The Chinese Market 'Narrative' For 2012

This is useful. From JPMorgan, the China market "narrative" for 2012:

The market narrative moving into 2012 for China - the worst performing stock market in 2011 but policy is starting to become more accommodative - China wound up being the worst performing large stock market in 2011, falling ~22%.? A variety of themes weighed on sentiment, including a cooling of economic growth, tight monetary policy, a liquidity crunch that prevented SMEs from obtaining credit, falling property prices, and fears of large amounts of hidden local government debt (many of these worries remain in place as enter 2012).? Inflation has cooled meaningfully from the summer peak and during the final weeks of '11 the PBOC delivered a surprise bank RRR cut (investors expect another such cut in the first days of '11 although Chinese officials insist their overall policy bias will stay "prudent" in 2012).? GDP is seen troughing and staying north of the key ~8% level.? Keep in mind that China will undergo a once-in-a-decade leadership change at the end of 2012 when President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao step down from power.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheMoneyGame/~3/Fn52_Yqz1AI/the-china-market-in-2012-in-one-paragraph-2012-1

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Met's "Enchanted Island" a clever concoction (AP)

NEW YORK ? Call it a pastiche. Or a Baroque fantasy in two acts. Or the best opera Handel and Vivaldi never wrote.

By any name, "The Enchanted Island," which had its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on New Year's Eve with an all-star cast, is irresistibly entertaining. It's a light-hearted romp with enough fizz to send a dozen Champagne corks popping, and its only serious drawback is that at 3 1/2 hours running time it serves up a bit too much of a good thing.

The concoction was the brainchild of Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager who wanted to expand the company's Baroque repertory in a way that would create a stir and draw in new audiences. So he reinvented a 300-year-old gimmick, the "pasticcio" in which already existing music by several composers was fitted to a new libretto and plot.

Baroque specialist William Christie was engaged to oversee the musical preparation and conduct, and writer/director Jeremy Sams crafted the libretto. It was his clever idea to combine two Shakespeare plots: The quartet of lovers from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" get shipwrecked on Prospero's island from "The Tempest"; a major outbreak of mistaken identity ensues, and it takes all manner of magic spells ? not to mention intervention by the sea god Neptune ? to straighten things out again.

To bring their creation to life on stage, the Met wisely hired Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch to design and direct the production, Kevin Pollard to do the costumes, and a company called 59 Productions to provide animation and projections. Their inspired work on Phillips Glass's "Satyagraha" was on view earlier this season, and they have again done wonders, creating eye-popping magical effects with the humblest of means.

The basic set is a deliberately old-fashioned proscenium frame with Prospero's book-lined lair on the left and on the right the primeval dwelling of Sycorax, the sorceress whose magic he has usurped. (The mother of the wild Caliban, she is mentioned but does not appear in the Shakespeare play.)

At the rear, a curtain rises for the ocean scenes ? starting with a rollicking shipwreck in which the four honeymooning lovers sing of "Days of pleasure, nights of love," (adapted from Handel's "Semele") only to see their boat capsize in a sudden storm. When Neptune makes his first appearance near the end of Act 1, he does so seated on a clam-shell throne, with mermaids dangling from ropes behind him.

The cast reads like a list of reigning stars in Baroque opera today, from countertenor David Daniels to mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, from soprano Danielle DeNiese to bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. And let's not forget the fellow playing Neptune ? a certain 70-year-old tenor named Placido Domingo.

DiDonato tears into the role of Sycorax with abandon, rolling on the floor and waving her arms as she plots vengeance against Prospero. But her most effective scene ? and the emotional highlight of the evening ? is a tender song comforting her son, whose heart has just been broken by one of the shipwrecked women. The music is from a cantata, "Il Pianto di Maria," that was long attributed to Handel but now is credited to the Italian composer Ferrandini.

Part of what makes that scene so moving is the amazing performance by Pisaroni as Caliban. Although he sings up a storm elsewhere in the opera, here, without uttering a word but using facial expression and body movement, he indelibly conveys his character's grief, anger and finally acceptance.

Daniels has a more difficult challenge as Prospero, frankly the weakest character in Sams' generally first-rate libretto and one whose moral dilemma never quite clicks. His arias, though sung with fervor, tend to slow things down just when we want them to be fast-forwarded.

No such problem for his attendant sprite Ariel, as portrayed by DeNiese, a live wire whose extroverted show-biz personality perfectly suits the production. She deservedly stops the show with her final aria, a rapid-fire celebration of her newly gained freedom sung to music from Vivaldi's "Griselda."

