NY Knicks Pounded by Sixers in a 40-point Blow-Out
February 21, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) The New York Knicks were an embarrassment playing on the road against a marginal Philadelphia 76ers team as it failed to show any semblance of defense en rout to defeat losing by 40 points with a final margin of 124-84 in Wachovia Center at Philadelphia PA.
The 76ers placed six players on double digits led by Willie Green who finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. The offense was fueled by the brilliant guidance of oft-mentioned trade candidate Andre Miller as he injected a running offense midway through the first quarter which allowed the Sixers to pull away for good against the Knicks. Miller finished with 12 points and 10 assists racking up a double-double while Andre Igoudala finished strong tallying 19 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assist.
Off the bench, Thaddeus Young scored 20 points while Louis Williams provided vital support to Andre Miller at the point guard spot with 13 points and 4 assists. The Sixers already topped the century mark late in the third quarter and was well on their way to notching an easy win at home as the penultimate quarter started.
The Knicks playing in the back end of a 2 games in 2 nights schedule started sluggishly and showed signs of weariness early in the contest after a long and strenuous game the other night in an impressive win against the Washington Wizards, a game they set a record as the second most points scored in overtime in NBA history as the Knicks tallied 23 points in the 5-minute extra period leading to their victory.
Jamaal Crawford led a muted reply by the Knicks offense with 14 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds while starting center Eddy Curry provided support finishing with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Zach Randolph rounded out the only players for the Knicks to score in double figures with 10 points and 3 rebounds.
Philadelphia hopes to extend its momentum after this monumental win as it takes on Dwight Howard led Orlando Magic on Friday night in Florida starting at 7 PM while the Knicks which owns the second worst record in the Eastern Conference tackles The Toronto Raptors at home on another Friday night game.
Wall Street Rebounds from Tuesday Losses
February 21, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) Investors undermined their concerns of economic declines in the country to fuel Wall Street in avenging a disappointing loss last Tuesday which saw the market gaining momentum in early trading only to falter at the latter stages of the day conceding the short-term gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Indexes recovered with 90.04 points gained yesterday which is 0.73% higher than the closing on Tuesday and finished with 12427.26 points. The Nasdaq composites also increased 20.90 points which is a 0.91% gain and ended the day with 2327.10 points while broader trading Standard and Poor 500 added 11.25 points to close at 1360.03 points for a 0.83% gain.
Wall Street’s rally was mainly attributed to a positive income report announced by Hewlett Packard for their first quarterly statement which propelled optimism for some investors to stay actively involved throughout the day as more companies filed their own statements. Also, other factors that triggered Wall Street’s rise was the monumental increase in oil prices which gave energy stocks a much needed boost though not an earful of good news for consumers.
Oil prices extended a new record on Wednesday in the New York Mercantile Exchange as it flirted above the $101 mark before it settled at $100.74 a barrel up from previous day trading with $100.01 which was the first time in history that oil prices reached the triple digit mark. “The Fed was the catalyst to get us going here, this is unbelievable,” said Phil Flynn an analyst for Alaron Trading Corp. which represents the interest of the energy sector.
Meanwhile, a new economic forecast was released by the Federal Reserve which underlines the growing concern of recession as “avoidable” but nonetheless predicted slower economic growth than earlier expected due to concerns with the Housing sector and bad creditors. “With no signs of stabilization in the housing sector and with financial conditions not yet stabilized, the committee agreed that downside risks to growth would remain even after this action,” according to minutes of the Fed’s January 29th -30th closed door meeting.
Accidental Explosion; Oil Surpasses $100 per Barrel Mark
February 20, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) Oil prices in the New York Mercantile Exchange closed above the $100 a barrel mark for the first time in history. This surpassed the previous high set last month at $99.54 where concerns of inflation and recession in our economy began to heat up. Yesterday Oil prices closed at $100.01 per barrel.
At Gas pumps nationwide, overnight prices also rose by more than 1.8 cents to top at $3.032 per gallon according to AAA and the oil price information service. Experts and economic analyst attributes the increase to numerable factors such as the accidental explosion of Alon USA oil which is a major US oil refinery plant located in Texas and produces over 67,000 barrels of oil a day, the decline of the US dollar and the renewed threats of violence in Nigeria which is Africa’s biggest oil producing region.
