The dispute between China and the Philippines over the countries’ maritime boundaries seems to have moved to a much more dangerous level — and could soon include the United States.

China is now warning of a potential war with its Asian neighbor.

“No matter how willing we are to discuss the issue, the current Philippine leadership is intent on pressing us into a corner where there is no other option left but the use of arms,” said an editorial in the state-controlled China Daily newspaper.

The dispute is over a small group of islands called the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines that both nations claim as their territory.

Last month, a tense standoff took place between navies of both countries, after military vessels from the Philippines tried to stop a Chinese fishing fleet from entering the territory.

Non-military ships from both nations remain in the area to enforce their claim.

The shoal is about 140 miles from the coastline of the Philippines, which insists its claim is supported by international law.

The nearest Chinese-controlled land mass is several hundred miles away.

But China claims most of the South China Sea. Its claim spreads far to the southeast and includes waters very close to other Asian nations, such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

It is thought the South China Sea has vast quantities of oil and gas beneath it and all of these nations want to stake their claim.

It’s also a widely perceived as a potential flashpoint between the countries; it is also a major international waterway of the United States, which uses it to have its fleets pass through to the Middle East.

China announced today it was suspending all tours of the Philippines by Chinese nationals because of the risk, it says, for their safety.

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“A group of 18 CEOs have sent an open letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner urging the continuation of favorable tax treatment for dividends and capital gains.

The CEOs come from blue-chip companies such as Verizon and Duke Energy. They posted the letter on Politico.

Long-term capital gains and most stock dividends are currently taxed at a 15 percent rate. ”

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America has a serious problem saving for retirement.

About 49% of Americans say they aren’t contributing to any retirement plan, according to a new survey conducted by LIMRA, a trade association for the financial services industry.

“The findings from this survey were disturbing, given that people will increasingly need to rely on their personal savings to make ends meet in retirement,” said Matthew Drinkwater, associate managing director at LIMRA’s retirement research division.

People ages 18 to 34 are the least likely to be saving, with 56% reporting that they are not currently contributing to a retirement plan like an IRA or a 401(k).

“In order to have the adequate savings necessary to meet their financial needs in retirement — which could last 20 or more years — it is critical that these individuals begin saving systematically early in their working years,” Drinkwater said.

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Short seller John Carnes (who used to work with Muddy Waters LLC founder Carson Block) is tired of all the infamy and lawsuits brought about by the tactics he used to drive down share prices. What is he going to do now? Why of course, he is going to work for the Federal Government.

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“Corporations are infiltrating Africa with plans to profit from the land.

An $11 million dollar project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Cocoa-Cola Corporation are employing 50,000 Kenyan and Ugandan smallholders to produce fruit for Minute Maid, a subsidiary for Cocoa-Cola.

Mutli-national corporations are descending on Africa to utilize their land in the hopes that crop yields will boost their profit margins…”

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Reported by Reuters. Greece is getting their money.

Rally ho.

Deutsche Telekom is considering a stock-swap transaction that would give the German company control over the combined entity, which would be publicly listed, said two of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Other options include an initial public offering or an outright sale of T-Mobile USA, the people said, adding that Deutsche Telekom is also in talks with other companies. MetroPCS shares jumped as much as 29 percent in New York.

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European stocks dropped to an almost four-month low as investors awaited a resolution to the political impasse in Greece and as Spanish credit risk surged. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also fell.

Bankia SA led a selloff in Spanish banks as the country’s 10-year bond yield climbed above 6 percent. Kloeckner & Co. and Mediaset SpA (MS) both plunged more than 8 percent after reporting first-quarter results. ING Groep NV and Carlsberg A/S (CARLA) paced advancing shares.

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For real. Lincoln even filed  a patent.

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“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An index of confidence at small U.S. businesses rose in April to its highest in over a year as companies stepped up plans for hiring and investing, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its Small Business Optimism Index rose 2 percentage points to 94.5, its highest since February 2011.”

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Click on picture for full/revealing document.

South Korea – South Korea has seized thousands of smuggled drug capsules filled with powdered flesh from dead babies, which some people believe can cure disease, officials said Monday.

The capsules were made in northeastern China from babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder, the Korea Customs Service said.

Customs officials refused to say where the dead babies came from or who made the capsules, citing possible diplomatic friction with Beijing. Chinese officials ordered an investigation into the production of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborns last year.

The customs office has discovered 35 smuggling attempts since August of about 17,450 capsules disguised as stamina boosters, and some people believe them to be a panacea for disease, the customs service said in a statement. The capsules of human flesh, however, contained bacteria and other harmful ingredients.

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SAN FRANCISCO – A federal jury in San Francisco has reached an impasse on a key issue in Oracle’s copyright-infringement case against Google, handing the database-software company a major setback.

Oracle had been seeking up to $1 billion in damages on copyright claims after alleging that Google Inc. built its popular Android mobile software by stealing some of the technology from Java, a programming platform that Oracle Corp. bought two years ago.

In delivering a partial verdict Monday, the jury found that Google infringed on the largest of Oracle’s claims, but it couldn’t agree on whether Google’s use was legally protected “fair use.” Without that determination, it will be difficult for Oracle to win major damages.

Monday: Lawyers make closing arguments on the copyright issues. Judge sends case to jury for deliberation.

The jury also found that Google infringed on Oracle’s copyright on nine lines of Java code that is in Android, but Oracle can only go after statutory damages on that one. Those damages can range from $200 to $150,000.

Google is moving for a mistrial. Google prevailed on other claims.

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No more movie stories s predictive crime defense takes shape….

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“SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A Northern California jury on Monday found that Google Inc infringed upon Oracle Corp’s copyrights on the structure of part of the Java software programming language, in a high stakes trial over smartphone technology.

However, the jury failed to decide after days of deliberation whether Google had the right to fair use of that copyrighted structure.

The verdict on copyright was read in a San Francisco federal courtroom.”

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Marx’s theories about society, economics and politics—collectively known as Marxism—hold that all societies progress through the dialectic of class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class which controls production and a lower class which produces the labour for such goods. Heavily critical of the current socio-economic form of society, capitalism, he called it the “dictatorship of the bourgeoisie“, believing it to be run by the wealthy classes purely for their own benefit, and predicted that, like previous socioeconomic systems, it would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system, socialism.^[5] He argued that under socialism society would be governed by the working class in what he called the “dictatorship of the proletariat“, the “workers state” or “workers’ democracy”.^[6][7] He believed that socialism would, in its turn, eventually be replaced by a stateless, classless society called communism. Along with believing in the inevitability of socialism and communism, Marx actively fought for the former’s implementation, arguing that both social theorists and underprivileged people should carry out organised revolutionary action to topple capitalism and bring about socio-economic change.^[8][9]

Revolutionary socialist governments espousing Marxist concepts took power in a variety of countries in the 20th century, leading to the formation of such socialist states as the Soviet Union in 1922 and the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Many labor unions and worker’s parties worldwide were also influenced by Marxist ideas. Various theoretical variants, such as Leninism, Stalinism, Trotskyism and Maoism, were developed. Marx is typically cited, with Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, as one of the three principal architects of modern social science.^[10] Marx has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history.^[11][12]

Wikipedia Karl Marx entry

In 2009, MCA announced he was being treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node. He has since undergone surgery and radiation therapy.

So far, it’s not clear if the death is related to the rapper’s battle with cancer.

Russell Simmons’ website GlobalGrind.com first reported the death. We have spoken to people independently connected to the rapper who also say he is dead.

This is unconfirmed.

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That’s what happens when you are Obama’s bitch, old man.

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