Category: News

Egypt State Information Service

The Ministry of Culture has completed renovation works of Alexandria Royal Jewelry Museum in preparation for inaugurating it at the beginning of 2010.

The Museum has been supplied with the state-of-the-art showcases suitable for exhibiting valuable jewelry that were owned by Mohamed Ali family. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Alexandria Governor, Dr. Zahi Hawas will attend the ceremony.

Minister Hosni said the project took three years to complete and cost LE50 million.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

12/28/2009 11:21 AM ET

Transportation stocks are showing notable weakness during trading on Monday, with railroad stocks weighing down the sector by a considerable margin. The weakness comes after some pessimistic comments about the railroad sector in a report from Barron’s.

The losses by railroad stocks are contributing to a 1.1 percent loss by the Dow Jones Railroads Index. With the loss, the index is pulling back off of the fourteen month closing high set last Thursday.

The pullback comes after Barron’s said comments from the management of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) indicated that the economy and subsequently the railroad industry would not begin to see a substantial recovery until the year 2011.

Despite the comments, Burlington Northern stock is showing a lack of direction and its currently up by only 0.1 percent, as it remains in a tight trading range.

The previous significant move for the stock came in early November, when billionaire investor Warren Buffet announced he reached a deal for his firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) to buy the rail transport firm for $100 per share.

Meanwhile, Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN) and CSX Corp. (CSX) are two of the sector’s steepest decliners, falling by 2.4 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Trinity remains in a recent trading range, while CSX is pulling back off of Thursday’s fifteen month closing high.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWR), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) and Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) are also retreating, moving off of their recent highs, while American Railcar Industries (ARII) is bucking the downtrend in the sector, rising by 4.2 percent.

by RTT Staff Writer

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Article Tags: Harvey M. Sheldon, Law/Policy

Green believers give no indication of slowing their quest for carbon dioxide control. On December 7, 2009, coincident with the convening of the since-failed Climate Conference in Copenhagen, the USEPA made final the “finding” that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, threaten human health and the environment.

According to alarmists and the Obama administration, there is a scientific “consensus” that man’s activities threaten our planet with detrimental global warming, dangerous sea-level rise, disease, and more destructive storms. Even though the North Pole had open water in the 1940s, and temperatures were higher both in the middle ages and 7,000 years ago, we are said to be in danger. An atmospheric trace gas (CO2) is the supposed culprit, even though plants depend on it to live and there used to be much more of it in the atmosphere.

On December 9, news reports said “the Obama administration is warning Congress that if it doesn’t move to regulate greenhouse gases, the Environmental Protection Agency will take a ‘command-and-control’ role over the process in a way that could hurt business.” The threat is to use the Clean Air Act.

Source: americanthinker.com

Read in full with comments »   

Filed under: Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Honda

All Honda wanted to do was save the Earth, one gallon of gasoline at a time. It turns out, though, that in the act of saving said Earth, the Japanese automaker stepped on a few toes – namely, those of Save the Earth Enterprises, an environmental group based in the United States.

See where this is going? That’s right, Save the Earth Enterprises, which trademarked the slogan ‘Save the Earth’ way back in 1972, has sued Honda and its advertising agency, Rubin Postaer & Co., for infringement. The lawsuit seeks to recover Honda’s profits from a recent ad campaign for the Civic and to stop future use by Honda of the Save the Earth trademark.

“The Honda ad campaign confused people into thinking that we endorsed Honda or were affiliated with Honda. We aren’t affiliated with them and don’t endorse them,” said Neal Pargman of Save the Earth Foundation in a statement you’ll find after the jump. The statement adds that Honda ignored cease-and-desist letters from the foundation. Perhaps they were too busy… saving the earth? Check out the official press release after the jump for the details.