As Miranda, Prospero's lovesick daughter, Lisette Oropesa displays a shining lyric soprano, and her duet ("I have dreamed you" from a Handel cantata) with the Ferdinand of countertenor Anthony Roth Costanza is sublime.

The four honeymooners are all terrific as well: tenor Paul Appleby as Demetrius, soprano Layla Claire as Helena, baritone Elliot Madore as Lysander, and especially mezzo Elizabeth DeShong as Hermia.

Domingo doesn't have much to sing, but Neptune is the perfect role for him at this late stage of his career. His mere entrance inspires a tangle of emotions ? part hilarity, part nostalgia and part awe. Despite his sometimes mangled English, he brings great authority to the part, and that familiar muscular tenor sound still rings out once or twice on sustained high notes.

The Enchanted Island" will play nine more times through Jan. 30. The matinee on Saturday, Jan. 21, will be broadcast on the radio and also shown in HD in movie theaters in the U.S. and around the world.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120101/ap_en_ce/us_opera_review_enchanted_island

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Pak hosts envoy from China amid tension with army

Pakistan's prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said there is a "complete convergence of views" between Islamabad and Beijing on global and regional issues as Pakistan hosts a top Chinese official whose visit comes amid a clash between the government and the army.
Gilani on Friday said Pakistan and China's comprehensive cooperation and robust partnership was in the fundamental interest of their people and conducive to peace, progress and stability of Asia.


"There is a complete convergence of views of our two countries on the global and regional issues and a commonality of approach to advance the international agenda for peace and prosperity," Gilani said while speaking at a banquet he hosted in honour of the visiting State Councillor of China Dai Bingguo in Islamabad.?

Dai Bingguo, an expert on South Asian affairs, is visiting Pakistan as a representative of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The visit takes place as a tussle broke out between the army and the government.

"There cannot be a state within a state. Nobody can say that he is not under the government," Gilani said in the National Assembly on Thursday, adding: "Conspiracies are being hatched to pack up an elected government."

Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, however, dispelled speculations of a military takeover and assured the nation that the army will support the democratic process in the country.

Dai Bingguo, while reiterating China's commitment to further bolster the deep-rooted ties with Pakistan, said that Beijing wants to intensify amicable and cooperative relations with Islamabad.

"China is firmly committed to deepening friendship and partnership with neighboring countries. We want to intensify amicable and cooperative relations with Pakistan and other neighboring countries," Dai Bingguo said.?

The prime minister on Friday termed the friendship with China as the cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policy and said: "The relations between Pakistan and China go beyond governments and are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of our peoples."

"China's economic transformation, technological excellence and spirit of innovation elicit our respect and admiration," Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Gilani as saying.

Gilani said that Pakistan desires stability and peace in the region.

"We believe that regional economic cooperation is essential for progress and prosperity."

Source: http://feeds.hindustantimes.com/~r/HT-HomePage-TopStories/~3/9gE4n9MsVwg/story01.htm

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Muskingum County church services to focus on true meaning of Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

? Rushing Wind Biker Church, 5715 East Pike.: Christmas services Friday will begin at 7 p.m.

? Trinity Full Gospel, 535 Munson Ave.: Christmas Eve Candle Light Service, 5 to 6 p.m. For more information, call (740) 452-8478.

? Central Trinity United Methodist Church, 62 S. Seventh St.: The Christmas Eve candlelight service at 4:30 p.m. will feature the Children's and Wesleyan Choirs, vocal solo by Emily Miller and the Christmas Isn't Christmas Choir.

? Somerset United Methodist Church, 141 E. Main St., Somerset: Christmas Cantata, "Emmanuel," will be at 7 p.m. and carols and candlelight service will be at 11 p.m.

? Brighton Presbyterian Church, 771 Lexington Ave.: Christmas Eve candlelight service will begin at 11 p.m. Worship will include music, sermon, Holy Communion and conclude with lighting of candles.

? Nashport-Irville United Methodist Church, 7941 O'Bannon Road, Nashport: Christmas Eve service candlelight and cantata will begin at 9 p.m.

? North Terrace Church of Christ, 1420 Brandywine Boulevard: The church is offering two identical Christmas Eve services this year, at 5 and 6:30 p.m. The church will collect a Christmas Eve offering for Zanesville's Heartbeat Family Center, the local pregnancy support center, during both services. For more information, call (740) 453-2951.

