SMS GRATIS KE SEMUA OPERATOR

SMS Gratis Semua Operator Versi 3. 
Kirim SMS gratis ke semua operator. Silakan masukkan nomer HP penerima dan pesan yang diinginkan Pada Kolom Dibawah Ini. Sudah 11.753.213 SMS terkirim.
Silakan gunakan hanya huruf normal (alphabet) dalam pesan. Huruf mengandung kode yang tidak normal akan otomatis dihapus.Nomor Pengirim Sudah ditentukan memakai nomer server kami.NO PENERIMA, Masukkan tanpa +62 Contoh : Nomer 6285xxxxx Cukup Masukkan 85xxx Penerima tidak dapat mengetahui nomer anda / nama anda,

jadi sertakan nama anda di pesan. Misal "ini vita" / "dari andre"

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“The call display said ‘DND’ ... and I knew”

OTTAWA — He was a very happy person who spent his teenage years in cadets, became a reservist at 17 and a career soldier at 20.

He loved the life.

That was the Stuart Langridge his mother described in often-emotional testimony Thursday to the Military Police Complaints Commission, which is hearing her complaint that investigations into her son’s death were a whitewash designed to protect his military bosses..

“He was a successful soldier,” said Sheila Fynes. “He was deployed to Bosnia. He was excited doing what they all train to do. He rarely spoke in detail about his time in Bosnia but when he got back, he wasn’t sleeping well. In August 2004 he was deployed to Afghanistan.”

It was his seven months of reconnaissance patrols in the mountains of Afghanistan, she said, that started his metamorphosis from an easy-going, sports-loving guy to a depressed recluse who would commit suicide four years later.

After returning from deployment, Langridge spoke little about his Afghanistan experiences.

“The incredible poverty bothered him” said Fynes.

“He said he didn’t want to go back but he said little else about it.”

Drugs and booze — neither major factors in his life before Afghanistan, said his mother — came next.

And then his girlfriend called to say that Stuart was drinking heavily and having “night terrors.”

So his mother traveled from her home in Victoria to Edmonton for an “intervention” — the first of many.

She took it as a good sign when he asked her to send his younger brother Mike out to visit him. Mike is autistic and there was no way Stuart would drink or do drugs if he was around, Fynes said.

“When Mike came home he said I should go and see Stu because he wasn’t feeling well,” she recalled. “I guessed he was detoxing because he’d stopped drinking while Mike was there.”

In what will be the first of a two-part testimony, Fynes wore her son’s Memorial Cross medal as she described her numerous visits to Edmonton, his separation from his common-law wife and what she insists was inadequate care and inappropriate, harsh treatment by his military bosses.

Using her son’s medical records, she categorically rejected the testimony from a succession of military witnesses who said they had gone above and beyond the call of duty to help separate Stuart from his demons and get him well.

“The military said they did all they could to help Stuart,” remarked Commission lawyer Mark Freiman, who is guiding her through the testimony.

“Yes, they did say that didn’t they?” Fynes responded.

(The military insists that drugs and alcohol were Langridge’s problem, not any trauma relating to his service in Afghanistan.)

“Surreal” was how she described a visit by a military pastor and an assisting officer, who told the Fynes family — apparently wrongly — they were not the next-of-kin and could have no official role in planning the funeral.

She listed mistakes made in the death certificate, and the 16 months it took to get Stuart’s belongings that were stored at CFB Edmonton. As well, Fynes cited the new will and next-of-kin papers that had been lost and found behind a filing cabinet.

Finally there was the pain of seeing that Stuart’s treasured Samurai sword, a gift from his grandfather, had gone missing along with his favourite leather chair.

But the memory of the final day of her son’s life — March 15, 2008, the day Stuart hanged himself — is etched deep.

“The call display said ‘DND’ … and I knew.”

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Banking expert suspects Fantino bank documents are forgeries

OTTAWA — Bank documents that purport to show Caribbean bank accounts in the name of associate defence minister Julian Fantino have a number of problems, according to an American banking expert, which suggests the minister may be the victim of a forger.

Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson is reviewing the documents to determine if they constitute sufficient grounds for an investigation.

Fantino complained Thursday to the RCMP "about possible mistaken identity, or identity theft," according to a spokesman.

RCMP Cpl. Lucy Shorey of A Division in Ottawa said Friday that the force could not confirm that it has launched an investigation.

"The RCMP acknowledges that it has received a complaint, and that we're not in a position to respond further to the specifics," she said.

The documents are three account statements from UBS Wealth Management in the Cayman Islands for three separate accounts credited to Fantino, containing a total of $321,978.59, and a record of a $50,000 wire transfer to a RBC Private Bank account in Grand Cayman.

But a New York-based financial services expert who works at a major bank and is familiar with interbank transfers, examined the documents on Friday and found 11 "problems" with the documents.

The documents have "an aroma of BS," said the executive, who provided the evaluation on condition of anonymity and who has no connection to Canadian politics.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, for instance, doesn't show UBS Wealth Management or RBC Private Bank, and the "SWIFT" wire transfer codes are missing elements that are typically present in such documents.

A Canadian banker who examined the documents also noted problems with the SWIFT code, and pointed out that there would be no reason for anyone to wire money from one RBC account to another, since they could simply transfer it, saving money.

Toronto private investigator Derek Snowdy, who made headlines for his role in the Rahim Jaffer-Helena Guergis saga, also examined the documents on Friday and said they look like "a creative Photoshop representation of what it would like to an untrained eye."

The documents were sent to Dawson's office by Richard Lorello, a former Conservative candidate in Fantino's suburban Toronto riding of Vaughan. Lorello, an IT consultant, received them from an anonymous source via email.