[Source: Save the Earth Foundation]

Continue reading Environmental group sues Honda for “Save The Earth” trademark infringement

Environmental group sues Honda for “Save The Earth” trademark infringement originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stating concerns about Google’s dominance in the mobile advertising market and lack of competition, two consumer groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission to block Google’s $750 million acquisition of AdMob.

In a joint letter to the FTC, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy said Google (NSDQ: GOOG) argued that Google is buying its way to dominance in the mobile advertising, by diminishing the competition “to the detriment of consumers.” In the letter, the two agencies wrote: “The mobile sector is the next frontier of the digital revolution. Without vigorous competition and strong privacy guarantees this vital and growing segment of the online economy will be stifled,” according to a press release. More interestingly, the two groups said the deal raises substantial privacy concerns because both companies gather tremendous amounts of data about consumers’ online behavior, including their location.

When Google originally announced the deal, it believed it would easily be granted federal approval because the mobile market is so nascent. However, on Dec. 23, Google said the acquisition was being held up because the FTC has issued what is called a “second request,” which means that the regulatory body believes it is necessary to have more information to review deal. Now, the deal will be delayed for at least 30 days, so we can assume the deal won’t close until February.

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (UPI) — China adopted an amendment to its renewable energy law Saturday that requires utilities to buy all the power produced by generators of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Power enterprises that refuse to …

Remember the story of the Russian police officers who went on YouTube and recorded videos condemning rampant corruption throughout the police force? The most prominent among them, Maj. Alexey Dymovsky, has not only been fired from his job – this morning he had fraud charges filed against him for allegedly embezzling $800 while working as a narcotics officer. Dymovsky’s public cry for help has been viewed almost 1 million times on YouTube.

Mark this down as an example of YouTube proving an effective way for whistle-blowers around the world to get the word out but not necessarily to stay safe in doing so. It’s long been hoped that easy online publishing would enable more people to challenge authoritarian governments – but it’s not clear yet whether those governments care.

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Of course it’s possible that Mr. Dymovsky really did embezzle $800 during his time as a cop and perhaps he should be thankful just for being alive so far after challenging corrupt police. None the less, it’s hard not to suspect that these charges were filed as more retribution for the YouTube videos. Being sent to prison after being so visibly critical of Russian police is presumably not something that would be good for Mr. Dymovsky.

Two years ago Egyptian police watch-dog blogger Wael Abbas had his videos pulled from YouTube because the company said they violated Terms of Service against showing violence on the site, though they were reposted after international criticism.

Will the Russian police officer Mr. Dymovsky receive the same type of international support now that he faces charges, perhaps effectively for speaking to the world? These early cases will likely help determine how useful these new, democratizing social media technologies really are in improving everyday peoples’ circumstances around the world.

If people in trouble can use social media to speak to the world at large, but the world doesn’t care, then perhaps we’ll all have to stick to playing Farmville instead of using this Internet thing for more important matters.

Discuss

By Eric Rosenbaum 12/28/09 – 11:39 AM EST

OMAHA, Neb. (TheStreet) — It was not the finest of years for Warren Buffett — indeed, the top ten Berkshire Hathway(BRK.B Quote) holdings have significantly trailed the best S&P index returns in 2009, according to data as of the last week of December.

Most of the Berkshire top ten finished the year ahead of share prices on Dec. 31, 2008 — with the exception of Wells Fargo(WFC Quote).

Still, gains made by Warren Buffet’s biggest portfolio holdings were relatively small when compared to the best performing stock sectors in 2009. The broad recovery throughout the U.S. economy in the second half of 2009 was reflected to a much-lesser extent in Buffett’s biggest bets.

The best-performing stock sectors in 2009 were led by the S&P 500 Healthcare Facilities Index, which was up more than 380% through Dec. 23. The S&P 500 Automobile Manufacturers Index was up 232% through Dec. 23. The S&P 500 Real Estate Services (219%) and Dividend Metals & Minerals (217%) indexes were also both up more than 200% in 2009.