Michael Lynch who is the president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. in Amherst, Mass. acknowledged the gravity of damage the Texas fire might cause in saying, “The refinery fire in Texas is making people a little concerned, you lose over 60,000 barrels a day of US concocted oil and the demand for international import increases.”
Another factor in the continuing increase of oil prices in the World Market is the unrelenting animosity between the US government and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez over Texas-based company Exxon Inc. Charges against Venezuela’s nationalization oil project resulted in over $12 Billion in Venezuelan oil assets frozen by several courts in Britain and in the US.
“As the economy weakens, it’s going to be met with a $3.50 and $3.60 a gallon price of gasoline at pumps nationwide,” said James Cordier, founder of OptionSellers.com, a Tampa, Fla., trading firm. “And that really spells trouble for the consumer.” He also added, “I really think … crude oil’s going to soar through $100, and the explosion at Texas will have a big impact in the long run as they take time to rebuild the facility.”
Factoring in the Inflation rate, the 1980’s economic struggles might still hold the highest price for oil price per barrel as it was at the time $38 per barrel, which the climactic rate back then would translate to $98-$103 today depending on the conversion rate economists applies.
Wall Street: Stocks Fall as Oil Prices Soar
February 20, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) Wall Street conceded an early advantage by mid-day trading as news of soaring oil prices in the New York Mercantile Exchange reached the market in the latter stages of the day which defused early momentum gained by major indexes and composites in the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial had a promising start which saw them gathering a possible triple digit gain by mid-afternoon. That would have been a welcoming sign for investors although the day ended up losing 10.99 points and closed at 12337.22, a 0.9% decline. The NASDAQ composites also fell 15.6 points to end with 2306.20 while the Standard and Poor 500 lost a minimal 1.5 points to finish with 1348.78.
Other key issues for investors are worries with the upcoming release of the Labor Department report for its January consumer pricing which is a meteoric barometer for inflation. Richard Sparks a senior equities analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati says, “I think there are still a lot of worries in the market that we have this stagnant growth in the economy and higher prices.”
Wall Street analysts and experts hope to end the week on the positive side to assist our economy against inflation. Traders are concerned that if our economy ends up with a high inflation rate, it might affect the outcome of the upcoming March 18th meeting for the Federal Reserve as Wall Street expects another yet Interest rate cut by the Central Bank which could prove advantageous for the market.
“Can these financial stocks get to the bottom of their questions of soundness in asset quality? We have to reach a tipping point here,” said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist for Stifel Nicolaus. “That’s the part that I think has to occur for this market to have a sustained advance.”
Toshiba Ends Fight for HD DVD Format, More Consumers Seek Blu-Ray
February 20, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) After two years of battling Sony Inc. for their HD DVD format products, Toshiba called it quits and decided to concede victory to rival company Sony and its Blu Ray DVD format products which prove to be clearly more superior to the HD.
“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” Toshiba President and Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida said in a news release.
The decision to part with the HD DVD format came in the wake of major movie rental companies and retailers in the US showing support to Blu-Ray technology by Sony. Last week, Netflix the biggest online DVD rental service in the US which offers movie rental by mail for a flat fee, gave their support to Blu-Ray and decided to cut ties with HD DVD format. Also, Walmart announced that they will discard selling HD DVD format on all their retail locations nationwide by next month.
The biggest blow perhaps to Toshiba and their ending of HD DVD format was the announcement last month of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment which is one of the largest films producing company in the world and currently distributes both HD DVD and Blu-Ray format that it would distribute their DVD’s in Blu-Ray format alone by the middle of this year.
In a statement last month Warner Bro. defined its decision by saying, “Warner Brothers’ move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want,” Barry Meyer, chairman and CEO of Warner Brothers. “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger.”
Currently, gaming consoles such as PS3 have the ability to read Blu-Ray DVD format and the other Major film industry leaders such as Disney, MGM, Dell, Philips and 20th Century supports Blu-Ray. Experts in the industry note that gigantic tasks lie ahead for Blu-Ray if it plans to surpass the success of DVD’s in the 90’s. David Mercer, an analyst at Strategy Analytics says, “Blu-ray Disc has passed its first real test by beating HD-DVD, but a much bigger challenge now lies ahead if BD is to become as successful as DVD, and content owners, retailers and manufacturers must now demonstrate that they can work together to promote BD effectively.”