Lorello, who passed them on to the Canada Revenue Agency and the Ethics Commissioner's office in the hope that proper authorities could determine their veracity, gave them some credence after his anonymous source demonstrated his ability to get financial information.

The source asked Lorello to deposit a small amount of money in a Canadian bank account and then was able to email him the exact dollar amount, which convinced Lorello to take the documents seriously.

Snowdy said Friday that some private investigators are able to access such information by taking advantage of loopholes in Canadian banking security practices.

Snowdy believes the source of the documents may be former Toronto police officer and private investigator Cullen Johnson, who is wanted by Ontario Provincial Police for fraud charges stemming from allegedly forged offshore bank documents.

The false documents were used against former Ontario provincial politician Eric Cunningham in a divorce action, causing him years of expensive legal headaches.

Johnson is believed to be living in the Caribbean.

A man identifying himself as Johnson called Postmedia News on Friday to refute the allegations of forgery and fraud, saying he is the victim of a conspiracy of powerful politicians and businessmen.

He said he was calling from "somewhere on the planet Earth," and offered to demonstrate his ability to learn financial details if the reporter provided his Social Insurance Number and date of birth, which he referred to as an "integrity test."

He declined to confirm that he was the source of the documents, and suggested the question be put to Lorello, who has undertaken to protect the anonymity of his source.

Lorello said Friday that whatever the opinion of bankers who have looked at the documents, he hopes the ethics commissioner will get to the bottom of the matter.

"In the end, I want conclusive proof to end the speculation," he said. "Again, I will cite a former Canadian prime minister who accepted cash from a businessman only to deny it and (have it) proven later. The integrity of our Parliament and its members is of paramount importance."

A source said Friday the ethics commissioner's office will soon announce that it will not be further investigating the documents, but the commissioner's office did not confirm that.

smaher@postmedia.com

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Lowongan Kerja PT. INDOFOOD SUKSES MAKMUR Tbk - April 2012

PT. INDOFOOD SUKSES MAKMUR Tbk adalah konsumen terbesar perusahaan di Indonesia, saat ini sedang mencari profesional muda Indonesia dengan motivasi tinggi dan tekad yang kuat, posisi ini akan ditempatkan di salah satu anak perusahaan kami :

* Head of Internal Audit
POSISI:
Kepala Internal Audit untuk salah satu anak perusahaan Indofood.
Persyaratan:
- Sarjana Akuntansi / Supply Chain Management
- Minimal 8 tahun pengalaman dikombinasikan dalam Internal Audit dan / atau kerja profesional
- Pengalaman manajerial adalah suatu keharusan
- Pengalaman dalam memimpin dan mengelola sebuah tim besar
- Banyak pemahaman proses bisnis, terutama dalam Manajemen Supply Chain
- Banyak pemahaman risiko & kontrol, perbaikan proses bisnis, metodologi audit internal dan pendekatan
- Sangat baik kemampuan komunikasi dalam Bahasa Indonesia (membaca, menulis, mendengarkan) untuk mengartikulasikan secara efektif dengan semua tingkat manajemen
- Pembuat keputusan yang efektif dengan kemampuan untuk mengelola sumber daya besar
- Memiliki keterampilan interpersonal yang kuat sebagai pekerjaan membutuhkan kemampuan untuk mendapatkan pada dengan orang-orang pada tingkat yang berbeda
- Bersedia melakukan perjalanan dalam negeri (diperkirakan 30-50%)
- Pengetahuan di SAP menjadi nilai lebih
- MBA / CPA / CIA / CISA menjadi nilai lebih
Description pekerjaan:
- Kepala kantor di Jakarta
- Kepala dan memimpin sebuah tim dari sekitar 25 personil
- Laporkan ke Corporate Internal Audit Manager Indofood Manajer Umum / Wakil Umum, dan kepada Dewan unit Direksi
- Memberikan wawasan bisnis dan berkomunikasi temuan audit semua berhubungan dengan manajemen eksekutif
- Mengembangkan rencana audit tahunan dan memantau kinerja terhadap rencana
- Siapkan laporan status triwulanan untuk Direksi
- Bertanggung jawab untuk laporan hasil Audit Internal
- Menyediakan pelatihan internal untuk tim Internal Audit
- Merumuskan Perencanaan Strategis Internal Audit

Jika Anda memenuhi persyaratan di atas dan tertarik dengan posisi, silakan kirim CV Anda (lebih baik dalam kata atau format adobe) dan foto terbaru dengan kode posisi (Kepala Internal Audit) sebagai subjek email Anda (file tidak lebih dari 500 kb) untuk:
recruitment@indofood.co.id

Lowongan Kerja PT. INDOFOOD SUKSES MAKMUR Tbk - April 2012

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KERJA PART TIME ,HASILKAN PULUHAN JUTA RUPIAH/BULAN DARI BISNIS ONLINE.