Buffett has always made it clear there are certain sectors he just won’t play in as he doesn’t understand them — the Internet sector most notable among the Buffett-mystifiers. And in 2009, the stocks Buffett does understand couldn’t touch the Internet. The S&P 500 Internet Retail Index was the fifth-best performing sector in 2009, up 183% through Dec. 23.

Even the best-performing of Berkshire Hathaway’s top ten significantly trailed the returns of the fifth-best sector performance, S&P 500 Internet Retail. American Express(AXP Quote), of which Berkshire Hathaway owns 13%, was up more than 120% in 2009, from $18.55 on Dec. 31, 2008, to $41.70 on Dec. 28, 2009.

Among financial stocks, it was a mixed bag for Berkshire Hathaway in 2009, as the gains made by American Express were offset by the continued slump at Wells Fargo(WFC Quote). Buffett owns close to 7% of Wells Fargo, which declined from $29.48 at the beginning of 2009, to $26.91 on Dec. 28, 2009.

Kraft(symbol Quote), of which Berkshire Hathaway owns 9%, inched out minor gains in 2009, from a Dec. 31, 2008 share price of $26.85, to $27.36 on Monday.

Gains made by Coca-Cola(KO Quote), of which Buffett also owns approximately 9%, were at the level of the broad market. Coca-Cola shares rose from $45.27 at the outset of 2009 to $57.40 on Dec. 28, or a gain of roughly 21%, on par with the S&P 500 Index 2009 returns.

Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest holding, Wesco Financial(WSC Quote), rose from $288 to $343 through Dec. 28. Berkshire owns 80% of Wesco.

Burlington Northern(BNI Quote), increased from $75.70 to $98.40 after Buffett announced the premium he was paying for the railroad shares. Berkshire owned 22% of Burlington Northern ahead of the proposed complete takeover.

The Washington Post(WPO Quote), of which Buffett owns 18%, rose from $390 to $445 by Dec. 28, or a gain of 12%, still well short of the broad market.

Moody’s(MCO Quote), in which Berkshire Hathaway has been decreasing its 13.5% stake, gained from $20.00 to $27.47 by Dec. 28. Still, the 2009 gain of 27% for Moody’s was nowhere near the best S&P sector gains in 2009. What’s more, the fact that Buffett was decreasing his Moody’s stake throughout 2009, while big holdings like Kraft and Coca-Cola trailed the markets, did not help the return profile of Berkshire’s biggest bets.

Paul Howard, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott’s Langen McAlenney division, said while the biggest Berkshire Hathaway bets clearly were not aligned with the best-performing stock sectors in 2009 — and, in fact, significantly lagged for the most part — Buffett did make some great investments in 2009 that should perform well over time. Howard pointed to the deals Buffett struck for preferred shares in Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) and General Electric(GE Quote).

Howard noted that the Goldman investment has already proven a “home run” and, especially in a low-yield environment like the current one, both financial sector investments should perform well over time.

— Reported by Eric Rosenbaum in New York.

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If you’re displeased with Verizon’s new $350 early termination fee (ETF) on “advanced devices,” don’t worry – the FCC is too.  Last week, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn sent out a letter to Verizon’s reply, and in short, she’s not pleased. 

Among other arguments, she makes the point that ETF’s have migrated from being tied to the true full retail cost of the device to being something that foots “the bill for advertising costs, commissions for sales personnel, and store costs.”  She implies that the costs to advertise and operate retail locations can be (and are) recouped in high monthly fees for voice and data.  A higher penalty isn’t needed in her book, particularly a high penalty near the end of the agreement.

What’s more, she claims that phantom fees are being charged, despite Verizon’s reports that state otherwise.  Citing “press reports and consumer complaints,” she has vowed to investigate the matter further with her colleagues next year.  Sounds like some bad news for Verizon.  Anyone agree?

