ToddS

Just wanted to make sure I was not mistaken for the member "justin88" talking to sonny1 in this chat. It is not me. This members real name is Todd as well it is just not "ToddS." Just wanted to clear that up as I do not want to cause any problems or let there be any misunderstanding.

Here is a link to an ABC News article on this: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wirestory?id=10658841&page=1 On the second page of the ABC News article linked to above there is an interesting paragraph, quoted below. So I guess it is not over until it is over, good grief will they ever announce a winner.

This is the only thread that i could find on "Viper," besides this one. Link: oops! Mr. Phonics looked harder than I did. Sorry, we must have been posting at the same time.

Vietnam buys $1 billion, plans to keep dong stable Last updated: 5/13/2010 21:30 Vietnam bought $1 billion from financial companies in the past month amid a “relatively abundant” supply of the US currency, and plans to keep the dong stable for now, the central bank said. “Credit institutions have not only managed to buy enough foreign exchange to fully meet customers’ demand, but they have also had a surplus to sell back,” the State Bank of Vietnam said in a statement on its website Thursday. The central bank is seeking to bolster market confidence after the benchmark VN Index of shares dropped 6 percent in a five-day drop, as Europe’s debt crisis prompted investors to spurn developing-nation assets. Policy makers have devalued the dong twice in the past six months, narrowing the gap between the official and black-market rates from as much as 12 percent. “With quite a lot of pressure recently on emerging-market currencies to drop because of the European debt crisis, the Vietnamese central bank probably doesn’t want the dong to fall too much,” said Hideki Hayashi, a global economist at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “They want a weaker currency for sure, but they don’t want market players to attack the currency too much given the current crisis.” The currency traded at about 19,105 against the dollar in the so-called black market on Thursday, weakening from around 19,040 yesterday, according to a telephone information service that cites prices at gold shops. The dong was 0.1 percent stronger in the interbank market at 19,003 at 1 p.m. in Hanoi. It has fallen 5.9 percent since Nov. 25. The central bank may not devalue the dong while Europe’s debt crisis persists, Hayashi said. The VN index dropped 0.1 percent to close at 518.93, completing the longest declining streak since the five days ended Nov. 26, when the central bank first devalued the dong. Reserves fall Vietnam aims to limit its trade deficit to no more than 20 percent of exports, the State Bank said May 5. The gap was $4.65 billion in the first four months of the year, equivalent to 23 percent of overseas sales, and in April widened 8 percent from the previous month to $1.25 billion as an expanding economy drove an increase in imports. Vietnam’s reserves slid to $15 billion in 2009, from about $23 billion at the start of the year, a decline that may partly have stemmed from central-bank intervention to support the dong, Yumiko Tamura, deputy country director for the Asian Development Bank, said April 13. Policy makers can try to influence exchange rates by buying or selling foreign exchange. An improving economy is helping to support the dong, the central bank statement Thursday said. “Even though the trade deficit is still high, foreign-currency sources are expected to improve this year, especially tourism and remittances,” Deputy Governor Nguyen Van Binh said on May 10 in a phone interview from Hanoi. “Foreign indirect investment capital inflows show signs of increasing also.” Exports, inflation Gross domestic product expanded 5.8 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, after increasing 5.3 percent in 2009, and the government is targeting growth of 6.5 percent this year. The consumer price index rose 9.46 percent in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in a year, before gains eased to 9.23 percent last month. “I don’t see any significant risk of further devaluation in the near term as it seems the liquidity situation has improved,” said Thomas Harr, a senior currency strategist in Singapore at Standard Chartered Plc. “Six to nine months ahead, the risk is for further weakening in the dong against the US dollar because the trade deficit will widen and there’s a bit of inflation risk coming back.” His bank predicts the dong will decline to 20,000 per dollar by the end of the year. Source: Bloomberg http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20100514101117.aspx

Happy birthday guys!

It is my understanding that if you have already purchased the book, as I did, then your update will be free as the other update was. The first update was more to correct typo's and little corrections, so don't sweat it if you did not get the second edition. I agree if you have not read the book you cannot offer an opinion on it and be given any credibility. If you do not want to buy it why insist on criticizing those of us that bought it and found it well worth the price, just keep your comments to yourself and move on. If you keep up the negative comments to other members that are seeking information and asking for help in doing so I will move you along myself. The updated version should be available soon and I am sure there will be an announcement at that time and instructions on how to buy it or get the download if you already have it.

Thank you for the post "drox."

<----- A Little of this? <---- Or this one might fit better? I sometimes feel like this-------> After reading some of the "off site Chats."

