everyone. In the meantime, as we noted a few months back, it appears that the French National Library agrees with us more than the government, since it signed up to have Google scan its books.

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MySpace may be late to the real-time party, but it’s going all out now that it arrived. At the Le Web conference in Paris, the ex-social network and future entertainment hub announced that it’s launching several new APIs for developers including the Real-Time Stream API which will enable third-party services to access the 46 million status updates MySpace claims flow through its pipes everyday.

Google just launched real-time search and the so called real-time web is going mainstream, so access to data as soon as it becomes available is increasingly important. Twitter just announced it will open up its doors to all developers wanting to get the latest tweets and MySpace is now doing the same. The social network has made big strides recently with a bunch of updates to its API and, in contrast to its former rival Facebook, it embraces open standards and has a very relaxed attitude with the access to its data.

The Real-Time Stream API adds a new level of responsiveness to MySpace’s platform by pushing the data to the third-party apps rather making it available through a poll method as it currently does. Developers will also have a great control over the data flow and will be able to use granular filters to adjust the amount and focus on just what they need.

“We already have early adopt… (read more)

Mexico has spent $1.172 billion to buy oil hedges for 2010, protecting itself in case prices collapse.

Bloomberg: Mexico purchased put options that give it the option, not the obligation, to sell its oil for $57 a barrel next year, the Finance Ministry said in an e-mail statement today.

…

Mexico lost out on 300 billion pesos ($23.3 billion) of oil revenue this year as production at state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos fell at the fastest rate since 1942 and crude prices fell about half since a record $147.27 a barrel in July 2008.

Continue reading here.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• 3 Reasons Mexico Should Stop Exporting Its Oil
• If We Can’t Get Oil from Mexico…

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Mercedes-Benz, Misc. Auto Shows, Design/Style

This past weekend was a busy one for us, and it was for some of our local Marines as well. Our efforts were for a worthy cause, however, as we were busy collecting toys for needy children so they might have something to unwrap during the holidays. We also happened to be surrounded by some of the nicest people and coolest cars ever made at The 6th Annual Schnuerer Toys for Tots drive in Huntington Beach.

The event was highlighted by the surprise appearance of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Even parked amidst two classic gullwing SLs and beside a new SL65 Black Series, the neo-gullwing drew the lion’s share of the attention from the crowd. The car sounded fantastic and we had to admit we’d be hard pressed to choose between it, the Black Series, the nearby CLK DTM cabrio, the SLR or SLR Roadster as our favorite modern Mercedes. The Audi R8 V10 that was parked around back would probably be in the mix as well for most fun to drive. Follow the jump to read how the day played out – and don’t forget to check out the huge gallery by clicking any image below.

Photos copyright (C)2009 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Schnuerer Toys for Tots drive bigger than ever with a gullwing surprise

Schnuerer Toys for Tots drive bigger than ever with a gullwing surprise originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’ve been going on and on to my friends about my new favorite cookbook: In a Cheesemaker’s Kitchen by Allison Hooper. It’s my favorite because it’s simple and the main ingredient is my ultimate weakness, cheese! However, the cheese used in all of the recipes is not your average cheese but the best of the best from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company. It makes any dish one to remember so the recipes I’m sharing are perfect for holiday appetizers!

Appetizers are exciting for me because it’s usually when your family and friends first arrive and you’re gathered in the living room catching up. Appetizers and the holidays always bring back fond memories. Appetizers are also fun to make and are exciting for the taste buds.

Cheese Platters are great but spice things up with Chevre Balls and Bacon-Wrapped Bijou.

Chevre Balls

Ingredients:

8 ounces chevre, plain

spicy: 1/3 cup dried hot peppers (ancho chilies are the best)

sophisticated: 1/4 cup chopped fresh lavender and 1/8 cup coarse ground peppercorn

sweet: 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots and 1/3 cup candied or spiced pecans or walnuts

Directions:

Cut each chevre log into 12 pieces and roll into  a small ball (most esaily done when chevre is at room temperature). Roll ball in topping and place on a plate and serve. These can be made a day in advance and refrigerated. Bring up to room temperature before serving.

