Malaysian actress says sorry for 'too sexy' dress

Malaysian actress says sorry for 'too sexy' dress

Malaysian actress Miera Leyana has apologized for wearing a dress that was “too sexy” at a Friday night event in Le Meridien hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

The tight-fitted number, which showed off the sides of her breasts, apparently made guests at the event uneasy.

Some even went on to tell her off, it was reported.

“I’m sorry if I offended anyone,” the actress later told mStar Online at the event.

“I thought the dress was really pretty when I saw it but I didn’t have time to try it on. I got it just earlier today and I didn’t know it would look like this on me.”

“I can’t wear a tube with this either. It has a bareback so it’ll look funny,” she added.

Miera, who is set to appear in the upcoming film Apokalips (Apocalypse), said she will be more careful with her future wardrobe choices.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/clausewitz/2011/03/bombs_libya?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/barragebegins

http://www.economist.com/blogs/clausewitz/2011/03/bombs_libya?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/barragebegins

U.S. cost of living hits record, passes pre-crisis high - USATODAY.com

U.S. cost of living hits record, passes pre-crisis high - USATODAY.com

One would think that after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Americans could at least catch a break for a while with deflationary forces keeping the cost of living relatively low. That's not the case.

A special index created by the Labor Department to measure the actual cost of living for Americans hit a record high in February, according to data released Thursday, surpassing the old high in July 2008. The Chained consumer price index, released along with the more widely-watched CPI, increased 0.5% to 127.4, from 126.8 in January. In July 2008, just as the housing crisis was tightening its grip, the Chained consumer price index hit its previous record of 126.9.
"The Federal Reserve continues to focus on the rate of change in inflation," said Peter Bookvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. "Sure, it's moving at a slower pace, but the absolute cost of living is now back at a record high in a country that has seven million less jobs."
The regular CPI, which has already been at a record for a while, increased 0.5%, the fastest pace in 1-1/2 years. However, the Fed's preferred measure, CPI excluding food and energy, increased by just 0.2%.
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"This speaks to the need for the Fed to include food and energy when they look at inflation rather than regard them as transient costs," said Stephen Weiss of Short Hills Capital. "Perhaps the best way to look at this is to calculate a moving average over a certain period of time in order to smooth out the peaks and valleys."
The so-called core CPI is used by the central bank because food and energy prices throughout history have proven to be volatile. However, one glance over the last two years at a chart of wheat or corn shows they've gone in one direction: up. And many traders say Fed Chairman Bernanke's misplaced easy money policies are to blame.
Over time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has made changes to the regular CPI that it feels make it a better measure of inflation and closer to a cost of living index. It improved the way it averages out prices for items in the same category (e.g., apples) and also uses the often-criticized method of hedonic regression to account for increases in product quality.
In 2002, the BLS created this often-overlooked cost of living index in order to account for the kinds of substitutions consumers make when times are tough. It is supposed to be even closer to an actual "cost of living" measure than the regular CPI.
"For example, pork and beef are two separate CPI item categories," according to the BLS website. "If the price of pork increases while the price of beef does not, consumers might shift away from pork to beef. The C-CPI-U (Chain consumer price index) is designed to account for this type of consumer substitution between CPI item categories. In this example, the C-CPI-U would rise, but not by as much as an index that was based on fixed purchase patterns."
"As the cost of living increases, we are headed toward a bigger problem with the slowing of housing permits," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at thinkorswim, a division of TD Ameritrade. "As the staples start to cost more, this could lead to a quick slowdown in the auto and technology sectors as an iPad is an easy thing to pass on if you are paying more for your gas and food and need to cut back somewhere."
To be sure, it's nearly impossible to get a perfect "cost of living" measure, and the BLS acknowledges this on their website: "An unconditional cost-of-living index would go further, and take into account changes in non-market factors, such as the environment, crime, and education."
Still, states will be cutting back services drastically this year at the very same time they are raising taxes in order to close enormous budget deficits and avoid a muni-bond defaults crisis. So while it may be the missing link to a perfect cost of living measure, one can assume that Americans will be paying more for unquantifiable services such as police enforcement and education, but getting them at a lesser quality.
Bottom line: The cost of living for Americans is now above where it was when housing prices were in a bubble, stock prices at a record, unemployment low and consumer confidence was soaring. Something has gotta give.
For the best market insight, catch "Fast Money" each night at 5pm ET, and the "Halftime Report" each afternoon at 12:30 ET on CNBC.
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Air strikes on Libya an 'act of war': PM Harper

