Tim Howard Should Be Good To Go

USA soccer goalie Tim Howard is supposedly making a great recovery from the bruised ribs he suffered against England this weekend and inside sources tell us he should be good to go against Slovenia on Friday.




“There’s no time for saying ‘next time’ or ‘unlucky’ when a mistake is made. At this level, when I say something, I want it done then and there because if (a mistake) doesn’t punish you, you’ve gotten lucky,” Howard said earlier in the week while convincing everyone that he wouldn’t miss any World Cup game for anything.



Without Tim Howard the England team may have scored 10 points on the Americans. He is possibly the best goalkeeper in the World and the USA will need him if they want to have any chance at winning any of their future games.

BP board to hold talks on controversial dividend payment as Obama visits Gulf; shares plunge (EU-Britain-BP)

LONDON _ Shares in BP PLC plunged again on Monday as the company´s board discussed U.S. demands that it suspend dividend payments until it pays for the cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.




BP shares closed nine per cent lower at 355.45 pence (US$5.25) on the London Stock Exchange, after recovering some ground on Friday.



The board´s London meeting comes as U.S. President Barack Obama begins a two-day visit to the Gulf Coast to view the damage from the massive slick and talk to affected residents.



BP has a number of options regarding dividend payments and analysts believe the company is unlikely to scrap it altogether. Dividends could be deferred, paid in the form or shares or paid into a account for payment after BP had paid all its cleanup costs.



Any decision was not expected to be announced immediately, with BP utives due to meet Obama in Washington on Wednesday.



"The call from the U.S. administration for a third party administered fund to meet the claims of victims of the spill appears to be an attempt to show the U.S. public that the government is ´doing something,"´ said Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at London-based Killik & Co.



"As a political compromise, we would expect BP to agree to this request."



Chris Huhne, Britain´s Energy Secretary, said Monday that BP "remains a strong company" with the financial resources to deal with the damage of the spill, despite the sharp fall in its share prices.



He stressed however that whether BP paid its dividends was entirely a matter for the company´s directors.

Mexico Drug Cartel War -- News Updates June 15, 2010

A woman is comforted near the body of a murder victim in Juárez, Mexico, in April. Reuters

     Mexico Prison Gang Fighting Kills 28 -- BBC



A clash between rival gangs in a prison in Mexico's north-western state of Sinaloa has left some 28 inmates dead.


The violence came as dozens were killed on another day of apparent drug-related violence in Mexico.
In the western state of Michoacan, 10 police officers were killed in an ambush by suspected drug cartel gunmen.



Both Michoacan and Sinaloa are home to rival drug gangs that have been fighting turf wars and battling security forces.

Most of the prisoners killed in Mazatlan jail in Sinaloa were shot dead.


Read more ....

Paladino operative indicted for theft

John Haggerty, a New York City political operative hired by gubernatorial Carl Paladino to manage his petition drive, has been indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance for theft from the Michael Bloomberg’s 2009 re-election campaign, according to multiple media reports.




The felony charges stem from Haggerty’s use of $1.1 million in campaign funds in setting up an apparent sham company to encourage Queens residents to vote.



Paladino, a Buffalo developer and a favorite of tea-party activists, hired Haggerty last month to coordinate his statewide petitioning drive to gain a spot on the Republican primary ballot in September. Paladino is also seeking a spot on the ballot as an independent candidate.



When reporters first questioned Paladino in June about the hiring of Haggerty, Paladino defended him. Today, Paladino campaign manager Michael Caputo wasn’t budging.



“Unlike a typical career politician, Carl Paladino doesn’t throw his friends under the bus,” Caputo said in a statement. “John Haggerty joined our campaign just 45 days ago and he quickly became a part of our family. He’s a loyal and straightforward man of character. And, like all Americans, he enters this investigation with the presumption of innocence. We are satisfied with John’s version of events and he will remain on our team in his present capacity.”