Bacon-Wrapped Bijou

Ingredients:

5 Bijou (a french style cheese that is sweet yet sharp)

10 slices of high-quality bacon

Directions:

Wrap each Bijou with 2 slices of bacon, crosswise. Bake in the oven at 400 F. for 10 minutes, until bacon is cooked. Blot baked-oil bacon fat with paper towel, let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Raymond Ost

***

I don’t know about you but I’m mouth watering over these recipes. On that note I have one more delicious appetizer that would please everyone’s taste buds during the holidays.

Warm Spinach Mascarpone Dip

Ingredients:

1 small onion, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 ounces frozen chopped spinach

8 ounces mascarpone

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, cook the onion with olive oil until translucent.

Add frozen spinach and heat until spinach is hot but still green. Add mascarpone, salt, pepper, cayenne, Parmesan cheese and stir. Pour the mixture into a small casserole or baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes until bubbling around the edges. Serve warm with pita chips or sliced baguette.

***

Yum!!!!!! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Recipe Source and Image Credits: In a Cheesemaker’s Kitchen by Allison Hooper

Post from: Blisstree

More Cheesey Holiday Appetizers

After months of saying that the game’s Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will be “pretty much the same” Square Enix has owned up to one difference that might sway hardcore technophiles who are still on the fence

The Resurrection Project in Chicago (TRP) is looking for a bilingual (English/Spanish) Financial Counselor to help implement our financial literacy and homeownership education initiative. The AmeriCorps Member will provide workshops and individual financial counseling to first-time homebuyers, homeowners at risk of foreclosure, and individuals seeking credit counseling.

If you are a dynamic, energetic person with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to affordable homeownership and wealth creation, this is the job for you! As an AmeriCorps Member you will be a part of the Financial Services Division and work with other staff to further TRP’s mission through the promotion of financial literacy, sustainable homeownership, and wealth building.

This is a part-time position that requires some evening and weekend hours. The AmeriCorps Member will receive a monthly stipend and will be eligible to receive an education award upon successfully completing service.

If you enjoy working in a high-energy, fast-paced environment that will give you professional development and the opportunity to give back to your community, this is the position for you!

To apply, send your resume and cover letter to trpjobs {at} resurrectionproject(.)org or by fax to 312.942.1123.

The Resurrection Project’s mission is to build relationships and challenge people to act on their faith and values to create healthy communities through organizing, education, and community development.

Filed under: Chrysler, Fiat

Sergio Marchionne appears to be very well regarded within the auto industry and his work making Fiat a viable automaker has been pretty remarkable overall. Now Marchionne is charged with saving the beleaguered and product-starved Chrysler while also keeping momentum back home in Italy. That’s a big job that Marchionne won’t be able to do for long. The dualing CEO reportedly said in a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington that he will decide which company to run within the next 24 months. It appears Marchionne is no Carlos Ghosn, for better or for worse.

Marchionne also gave some pretty stark assessments of the Pentastar, as he reportedly told the audience that Chrysler walked away from bankruptcy a cleaner company but “but we ended up with the same stuff we had.” Ouch. Marchionne also reportedly used his time at the Peterson Institute to discuss what he calls the industry’s overcapacity problem. He said that while Chrysler has the post-bankruptcy ability to pick and choose when to grow, in Europe, overcapacity results in billions in lost revenue. Germany, for example, hasn’t shuttered a plant since before World War II.

So Marchionne is going to give up one of his CEO posts within the next two years. On one hand, it’s nice to see that the Fiat/Chrysler CEO is a realist who doesn’t want to stretch himself too thin, and at the same time we like the fact that he plans to stay at Chrysler at least until it begins to receive some new products via its partnership with Fiat. Do we think he’ll choose Chrysler over Fiat? The Fiat that resides in sunny Italy with brands like Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo? We wouldn’t, but hey, we’re not millionaire CEOs, either.

[Source: The Detroit Bureau | Image: AFP/Getty]

REPORT: Marchionne will choose to lead either Chrysler or Fiat within 24 months originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may think that we’re still in a bull market, but as David Rosenberg argues, we’re only going sideways at best. And with very little buying power behind that move.