Obama Pads Lead, Wins Wisconsin Primary and Hawaii Caucus
February 20, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) IL Senator Barrack Obama further extends his now serious lead over closest rival NY Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination to the Oval Office. Last night he easily defeated Clinton in Wisconsin’s primary and Hawaii’s caucus which further lengthened his distance in hopes of gaining enough number of delegates to win the Party’s convention this summer.
In the Wisconsin primary, only one precinct out of the 3,570 precincts the state possesses has not been counted and results show Obama winning 59% of the total votes for the state against Clinton’s 41% - a clear and overwhelming 15 point lead over Clinton. Wisconsin was assigned 74 national convention delegates. Meanwhile, Hawaii which offers 20 delegates for the Democratic convention has counted over 70% of its votes and early reports have Obama leading by a wide margin in winning 75% to Clinton’s 24%.
In a joyous rally for Obama and his supporters in Houston Texas, Obama addressed the crowd and said, “The change we seek is still months and miles away, I opposed this war in 2002. I will bring this war to an end in 2009. It is time to bring our troops home,” referring to the war in Iraq.
The Wisconsin win signifies the tenth successive triumph for Senator Obama against Clinton in primaries and caucuses held throughout the nation after Super Tuesday. It also gives him control and clear advantage for the Democratic Party nomination against the former first lady who had a formidable lead earlier this month and only started wavering recently amidst financial concerns.
Clinton addressed a gathering of supporters in Ohio yesterday but was non-committal of her defeat in Wisconsin and Hawaii. The senator said, “Both Senator Obama and I would make history, but only one of us is ready on day one to be commander in chief, ready to manage our economy, and ready to defeat the Republicans. Only one of us has spent 35 years being a doer, a fighter and a champion for those who need a voice.” Clinton did not reference the Obama win in her speach and many experts claim this was a difficult loss for Clinton where building momentum against Obama’s winning streak is now proving even more unlikely.
Lindsay Lohan Poses Nude for New York Magazine
February 19, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) Lindsay Lohan posed nude for a New York Magazine Photo shoot with photographer Bert Stern in an effort to recreate some of the last known photographs of her idol Marilyn Monroe. The famous images of Marilyn Monroe were made in the same hotel, Bel-aire in California, where the iconic bombshell posed nude six weeks before she died. Bert Stern also conducted that photo session with Monroe in 1962.
Lohan’s fascination with the late icon is well documented in the past. In a short article which accompanied the photos for the Magazine, Lohan said “I didn’t have to put much thought into it. I mean, Bert Stern? Doing a Marilyn shoot? When is that ever going to come up? It’s really an honor,” she told the magazine.
In the magazine, Lohan depicted the same poses Monroe did wearing nothing but jewels such as a pearl necklace around her neck and a glass of champagne in hand. Other images involved the actress wearing a see-through scarf with different eccentric designs and nothing else beneath it. Another shows the actress covering her breasts with a small piece of fabric.
Bert Stern commended Lohan for her courage to get naked during the shoot and expressed his interest in celebrities who attract publicity such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. “I thought she was a natural, not at all squeamish. They’re girls that draw attention to their notoriety and their celebrity through their behavior,” said Stern.
Marilyn Monroe was born as Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926. She was a sex symbol in the late 50’s and early 60’s and was an award winning actress who played a wide spectrum of roles in movies she was involved in ranging from comedic to serious dramatic characters. On the morning of August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead inside her plush Los Angeles home. Police claimed drug overdose of barbiturates as the cause of death and officially tagged her death as “Probable Suicide” but many in the industry and even some of the police investigating her death thought she was murdered.
Lohan, born on East 236th Street in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, grew up in Merrick and Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island.
Aids Preventive Gel Carraguard Fails
February 19, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) A new gel called Carraguard developed by New York based international nonprofit company Population Council that was supposed to prevent AIDS procurement for women failed in its initial testing in South Africa which involved over 6,000 women used as subjects for the research paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.
The Gel works as a vaginal cream applied topically to prevent or lower the risk of acquiring HIV virus among women. It was tested in South Africa as the region represents the highest number of incidents with the deadly virus, but researchers where skeptical of the results as only 10 percent of the subjects reported to have used the gel every time they made physical contact while 44 percent of the total respondents confessed in using the gel about half the time they had sex compromising the study in its entirety.
The cream contains carrageenan which is extracted from red seaweed and contains characteristics of Microbricide a compound or substance whose purpose is to reduce the infectivity of microbes, such as viruses or bacteria. Scientific studies of carrageenan’s safety for use in medicine and as food additives continue.