 http://www.indo-milyader.com/?id=rara adalah Suatu konsep bisnis online yang nyata dan efektif dalam menghasilkan uang di internet.Dengan Berinvestasi Rp 100.000,- Sekali seumur hidup,anda dipastikan* mendapatkan hasil 10 Milyar Rupiah lebih.Hasil se-fantastik itu akan anda peroleh hanya dengan mengajak rekan anda sebanyak 4 ( empat ) orang saja. Ini adalah sedikit cerita tentang pengalaman saya di bisnis onlineAwalnya saya hanya sekedar iseng-iseng saja karena saya memang tergolong masih sangat awam di bidang bisnis online,Setelah saya mencari peluang usaha dan peluang bisnis kesana kemari akhirnya saya menemukan sebuah bisnis sampingan yang bisa saya jadikan sebagai ladang usaha.Saya bergabung di bisnis ini pada tanggal 4-Juni-2011Setelah dua bulan bergabung,saya tidak melalukan apa-apa dan penghasilan saya masih NOL,Sampai akhirnya pada pertengahan bulan agustus-2011 saya mulai mempromosikan Link bisnis saya,dan pada bulan agustus-2011 tersebut saya sudah mendapatkan penghasilan sedikit demi sedikit dari bisnis online ini.Lalu 4 bulan kemudian terhitung sejak saya mulai aktif di bisnis ini pada bulan agustus-2011,sampai sekarang tepatnya bulan Desember-2011 Total penghasilan saya dari bisnis ini sudah mencapai Rp20Juta Lebih,hanya dalam waktu 4 bulan saja.
Berikut sebuah gambaran penghasilan Anda melalui indo-milyader.com Klik Pada Gambar Untuk memperjelasDan Berikut ini saya berikan Screenshot Member Area dari akun saya:Klik Pada Gambar Untuk memperjelas Dan ini adalah Screenshot Email pemberitahuan yang dikirim oleh Admin indo-milyader.com kepada saya mengenai penarikan Komisi/Bonus.
Klik Pada Gambar Untuk memperjelasKlik Pada Gambar Untuk memperjelasTertarik Untuk mencoba bisnis online ini….??

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Blind Chinese Activist in U.S. Hands, Supporter Says

The U.S. State Department is being tight-lipped on the whereabouts of blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who escaped house arrest last week, but the organization that helped him escape says he's in the hands of U.S. diplomats.

Chen, a 40-year-old human rights activist who has campaigned for disabled rights and against forced abortions, scaled a wall and slipped past around 100 security guards surrounding his house.

Bob Fu, the founder and president of ChinaAid, which aided Chen in his getaway, called the escape an "extraordinary adventure."

"He walked for hours from his own home in the middle of the night. He was wounded, wet, covered in mud. He swam across a river," Fu told ABC News.

Chen was picked up by supporters and driven to Beijing on April 23. Several friends hid him in different locations until his last host was able to reach out to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on April 27, Fu said.

"He's now 100 percent safe. He's still in China, inside some diplomatic building in the hands of U.S. diplomats," Fu said.

Fu said he is not able to discuss the details of Chen's whereabouts because negotiations are still in progress, but it is widely believed that he is in U.S. custody.

"Very high level diplomatic discussion between China and the U.S. is now in progress," Fu said.

If Chen is in U.S. custody, this would be the first time since 1989, when the United States took in student supporter Fang Lizhi during the Tiananmen Square protests, that the United States has taken in a human rights activist.

At a State Department briefing Friday, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland would not comment on the situation other than to say the United States has called for Chen's release in the past.

"As you know, we have spoken out about his case in the past," Nuland said.

Fu said the Chinese government is deliberating and will probably release a formal response today or Monday.

"My gut feeling is that the government wants to get rid of him, because he is a potential continual troublemaker in their eyes," Fu said. "He would prefer to remain in China. We offered him an underground railroad to reach a Western nation, but he was not willing to take that route. His own words are that he will fight to the end. He wants to live a normal Chinese citizen's life."

But if the Chinese government will not guarantee his freedom and safety, then Chen has no other option but to leave, said Fu.

Chen was imprisoned for four years and three months after filing a lawsuit against the Shandong Province government on behalf of women who were forced to undergo abortions and sterilizations. Upon his release in 2010, Chen was put under house arrest. For the last 20 months, Chen's house was surrounded by guards who would not allow anyone to come near. Officials installed surveillance cameras and a phone jamming device in an effort to prevent Chen from communicating with the outside world.

While he was hiding in Beijing, Chen released a video proclaiming his escape. In the video, he states three requests to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao: that corrupt officials are held accountable, that his family is protected, and that local government officials who persecuted him and his family are investigated and punished for their actions.

In the video, Chen gave graphic details of government abuses against his family, including that his 80-year-old mother was beaten on her birthday, and his wife's eye socket was broken but she was not allowed to seek medical treatment.

Word of the escape came only days before Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake are scheduled to be in Beijing for the Strategic and Economic Dialogues.

Kurt Campbell, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, arrived in Beijing today ahead of schedule.

"It could become [a major international incident] if it is mishandled. Again, we will have to see how the Chinese handle it," said Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the China Center and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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Afghan Children Trigger Bomb, 2 Dead

Afghan officials say a buried bomb has killed two children in the east of the country.

The Paktika provincial governor's office said in a statement Monday that the children triggered the explosion while playing outside Sunday in Surobi district. The statement says the two dead children were about 12 years old, without giving their gender. Another child was seriously wounded.

Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed, according to U.N. figures. Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for the vast majority of those deaths.