Air strikes on Libya an 'act of war': PM Harper

ScienceCasts: Super Moon

Troy Ounce vs Ounce...www.goldshark.com

http://www.goldshark.com/reference-section/item/50-troy-ounce-vs-ounce.html

Monday, 14 March 2011 13:07
Troy Ounce vs Ounce
First-time precious metals buyers are often confused by the difference between a troy ounce (ozt) and a "regular" ounce, especially when their 100 oz silver bar actually weighs 6.85 lbs on the scale instead of 6.25 lbs. Did they receive more silver than they paid for? The answer lies in an antiquated system of measurement still used today for precious metals known as troy weights.

But first: what exactly is a "regular" ounce? We remember from grade-school that an ounce is 1/16 of a pound, and when we visit the grocery store and ask for half-a-pound of cheese, we expect to receive eight ounces in return. This extremely common unit of measure is known as an avoirdupois ounce, and it is used for measurements not involving gold, silver, platinum, or gunpowder.
The troy ounce was retained from the Roman system for these four commodities in order to preserve the standards previously set across time, as the two-system standard would have created problems for the monetary system of the day.

A troy ounce is 1/12 of a troy pound (a troy pound is actually lighter than an avoirdupois pound). The troy ounce (480 grains) is heavier than the avoirdupois ounce (437.5 grains). A grain is 64.79891 milligrams (mg); therefore one troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams (g). This measures out to be about 10 percent more than the avoirdupois ounce, which is 28.349523125 g.

In short, a troy ounce is about 10% heavier than a "regular" ounce.

1 troy ounce = 1.09714286 ounces (avoirdupois)

Troy ounce to metric metric measurements

As mentioned above, one troy ounce is equal to 31.1034768 grams. Therefore, one kilogram is equal to 32.1507 troy ounces.

How to Buy Gold...www.goldshark.com

http://www.goldshark.com/reference-section/item/66-how-to-buy-gold.html

Friday, 18 March 2011 11:33
How to Buy Gold
If you're a first-time gold buyer, you shouldn't be intimidated by the prospect of buying gold. Though the task may seem daunting, the process is rather easy once you know the basics. You should start by asking yourself several questions.

Suggested reading: Gold Price Per Ounce?

1. How much money am I looking to exchange for gold?

Note, that despite the fact that most people refer to gold as an investment, gold is not a traditional investment because gold does not produce a dividend. Gold is money, and as money, its true value is measured by its purchasing power in relation to other assets. Determining whether you have $1,000 to exchange or $100,000 to exchange will go a long way in helping you select the right gold vehicle.

2. Do I want to take possession of my gold?

In the modern market, there are many ways to invest in gold, such as purchasing through a custodial service, like GoldMoney.com, BullionVault.com, or the Perth Mint. These companies allow you to purchase gold and keep it in their audited vaults. The advantages are ease of buying, ease of selling, and a safe place for storage. The disadvantages are cost (you pay yearly fees and higher premiums) and lack of access to your holdings.

An alternative is to buy through an Exchange Traded Fund, such as the GLD (SPDR Gold Trust). The GLD and SLV (iShares Silver Trust) are two of the most popular ETPs. The price listed for GLD is approximately one-tenth of an ounce of gold, and for SLV is approximately one troy ounce of silver. In both cases, the price is usually less than the spot gold price and silver price, respectively. These funds assess storage fees, insurance fees, and management fees by selling a slice of the holdings in these funds, and as a result, the amount of physical bullion backing each certificate diminishes with time.