? Coburn United Methodist Church, 3618 N. Maple Ave.: Christmas Eve candlelight service and worship will be celebrated at 7 p.m.

? Rolling Plains Church, 3350 Moxahala Park Road: Christmas Eve services will be at 5:30, 7:30 and 11 p.m.

? First Christian Church, 3000 Dresden Road: Family worship will be at 5 p.m.; candlelight communion service with cantata begins at 10 p.m.

? Iliff United Methodist Church at 3992 Flint Ridge Road, Crooksville: Christmas Eve cantata entitled "Memories of a Merry Christmas." The service, which includes a candlighting, starts at 7 p.m.

Source: http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20111223/NEWS01/112230305/1002/rss01

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Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider: House Delays Tax Cut Vote

Deciding against votes after midnight, House Republicans last night delayed action on an extension of a payroll tax cut, as GOP leaders set up a parliamentary situation that does not include a direct vote on a two month extension approved on Saturday by the Senate.

"We disagree with what the Senate produced," Speaker John Boehner told reporters Monday night, "and as a result we're asking to go to conference with the Senate to resolve the differences between the two houses."

While Boehner and other Republicans called that "regular order," Democrats were livid, accusing the GOP of trying to avoid a direct up-or-down vote on the two month extension that made it through the Senate easily last Saturday.

"You are afraid to have a vote to concur with the Senate," said Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), "because you are afraid you would lose."

There was some thought in the hallways of the Capitol Monday night that if the two month extension did come up for a direct vote, then Republicans might lose enough votes - and that plan could actually gain a majority.

But for now, the House GOP isn't budging, as Republicans argue that a full year extension is the only thing worth doing.

"You cannot do policy in two month increments," said Rep. Allen West (R-FL).

Democrats though were giddy at the opportunity to take potshots at Republicans on this issue, sensing they have the public relations advantage, as they accused the GOP of endangering a working class tax cut, extended long term jobless benefits and more - all around the Christmas holidays.

"160 million Americans will pay higher taxes because Speaker Boehner is blocking a House vote on compromise bill," argued Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

"Let's just get down to ?it, put the bill on the floor," Pelosi said, and "see if they're willing to vote for it.".

At this point, it doesn't seem like Democrats will get that chance on the House floor - at least, not right now.

Source: http://www.boortz.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2011/dec/19/house-delays-tax-cut-vote/

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ESPN?s Matt Meyers Talks Writing and Baseball

You are here: Home / General / ESPN?s Matt Meyers Talks Writing and Baseball

ESPN has been on top of the sports news and broadcasting world for the better part of three decades. A major component of their success is their ability to attract and cultivate top-notch talent in all aspects of their operation. Between running a television channel, a highly trafficked website, and a magazine, ESPN produces a prodigious amount of content that is facilitated down through many levels of their staff.

Matt Meyers is one of the staff members that help keep the world updated on sports news on a minute-but-minute basis. Specifically, he acts as a gatekeeper for one of ESPN?s most popular offerings; their baseball coverage. Meyers is the baseball editor for ESPN Insider and ESPN The Magazine; working with many of the top writers and experts that the media giant employ. He is also a contributing writer himself, having covered both major league baseball and college basketball during his career.

Meyers had an eclectic background in sports journalism prior to his current role with ESPN; working for several other major sports sites/publications. Undoubtedly his diverse experience is extremely beneficial covering baseball, where there is something new coming out every day. There truly is no coverage that is as comprehensive as what is provided by ESPN, and Meyers and his colleagues are responsible for maintaining that reputation.

Recently I had the opportunity to ask Meyers some questions about his career and his thoughts on the evolving field of baseball journalism. Despite being in the thick of the baseball off-season, Meyers was gracious enough to provide me with some thought provoking answers.

Matt Meyers Interview:

How did you come to a career in sports writing/journalism?: I was always a passionate sports fan growing up, and this seemed like the natural path since I clearly wasn?t going to play professionally. I went to a small college in Maine (Bates College) where there were plenty of media opportunities, so I jumped right in. I was sports writer and editor on the paper, and called the football games on the radio. After college, I got a job as a freelance fact-checker at ESPN The Magazine, and worked my way up from there, with stops at Baseball America and CSTV (now CBS College Sports) along the way.