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Lowongan Kerja Holcim Indonesia 2012

Lowongan Kerja Holcim Indonesia
Maintenance & Inventory Planner before 12th January, 2012
Jawa Timur - Jeladri
Scope of works:Assist Maintenance Planner & Inspector for maintenance (maintenance) of production of heavy equipment, vehicles and crushing plantThe task was carried out to complete the maintenance work order system preparation tool (Mechanical Availibility) can be optimally maintainedEducation : Minimum graduate from D3 ( Diploma Degree ) in any disciplines, mechanical engineering is desirableExperience: Minimum 5 years work experience in the field of heavy equipment and crushing plantCan operate AUTOCAD and crushing plant design (part)Computer literacy: Proficient with MS OfficeLanguage : Good in English and Bahasa both oral or writtenOther qualification / skills :Able to read parts book, service manuals, technical dataAbility to conduct technical troubleshootingAble to use measuring devices / diagnostic workAble to run the vehicle / heavy equipmentUnderstanding of concrete businessGood team workIntegrity and honestyFranchise - Operation Support before 10th January, 2012
Jawa Timur

Scope of works:

To plan, direct, organize, supervise and evaluate all activities in franchisee operations (production, quality, maintenance, O2C(order to cash), administration, safety & environment) which must allign with Holcim standards to achieve budgeted profitability in a safe and efficient mannerTo be actively involved in the establishment of additional franchisee operations this will support the long term business objectives of the companyEnsure brand credibility through an excellent serviceGraduate from S-1 (Bachelors) all any disciplinesGraduate from D3 (Diploma Degree with 5 years’ experience in construction materials Industry and in readymixed concrete is desirable )Management study and formal training aspects of concrete are desirableMore than 3 years franchise industry or construction materials Industry and in readymixed concrete is desirableExperience in area technical, sales, production, business development or franchiseComputer literacy: Proficient with MS Office and Command Batch is desirableLanguage: Good in English both oral or writtenMaintain Customer Satisfaction through Quality and ServiceLowest cost production through cost controlsUnderstanding of readymixed concrete businessGood team workNegotiation skillIntegrity and honestyKnowledge of franchise businessWilling to travell and high mobilityIf you are interested to the position, please send your resume to:
Organizational Design & Development Dept.
Recruitment-idn@holcim.com

(Please indicate position applied for on the subject field of your email)
Lowongan Kerja Holcim Indonesia

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Miss. Tent Collapse Raises Questions

(Sid Hastings/AP Photo)

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe and Alex Perez report:

ST. LOUIS — Baseball fans in St. Louis have had a lot to celebrate in the past year, but on Saturday evening – after another win by the defending champion Cardinals — cheers turned to screams when a sudden storm proved deadly.

With 200 fans packed into Kilroy’s beer garden tent, a powerful gust of straight line winds tore down the tent, sending metal rods flying and injuring a hundred people.

One man in the tent was reportedly struck by lightning and died of a heart attack. The owner of Kilroy’s, Art Randall, performed CPR on the victim, but it was too late.

“My heart bleeds for every person here that bled,” Randall told ABC News Sunday morning, tears in his eyes as he stood outside a bar that has seen many a celebration, but now, also, tragedy.

As of this afternoon, nine patients from the scene remained in area hospitals: five at Barnes Jewish Hospital, their specific conditions unknown; and four at University Hospital, two in the ICU — one in critical condition, one serious — and another two in fair condition, St. Louis Fire Department spokesman Dan Sutter said.

St. Louis Public Safety Director Eddie Roth told ABC News that Saturday evening’s tragedy has left him wondering if establishments such as Kilroy’s should start using designated weather watchers to provide advice to patrons on approaching inclement weather and help them take shelter if necessary.

At the time of Saturday’s incident, St. Louis was under a severe thunderstorm warning.

“The sky went black,” Randall said. “Nobody stood a chance. It was, it was just bodies scattered everywhere. The tent just rolled clean up under the railroad tracks.”

More bad weather was expected to hit this afternoon. Around mid-day, Thomas Briggs at the National Weather Service said a large body of thunderstorms was passing north and west of the metro area, but the worst storms would steer clear of downtown.

That was welcome news for baseball fans here who came out — again — in droves for a Cardinals’ game today. Under gray, overcast skies, fans flooded in to Busch Stadium, with tents — like the one that collapsed at Kilroy’s — again set up in the area outside the ballpark. The rains held off. The game went on.

Kilroy’s, however, was closed for the day. A sign on the door read, “Cardinal Nation — We are closed today due to the tragic events that occurred here yesterday. Please keep those that were affected and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Sincerely, the Kilroy family.”

Outside the bar, a small shrine with candles and flowers was set up against one wall. On the other side of the parking lot, clean-up crews swept away the remnants of the destroyed tent.

“My family is having trouble with this,” Randall said. “There’s a lot of families having trouble with this. I’ve got customers that are going to be second guessing, ‘Did I do enough?’ Just like I’m doing.

“You don’t see this thing coming,” he said. “There is no preparation you can take for when it happens. … I’m debating right now, do I want to do this anymore?”

This is not the first time that straight line winds have wreaked havoc. They are also blamed for the horrifying stage collapse that killed seven people at the Sugarland concert in Indiana last summer. And three years ago in Canada a fan at an AC-DC concert was crushed to death after winds caused a stage collapse there.

If any positives can come out of this weekend’s tragedy, Randall said, it’s the knowledge that everyone at his bar selflessly jumped in to help when disaster struck.

“Everybody did everything,” he said. “If you ever had a cynical bone in your body about your fellow man, forget it — people are better than you think.”

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Photos: Marilyn Monroe, JFK 'Rendezvous' Home for Sale

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Screams rip through the night as mum vanishes

Will Truter heard screams on the night Mrs Baden-Clay disappeared, grabbed a torch and went outside. Picture: The Courier Mail Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

BROOKFIELD residents have told of hearing a woman's screams that became muffled as if a hand was placed over her mouth the night Allison Baden-Clay vanished.

Residents revealed for the first time how the screams brought them out of their homes - and their regret at not contacting police at the time.

Businessman Will Truter was watching television with his family when he heard two screams, then went out into the dark to investigate when he heard an even more worrying sound.

"It was like if someone was screaming and someone kept a hand over their mouth," he told The Sunday Mail, in an account being treated seriously by police as they probe the mum-of-three's disappearance.