Via: Engadget

Pre-toting people around the Internets have been hoping and praying that Palm would add video recording support to the Pre ever since the device launched. When Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein mentioned that webOS 1.3.5 would be hitting the Pre in just a few days, people started getting antsy; surely this would be the one that brought video, right?

No such luck. While it does fix a handful of issues (most importantly, they’ve upped the number of apps you can have installed at once), the lack of video isn’t one of them.

The official patch notes are pretty minimal, but here’s what Sprint has to say:

* Improvement in battery life optimization when in marginal coverage areas.
* QCELP capability fix to allow play and audio of video sent via MMS.
* Launch Google Maps or Sprint Nav when tapping an address from contacts.
* Minimized package of MR size through binary difference. Customers can now download over 2G connections if necessary.

We’ve heard a few reports of 1.3.5 hitting handsets already – let us know when you get it, would you?

[Via PreCentral]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

You may recall that about a year ago, Trent Reznor jokingly mentioned that 400 gigs of high definition video footage of some shows from Nine Inch Nail’s previous tour had been released online “by a mysterious, shadowy group of subversives.” Not only that, he noted “I’ll bet some enterprising fans could assemble something pretty cool.” Now, of course it was Rezor’s own people who were “leaking” the content, but we’d been hearing all sorts of cool things about what they were doing, and on Christmas Eve they officially released what they had put together called “Another Version Of The Truth: The Gift.” It’s an amazing display of crowdsourced teamwork by a group calling itself “This One Is On Us,” a play on Reznor’s statement when he released “The Slip” as a completely free download, when he said “This one’s on me.”

As they note, it took 12 months, involving a “core team of dozens (with a network of thousands), spanning 3 continents, 4 languages, 5 specialist teams [and] countless sleepless nights.” And what did they come out with? Well, it’s a concert video that’s available in pretty much any format you might want (and they’re still adding more). In fact you’ll soon be able to get it in Blu-ray. But in the meantime, you can get it in standard DVD of dual layer DVD formats. You can get it for the PS3 or as a basic .MOV file. There’s a version catering to those who want to watch on an iPod, and (of course) it’s on YouTube.

And as we’re being told how awful BitTorrent is and how various torrent trackers and search engines need to be shut down, the folks behind this effort released it under a Creative Commons license, and people are being told that they “are encouraged to seed for as long as possible.” As for Reznor himself? He notes that he’s “blown away” and reminded (yet again) that Nine Inch Nails fans “kick ass.”

But Bittorrent can’t be used for any legitimate purpose, right? And musicians can’t possibly embrace what the technology allows? Once again, we’re seeing why those who embrace what technology allows will do just fine moving forward. It’s only those who think that the answer is to bring out the lawyers and try to hold back progress who will find themselves struggling to create business models that work.

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Paul Wallis at Digitaljournal.com shines a light one on of the bigger beneath-the-surface stories of 2009, which is the wild scale of Australian debt:

It’s a pretty hideous story. Our “recovery” and “growth” turn out to be debt based. Like one of the cartoons where the coyote keeps running for a while over going over the cliff, Australia’s debt is now more than GDP. 90 per cent of that debt is tied up in mortgages. The rest is various forms of personal debt. What’s much worse is that these figures have apparently been sitting around for a while, gathering accolades, not concern.

Now- the story here is that: 1. Australia’s GDP is just over $1 trillion per year. 2. Net debt is $1.2 trillion. 3. There are only 21 million people in the entire country. 4. The housing market was propped up by a Federal and State First Home Buyers grant for a year or so, which has apparently added fuel to the situation as interest rates rise. 5. Most houses are ridiculously overpriced anyway. 6. Debt levels currently account for 39% of income. 7. Stress levels on debts kick in according to analysts at 41%. 8. Severe stress starts at 43%.

That Australia is debt-fueld and bubbly has been talked about for awhile, though defenders of Oz will in turn point out that as long as China maintains its incredible growth and voracious demand for materials, Australia is in fine shape. And to some extent that’s true, except that this is a huge “if” we’re talking about.

