Greece seeks to win Germany's respect at Euro 2012

GDANSK, Poland (AP) ? Now for the really important business between Greece and Germany: Soccer.

On Friday, thousands of fans from the two nations at opposite ends of the eurozone financial crisis converged on neutral Polish turf for a European Championship quarterfinal match.

For Greece fans, Friday's clash in Gdansk inevitably mixes sports and politics, Euro 2012 and the euro currency. They seek respect for their country after its humiliating economic collapse ? and the German government's role in imposing strict austerity measures as a condition of Greece getting ?240 billion ($300 billion) in bailout pledges.

"It's not good that sports and politics are together, but today we have no other choice," Greece fan Michalis Kalotrapesis said, wearing a white national team shirt and tracksuit top. "We are playing for our country and for our image in Europe and all over the world."

Kalotrapesis, and three Greek friends who now live in Germany, drove through the night to support their native nation here. Their pride in performing what they see as a patriotic duty fits into Greece's favored national narrative: In soccer as in finance, Germany is the traditional power and Greece the spirited underdog.

"We are a little bit crazy, but it's the Greek mentality," said Nikos Barzas, pointing out the bloodshot eyes of the group's designated driver, Georgios Kotiniotis. They left Gifhorn, Germany, at midnight with 750 kilometers (about 465 miles) of roads ahead of them.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend the match after morning economic meetings in Italy that were brought forward to help fulfill her role as the supposed lucky charm of the national team.

Barzas is glad she is coming ? to further spur the team and 5,000 Greece fans expected to attend the match.

"(The players will) fight a little bit more because (they want) to beat Angela Merkel. (It would be) a little bit of a small kick in Germany's (backside)," he said.

About 15,000 Germans were expected to go to the match, according to the Football Supporters Europe group. Many of the Germans arrived at Gdansk's main train station, where the scalpers' asking price was ?200 (about $250) for a ticket with a face value of ?75 ($95). There didn't appear to be any Greek fans in the market for them.

Cafes in the narrow cobbled street were occupied by either camp of genial beer-drinking fans. As the street filled up and drinks flowed, a large German flag had claimed the iron fence surrounding the ornate Neptune's fountain. Nearby, Greek fans waving an even larger flag occupied the steps leading up the main town hall. On the Motlawa river bank, fans stopped to get their faces painted in team colors, with accordions being played in the background.

Confident German fans could plan ahead of Euro 2012 for a likely quarterfinal in Gdansk. Fans from the Greek Diaspora knew only last Saturday where to head after an upset win over Russia.

"I was actually happy for them (the Greeks) that they finally had something to celebrate," said Stefan Leidig, a Germany fan from Koblenz. "Besides, I hope that they will manage to get out of the crisis at one point."

Two days after being sworn into office, the prime minister of Greece's new conservative-led coalition government is staying at home to work.

Antonis Samaras, a Harvard-educated former finance minister, is better employed stabilizing the country after a tense election last weekend than cheerleading at a soccer match, fan Thomas Nikolopulos said.

"I'm glad they are at home," said Nikolopulos, who arrived on a morning flight from London.

Before Samaras met with lawmakers in Athens on Friday afternoon, he could read headlines fueling national wishes to repel German policy on the field: "Bankrupt Them!" read Greek paper SportDay, as Derby News repeated the Spartan motto "Come and Get it."

In Germany, the best-selling daily Bild led with: "Bye bye Greece; we can't rescue you today."

Nikolopulos, who is originally from Athens, said the feeling back home is that "Germany has put them in the corner" over the euro currency crisis.

"This is Greece's opportunity to stand up and try to go back to being historical wonders," he said, with a blue-and-white striped national flag draped across his shoulders.

Greece fans takes faith in their team's surprise run to be Euro 2004 champion, founded on the same solid defense and dogged resistance shown by the current team in Poland. For three-time European champion Germany, the match seems more routine ? aiming for its fourth straight semifinal at each World Cup and Euro since Greece's golden year.

"For me, it's a normal football match," said German fan Klaus Lehmkuhl, a technical consultant from Muenster. "I don't think the politics is important for the German team."

Still, some off-field tensions are expected when the German national anthem is played minutes before kickoff. And if images of Merkel sitting next to UEFA President Michel Platini in the VIP seats are shown on the stadium giant screens?

"There will be massive boos. I can't see there not being some," said Yiannis Televantibes, a real estate agent from London. "But there's no problem between the fans."