Detectives visited Mrs Baden-Clay's husband Gerard again at his parents' home yesterday as more than 120 police and SES volunteers searched the west Brisbane hamlet on foot, trail bikes and horseback.

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The devil is in the docket detail, Mr Slipper

Peter Slipper on Sydney Harbour with a Cypriot delegation. Picture: YouTube Source: The Daily Telegraph

Limo driver previously lost cab licence Also allegedly assaulted female passenger Has driven Peter Slipper for the past 19 years

THE limousine driver at the centre of claims Peter Slipper misused his travel entitlements was convicted of forging Cabcharge dockets in 2002.

Antwan Kaikaty, who has been driving the Speaker for 19 years, was convicted of stealing a mobile phone and money from a female passenger, who was also indecently assaulted, according to the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, reported The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Kaikaty, who spoke with Australian Federal Police officers yesterday, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, but given a suspended sentence.

The explosive revelations come as Mr Slipper faced further questions over his use of handwritten taxi documents to pay for three trips around Sydney in January and February. It is understood Mr Kaikaty, who has hired a criminal lawyer, was the driver on each trip.

Mr Slipper, who last night said he had no knowledge of Mr Kaikaty's offences, faces more questions over his use of hand-written taxi documents amid concerns the Cabcharge receipts he released were in sequential order despite the trips involved being taken days and weeks apart.

The Gillard government has backed the Speaker's return when parliament resumes on May 8, although cross-bench independent MPs are threatening to block the move.

Labor MPs are also reporting a public backlash to the scandal, which includes allegations Mr Slipper sexually harassed male staffer James Ashby.

The Speaker, who stood aside while he fights the allegations, released 13 Cabcharge driver receipts on Thursday and claimed they showed Mr Ashby's claims were a "complete fabrication".

But the financial records raised questions about whether particular fares had been inflated. Suspicions were also raised about the receipt serial numbers being in sequential order. This was despite the first being for travel on January 27 and subsequent trips in mid-February.

Mr Slipper, who remains keen to return to the Speaker's role when parliament resumes on May 8 for the budget, dismissed this as "irrelevant".

The receipts released by Mr Slipper show they were torn from Mr Kaikaty's Cabcharge book almost in neat sequential order, despite the gap between the various dates.

These include three Cabcharge fares on February 11, when Mr Slipper was hosting a Sydney Harbour cruise for a delegation from Cyprus.

Mr Slipper faced questions over why one Cabcharge docket on this date showed he was at the airport - but then another was marked as "suburbs to suburbs".

Mr Slipper dismissed suspicions about all the dockets produced being manually processed. "Many limo drivers taking Cabcharge ... only use the manual dockets because they do not have electronic facilities.

"What is relevant is the journey and when it took place, not the serial number of the docket which is irrelevant," he told Sky News.

He also told Sky News: "I have used Cabcharge because it is cheaper for the taxpayer than Comcar."

Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese also dismissed the odd circumstances: "The charge isn't whether Peter Slipper is unusual. The charge here is that Peter Slipper engaged in fraudulent conduct and handed over blank Cabcharges. What has shown in the documentation ... is that allegation is not correct."

On January 27, Mr Slipper visited Mr Albanese's Marrickville electorate office to discuss parliamentary reform.

Mr Kaikaty was not available for comment last night. His lawyer, Michael Bowe, from Marsdens, said he was making "no admission" on behalf of his client.

Mr Kaikaty's son said his father spoke with AFP officers yesterday.

The Daily Telegraph yesterday tracked down cab driver Nicholas Mikhael, whose ABN is listed in Mr Slipper's Cabcharge dockets.

Mr Mikhael, who owns and operates several taxis from a Bankstown depot, was at a funeral but his receptionist Alisha said she recognised the handwriting on the dockets and the driver number as belonging to a limo driver named Antwan.

"I just know him as Antwan. He's a limo driver, not a taxi driver. They are his dockets," Alisha said.

The receptionist explained that if cabbies and drivers lodged vouchers with Cabcharge, it could take about a month to be paid, so many drivers visit the exchange service to get the cash immediately, for a 2 per cent fee.

She said Antwan was a regular at the office, where she had worked for the past six years.

"He comes here probably once a month, with several dockets and cashes them all in," she said.

Additional reporting Andrew Clennell

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The Case for Fixing Social Security Right Now

Every time I write about the financial condition of Social Security, I get incredibly angry at Congress and the White House. They should step up to the plate and apply the relatively minor financial changes that would restore the program to complete financial sustainability. Next to the truly tough issues of healthcare spending, federal deficits, and taxes, Social Security is a walk in the park.

[See Social Security, Medicare Outlooks Worsen.]

Governments seem to do little right these days, at a time when the public desperately needs to see something positive from its elected leaders. Restoring the public's confidence in the staying power of Social Security would send a positive message to younger generations. They now have ample reason to doubt they will receive benefits that are anything like those being paid to current retirees.

The value and success of this program are not in question. More than 55 million Americans draw benefits today. Some 14 million of them are so dependent on Social Security that they would be impoverished without its payments—payments they have largely (although not entirely) funded with their own payroll taxes.

As the values of private investment accounts were tanking after the Great Recession, Social Security proved the benefit of a dependable retirement program. It was there when we needed it, and with modest changes, it can continue to be there for current and future generations.

The Social Security Administration spends about $12 billion a year and employs about 80,000 people to run all its retirement and disability benefit programs. Those are big numbers, but not compared with the much larger profits that private companies charge for running 401(k)s, IRAs, and other private retirement accounts. Social Security is a bargain in terms of its administrative costs.

[See Why the Early-Retirement Trend Reversed in 2011.]