Can you please describe your job duties in your position with ESPN?: My primary role is as the baseball editor for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Insider. I also handle the soccer content on ESPN Insider. For Insider, I am managing the day-to-day content for Keith Law, Jim Bowden and contributors such as Dan Szymborski and Dave Cameron. The Magazine is more big-picture stuff, where we are always looking ahead. For example, we are already talking about the MLB preview, which won?t run until March. I also write a weekly baseball column on Insider, which I really enjoy since I have a lot of freedom to write what I want.

What is a trend or void in coverage by sports media that you would like to see changed?: My biggest pet peeve about sports media coverage is that many writers decide a narrative before a game begins and stick to it regardless of what actually happened. A perfect example is Justin Verlander in the playoffs. He pitched fine, but he was by no means dominant. However, it seemed like a number of writers and TV commentators decided he was going to be the story no matter what he did, so we heard about how he ?battled? and was ?a warrior? when the only reason people said that is because the Tigers scored enough runs for him to get a couple of wins. The same kind of thing is happening with Tim Tebow. I wish coverage could be more nuanced and adaptable.

What are some things that aspiring sports writers and editors can do to get noticed?: I know it?s a clich?, but being persistent is key. You have to pitch and keep pitching, and not get discouraged if you get rejected (or ignored).

And if you are trying to get noticed, you should most certainly have a blog. Not only does it give you something to direct people to if they want to see your writing skills, but it allows you to develop.

In my experience you are better off trying to make that blog focused on one subject, and making yourself an expert on that subject, as opposed to trying to be a generalist who rants about all sports. It?s important to have a voice that makes you identifiable, but don?t try to be someone you?re not.

Blogs are a growing trend in ?media? coverage. How viable do you consider them to be in the world of sports journalism?: Considering I?ve already mentioned blogs, I think you can guess that I consider them viable. A lot of the best analysis out there is being done on blogs. I?m a big Mets and Knicks fan, and I probably read Amazin? Avenue (Mets) and Posting and Toasting (Knicks) more than I do any of the beat writers. It?s not that I think the beat writers are bad, it?s just that the blogs are not only entertaining, but they usually point out the most interesting stuff being written by the beat guys.

What is a dream project you would like to be able to work on?: That?s a really good question, and one that I?m not sure I know the answer to. I?ve always been fascinated by the MLB draft, and I would love to get an opportunity to sit inside a draft room, though I?m not sure readers would get as much of that as I would, since I doubt I?d be able to say that much about it.

Andrew Martin is the founder of ?The Baseball Historian? blog where he posts his thoughts about baseball on a regular basis. He can be reached at historianandrew@gmail.com. You can also reach him on Twitter at @historianandrew.

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Source: http://seamheads.com/2011/12/22/espns-matt-meyers-talks-writing-and-baseball/

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AP Enterprise: Paul's nonprofits push law's limit

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas signs autographs during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas has his photo taken with Alaine Olthafer-Lange and her 3-month-old daughter Heidi Lange during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

(AP) ? The passionate support of an eclectic group of libertarians and young people has Ron Paul in contention to win the Iowa caucus. So has the work of two well-funded nonprofits that for the past three years have kept his aides employed, his volunteers organized and his ideas afloat.

Those nonprofits, including Paul's flagship Campaign for Liberty, blur the line between his presidential campaign and issue advocacy in a way experts say runs afoul of the spirit, and perhaps the letter, of federal tax and campaign finance law.

But unlike a political campaign organization, whose finances are tightly regulated and made public, such advocacy nonprofits can raise unlimited sums of money and aren't required to disclose where it came from or all the details about how it was spent.

"It sounds like it was a way to maintain a permanent campaign," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog group. "These groups were never supposed to be political organizations, but more and more, we're seeing them used that way. All of this is leading to our elections getting more and more out of control with fewer regulations."

Paul, a 76-year-old Texas congressman, finished fifth in the 2008 Iowa caucus and abandoned his long-shot presidential campaign that summer. As he left the race, he urged his supporters to continue their fight for libertarian principles by joining his new group, the Campaign for Liberty. He called the transformation of his presidential campaign into the nonprofit a "legal formality" that would allow him to continue building his famously energetic network of volunteers, online activists and college students.

The Campaign for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty, a separate group formed to spread his message to high school and college students, were organized as "social welfare organizations" under U.S. tax law. That means they cannot make politics and promoting candidates their primary activities.