In Berlin, thousands of soccer fans waving German flags flooded the area in front of the landmark Brandenburg Gate. Organizers of the public viewing event said they expected around 400,000 to turn out to watch the match on large screens.

Earlier, a German deputy government spokesman was peppered with questions about the match and asked whether Merkel would feel the need to tone down any goal celebrations, because of the eurozone crisis.

"I think it depends a bit on how the game goes, but I think you will see that she is glad if there's a goal on the right side," Georg Streiter said.

Streiter also shrugged off a question as to whether Merkel would consider herself partly responsible if German loses.

"I think you would be loading up the chancellor, who already has plenty of packages to carry, with an unjustified package," he said. "She's a spectator."

___

Associated Press writers David Rising and Juergen Baetz in Berlin, and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.

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Oracle's Ellison to buy, invest in Lanai

In this Oct. 5, 2011 photo, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld Keynote in San Francisco. Ellison has reached a deal to buy 98 percent of the island of Lanai from its current owner, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Wednesday, June 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Oct. 5, 2011 photo, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld Keynote in San Francisco. Ellison has reached a deal to buy 98 percent of the island of Lanai from its current owner, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Wednesday, June 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2006 file photo David Murdock speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, N.C. Murdock who is selling 98 percent of the Hawaiian island of Lanai to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says he plans to keep rights to complete a wind farm project that has caused controversy among the island's 3,200 residents. (AP Photo/Ross Taylor, File)

(AP) ? Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison is closing in on a purchase even lottery winners can only dream about ? 98 percent of Hawaii's pineapple island, Lanai.

Ellison hasn't said what he plans to do with the vast majority of the island's 141 square miles, but the sellers say he plans substantial investments that will create jobs and stimulate tourism to the island once owned in the 1920s by the founder of Dole Foods Co.

Attempts to reach Ellison through Oracle after business hours Wednesday were not successful. Ellison's involvement in the deal was publicly announced by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

With nearly 50 miles of coastline, two resorts and zero traffic lights, Lanai boasts plenty of unspoiled charm. Tourism officials tout the luxury at its Four Seasons hotels and rugged rural areas that can only be reached by vehicles with 4-wheel drive.

If all goes as planned, most of the island that is home to 3,200 residents and near Maui will be owned by Ellison ? the world's sixth-richest billionaire, according to Forbes.

The outspoken Silicon Valley software magnate is known to race sailboats and make occasional unusual purchases. He once, for example, bought a tennis tournament to keep it in the United States.

The land's current owner, Castle & Cooke Inc., filed a transfer application Wednesday with the state's public utilities commission, which regulates utilities on the island that serve its two resorts.

The sale price for the property was not immediately clear. Lawyers for the seller redacted a copy of the sale agreement signed May 2, saying it includes confidential information that would competitively hurt Ellison and the seller if disclosed. The Maui News previously reported the asking price was between $500 million and $600 million.

Self-made billionaire David Murdock, who owns Castle & Cooke, said he would keep his home on Lanai and the right to build a wind farm, a controversial project that would place windmills on as many as 20 square miles of the island and deliver power to Oahu through an undersea cable.

Murdock said in a statement that selling Lanai was not an impulsive decision, but he has been looking for a buyer who would have the right enthusiasm, commitment and respect for the island's residents.

"I have learned in life that change is inevitable and can be quite positive when guided in the right direction," Murdock said.

Ellison co-founded the Redwood City, Calif.-based business software company in 1977. Forbes ranks him as the third-richest American, with a net worth of $36 billion as of March.

Abercrombie said Ellison has had a longstanding interest in the island.

"We look forward to welcoming Mr. Ellison in the near future," Abercrombie said. "His passion for nature, particularly the ocean is well known specifically in the realm of America's Cup sailing," he said.

Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa wished Murdock well and said he looks forward to meeting Ellison.

The deal involves 88,000 acres of land, plus two resorts, two golf courses, a stable and various residential and commercial buildings, lawyers for Murdock told the utilities commission in its application.

Ellison plans to pay cash, and the deal should result in new jobs, economic stimulus and a reinvigorated local tourism industry, the application said.

"The buyer anticipates making substantial investments in Lanai and is looking forward to partnering with the people of Lanai to chart the island's future," Castle & Cooke lawyers said in the application.

Lanai is Hawaii's smallest publicly accessible inhabited island, with some 3,200 residents. It is known as the "pineapple island" even though Murdock closed its pineapple operations to make way for luxury resort and home development. The majority of the island was once owned by James Dole of Dole Food Company Inc., who bought it in 1922.