Putting Social Security on firm financial footing for the next 50 or 75 years is not hard because the program's issues are not huge. This week's annual Social Security trustee report said the program would be unable to pay full benefits in the year 2033, three years earlier than projected in the same report last year.

Even so, if nothing was done, Social Security could pay its full benefits for 21 more years and then still be able to pay 75 percent of those benefits after that. So, we're talking about heading off a 25 percent spending shortfall more than two decades away.

Still, 20 years is not far off in terms of gradually implementing changes that would provide for the program's longer-term needs while not forcing jarring changes on people already retired or within 10 years of retiring. The program's smaller disability insurance component is only four years from insolvency, in case lawmakers need a match lit under them sooner.

Lastly, the options for dealing with Social Security's financial needs have been studied to death and then some. There are few surprises here. And there aren't serious ideological issues either, at least not by comparison with the intractable tax-and-spend tug of war that has paralyzed Congress of late. But compromises would be needed.

[See How Delaying Retirement Can Help You.]

The three most prominently advanced reforms are to reduce the size of the annual cost of living adjustment, raise the retirement age, and lift the ceiling on earnings subject to payroll taxes. It's now at $110,100 a year, but because high earners have fared so well in recent years, the program taxes a smaller percentage of the nation's wage income than it used to.

The Simpson-Bowles deficit restructuring plan of late 2010 included these and other suggested Social Security reforms. They provide a well-researched starting point for changing the program. The Social Security components of that plan could be peeled off, introduced separately, and subjected to extensive House and Senate hearings.

If Congress and the White House were serious, the program could be put on solid financial ground again well before the elections. And because Social Security has historically been separate from the rest of the federal budget, its needs could be addressed without opening up that much bigger can of worms.

The common wisdom is that no major issue will be addressed in Washington before the November elections. I get it. It's sad, really, that there is not more heat on legislators to act. Perhaps we've just become too accustomed to gridlock. But wouldn't it send a wonderful message if legislators actually demonstrated that they cared more about doing the public's business than results of their next election? Helping Social Security would set the table for those tougher spending and tax decisions. I am, of course, terminally naive. But wouldn't it be great!

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10 Car-Buying Tips From Former Salesman

10 Car-Buying Tips From Former Salesman - ABC News Hot Topics: John Edwards?Zerg Rush?Brittany Killgore HomeVideoBlogsNewsPoliticsInvestigativeHealthEntertainmentMoneyTechGood Morning America20/20This WeekNightlineWorld NewsMore Money: Business Traveler Housing MarketForeclosuresUnemployment RateEconomy NewsSmall BusinessUnclaimed MoneySavings TipsStocks Home> Money10 Car-Buying Tips From Former SalesmanApril 28, 2012

ABCNEWS.com

Unless you happen to love the dance of negotiation, need forced friendliness to feel popular or like losing money, buying a car probably fills you with dread.

It doesn't have to, according to Oren Weintraub,who runs AuthorityAuto.com and RevDeal.net. How does Weintraub know how to deal with car salesmen? He was one. The key is preparation, which starts with reading these ten tips based on his inside knowledge of life on the lot.

Get more inside scoops on various professions on the full episode of "20/20: True Confessions."

1. Don't Go on Emotion

Take your time to find out the exact car you want and research the available options. Learn what other people are paying for that car before you go into the dealership. That information is available (usually for a fee) from several websites, including Edmunds.com and ConsumerReports.org.

2. Break It Down

Separate your negotiation according to every profit center the dealer has: price, rebates, trade-in value, interest rate, lease rate, bank fee, alarms, maintenance, warranties, and any other products the dealer is offering.

3. Don't Fall for False Urgency

Nine times out of 10, a deal the salesman quotes you will be available the next day (unless it's the last day of a special program). Prepare yourself to walk out of the dealership if you are being pressured and are uncomfortable.

4. End of the Month Is Good, But...

The end of the month is not the only time to get a great deal. Dealerships are always motivated to sell cars. If you do want to take advantage of the dealer's urgency to meet his monthly goal or quota, start your negotiation a few days before.

5. Don't Waste Your Time

Before you start negotiating, make sure the dealer has the particular car you want in stock. If he doesn't, he can usually trade for it with another dealer. This can take a few days, and there is no guarantee that the dealer that can get the car for you. If not, you've wasted your time. Moreover, dealers typically offer better deals on cars they have in stock.

6. Check the Switch

If a dealer proposes to switch you from a new car to a used car, or vice versa, get all the information on the second car. Then go home and research its market value. Take any false urgency such as, "This pre-owned car is a very special, rare, low-mileage car that may be impossible to replace," with two grains of salt.

Sometimes these pitches are at least partially true. If you feel that the car the dealer is showing you really is special, leave and gather your information quickly. You can always ask the dealer to hold the car for a while.

7. Lower Payment Isn't Lower Price

If a salesman offers to lower your monthly payment by changing the terms of a loan or lease, he may not be offering much of anything. This is a common way to present a more comfortable payment for you without having to lower his price and profit.

8. The Early Bird Gets Rolled

If you're the type who has to be the first on your block with the new Mustang, fine, but you probably won't get a good deal. The hype surrounding a new model (or a new version of an existing model) tilts the supply-demand ratio in the dealers' favor, allowing them to charge retail or even more when the new car hits the showroom. If you wait a few months for the actual inventory to arrive at the dealer, you'll usually get a better price.

9. Keep Future Buys in Mind

Set yourself up to be in a good position to get your next car. If you are going to purchase a car with little or no money down and you plan to replace it within 36 months, you will likely end up owing more money on the car than it's worth. This could create a cycle of taking negative equity from one car to another, further burying yourself in a negative trade cycle.

