i got this from here.

U.S. Stocks Fall on North Korea Missiles, Oil, Economic Reports

July 5 (Bloomberg) -- The Nasdaq Composite Index had its biggest decline in three weeks as U.S. stocks were buffeted by North Korea's launch of test missiles, record oil prices and economic reports that pointed to higher interest rates.

``The combination of geopolitical risk, rising rates and, I'd add thirdly, concern over second-quarter earnings is causing investors to pull back,'' said Russ Koesterich, a money manager at Barclays Global Investors in San Francisco.

Factory orders rose more than economists forecast and U.S. companies added the most jobs since at least 2001, heightening concern that the Federal Reserve will keep raising rates after 17 consecutive increases. Companies will start reporting quarterly earnings next week.

Technology stocks led the slide after two computer-chip makers, Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Maxim Integrated Products Inc., disclosed government investigations into their stock-option grants.

The Nasdaq dropped 37.09, or 1.7 percent, to 2153.34, the biggest decline since June 12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 9.28, or 0.7 percent, to 1270.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 76.20, or 0.7 percent, to 11,151.82.

Worldwide Declines

The U.S. joined a worldwide equity decline with the Morgan Stanley Capital International World Index falling 1.3 percent, the most since June 13. Gold rose to the highest in almost a month, reaching $629.70 an ounce in New York as investors sought a haven.

Alcoa Inc., the world's largest aluminum producer, is scheduled to be the first company in the Dow average to report second-quarter earnings on July 10.

During the past four weeks, analysts have reduced their earnings-growth forecasts for the period for all but two of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500. The exceptions are energy and materials companies.

North Korea fired at least seven missiles over the Sea of Japan, including a type that may be capable of reaching Alaska. White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley called the firings ``provocative.'' Japan may impose economic sanctions, a move that North Korea has said it would consider a declaration of war.

Oil Rises

Oil gained 1.7 percent, touching a record $75.40 a barrel in New York, on speculation a conflict in Asia could disrupt supplies.

Orders placed with factories rose 0.7 percent after a 1.8 percent decrease in April, the Commerce Department said. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey forecast a gain of 0.1 percent, the median estimate.

Automated Data Processing Inc., the world's biggest paycheck processor, said U.S. companies added 368,000 jobs in June, the most since 2001. The Labor Department is expected to say July 7 that employers added 160,000 jobs last month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

ADP says there is a 90 percent correlation between its data and the Labor Department's monthly figure. The former excludes federal hiring.

Treasuries fell after the economic reports. The 10-year note's yield rose more than 7 basis points to 5.22 percent, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. A week ago, it touched 5.25 percent, the highest since May 2002. Yields move inversely to prices.

Stock Options Investigations

Marvell slumped $3.53 to $41.31. The company, which makes chips for laptop computers, said the U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating its options grants.

Maxim slipped 98 cents to $31.27. The maker of chips used in consumer electronics is also the subject of Justice Department and SEC inquiries into options.

Duquesne Light Holdings Inc. jumped $2.95 to $19.39. A group led by Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia's largest investment bank, agreed to buy the Pittsburgh-based electric utility for about $1.59 billion in cash, or $20 a share. That's 22 percent more than Duquesne's closing price on July 3.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which has all three of its casinos in Atlantic City, fell 78 cents to $19.50. Casinos in Atlantic City shut down for the first time in their 28-year history, casualties of a budget impasse in New Jersey's state capitol.

Boyd Gaming Corp., co-owner of The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa with MGM Mirage, lost 54 cents to $39.35. MGM declined 58 cents to $40.25.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nick Baker in New York at  nbaker7@bloomberg.net.

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here's what the UN guy from PRC said.
"We hope that all sides will maintain calm and restraint."

Story from BBC NEWS:

US plans 'robot troops' for Iraq

The US military is planning to deploy robots armed with machine-guns to wage war against insurgents in Iraq.

Eighteen of the 1m-high robots, equipped with cameras and operated by remote control, are going to Iraq this spring, the Associated Press reports.

The machine is based on a robot already used by the military to disable bombs.

Officials say the robot warrior is fast, accurate and will track and attack the enemy with relatively little risk to the lives of US soldiers.

Unlike its human counterparts, the armed robot does not require food, clothing, training, motivation or a pension.

When not needed in war, it can be mothballed in a warehouse.

However, the robot will rely on its human operator, remotely studying footage from its cameras, for the order to open fire.

According to Bob Quinn, a manager with Foster-Miller, the US-based company which worked with the military to develop the robot, the only difference for a soldier is that "his weapon is not at his shoulder, it's up to half a mile away".

Test of metal

The robot fighter has been named Swords, after the acronym for Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems.

It is based on the Talon robot, which is widely used by the military to disarm bombs.

A US officer who helped test the robot said it was a more accurate shot than the average soldier because it is mounted on a stable platform and takes aim electronically.

"It eliminates the majority of shooting errors you have," said Staff Sgt Santiago Tordillos.

Mr Quinn says there are plans to replace the computer screen, joysticks and keypad in the remote-control unit with a Gameboy-style controller and virtual-reality goggles.

The Foster-Miller company is owned by the QinetiQ Group, a joint venture between the UK's Ministry of Defence and US-based holding company, Carlyle Group.

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isn't it interesting who is behind funding this little escapade into police state? no sharks with freaking laser beams on their foreheads here.