Murdock bought out fellow Castle & Cooke shareholders for nearly $700 million in 2000 and took the company private.

According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, more than 26,000 people visited the island from January to April of this year, a 6 percent decline from the same period last year.

The utilities commission is reviewing the prospective deal because it involves indirectly transferring public utilities Castle & Cooke owns on the island ? a water company, a bus and shuttle service, and the island's wastewater utility. Castle & Cooke asked for interim approval by June 26.

Hawaii law requires commission approval to transfer public utilities, and the commission will try to make its decision by that date, said Sean Mikell of the PUC's research division, which is considering the application. The commission does not have jurisdiction over the sale of the island, aside from the transfer of public utilities.

J. Kalani English, a state senator who represents Lanai in Hawaii's Legislature, said he's hopeful the sale to Ellison will mean a return of agriculture to the island.

"I'm relieved because he's one of the richest people on the planet, which means he knows he'll lose a lot of money in the beginning and he can sustain that," said English, a Democrat.

English said Ellison has been known to vacation on Lanai.

Robin Kaye, president of Friends of Lanai, said he wasn't surprised to hear who the buyer is because Ellison's name has been floating around the island lately.

Before Murdock announced he would keep wind farm rights on the island, Kaye said he hoped Ellison wouldn't pursue the project.

"Lanai is worth more than supplying power to Oahu," Kaye said.

Seventh-generation Lanaian Sol Kahoohalahala said he hopes to see an end to high unemployment and more opportunities for economic development beyond tourism.

"I look at this as a potential opportunity for us to get the new owner to look at Lanai in terms of an island that needs to work at sustaining itself," he said. "Tourism cannot be the only economic engine on Lanai."

Kahoohalaha's family managed to hold on to some Lanai land. The 2 percent Ellison isn't buying is owned by the state, county and private residents.

___

Associated Press writers Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and Lisa Leff in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Jury will resume deliberations tomorrow in 4949 Swiss case | Crime ...

The house has since been sold, after a probate court nullified the will and awarded it to Mary Ellen Bendtsen's only child. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer.)

UPDATE:?The jury has gone home for the day. They will resume deliberations in the morning.

Original post: A Dallas County jury is deliberating whether Mark McCay tried to?swindle away the home of an aging Dallas socialite.

McCay, 50, is accused of convincing Mary Ellen Bendtsen to leave him?and his partner her portion of the home in a will she signed in the?hospital the day she had a stroke in February 2005. Prosecutors say he?isolated Bendtsen from her family and took advantage of her mental?state.

Defense attorneys say Bendtsen did not want to see her family and that?she had long wanted to leave the home to McCay and his partner, Justin?Burgess, instead of her only child, Frances Ann Giron.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Donna Strittmatter told jurors that?McCay was ?the face of elder exploitation.?

She said that McCay lied to Bendtsen, saying that Giron was going to?send her mother to a nursing home when it was actually doctor-ordered?rehabilitation. Strittmatter said McCay also lied to Bendtsen that?Giron didn?t want to see her mother when he was the one keeping Giron?away.

?With friends like Mark McCay, Mary Ellen Bendtsen didn?t need?enemies, did she?? Strittmatter said.

Defense attorneys Jeff Buchwald and Karen Lambert said McCay was?following Bendtsen?s wishes regarding her home and family. He was also?trying to help his friend of 15 years stay in her home at 4949 Swiss?Ave. in Dallas.

?You can?t steal from someone who wants to give you their property,??Buchwald said.

Lambert shifted blame to Giron and said Giron, who lived out of state?until 2004, should have done more for her mother.

?If Frances Ann really loved her mother, all she had to do was step in?and do the things Mark McCay did for 15 years.?

Bendtsen died at age 88 in March 2005 ? less than two weeks after?executing the will that left the home to McCay and Burgess.

The will was thrown out by a probate court, and the home went to Giron. It?has since been sold.

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Lear all is to know about safety razor - Why Double Edge Safety ...

There it is again, a cut on your skin due. More often than not, it is caused by a conventional razor which you refused to dispose a long time ago. Probably this time, you get to listen and learn about the uses and benefits of a double edge safety razor. Instead of moping in the corner of your room and would not want to see any "I told you so" look, this is the time to simply continue reading and learn from this piece of advice. Once you start using double edge safety razor, you will never go back into using any plastic multi-blade cartridge razor.