From the sound of it, it wouldn’t appear that China needs to crash, just hiccough and the whole thread could unravel.

See here for our full guide to the Australia bubble — >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Australia: Copper Production To Slow Next Year, Global Shortage Coming
• Why Investors Are Going Crazy For Australia
• China Should Just Buy Australia

Over the weekend, I had a little debate with a friend on why Buick’s have gotten better and should be more attractive to the younger crowd. However, I couldn’t seem to get the image of very old people driving the same car he would if he were to buy a Buick.

As reported earlier this morning, Buick’s new boss Brian Sweeney, is looking for ways to attract younger buyers to Buick vehicles. Currently, the average age of a Buick shopper is 70 while the average age of a U.S. car buyer is 52. However, a third of the buyers of the 2010 LaCrosse (see our review here) are 55 or younger.

Next year, Buick will add the 2011 Buick Regal sedan, of which a high-performance GS version is expected to debut at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show next month.

With that in mind, and if you’re between the ages of 20-40, would you buy a Buick LaCrosse, Enclave or Regal.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and give Sweeney Todd some tips on how he can attract younger buyers to Buick.

– By: Omar Rana

The investment strategist who profitably shorted Berkshire Hathaway’s stock in 2008 has a bold forecast for 2010.

Appearing as guest host on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning, Seabreeze Partners’ Doug Kass predicted Warren Buffett will step down in the coming year.

As he ran down a series of coming surprises with Joe Kernen and Carl Quintanilla, Kass told viewers, “With the Burlington Northern acquisition, the Oracle has basically completed his canvas and there’s really very little left for him to do.”

The prediction is number 12 of “Dougie’s Top 20 Surprises for 2010,” as listed last week in a Barron’s blog:

12. Warren Buffett steps down. Warren Buffett announces that he is handing over the investment reins to a Berkshire outsider and that he plans to also announce his in-house successor as chief operating officer by Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in 2011.

(Kass has his own post on the subject today in a paying-subscribers-only section of TheStreet.com.)

Short seller Doug Kass, as seen on TheStreet.com

While Kass says he “worships” at Buffett’s “investing altar,” he’s been very critical of Buffett over the past two years. In January, Kass wrote that “Buffett’s salad days seem to be over; the only question that remains is the timing and to what degree investors will abandon the Oracle of Omaha.”

Buffett has repeatedly said he has no intention of quitting at Berkshire anytime soon because he loves his work so much.

Unless he suffers some unexpected physical or mental impairment, it’s hard to imagine that he would be any happier doing anything other than going into his Omaha office each day looking for more ways to make money.

Current Berkshire stock prices:

Class A: [BRK.A 98715.00 -180.00 (-0.18%) ]

Class B: [BRK.B 3285.25 — UNCH (0) ]

Topics:CEOs and CFOs | Warren Buffett

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Korea Telecom, the country’s second-largest mobile carrier, is buying a 25 percent stake in Omnitel China to enter the mobile content business in China.

Omnitel is a one of South Korea’s largest mobile developers, and has a Chinese affiliate that has been providing mobile video-on-demand and other content to China’s leading mobile carriers, reports The Korea Times. It is unknown how much the stake will cost KT. Separately, KT’s parent company, which operates both landline and wireless divisions, said it will cut almost 6,000 jobs at the end of the year in its biggest-ever workforce reduction ever. Most of the departures will come in the form of voluntary early retirements. The cuts will save $393 million a year, reports Bloomberg.

Omnitel China, which is planning to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, already has 12 million mobile content subscribers via China’s various mobile carriers and has additional plans to develop more entertainment services for the phone. KT will likely secure its ownership stake by the end of July. The investment comes at a time when China is seeing rapid growth of smartphones and netbooks, which are being used for video, media and other applications.

Welcome to our newest Monday feature — Android Ecosystem!