Perhaps we’ve started the long, sideways slog that analysts at Morgan Stanley and elsewhere have been warning of.

——

EQUITY RALLY SPUTTERING 

We long maintained that this 60%+ rally from the lows was a bear market rally,
and unlike secular bull markets, these are to be rented and not owned.  Japan
had about a half a dozen of these since its credit collapse began nearly two
decades ago.  The short-covering was massive and continuous since the
government stepped in to effectively draw a line in the sand for big banks,
coupled with hedge funds leveraging up again after getting their credit lines re-
established and mutual fund managers taking their cash ratios back down to
where they were in late 2007.  
This buying power seems to now be subsiding; at the same time, insiders have
been sellers, the general public have been sellers (the retail investor would
never have believed back in March that they would ever have this opportunity
to shed their portfolio at a 60% premium, at least this quickly — the rally from
the March lows must have felt like winning the lottery or like a religious
experience at the very least) and pension funds have been rebalancing
towards the fixed-income market of late.  It does beg the question, who is the
marginal buyer going to be going forward?  
Volume is already tapering off as we saw yesterday, an indication that institutional
investors now recognize a market that is fully priced or perhaps looking at
price/earnings, price/book or price/dividend ratios, more than fully priced.  Higher
volume losses like we saw yesterday and the large number of ‘distribution days’
accumulated over the past month is very worrisome from a technical perspective. 
And, any market that can rally more than 60% at the same time the economy
sheds three million jobs is a market that was fuelled by technicals, not
fundamentals — hence our need to focus at least as much on the former as the
latter.  And the technical picture right now ain’t lookin’ so pretty.         
Here is the big surprise.  However the numbers have been cloaked by massive
government stimulus that can change the data for some period of time, we will
wake up in 2010 and discover that the recession has not ended.  This would come
as a shock to every Wall Street economist who continues to view the economic
backdrop as a cyclical phenomenon as opposed to a secular credit contraction.    
Let’s look at the facts: 
• At 1,190, the S&P 500 is no higher today than it was on October 14.  That
was about two months ago.  
• The financials are down nearly 10% from the October highs. 
• Small caps peaked in mid-October. 
• Food/beverage/tobacco, utilities and health care equity groups have been
outperforming in the past month. 
• Three-month bill yield are 0.04%.  (This is not Japan? Really?) 

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Morgan Stanley: Here Comes A Brutal 2010
• If History Is Any Guide, We’re Headed Sideways For A Long Time
• Japan Unveils New $80 Billion Stimulus

Well, this is the week for hydrogen bikes and scooters as we have two separate developments in these areas. First up is the ACTA hydrogen bike which was exhibited at the EICMA Motor Show in Milan, Italy.

This hydrogen assisted bike can either be motivated by pedal power or fuel cell. The hydrogen is stored at low compression in a small one-liter metal hydride tank behind the seat. In hydrogen mode only the bike can travel around 62 miles at the legal speed limit of 15.5 mph.

ACTA also sells a home hydrogen generator that splits water and uses low energy consumption to recharge the fuel tank in a couple of hours. Now, in other news, engineering students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison have reconfigured a Vespa scooter to run on hydrogen.

According to the U-W Madison News, “The class, with the help of UW-Madison civil and environmental engineering professor Marc Anderson and Beloit public works fleet manager Dan Lutz, has demonstrated a new hydrogen-assisted system that runs a Vespa on a hydrogen-gasoline fuel mix.

“The students have been able to run the Vespa entirely on hydrogen both at idling and high-throttle speeds. Hydrogen also creates more complete engine combustion, meaning the scooter produces fewer emissions than factory Vespas.”

So, there you have it, a bike and a scooter at least partially running on hydrogen gas. What could be next – Razors and Pocket Bikes?

Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly has told his players that he would meet with Notre Dame but said in a Twitter post today that the meeting has yet to take place. Kelly appears to be the hottest prospect for the Golden Dome, but could he possibly be the only one? A source close to the coach says that although he is in contact with officials with the school, but has yet to have a meeting with AD Jack Swarbrick. Both are staying at the same hotel in New York for the College Football Foundation and Hall of Fame banquet, but it appears now that the two will not meet while there.