Benefits of using a double edge safety razor: There are way too many reasons why you need to dispose your conventional razors now. However, below are the most popular reasons why a double edge safety razor should be preferred over other kinds of blades:

1.It helps to achieve a healthier you! A double edge safety razor is associated with wet shaving. When your face is always washed with water, it will eventually achieve a natural glow as it moisturizes.

2.It helps you to save money. You will be surprised to learn that just by using a double edge safety razor, you will get to save much compared to conventional razors. In fact, one study claims that D/E safety razor users can save as much as $140 annually!

3.It helps improve your well-being. Since using D/E safety razor requires minimal or even no hassle at all, you will get to obtain a cleaner, and a better result. When you look better, it almost always follows that you feel better about yourself as well. And when you do, you will be having a better outlook in life.

Proper ways of using a double edge safety razor Although there are far too many benefits that we can get from using a double edge safety razor, if it is not used properly, you will not be getting optimum advantage. Here are the proper ways that you can adapt when using this kind of safety razor:

1.Hold the razor firmly. The pressure should be placed on your hand and not on the razor.

2.Apply a skillful hand whenever you shave. This will help you prevent and unnecessary cuts and wounds. Although you need to hold your D/E safety razor tightly, as you shave, it should be done lightly.

3.The safety bar should contact the skin. This will help minimize any cuts. To do this, slowly lift the handle up to the desired angle. Start doing a forward motion.

As you use your double edge safety razor on a regular basis, you will eventually get used to it until it comes out naturally. So why wait another day to start using a double edge safety razor? Start going through the path of a healthier and a better you by using your very own D/E safety razor.

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Church abuse victim faces trial for beating priest

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Opening statements were scheduled to begin Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of beating an aging Jesuit priest who he says molested him and his younger brother more than 35 years ago.

William Lynch has said the priest abused him and his brother during a camping trip in Northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains. Now 44, Lynch will get his longtime wish to face the Rev. Jerold Lindner in court for the first time.

Lynch faces felony charges of assault and elder abuse after prosecutors say he beat Lindner in 2010 in front of startled witnesses at a retirement home for priests.

In the months since his arrest, Lynch has refused to discuss a plea deal and has grown intent on using his own legal trouble to try Lindner in the court of public opinion in a potentially explosive proceeding likely to include testimony from Lynch, the priest and several more of his alleged victims.

The trial will take place in Santa Clara County Superior Court, where several other victims are expected to attend. Lynch faces up to four years in prison if convicted on all charges.

The judge overseeing the case recently ruled that Lynch's lawyer can ask the priest about Lynch's allegations during cross-examination. If Lindner denies the accusations, attorney Pat Harris can call up to three other witnesses who claim they were also molested by Lindner as children, including Lynch's younger brother.

The Lynches, who were 7 and 4 at the time, were raped in the woods and forced to have oral sex with each other while Lindner watched, according to a civil lawsuit. Lindner has been accused of abuse by nearly a dozen people, including his own sister and nieces and nephews, but was never criminally charged because the allegations were too old.

Lindner hung up Monday when The Associated Press called him for comment. He has previously denied abusing the Lynch boys and said in a deposition from the late 1990s that he didn't recall the siblings. The brothers settled with the Jesuits of the California Province for $625,000 in 1998.

Getting Lindner into court ? even as a victim ? has helped Lynch find the peace of mind he's been searching for his whole life, he said.

"I don't want to go to jail but I've come to realize that this whole thing is really bigger than me and the way that I've chosen to handle this is to make a statement," Lynch told the AP. "I'm prepared to take responsibility for anything I've been involved in. I'm willing to do it. I think it's a small sacrifice to get Father Jerry into court."

The priest will likely testify at the trial, but Lynch's attempt to shame and expose Lindner is misguided, said Deputy District Attorney Vicki Gemetti.

Even if the molestation allegations are true, the judge's order only allows the defense to ask general questions about sexual abuse for the purpose of challenging Lindner's credibility as a witness. Other defense witnesses who allege abuse by the priest can't be questioned about specific details that could inflame the jury.

"What the jury needs to be deciding is did an assault take place? There might be sympathetic reasons for an assault, but yes, it's an assault," Gemetti said. "The victim is not squeaky clean but that doesn't change the fact that you can't take the law into your own hands."

It's unlikely testimony about Lynch's abuse allegations could tip the case in his favor ? but not impossible, said Jody Armour, a professor at the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law who specializes in criminal law and social justice issues.

Jurors will have to be reminded not to be swayed by their prejudices or by any sympathy they may feel for Lynch.

"These are some of the toughest cases in criminal law," Armour said. "Even though that jury will be told, 'Don't think about this, this is not evidence, it just goes to credibility,' how are people going to keep those two things separate in their mind?"

There have been several other instances of violence, sometimes fatal, against priests accused of abuse since the Roman Catholic clergy abuse scandal unfolded in 2002.

In Baltimore, a man who claimed he was sodomized and fondled by a priest a decade earlier shot the clergyman three times in 2002 after the priest told him to go away when he demanded an apology. The defendant was acquitted of attempted murder but served 18 months of home detention on a gun conviction.

The following year, priest John Geoghan was strangled in his cell by a fellow inmate who claimed he was chosen by God to kill pedophiles. Geoghan was serving a 9- to 10-year sentence for groping a boy and was at the center of the Boston clergy abuse scandal. He had been accused of molesting as many as 150 boys.

Police said they connected Lynch to the May 2010 attack using phone records. A half hour before the beating, a man identifying himself as "Eric" called the rest home and said someone would arrive shortly to inform Lindner of a family member's death.

When Lindner showed up in the lobby, Lynch asked the 65-year-old priest if he recognized him. After the priest said he did not, Lynch began punching him, according to a police account. On a 911 tape, the assailant can be heard yelling, "Turn yourself in or I'll (expletive) come back and kill you," as a receptionist speaks to a dispatcher.

Lindner was able to drive himself to the hospital and has since recovered.

Lindner was removed from ministry and placed at the Los Gatos retirement home in 2001. He was named in two additional lawsuits for abuse between 1973 and 1985, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Those cases were included in the record $660 million settlement between the church and more than 550 plaintiffs in 2007.

Even if he is convicted, Lynch hopes that facing the priest in court will help him deal with the demons that he said have held him hostage for years. He has battled depression and alcoholism, attempted suicide and his marriage failed.

"He still comes into my dreams now. He just took ownership of me in a way that's hard to get rid of and I have to learn how to live with him," Lynch said of the priest.

"My expectations are realistic, but I'm also coming into this for the first time sort of in control of my life."

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Debt crisis: Europe forced to fill gap as ECB 'refuses' to buy bonds

Since the programme started in June 2010, the ECB had bought ?210.5bn (?170bn) of bonds. But in recent weeks the bank has stopped the SMP, despite Spain's bonds yields tipping over the 7pc danger level and Italian bonds pushing over 6pc.

Experts said markets were unlikely to be convinced by the plan unless Germany agrees to some concessions, particularly giving the ESM a bank licence.

Raoul Ruparel, of Open Europe, said: "With a licence the ESM could borrow from the ECB and then buy bonds. But if it has to issue its own debt in the market before it can buy Spain's or Italy's then the process will be slow and difficult because the markets are already almost closed. It's hard to see how the plan will work without the ESM having a licence."

He added: "The markets may react with relief to this plan because bond yields will come down a bit after the first purchases. But I can't see it being a lasting antidote."

Yesterday Spain was forced to pay 5.074pc to raise ?2.4bn of short-term debt - more than twice the amount it paid last month. Madrid faces a bigger test on Thursday with the auction of longer-term debt.

Stockmarkets rose as traders bet on action from the G20 or the US Federal Reserve. Spain's Ibex rose 2.67pc, Italy's MIB climbed 3.35pc, while the FTSE100 was up 1.7pc.

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Guest Post: Springtime For The Military-Industrial Complex

by John Aziz
ZeroHedge.com
06/19/2012

Yeah, America is spending more today drone-striking American citizens in Yemen, drone-surveilling Mexican drug lords and ?turning our attention to the vast potential of the Asia-Pacific region? than she was during the cold war when a hostile superpower had thousands of nukes pointing at her

.Military contractors have nothing to fear. Whether it is the Pacific buildup to contain Chinese ambition, or drone strikes in the horn of Africa or Pakistan, or the completely-failed drug war, or using the ghost of Kony to establish a toehold in Africa to compete with China for African minerals, or an attempted deposition of Bashar Assad or Egypt?s new Islamist regime, or bombing Iran?s uranium-enrichment facilities, or a conflict over mineral rights in the Arctic, or (as Paul Krugman desires ? and what the heck, it?s 2012, why not?) an alien invasion, or a new global conflict arising out of a global economic reset, it?s springtime for the military contractors. It?s everyone else who should be worried.

The Rest?HERE

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