Child may be lone survivor in Libya plane crash By the CNN Wire Staff May 12, 2010 -- Updated 1609 GMT (0009 HKT) (CNN) -- A Dutch child is believed to be the only survivor of a passenger plane crash in Libya Wednesday that may have killed more than 100 people, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said. The plane was carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew members when it crashed while trying to land at the Tripoli International Airport. The boy was undergoing surgery at a hospital in the Libyan capital of Tripoli after the Afriqiyah Airways plane that left Johannesburg crashed as it neared the end of its flight. The Dutch ministry said it had a representative at the hospital waiting to identify the boy, believed to be age 10. He apparently suffered bone injuries. The president of the European Parliament said about 100 people perished, and Libya's state news agency said 96 bodies had been recovered. Nicky Knapp, a representative of the Airports Company South Africa, provided the breakdown in the destinations of the passengers aboard: seven to London, 32 to Brussels, 42 to Dusseldorf, one to Paris, and 11 to Libya. She was speaking on behalf of Afriqiyah Airways. The plane, an Airbus A330-200, was at the tail end of its nearly nine-hour-long flight when it crashed. "We express our sincere regret and sadness on behalf of the airline. As well, we would like to express our condolences to the relatives and friends of those who had passengers on Flight 8U771 destined for Tripoli late last night, due to arrive around 6 o'clock this morning," she said. Calling the incident a tragedy, Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament said "some 100 people have died no doubt from many countries around the world." He said the child's survival "given this tragic event, is truly a miracle." The Dutch Royal Touring Club said 61 of 62 Dutch passengers on the plane died. A Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman said the government was trying to get more information about those aboard. The British Foreign Office said it was looking into whether British nationals were on board the flight. At the crash site, workers with surgical masks combed through the smoldering wreckage that spilled over a large area. A wheel lay atop a pile of bags. Two green airline seats sat upright and intact amid burned parts of the aircraft. Officials recovered the plane's flight data recorder, which investigators use to piece together a flight's last minutes. The Tripoli-based Afriqiyah (Arabic for "African") operates flights to four continents. The planes in the fleet carry the logo 9.9.99 -- the date when the African Union was formed. The Airbus that crashed is one of three Airbus 330-200s that the airline owns. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/05/12/libya.planecrash/index.html?section=cnn_latest I don't think I will fly in these "Airbus" planes it seems they have a tendency to fall out of the sky. Link to others that have crashed: http://edition.cnn.com/search/?query=recent%20Airbus%20plane%20crashes&primaryType=mixed&sortBy=date&intl=true

علاوي قد تم إلغاءه بسبب اصرار المالكي على استبعاد الصدريين من تشكيلة الحكومة المقبلة. Al-Sharqiyah television reported on Msdermtalaa the upcoming meeting between the president of a coalition of law Nuri al Maliki and the president of a coalition of Iraq, Iyad Allawi, has been canceled due to Maliki's determination to exclude the Sadrists from the new government. وقال المصدر الذي لم تذكر الشرقية اسمه او وظيفته ان المالكي طالب بأستبعاد الصدريين من تشكيلة الحكومة المقبلة اذا تم التحالف بين قائمته وقائمة العراقية بزعامة اياد علاوي ، الامر الذي رفضه الاخير ، عادا التيار الصدري تيارا شعبيا ووطنيا كبيرا وحصل على نتائج كبيرة في الانتخابات الاخيرة ولا يمكن تهميشه، مبينا ان التيار الصدري شريك حقيقي لأئتلاف العراقية وهناك اتفاقات وتفاهمات سابقة بين الجانبين لا يمكن اغفالها وتهميشها . The source, who did not mention the Eastern name or position that al-Maliki demanded the exclusion of the Sadrists from the new government if the alliance between his list and the Iraqi list led by Iyad Allawi, which was rejected by the latter, returned Sadrist current popular and nationally, great and got great results in recent elections can not be marginalized, indicating that the Sadrists a true partner of the coalition and Iraqi there earlier agreements and understandings between the two sides could not be disregarded and marginalized. Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Wednesday, May 12, 2010 http://translate.goo...late.google.com Read more: As posted by the great K98nights.

You are very welcome. I like our "Riley" very much and I would hate for her to be confused with that other "Rilee" that I do not know at all, except what I see posted here.

Toll in Devastating Iraq Attacks Rises to 114 Updated May 11, 2010 Associated Press A medical official at a Basra morgue said 30 people died, nearly twice as many as were originally reported, in the string of three bombings that ripped through the city on Monday. BAGHDAD -- The toll for a triple bombing in Iraq's southern city of Basra has risen to 30, a morgue official said Tuesday, bringing to 114 the number of people killed across the country the day before, the deadliest in Iraq so far this year. The medical official at the Basra morgue said 30 people died, nearly twice as many as were originally reported, in the string of three bombings that ripped through the city on Monday, part of a series of attacks that convulsed the country. The relentless cascade of bombings and shootings -- hitting at least 10 cities and towns as the day unfolded -- raised questions about whether Iraqi security forces can protect the country as the U.S. prepares to withdraw half of its remaining 92,000 troops in Iraq over the next four months. Officials were quick to blame insurgents linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq for the shootings in the capital, saying the militants were redoubling efforts to destabilize the country at a time of political uncertainty over who will control the next government. The bombings came as Iraq's political factions were still bogged down in negotiations to form a new government more than two months after inconclusive parliamentary elections were held. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite bloc has tried to squeeze out election front-runner Ayad Allawi -- a secular Shiite heavily backed by Sunni Arabs -- by forging an alliance last week with another religious Shiite coalition that would dominate any new government. Sunni anger at Shiite domination of successive governments since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster was a key reason behind the insurgency that sparked sectarian warfare in 2006 and 2007. If Allawi is perceived as not getting his fair share of power, that could outrage the Sunnis who supported him and lead some to restore their backing to the insurgency. The worst of Monday's violence hit the Shiite city of Hillah, capital of Babil province 60 miles south of Baghdad, where two car bombs were lured onlookers and rescuers to the scene before a suicide bomber blew himself up in their midst. A total of 45 people were killed in the triple blasts. In Basra, Iraq's second largest city, three bombs exploded in the city, including one that targeted a marketplace. Basra has been relatively quiet since Shiite militias were routed in 2008 by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/10/iraqi-officials-killed-attacks-baghdad-appearing-target-police-military/

This is NOT our "Riley." This Is "Rilee" and this "Rilee" has his/her own site on the internet, but this is NOT our "Riley." I am sure of this as I correspond with our "Riley" through email these are two completely separate people.

I wondered where you were "sunshinelvr" welcome back. It is nice to see you again.

According to this post by K98's this meeting has been canceled. Link: