Under this revised deal, JP Morgan would purchase 95 million newly issued Bear Stearns shares. The New York Times reported that Bear’s board of management has also agreed to this new offer. John Augustine, chief investment strategist with Fifth Third Investment Advisors was noted as saying that JP Morgan has had this deal sewn up right now. The new offer puts Bear Stearns at a value of about $2.1 billion, much more than the $236 million which it was valued at under the initial deal. Representatives of Bear, JP Morgan and the Fed were not immediately available for comment.

The revised deal has financial backing from the Federal Reserve. This would raise concerns about the US government’s ability to rescue Wall Street bankers while millions of homeowners face the possibility of foreclosure.

Bear has recently been ranked as the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank but that ranking took a downturn as large subprime mortgage losses and falling confidence in the company prompted a run on the bank. The finalization of this new deal is vital to JP Morgan as this would serve as encouragement to banks and other customers that they can do business with Bear safely yet again. Bear’s liabilities were tightened by JP Morgan and it agreed to back all of Bear’s prime brokerage contracts and all of its short- and long-term loans.

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Via BBC

The problem with a charge of plagiarism is that it is only plagiarism when a line is used without permission. It is said that Patrick has defended Obama on this and had criticized Clinton’s campaign for this attack. Both Obama and Patrick freely admit that they share ideas. Patrick is also an adviser to Obama. Since Obama used a line with Patrick’s permission, there was no issue of plagiarism. It is disappointing to see Clinton resorting to such tactics to bring Obama down. Many speeches are written by speech writers and candidates never call their names or give them credit. This is such an everyday occurence.

It is said that the Clinton campaign circulated YouTube links to the speeches on Sunday. Mr Wolfson said Senator Obama was ‘breaking his promises and his rhetoric isn’t his own’. The Clinton campaign is now desperate to thwart Senator Obama’s momentum ahead of two key primaries on March 4 - Texas and Ohio. What a shame to see them go to this extent to cut Obama’s throat. Desperation for Senator Clinton as her run for presidency is threatened perhaps?

When questioned,Senator Obama said he was ‘happy to give Deval credit, as I give credit to a lot people for spurring all kinds of ideas’.

It looks to me like Hillary Clinton is trying all means and ways to attack and defeat Obama. While she tries to convince a declining number of voters to vote for her, we can wait and watch to see how Obama retaliates.

Via: TimesOnline

Producer Boney Kapoor, now making a film with Salman Khan in the lead, was shocked over the prospect of the actor serving five years in jail for hunting a chinkara deer. But he firmly says that Salman will not be replaced in the film, ‘Wanted Dead & Alive’.

Kapoor is producing ‘Wanted Dead & Alive’, a remake of Telugu blockbuster ‘Pokhiri’. Salman has been shooting for it for a month.

‘The sentence isn’t a bolt from the blue,’ says Boney. ‘We went into it with our eyes open. I wanted only Salman for this role, and given a chance I’d still not change my decision to have him. He’s my 4 a.m. friend. I remember how he stood by me when I was financially challenged during ‘No Entry’.’

The film ‘Wanted Dead & Alive’ will mark the Hindi debut of choreographer turned director Prabhu Deva who will be directing his first Hindi film. Prabhu Deva and Salman seem to have bonded well and the two may also be seen gyrating together on-screen for the film. Producer Boney Kapoor says ‘I’m sure Prabhu will make a token appearance as a good luck charm.’ Prabhu Deva has directed several films in Telugu and hence producer Boney is confident of his abilities as a director.

Salman, who is now out of any imprisonment for the moment is currently capitalising on his post-Partner success and shooting back-to-back for God Tussi Great Ho, Yuvraj and Wanted Dead And Alive. Boney was also noted to have said that Salman had already given him the green signal to start work on No Entry 2.

Via buzz18

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The shortlist of ten contenders was put together by an expert panel of leading sporting experts from a selection of more than 30 newspaper sports editors (national and regional) and magazines and the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year panel of 12 sporting experts.

Calzaghe lost out last year in the poll to equestrian Zara Phillips and joked then that he was not disappointed. He confessed after his win that though he said he didn’t care last year, he had lied.

Calzaghe, 35, unified the super-middleweight division with a unanimous points victory over Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium last month.

It was also a good night for Enzo Calzaghe, father of Joe, who won the coach’s award.

Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson was awarded a lifetime achievement award presented by Sir Alex Ferguson.

The England rugby team won the sports team of the year and South Africa’s blade-runner, Oscar Pistorius, won the Helen Rollason Award.

Roger Federer was named the overseas sportsman of the year for a third time, and the Young Sports Personality of the Year Award went to diver Tom Daley.

Via: BBC News

Jules Verne restaurant, the much-famed restaurant in Eiffel Tower, opened on Saturday, after a four month closure for renovation work. The restaurant serve French food, headed by French top chef Alan Ducasse, and is situated on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, some 125 metres above ground level. Ducasse and Sodexho, the French catering-services giant, took over management of the Jules Verne and the tower’s other restaurants earlier this year.

The ambiance of the restaurant, along with the menu have been designed to offer locals and tourists a truly French experience. Ducasse, who heads a range of restaurants around the world, has garnered a record 14 Michelin stars, created an underground ‘cooking laboratory’ in this restaurant to prepare some of the dishes and keep a large wine cellar because the tower kitchen was only 45 square metres. This they felt was too small to serve 120 guests. Besides this, the furniture in the restaurant had to be weighed to meet the tower’s weight limits. Fearing fire risks, the kitchen does not even use flame-producing gas.