The study was conducted among 6,202 female participants in the towns of Gugulethu, Isipingo and Soshanguve in South Africa and lasted two years. The group where divided into two categories, One represents subjects given Carraguard gel while the other group where given scores of placebo gel. Of the original participants, only 4,244 finished the entire study with 33 percent of the respondents dropping out 18 percent of which could not be located for their follow-up.
Upon the conclusion of the research, 134 women of the first group which was given the real Carraguard gel contracted HIV infections while 151 women of the other group obtained the virus. “The results are comparable with no statistically significant difference.” said Khatija Ahmed, a microbiologist who headed the study’s Setshaba Research Centre site near Pretoria.
AIDS or Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is contracted through a collection of symptoms and infections from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV in humans. It was first recognized as an epidemic on June 5, 1981 and World Health Organization have estimated that over 25 Million people have died of AIDS and as of December 2007, over 37.3 million people worldwide currently suffer from this condition.
Andy Pettitte Apologizes to Baseball Fans
February 19, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) A visibly shaken Andy Pettitte, the left-handed starting pitcher for the New York Yankees apologized relentlessly to the game itself and the fans who looks up to him as a sporting hero for his implications in the Mitchell report which named him as part of a group of players involved in taking Performance enhancing drugs naming HGH [Human Growth Hormone].
“I want to apologize to the New York Yankees’ and to the Houston Astros’ organizations and to their fans and to all my teammates and to all of baseball fans for the embarrassment I have caused them,” he said. “I also want to tell anyone that is an Andy Pettitte fan I am sorry, especially any kids that might look up to me.”
Earlier in the month, Pettitte faced the senate in a hearing in accordance with the allegations levied against him and other baseball players including teammate and best friend Roger Clemens of the Yankees. Clemens a 7-time CY young winner vehemently denied the charges and was surprised to hear Pettitte corroborate to the claims of accuser, former trainer Brian McNamee, when Pettitte decided to spell out the truth and admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs on the ‘99 and 00′ season along with Clemens. Since then, the two have not spoken and their relationship bears a recognizable damage.
“Obviously it’s put a strain, I think, on our friendship,” Pettitte said. “I love him like a brother. I felt like I need to come out, be forward with this whatever circumstances or repercussions come with it, I’ll take it like a man and I’ll try to do my job.”
Andy Pettitte started his playing career with the Yankees as a rookie on the ‘95 season. He played with New York until the 2004 when he became a free agent and decided to play three years with the Houston Astros. On 2007, Pettitte decided to rejoin his old ball club and returned to New York. He has won 4 championships with the Yankees. Pettitte ranks among the best pitchers in the game statistically. He is also one of only 4 active players along with Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens with at least 180 wins, 1,700 strikeouts, and a winning percentage at or above .640.
Obama Campaign Accused of Plagiarism by Clinton Camp
February 19, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) In a move aimed to negatively effect Sen. Barrack Obama’s credibility, rival candidate NY Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton’s camp accused Sen. Obama of plagiarizing a speech he delivered last Saturday in a Democratic Party dinner it Wisconsin.
A statement released yesterday in a press conference called by Clinton’s Howard Wolfson who serves as her communications director highlights a segment of IL. Sen. Barrack Obama’s speech in which the Sen. Said, “Don’t tell me words don’t matter, ‘I have a dream’ — just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words? ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’ — just words? Just speeches?”
Clinton’s camp noted that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick delivered a similar speech in his 2006 gubernatorial campaign in Mass. the exact context of Gov. Partrick’s speech notes, “‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words? Just words?” Patrick said. “‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’ — just words? ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’ Just words? ‘I have a dream’ — just words?”
Political experts and analysts surmise that Clinton’s camp is out to destroy Obama’s campaign and the accusation of plagiarism is just another strategic malady her camp enforces in an desperate effort to secure a closely contested Wisconsin primary set to be held today.
In a statement released by Sen. Obama on Monday, the Senator acknowledged borrowing a line from his close friend, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick, but downplayed the situation as “overblown” fabricated by the opposing camp in efforts to tarnish his solid campaign. “Now hold on a second. Let’s see — I’ve written two books, wrote most of my speeches, I’m happy to give Deval credit, as I give credit to a lot people for spurring all kinds of ideas,” he said. “But I think that it is fair to say that everything that we’ve been doing in generating excitement and the interest that people have in the election is based on the core belief in me that we need change in America.”