The groups quickly found a home in the tea party movement, hosting conferences, training activists and distributing petitions asking members of Congress to support one of Paul's signature policies ? a plan to audit the Federal Reserve. The Campaign for Liberty raised more than $13 million between 2008 and 2010 that paid for direct mail, telemarketing, staff salaries and other expenses. The group claims more than 600,000 members and more than 170 chapters of Young Americans for Liberty at high schools and colleges.

Drew Ivers, who founded the Iowa chapter of Campaign for Liberty, said the nonprofit's goal was never to lay the groundwork for Paul's 2012 presidential campaign. Organizers were careful to separate political work from the work of advocating Paul's ideas, he added. But he acknowledged the organization has helped Paul in Iowa, which will hold its first-in-the-nation presidential nominating caucuses on Jan. 3.

"It kept the ideas alive. And as people who were involved in the Campaign for Liberty liked the idea of limited government, they look at the field of presidential candidates and say, 'You know, I think Ron Paul is serious about this idea,'" Ivers said.

The other candidates from 2008 who are again running in 2012 also took steps between campaigns to build their political clout. President Barack Obama formed his "Organizing for America" group at the Democratic National Committee, while Republican Mitt Romney used a political action committee to raise money, shower donations on lawmakers and pay for his travel to key states. Paul had a PAC, too.

But the finances of both the DNC and political action committees such as Romney's Free and Strong America PAC ? unlike Paul's nonprofits ? are regulated by the Federal Election Commission and subject to financial disclosure rules.

Paul's presidential campaign is thoroughly intertwined with the nonprofits. The Campaign for Liberty calls itself a lobbying group for "individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets and a noninterventionist foreign policy" ? a tidy summation of Paul's campaign platform. Young Americans for Liberty's support of Paul is even more explicit, calling itself the continuation of the Students for Ron Paul wing of his 2008 campaign, coordinating his visits to campuses and publishing a magazine in which he laid out his "agenda for a freedom president."

Between the 2008 and 2012 campaigns, both nonprofits were stocked with Paul aides and relatives. Ivers served as Paul's Iowa campaign chairman in 2008 and holds the same position again this year. The Campaign for Liberty's president, John Tate, was paid a total of $338,000 by the group in 2009 and 2010. He is now Paul's national campaign manager. The nonprofit's senior vice president was Jesse Benton, who is now Paul's campaign chairman; its vice president was Debbie Hopper, who is now Paul's assistant campaign manager.

Lori Pyeatt, Paul's daughter, served until recently as the Campaign for Liberty's part-time secretary and treasurer, earning $34,000 for her work last year. Her daughter is married to Benton. Paul's son Ronnie is the group's unpaid chairman.

In all, nine out of the 16 staff members at the Campaign for Liberty are on leaves of absence from the group to work for Paul's campaign. The nonprofit's executive director, Matthew Hawes, said the group is still able to function and is an active advocate on state and federal issues unrelated to Paul's presidential campaign.

Paul campaign spokesman Gary Howard ? who for 18 months served as the Campaign for Liberty's spokesman ? said Paul resigned as Campaign for Liberty's honorary chairman when he joined the presidential race and believes the nonprofits complied with Internal Revenue Service rules. Still, like Ivers, he acknowledged the nonprofits have indirectly aided the campaign by training activists and raising his issues.

Paul isn't the first to use such a strategy to keep his name in the public's view between bids for the White House. Democrat John Edwards did the same between the 2004 and 2008 campaigns by founding a nonprofit center dedicated to fighting poverty, his central campaign issue.

Federal investigators later issued a subpoena for information about Edwards' nonprofit, according to details previously provided to The Associated Press. An attorney for Edwards has said the nonprofit paid money to Edwards' mistress' video production firm, and the former senator from North Carolina was later indicted on campaign finance charges related to payments from wealthy donors that were used to help hide the woman.

Marcus Owens, a Washington lawyer who headed the exempt organizations division at the IRS from 1990 to 2000, questions whether such nonprofits were truly designed to serve the "social welfare purpose" as required by law.

In Paul's case, the groups also helped his son's political career. At least two aides from the Campaign for Liberty left to help Rand Paul win election to the U.S. Senate in Kentucky last year.

"Any family campaign seems to draw them out. It's not conclusive, but it tends to suggest a private, not a public, purpose behind the organization," Owens said. "It's not a social welfare purpose to keep a campaign staff together and to promote the personal ideas of one individual."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-24-Paul-Shadow%20Campaign/id-c1c897dd25044f2c9420c137dc785def

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