Instead, lease it for a 36-month term, and you'll end up with a paid contract at the end of the lease.

10. A Call Ahead Saves Time

Call the dealership before going there and ask the salesman to have the car you want to drive ready. If you don't, it could have a dead battery, be buried behind other cars or even be stored off-site.

More from ABC News HR Exec Reveals 20 Shocking Tips to Get, Keep a JobHonda Appeal Seeks to Reverse Hybrid Owner's AwardTest Drive: VW Passat TDI offers space, mpg, comfortChrysler Brings Back the Sizzling SRT ViperOren Weintraub's Car Buying TipsUsed Car Tactics: Former Salesman Speaks Out More Video » Related Topics: Interest Rate, Bank Tax, Negative Equity Comment & ContributeDo you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News. abcnws_fw_params = {siteSectionId: 'nws_business', siteSectionIdType: 0, siteSectionNetworkId: 168234, siteSectionFallbackId: 109523, customVisitor:'', keyValues:'pageType=story'}; pc.fwSeg();pc.fwAppendKeyValues('show=2020');pc.getSWID();pc.subsectionOverride();function fw_config(){return abcnws_fw_params;}if (tq.videoOverrideContext != null) {jsvideoViewEventProp16Value = tq.videoOverrideContext;} else {jsvideoViewEventProp16Value = "videoadtree|BodyMind/DiseasesConditions/Allergies/";}if (jsvideoViewEventProp16Value == "none") { jsvideoViewEventProp16Value = ""; }jsvideoViewEventEvar20Value = jsvideoViewEventProp16Value;kdp_embed_default = {doKdpEmbed : function() {// Should only be changed if you are running Kaltura On Prem / Kaltura CE:var service_url = "http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/";// logic cascade for deciding which entry to loadvar entry_id = this.getEntryIdFromUrl() || this.getEntryIdFromDataAttr() || this.fallback_entry;flashembed(this.placeholder_id,{// attributes and params:id :"kaltura_player_default",src : service_url + "/index.php/kwidget/wid/_" + kdp_embed_default.partner_id + "/uiconf_id/" + kdp_embed_default.uiconf_id + "/entry_id/" + entry_id,height :221,width :392,bgcolor :"#000000",allowNetworking : "all",version :[10,0],expressInstall :"http://cdn.kaltura.org/apis/seo/expressinstall.swf",wmode: "transparent"},{// flashvars (double-quote the values)externalInterfaceDisabled : "false",jsInterfaceReadyFunc :"jsInterfaceReady",contentType: "video",//"restrictUserAgent.restrictedUserAgents": "GoogleTV",referer : "http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/oren-weintraubs-car-buying-tips-16205704","omniture.videoViewEventEvar15Value" : "player|storypage","omniture.videoViewEventProp18Value" : "player|storypage","omniture.videoViewEventProp16Value" : jsvideoViewEventProp16Value,"omniture.videoViewEventEvar20Value" : jsvideoViewEventEvar20Value,"omniture.adStartEvar15Value" : "player|storypage","omniture.adStartEvar20Value" : jsvideoViewEventEvar20Value,noThumbnail: true,"abcnews.displayEndCard":false,"shareBtnControllerScreen.enabled" : "true",//"video.stretchThumbnail":true,//"volumeBar.initialValue":0.75,//"volumeBar.forceInitialValue":true,debugMode: true})},onFail : function() {alert("FLASH EMBEDDING FAILED");},getEntryIdFromUrl : function() {if(location.hash.indexOf(kdp_embed_default.url_param_name) != -1) {// get the entry id from the url document fragment (aka hash):return location.hash.split("#")[1].substring((kdp_embed_default.url_param_name.length+1));}else if(location.search.indexOf(kdp_embed_default.url_param_name) != -1) {// get the entry id from the url parameters (aka querystring):return location.search.split("?")[1].substring((kdp_embed_default.url_param_name.length+1));}else {// use the default video defined in "fallback_entry" below://return kdp_embed_default.fallback_entry;return false;}},getEntryIdFromDataAttr : function() {var data_attr_val = document.getElementById(this.placeholder_id).getAttribute("data-entryid");if(data_attr_val && !(data_attr_val   Watch Fridays on ABC Watch the Full Episode 20/20 4/27: True Confessions Savanna Samson: Confessions of a Porn Star-Turned-MomZimmerman Had $200K in DonationsJohn Edwards' Daughter Is His Biggest Supporter ABC News on Facebook Follow 20/20 Today in ABC NewsABC News Home » External links are provided for reference purposes. ABC News is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. Copyright © 2012 ABC News Internet Ventures. Yahoo! - ABC News Network

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Paul Ryan's Budget Inspired by Ayn Rand, Not Jesus Christ

Republican politicians like to wear their faith on their sleeves and talk about their Christian values. But when it comes to practicing what you preach, the GOP has a long way to go.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the Republican party.]

Republicans don't have any more respect for the Bible than they do the Constitution. Conservatives talk about their dedication to the Constitution but they support the Arizona anti-immigration law which is a mockery of our founding document. Right wingers talk about their the importance of their faith but they completely ignore the biblical injunctions to help the poor.

On Tuesday, 90 faculty members and priests at Georgetown, the Jesuit University in Washington, criticized Mitt Romney's budget buddy, Rep. Paul Ryan, for saying his budget plan which includes cuts in antipoverty programs and school lunches and tax breaks for bankers and billionaires—was inspired by his Catholic faith. The letter to Ryan reads, "Your budget appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ."