Another popular method for gaining exposure to precious metals is investing in the companies that prospect and mine for them. Mining shares do not reflect the gold price at all, but their shares often correlate with price movements. If the gold price increases, mining profits could be expected to increase, and subsequently, the share price. However, investing in mining companies can be risky, as factors such as company management, regulations, weather, and other factors reduce the monetary security of a gold and silver investment into an outright speculation.

A final method allows the buyer to take physical possession of gold bullion through the purchase of gold coins and bars. The buyer may then decide to store the gold bullion at home, in a bank, or a third-party storage facility. Leveraging gold custodians, ETFs, and mining shares to gain exposure to the gold market is as simple as opening an account with the respective institutions. We will focus on buying gold in physical form, which is a bit more nuanced.

3. What type of gold bullion do I want to purchase?

There are two main forms of gold bullion: gold coins and gold bars.

A gold coin is government-issued legal tender gold bullion. Popular products are Gold American Eagles, Gold Canadian Maple Leafs, Gold South African Krugerrands, Gold Austrian Philharmonics, Gold Chinese Pandas, and Australian Kangaroos, among others. The legal tender value of these coins represents only a minute fraction of the metallic value. For example, a Gold American Eagle has a legal tender value of $50 while the gold content exceeds $1400 (as of 3/18/11).

A gold bar is non-government issued bullion in bar form sold exclusively for its metallic content. Popular brands include Credit Suisse, Pamp Suisse, and the Perth Mint.

Gold coins and gold bars differ in cost (the gold bars generally carry a much lower premium). Additionally, government-issued bullion is more often used for IRA accounts, though not exclusively.

• American Eagle coins

• Australian Kangaroo coins

• Austrian Philharmonic coins

• Canadian Maple Leaf coins

• Credit Suisse Bars .999

• Pamp Suisse Bars .999

• U.S. Buffalo Gold Uncirculated coins (no proofs)

• Bars and rounds produced by manufacturers accredited by Nymex/Comex, LME, LBMA, NYSE/Liffe/CBOT, and ISE-9000 or a national mint. The minimum fineness for bars is .995+

4. Should I purchase a numismatic coin?

Numismatic coins are collectible coins whose market values are predicated upon the rarity, condition, mint date, and marks of their mintage, and not necessarily on their metallic value. For this reason, most numismatic coins are considerably more expensive than bullion coins. Numismatic coins might be considered a traditional investment on which buyers may speculate on future value. Bullion coins, as mentioned previously, function more as an exchange from one form of money into another.

Many buyers have chosen to "invest" in numismatic coins because of fear of a future gold bullion confiscation, which happened before in 1936. During the bullion confiscation of 1936, numismatic coins were not included.

5. What should I know about weight and purity?

Precious metals are measured in troy ounces, which is slightly different than the normal "avoirdupois" ounce. (see: Troy Ounce vs Ounce). Government issue coins like the Gold American Eagle and the Gold Canadian Maple Leaf differ in both weight and purity. The Gold American Eagle is 22k gold and contains an alloy to harden it. It weighs 1.0909 troy ounces. The Gold Canadian Maple Leaf is 24k (.9999) pure and weighs exactly one troy ounce.

The reason these two coins are considered "equals" is because the gold content is equal. Gold bars are generally .999 pure or greater.

Coins and bars come in many sizes, ranging from "fractional denominations," or those weighing less than one troy ounce, to large bars, measured in both ounces and kilograms. As a general rule, the smaller the denomination, the higher the premium, as minting costs generally increase the smaller the weight. For this reason, a 100 troy ounce gold bar will fetch a smaller premium than 1 troy ounce Canadian Maple Leaf.