We’ve provided a lot of coverage of the HTC Sense interface on Android phones, as it is very well done; what we’ve been wondering is how the next version of Sense will look, since HTC is going to update it to work with Android 2.x. Well, a video of the new version has appeared, and it looks pretty slick. The program icons now have a translucent background, and it has an updated look overall. I’m not sure I like that new unlock screen, as it doesn’t seem to indicate which home screen is active, but that may just be me.

T-Mobile G1 owners may be chowing down on some tasty Eclair next year, if this rumor pans out. It is reported that Android 2.x, aka Eclair, will be doled out to the G1 early next year. It wasn’t clear if the older G1 could handle the next version of Android, but apparently it can. Android 2.x brings a lot of new features, such as multiple email account support. It is also compatible with all the features of Google Maps Navigation.

HTC Sense is a distinctive interface, largely due to the attractive widgets that HTC employs. Copying may be the sincerest form of flattery, but HTC is having none of it. The company has issued a cease-and-desist order to LevelUp Studio, a developer that produces the Beautiful Widgets for Android. LevelUp has taken the offending widgets off the market.

Filed under: Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Buick, Saab, Rumormill

In a rumor sure to irk many Saab faithful, Dagens Industri in Sweden is reporting that “sources within Saab Automobile are stating that GM now sees positive opportunities in a closing of Saab.” Ouch, that hurts in an insult-to-injury kind of way, dontcha think?

Specifically, General Motors is said to be considering taking the recently competed but not-yet-on-sale 2010 Saab 9-5 and resuscitating it as a Buick for America. If true, the move does make a bit of sense as the car is by all measures ready to go and it would be quite a waste to put it out to pasture before it ever sees the light of day – especially if the car is anywhere near as good as early reports suggest.

Further, the going speculation is that The General could raid Saab’s parts and technology bins for more future products, including a possible revival of the large Opel Senator for Europe. If this rumor proves accurate, it would appear that there may not be much hope left for a Saab purchase by Dutch automaker Spyker as indications are that GM is telling suppliers that it is estimating a five-year wind-down of the brand.

[Source: DN.se via Saabs United]

If Saab closes, will the new 9-5 live on wearing a Buick badge? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I received an unusual email from, of all people, the Nobel Prize website editor! He was notifying me that the Nobel Prize folks have started a new series of videos where people get a chance to ask questions of Nobel laureates, who will then answer them on YouTube. Pretty cool, and something I heartily approve of. I love it when people get more contact with scientists, especially ones who are doing research that qualifies them for the Nobel!

They started the series off with astronomer John Mather, the Principal Investigator for the James Webb Space Telescope, who won the prize for his work with COBE, the Cosmic Background Explorer. I worked on that project very briefly, and over the next few years had the pleasure of working with John, who is just about as nice as he can be.

Here’s an example of one of the questions — what happened before the Big Bang — with John’s answer:

There are quite a few more, too. If you have an account on YouTube, you can subscribe to the Nobel channel and find out when they will do the next laureate Q&A, too. Very cool.

By John Keilman, Chicago Tribune

Seven years ago, animal lover Jennifer Pitek took note of the holiday food drives on the Harper College campus in Palatine and asked herself, “Why not something for pets?”

She set out a box and asked for donations.

“I knew there was a great need for shelter and food,” she said. “I thought I would try it, and it’s been successful.”

Today, Pitek, a secretary in Harper’s Center for New Students, collects food, toys, treats, leashes and bedding for dogs and cats each year.

The need appears to be spiking in the weak economy. Kibble Korner, a Rockford-based pet food pantry, helps 300 households.

“We have a lot of people unemployed, and the pantry as a whole has a greet need,” said Melissa Seeling, the pantry’s founder. “What we’re finding is that animals are being returned to shelters because families can’t afford to feed them, or because they lost their home to a foreclosure and have to move into an apartment.”

The other half of the college’s donations will go downstate to Perry County, where high unemployment has also imperiled many animals.