Still, other sources are saying that an announcement could come as early as Friday, chief among those being Lou Holtz. Said Holtz yesterday on a Chicago radio talk show:

“[Kelly] really wants the job. I think that’s his lifetime job. He would love to be there.He has an Irish name, plus he has all the ingredients the athletic director is looking for. Here’s a guy who’s been prepared every place he’s been. He’s done a tremendous job at Cincinnati.”

The Irish have hired a search firm out of Atlanta to gauge the interest of possible candidates. Iowa HC Kirk Ferentz, mentioned as a possible candidate, denied being contacted by the firm, in spite of reports saying that he had a meeting with them. Likewise said Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, who is also at the same banquet in New York with Swarbrick and Kelly. Harbaugh said yesterday that no meeting is to take place between himself and Notre Dame..

What about the oft-rumored run to be made at Urban Meyer? One would assume that had Florida won the SEC CG, any discussion with him would have been postponed until after the BCS title game. But with Florida out of the hunt and no talk of a Notre Dame plane landing in Gainesville, it looks like the Irish are going in another direction.

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View the original post or comment on Brian Kelly a Done Deal at Notre Dame?…

Tragically, over the years, we’ve been on the receiving end of an unfair share of totally bogus legal threats from angry individuals and companies. In fact, just last week we got two such threats. We’ve almost never posted any details about the threats, as I prefer to give the threatener (usually someone enraged by something said in the comments, rather than by us directly) the benefit of the doubt, and assume that they wrote the threat in a moment of emotional anger. I hope that when they realize that there is no legal basis for the threat, they’ll back down. So far, no one has gone further than sending a threat. Some ignore our responses, some agree that they have no real intention of suing. But it still amazes me how quickly and how frequently people break out the “we’ll sue you!” with no legal basis whatsoever. Luckily, in our case, we’re pretty sure when we’re in the clear, and (this is important) we have relationships with smart lawyers who do an excellent job representing us when we receive such threats. Not everyone is so lucky, and no matter how “safe” you are, being on the receiving end of a legal threat is never fun, especially if you are a small business or just an individual.

davebarnes alerts us to a story of just such a situation involving an anonymous blogger in Oregon, who had heard about some “embarrassing” videos involving some local TV anchors. In looking for the videos, the blogger discovered the YouTube account in question had been closed, and sent out a Twitter message asking if anyone had seen the videos before the account was closed. In response, the blogger received a legal threat from the news director of the TV station demanding the removal of the Twitter message (which simply asked if anyone had seen the video and linked to a shuttered YouTube account).

There was absolutely no legal basis for the threat, but the blogger admitted:

Her legal threat told me she was unpredictable, and she was the only one in the conversation with the resources to go to court. It didn’t matter that I had done nothing wrong; I would have no way to deal with a lawsuit, frivolous or not, while still finding time to operate my website and work at my paying job.

So, even though the blogger knew the threat was frivolous, he was still in the position of worrying about whether or not it would still be brought to court. That’s a huge problem. Even worse is that the news director of the TV station broke out the ridiculous threat in the first place — especially stunning that a professional reporter would make such a threat. In followup emails, the news director tried to suggest that the lawsuit would have been against the original poster of the video, but that’s not what the original letter said:

The “kointastic behind the scenes video” lifted by one of your followers from YouTube, was stolen.
That is the property of KOIN Local 6. Kindly remove that posting and link so that we don’t have to pursue legal action.

That certainly implies that the “legal action” would be against the blogger for posting the Twitter message. We live in a litigious age, obviously. But pulling out the big guns of threatening legal action on no legitimate basis is becoming way too common. Unfortunately, the reason why it’s so common is that it’s quite scary to receive a legal threat (even one with no basis), and many people quickly cave and give in. Hopefully, as more people are educated concerning their own rights, they’ll push back — but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

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Dennis Gartman addresses the critical issue of Illinois and the downgrade of its debt yesterday by Moody’s.