Bringing pragmatic savvy to job pitch

By Tim Colebatch, Canberra
November 2, 2005

FOR 30 years, every change of administration in Mexico was accompanied by a currency crisis. Speculators would swarm in to force a devaluation — often with good reason.

When it was Angel Gurria's turn to hand over as finance minister in 2000, he got in first. Through his contacts with international financial institutions and banks, he secured lines of credit for up to $US30 billion — then called a press conference to let the speculators know what they would be up against.

The lines of credit were never used. For the first time in a generation, Mexico changed administrations without an economic crisis, and Mr Gurria even repaid $US3 billion to the IMF.

That's the pragmatic savvy the 55-year-old hopes to bring to the OECD's ivory tower in Paris if, as expected, he is elected secretary-general this week.

One of the two frontrunners remaining after Australia's candidate Allan Fels lost out, Mr Gurria visited Canberra this week to lobby his old friend Peter Costello for Australia's vote. And he told The Age he wants to make the OECD a central player in the global economy.

"The OECD today is long on advice and ideas, but short on deeds," he said. "I am a doer.

"The OECD should become the secretariat of the globalisation process. It should help shape it, define its direction, and calculate its impact on both members and non-members. It should promote a smoother … more compassionate globalisation."

Mr Gurria's main rival for the job is Poland's outgoing Prime Minister, former economist Marek Belka. Whoever wins, the "rich man's club" of 30 nations will be headed for the first time by someone from a middle-income country.

If it is Mr Gurria, the OECD's top priority will be to establish a strong "outreach" relationship with the four big economies outside the club: the so-called BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Only Russia has applied to join the club, but Mr Gurria wants the OECD to be involved in all of them the same way as it is involved with its own members — serving as a clearing house for ideas on a wide range of issues, offering advice, and auditing progress.

"They are big, and whatever they do, they will have an impact on others", he said. "That is why working with them is important."

A career public servant, Mr Gurria ran Mexico's debt reduction negotiations, was appointed foreign minister in 1994, and three years later switched to the finance portfolio, making such a success of it that Euromoney named him its Finance Minister of the Year in 1999.

Law penalizing homeless rejected
L.A. MUST FIRST PROVIDE SHELTER, PANEL RULES
By Robert Jablon
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - The city cannot arrest homeless people for sleeping on the sidewalks until it provides enough beds for the thousands who lack shelter each night, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that permitted the city to enforce the law at will.

The panel said the ordinance violates the Constitution's Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment because the people who break it have no choice.

``I think the homeless have just found shelter with the federal courts. I think it's a brave and courageous decision,'' said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

He said the ruling is unique in the nation. ``There's never been a case that a community may not criminalize homelessness,'' he said.

The ACLU sued the city and Police Chief William Bratton in February 2003 for enforcing the law in downtown's Skid Row -- an area with the nation's highest concentration of homeless people.

A federal judge dismissed the case after finding the ordinance penalized conduct, not a person's homeless status. Friday's ruling reversed that decision and sent the case back to the lower court ``for a determination of injunctive relief consistent with this opinion.''

Earlier this month, a blue-ribbon panel suggested building 50,000 housing units as a way of ending homelessness throughout Los Angeles County within a decade.

The ACLU's Rosenbaum said such efforts are ``a step in the correct direction.''

The suit originally was filed on behalf of six homeless people who were cited or arrested under the law, and Rosenbaum said he was trying to contact them Friday to tell them the news of the appellate ruling.

It was unclear whether the city would decide to appeal the appellate ruling.

``We are in the process of reviewing our options,'' said Contessa Mankiewicz, spokeswoman for the city attorney's office.

The law carries a fine of up to $1,000 and a six-month jail term. The city had argued it was a necessary crime-stopping tool in a city where an estimated 48,000 people are homeless on any given night.

mark rosenbaum - professional litigator

Litigation Percentage: 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Firm: American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California
Address: 1616 Beverly Blvd - Los Angeles, CA 90026
Map & Directions
Phone: (213) 977-9500
Fax: (213) 250-3919

Town: Pot Paintings on House Not Illegal

WINSTED, Conn., Mar. 16, 2006
(AP) Having marijuana in your house is illegal, but having marijuana images on your house is not, according to town officials.

Five months after Christopher Seekins was arrested and charged with cultivating marijuana in his home, neighbors have complained about the giant marijuana leaves he has spray-painted on the outside of his home on High Street.

"There's no reason anybody should have a problem with it," Seekins said Wednesday.

Town officials said the marijuana paintings apparently do not conflict with local laws.

"There's nothing in the property maintenance code that deals with writing on your house," Joe Beadle, chief code enforcement officer, said.

Seekins says the large leaves are in support of the cause of the legalization of marijuana. He believes firmly in the usefulness of hemp, the coarse fiber of the cannabis plant, from textiles to paper products.

"People have the wrong impression about it," Seekins said.

In October, police said they found 100 plants inside Seekins' house, along with grow lights, fertilizers and portable heaters.

Police charged Seekins, 26, with cultivating marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Free on $10,000 bond, his court case is pending.

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i'd be interested to know who mr. seekins was hurting by growing a plant. i like his form of protest, it's creative, and perfectly legal.

once again though, the AP can't discern the difference between the industrial hemp, and the medical grade cannabis. what else should we expect from college graduated reporters writing articles for third grade educated persons.

here's a nice story about how a pharmaceutical trial went awry. i'l l bet there was no cannibinoids in this. disgusting.