However, there are tradeoffs. Gold in larger form is much more difficult to sell than the smaller denominations. At $1400/oz (as of 3/28/11), 100 ounces of gold runs approximately $140,000, and the number of potential buyers in that range diminishes. Additionally, if one needed to raise $50,000 in cash on short notice, one would need to sell his entire gold position.

6. I have $10,000. What can I buy?

As of March 18th, 2011, $10,000 is roughly the equivalent of 7 troy ounces of gold bullion. Therefore, any large gold bullion bar is not an option. Realistically, one can purchase seven gold coins, gold bars, or a combination, or the fractional equivalent of 7 troy ounces (i.e. 70 1/10th ounce gold coins).

The total amount you can purchase will be dependent on premiums (fractional gold carries a much higher premium than 1 ounce coins) as well as dealer minimums. Some dealers will not sell less than 10 ounces of gold at a times.

7. Where should I buy?

There are over 4,000 coin dealers throughout the United States, but since you are reading this article online, we will focus on the online dealers. You should first consider the dealer's reputation and especially their Better Business Bureau rating, if they have one. This will offer some indication of the number of complaints filed with the business.

Next, you should seek out those dealers selling in the denomination you desire. In the above example, the dealers with 10 ounce gold minimums would not be an option for you.

Industry standard is to purchase bullion via bank wire to the receiving company. However, some companies do accept credit card payment as well as payment by check. Those accepting credit card typically assess a 3% fee, at minimum, while those accepting check typically delay shipment until the check has officially cleared.

8. What other charges should I be prepared for?

Many dealers will charge clients for shipping and insurance fees. Others charge brokerage fees and wiring fees.

At GoldShark.com, the algorithm is designed to narrow your search for you. Once you enter the desired product and the desired weight, the system will filter through only those dealers applicable to your search. Additionally, it accounts for all additional costs by the dealer to help you make an accurate comparison.

9. How do I know that the gold I receive is real?

One easy test to ensure that the product you purchased is the one you receive is to take your newly purchased gold to your nearest coin shop. Not only can they inspect and test the coin there, their "stamp of approval" will lend credence to the expectation that the product you own is sellable.

Keiser Report: Supermassive 30 Billion Black Hole (E129)

David Morgan and John Doody on The Asian Demand for Gold and Silver

David Morgan and John Doody on The Asian Demand for Gold and Silver - Financial Sense Newshour Mar/18/2011
China has been stockpiling gold since 2003 China has been buying via government channels from South Africa, Russia and South America . China is the world's largest gold producer and does not permit exports of gold ingots, only jewelery, leaving plentiful supplies for the domestic market.China produced 282 tonnes of gold last year,Investment demand in China rose to 68.9 tonnes from 25.6 tonnes in 2007. But that was still less than one third of retail demand in India, where total bullion consumption topped 660 tonnes last year.

Asian demand for silver is still strong and further physical silver shortage could develop.China and its people are getting richer. They have high savings rate which enables them to invest in production and buy gold, silver and other commodities.
As Chinese people getting richer they will want to increase their standards of living. They will create demand for electronics and other consumer goods.As we know it's impossible to make iphone or TV without silver.Silver is the best electricity conductor.There is a lot of potential for high silver demand.Around 20% of World's population lives in China.

morgan

IBM Settles Bribery Charges

By JESSICA HOLZER And SHAYNDI RAICE

U.S. regulators accused International Business Machines Corp. of a decade-long campaign of bribery in Asia, saying employees handed over shopping bags stuffed with cash in South Korea and arranged junkets for government officials in China in exchange for millions of dollars in contracts.
The Armonk, N.Y., technology giant agreed to pay $10 million to settle the civil charges, which allege "widespread" payment of bribes by more than 100 employees of IBM subsidiaries and a joint venture from 1998 to 2009. In exchange for the payments, the Securities and Exchange Commission said, IBM received contracts for computer gear.
Read the Complaint