Essentially, Illinois is in line to become the next California, if not already:

The Gartman Letter: Regarding the Illinois downgrade, Moody’s downgraded Illinois’ general obligation bond rating from A1 to A2 and cited Illinois’ problems stemming from the U.S. recession. Making matters worse, Moody’s also cut other Illinois bond ratings from A1 to A2 including sales tax revenue bonds, also cut to A2 London from A1. In the process, Moody’ has taken Illinois’ rating to the second lowest in the US, ranking it just above California Baa1. In so doing, Moody’s said that the state has not yet taken action of any sort to deal with the budget gap that it is facing… a gap that Moody’s says shall be on the order of $11 billion or more than one third of its total expenditures.

Moody’s said that The downgrades are the result of high structural imbalances and little time to effect modifications to the budget in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010, as well as evidence of significant weakening in the state’s 2009 results. The problem here is not just one that Illinois is suffering through, for if Illinois, with a double digit unemployment rate is downgraded, what then of Michigan; what then of Nevada; what then of Ohio perhaps? The point here is that “There is never just one cockroach.” This problem in California, now in Illinois, is going to spread to other states very, very quickly, for once Moody’s has the courage to make the credit change there, it will be swift to make the same changes to the credit ratings of these other states too.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Illinois Attorney In Trouble For Craigslist Ad Seeking Secretary…And Sex
• John Mauldin: Here’s Why Our Massive Debt Mountain Will Kill Us In The End
• California: Another Budget Crisis As Soon As This Spring

The Le Web conference is now underway in Paris and hot Internet companies as well as startups are vying for the media’s attention. Twitter though doesn’t really need to try to hard to get headlines but it still had several big announcements to make geared especially towards developers who use the platform. With Twitter owing much of its success to third-party developers it’s no surprise that the service wants to make sure they’re being catered to, though this may be getting harder now that 50,000 apps have been built around the platform, as Twitter revealed.

Despite the obvious success of the API platform Twitter stresses the importance of further development of the features to ensure growth. Twitter says it will soon launch a new developers site and also extend the capabilities of the APIs already available. Ryan Sarver, Twitter’s Director of Platform, shared with the audience some of the stats concerning the product.

In just two years developers have created 50,000 apps using the APIs, a number which Sarvers says is testament to the power of the platform. He also said that about 50 percent of Twitter’s traffic comes from these apps, a number which has been estimated before. It’s rare that a service would be so dependent and opened to third-party developers and Twitter now says it will open up even more.

In early 2010 every developer will get a… (read more)

Nintendo hard? Try Atlus hard. Japanese gaming mag Famitsu has revealed another entry in Atlus’ Etrian Odyssey hardcore dungeon crawling series. The new DS game, Sekaiju no Meikyuu III: Hoshimi no Raihousha (Etrian Odyssey III: Caller of the Starry

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Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Ford, GM

The first quarter of 2009 could best be described as the worst of times in the auto industry. With the full weight of the global financial collapse weighing down on the industry, sales dropped like a stone and production screeched to a halt. General Motors and Ford produced only 371,000 and 349,000 vehicles respectively during Q1 2009, a mere fraction of the industry giants’ overall capacity. One year later, the auto industry here in the U.S. is still far from healthy, but many industry experts feel the market has stabilized.

Evidence of that fact presents itself when looking at production data for the fourth quarter of 2009 versus the first quarter of 2010. Automotive News is reporting that Ford plans to build 550,000 cars and trucks in the first quarter while GM plans 650,000 units. While that’s a bump of 58 percent and 75 percent versus Q1 2009, respectively, the numbers are within a few thousand units of Q4 production. But even compared to Q4, production is up around four percent for both Ford and GM – a hopeful sign for the industry.

But while GM and Ford appear to have good production news, AN is reporting that the forecast is a bit cloudier for Chrysler. The Pentastar’s recent announcement that it would prolong shutdown over the holidays throws some doubt on the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker’s reported plan to increase Q1 2010 production by 56% versus Q1 2009. While Chrysler was supposed to up production to 376,000 units, the shutdown could drop production by up to 30,000 units.

[Source: Automotive News – subs req’d | Image: Scott Olson/Getty]

REPORT: GM, Ford to dramatically increase Q1 production versus year ago numbers originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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