The new menus proposed are: 75€ for lunch and from 155€ to 190€ for diner. Reservations for the restaurant opened in mid October. On the eve of the opening, Ducasse and his staff bustled about the restaurant nestled amid Gustav Eiffel’s iron girders, with Paris breathtakingly laid out below.

This iconic restaurant is bound to tickle your taste buds and appeal to your senses...as you feed on the view out there while you dig into some truly French cuisine.

Via Yahoo! News

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However, a serious home baker may find that the Oster lacks in certain features while its functionalities may suffice for a rookie. An interesting feature in the Oster is its other bake options. There are 8 in all; basic, whole wheat, 2 ExpressBake cycles, French, sweet, dough, and bake. Most average home bakers will be satisfied with the types of bread, cake and dough that can be made with the Oster breadmaker. You can also choose different crust options:light, medium or dark.

Yet another interesting featuer is the machine’s acoustic signal that lets you know when to add extra ingredients like fruit and nuts during the mixing stage of the cycle. After the baking stage, the machine has a 60 minute warmer option to keep your loaf warm. And yes, enjoy the manual that comes with delicious recipes for you to try out in the comforts of yr own home.

A scan through the reviews shows that while most people are generally satisfied with the baker, it has its own limitations which some people can live with, others finding it annoying.

Gathering from several reviews, I would probably say that the Oster bread machine is a good machine that you can purchase at a very good price. It has enough features to satisfy most home users and its ExpressBake feature really does make baking quick, easy and fun!

Via Goodmans

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Normally, making ice cream is considered to be a tedious and painful process? However, if you’re the one with similar opinion, then I will have to ask, haven’t you heard that making ice cream has now taken on a whole new dimension? With the Play & Freeze ice cream maker, making ice cream is now a ‘ball’ of fun that involves shaking, rolling and rocking. That is all it takes to make your delicious homemade soft-serve ice cream. This ‘game’ can definitely be added to your next family picnic and watch everyone’s eyes light up.

The Play & Freeze Ice cream maker was invented by Industrial Revolution Inc., and is made of durable lightweight polycarbonate, and looks like a round soccer ball. No electricity needed! Have fun playing with your ice cream as it is being made! Just add some ice and rock salt in one end and ice cream mix in the other. One ball makes approximately about one pint of yum ice cream. I am sure this is tempting enough for you to want to scoop up your very own refreshing bowl of smooth and creamy homemade ice cream.

Since the introduction of the non-electric Play & Freeze ice cream maker, many households have provided positive feedback on its usability. I guess, it also helps them satisfy their kids’ craving for ice cream right from the comforts of their home.
If you have heard of milk coming from cows, then now you have it coming from plastic!! Experience it yourself. This is literally a whole new ball game for families.

Via: Like Cool

How would you like your Ferrari to look like? What say about designing one on your own? Well, Ferrari has recently announced its new Ferrari 612 Scaglietti One-to-One Personalisation Program, which will allow the buyers to design their own Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, accessory by accessory, detail by detail. The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti takes pride at the Ferrari stand for being the model used in the inauguration of the personalization program. A specially designated area will be set up at the Ferrari Factory to allow clients to put together their ideal 612 Scaglietti. In consultation with the Ferrari experts, clients can then decide what best accessories they would like for their cars. Eventually, the Ferrari experts would help clients build the car, according to specifications laid out by the clients.

The 612 Scagliettis being used to launch the One-to-One Programme are reflective of a series of technical evolutions that truly represent the Ferrari philosophy of constant innovations in each model. The new models of this flagship like the V12 have an electrochromic panoramic roof which covers the entire top of the cabin. This gives the driver and passengers a sense of comfort and safety. The roof is made from electrochromic glass which can be modified at the touch of a button to adjust the levels of sunlight allowed into the cabin. In addition to all this, the flagship models boast excellent gear-shifting times. Now, what a pleasure this would be drive this this car, regardless of the driving conditions.

So, don’t waste any more time and head straight to the Ferrari factory to make a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti that best suits your needs and liking.

via TheCoolHunter

Designed by Kurt Erni, the BoRa swivel bed invites you to experience the bedroom as a perfect place to relax and feel good in. When he designed this bed, he had applied the same principle which is used for the creation of an armchair. This BoRa bed floats on a sturdy rotating mechanism. All it takes is a gentle push and the bed would rotate. The BoRa rotating bed provides you with the flexibility to reinvent the design of your room while keeping the feel of relaxation and comfort. On the top, the leather for the bed comes in 25 colors. Personally, I would love to go for the Histoire Do Be swivel bed that comes with a remote control.

via ProductPage

The rumour mills have started again. All eyes are on Kylie Minogue as she is seen with the handsome movie director Alexander Dahm. Kylie had tried hard to keep this news away from prying eyes, but seems like she failed quite terribly at that. Dahm, who is married has reportedly spent six days with 39 year old Kylie in London.

The couple had met at an H&M swimsuit shoot last year and got on very well. Kylie was happy and they had lots to catch up on.

Kylie has been single since her split from Olivier Martinez in February 2007. It was only a couple of days ago that the handsome director made his way back to Mexico City via New York. This meeting was the first after they had met each other in May. The pop princess had stayed in Dahm’s £1million holiday villa in Chilean resort Vina del Mar.

The pop star, who recovered from cancer has lots of time on her hands before her next project: She is due to set off for her major X2008 European tour in Paris.

Source: Hoozie