View Document

IBM, which neither admitted nor denied the charges, said it holds employees to high ethical standards and has taken "appropriate remedial action" to address the issues raised by the U.S. government, though it wouldn't be more specific.
The charges ding Big Blue's reputation at a time when the company is looking to countries like China, India and Brazil to fuel much of its growth. IBM's emerging market revenue rose 16% last year and accounted for more than a fifth of the company's $99.9 billion total.
As U.S. companies move more aggressively abroad, the federal government has been stepping up its pursuit of cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, levying large fines and bringing criminal charges against executives. The act outlaws corporations listed on U.S. stock exchanges from bribing foreign officials.
The SEC expanded its team of FCPA investigators about a year ago. The Justice Department, which can bring criminal charges, has beefed up its FCPA unit as well and last year carried out 22 FCPA enforcement actions against corporations. A Justice Department spokeswoman wouldn't comment on whether it was investigating.
The SEC complaint alleges that managers employed by an IBM subsidiary and joint venture in South Korea paid government officials the equivalent of $207,000 in cash bribes from 1998 to 2003 to secure the sale of mainframes and personal computers to the government.
In some instances, IBM employees also provided entertainment to government officials, including depositing payments into the bank account of a "hostess in a drink shop," according to the SEC complaint.
The complaint details bribes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, laptop computers, cameras, travel and entertainment expenses that were routinely gifted to government officials by IBM employees over the course of a decade in exchange for millions of dollars of government business.
From 1998 to 2002, the SEC alleges, IBM employees in South Korea paid off 16 South Korean government officials, including stuffing cash into shopping bags and IBM envelopes and handing them over in secret meetings in parking lots near an official's office and home. Another official was met in the parking lot of a Japanese restaurant, the SEC alleged.
The bribes were made in exchange for a variety of types of business, including winning bids for government contracts or to act as the preferred supplier for computers and storage equipment, the SEC complaint said.
In September 2000, a subsidiary of IBM in South Korea sold $1.3 million worth of personal computers to the South Korean government that were later found to have problems, the complaint said. Despite those problems, IBM won a contract to supply computers after the company paid an official $14,320 in cash, according to the SEC.
IBM sold its personal-computer business to China's Lenovo Group Ltd. in 2005.
In China, two key IBM officials and more than 100 employees engaged in a travel scam to provide personal vacations to Chinese government officials from 2004 to as late as early 2009, the SEC alleged.
IBM employees created slush funds at travel agencies and created fake invoices to pay for personal vacations and sightseeing for government officials, according to the SEC.
The settlement included $5.3 million in disgorged profit, $2.7 million in interest and a penalty of $2 million. The payment is relatively small for an FCPA civil case, which may reflect that the alleged bribes, while pervasive, weren't very large.
The SEC alleged in its complaint that IBM's internal controls weren't sufficient to spot or prevent the alleged bribes. IBM didn't keep accurate records, in some cases recording the payments as legitimate business expenses, the SEC said.
Fines in civil FCPA cases can often top $100 million. In cases that involve criminal charges as well, total fines can reach into the several hundreds of millions of dollars.
IBM says it has added $10 billion in annual revenue from its business in emerging markets since 2000. The company wants emerging markets to account for 30% of its revenue by 2015.
The tech industry has been hit with other FCPA investigations. U.S. authorities are looking at whether Hewlett-Packard Co. employees in Russia, Germany, Austria and Serbia paid kickbacks to distributors and customers, H-P disclosed last year. H-P has said it was cooperating with U.S. officials and German officials, who were carrying out their own investigation.
In 2000, IBM paid $300,000 to settle an FCPA case brought over allegedly illicit payments that former senior managers made to executives at a government-owned bank in Argentina.
—Dionne Searcey contributed to this article.
Write to Jessica Holzer at jessica.holzer@dowjones.com


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608504576208634150691292.html#ixzz1H6f22kqy

Strained ties

Strained ties

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Bob Chapman : The CIA and MI6 are behind the unrest in the Middle East North Africa

Bob Chapman : The CIA and MI6 are behind the unrest in the Middle East North Africa