The letter goes on to say, "We would be remiss in our duties to you and our students if we did not challenge your continuing misuse of Catholic teaching to defend a budget plan that decimates food programs for struggling families, radically weakens protections for the elderly and sick and gives more tax breaks to the wealthiest few."

[Read Study: Conservatives' Trust of Science Hits All Time Low.]

The New Testament chronicles Jesus Christ's concern for the poor. In his haste to devour "The Fountainhead," Ryan apparently didn't have time to read it. So here are some of the highlights for Congressman Ryan courtesy of Jim Wallis, the author of God's Politics.

In the Magnificant, Mary discusses the meaning of the coming of Jesus when she says, "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly: he has filled the hungry with good things; and sent the rich empty away."

In his gospel, Matthew writes, "Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing,  I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

You get the idea. A little more Bible study and a lot more compassion for the poor would go a long way for Romney, Ryan and other Republicans.

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Wash. Police Surround Bunker Of Suspected Murderer

Authorities are planning their next move today after they pumped tear gas into the hillside bunker of a survivalist who allegedly shot his wife and daughter in the head and set the family home on fire.

Three dozen SWAT officers hiked through rugged terrain and undergrowth near the Rattlesnake Ridge trail in the Cascade foothills of Washington Friday to reach the elaborate bunker where authorities believe Peter Keller, 41, is hiding.

Authorities have not seen Keller since they responded to a fire at his North Bend residence on Sunday.

Inside, responders found the bodies of Keller's wife, Lynnettee Keller, 41, and daughter Kaylene, 19.

Keller is believed to have spent eight years planning and building his bunker, as well as stockpiling food and supplies, police said.

SWAT officers told King County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Cindi West that photos of the bunker "don't do it justice."

"They said the fort appears to be amazingly fortified," she told the Associated Press.

After pumping tear gas into the bunker, authorities heard movement inside but did not enter the structure, which they believe could be booby-trapped.

Keller is also believed to be heavily armed and equipped with a gas mask.

"It's a very extreme and tactical situation. Time is on our side. We're not going to do anything rash, said King County Sheriff Steve Strachan.

Authorities got close enough to the bunker to remove a door on Friday, West said. They're also considering using water to flood out Keller, the Seattle Times reported.

Sheriff's deputies were able to pinpoint Keller's hiding place after they found photos that he had intended to burn in his home of the bunker.

An enhanced picture revealed the North Bend Premium Outlets in the background, which led police to the Rattlesnake Ridge area.

The trail will be closed until further notice.

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COURT TIPS A BUCKET ON KFC: $8m payout to paralysed girl

Monika Samaan and her father Amanwial leave the Supreme Court in Sydney. Picture: AAP Source: AAP

The family girl who allegedly got salmonella and became brain damaged after eating KFC has won legal action.

The school girl pictured before and after the incident Source: AAP

Family wins payout after four-week trial Judge orders food giant to pay $8 million plus costs Restaurant chain "deeply disappointed"

FAST food giant KFC has been told to pay $8 million to the parents of a girl who say she was left paralysed and brain damaged after eating a chicken Twister.

Monika Samaan, then aged 7, became seriously ill with salmonella poisoning after eating at the Villawood KFC in 2005.

Last Friday her family won their compensation bid against KFC in the New South Wales Supreme Court and today Justice Stephen Rothman ordered KFC to pay $8 million plus legal costs.

KFC denied it was responsible for the poisoning and says it will appeal the decision.

Monika Samaan with her brother Abanoub before the incident. Picture: Supplied.
In a statement the restaurant said the case was clearly tragic but they were "deeply disappointed and surprised" by Judge Rothman's decision.

"We believe the evidence showed KFC did not cause this tragedy and, after reviewing the judgment and seeking further advice from our lawyers, we have decided to appeal Justice Rothman's decision," KFC Australia's chief corporate affairs officer Sally Glover said. A picture showing that Monika Samaan wanted to be a doctor before being brain damaged and confined to a wheelchair after salmonella poisoning. Picture: AAP

Samaan was in a coma for six months and was left with spastic quadriplegia with severe brain damage after falling ill.

During the trial her father told the court that he and his wife and son also required hospitalisation after sharing her Twister.

The family’s lawyer George Vlahakis said the costs of caring for the severely disabled girl had already exhausted "the limited resources of the family".

He said they were relieved the court battle was over but distressed by the announcement of an appeal.

"Monika's severe brain damage and severe disability has already exhausted the very limited resources of the family," he said.

"Monika is now a big girl and they are finding it increasingly difficult to lift her and to look after her basic needs as well as look after Monika's younger siblings.

"The compensation ordered is very much needed.

"KFC have to date been determined that Monika does not receive a cent."

Lawyer for KFC, Ian Barker, QC, said during the trial the family could not prove it had eaten the twister as there was no sales date to back up their claim, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“You did not tell anyone at the hospital, when you were there between October 27 and 29, that you had shared a KFC Twister that Monday," Mr Barker said in court in July 2010.

The court had previously heard that on the evening she ate the Twister, Monika complained she couldn't finish, so she shared it with her elder brother and parents.

Her grandmother who was also in the house chose not to have any. The next morning the four who had eaten the Twister felt ill with vomiting and diarrhoea.

The next day Monika collapsed and all four were rushed to Westmead and Fairfield hospitals.

Experts at Westmead Hospital found Monika, her parents and older brother had a common strain of salmonella in their stools, although Monika's case was very rare.

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To Fix the Federal Reserve, Fix Congress First

Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Chairman of Federal Reserve Board Ben Bernanke participate in an open session of a Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.

There's a new effort in Congress to make the Federal Reserve more effective.

Yes, you read that right. You might have thought the most broken thing in Washington is Congress, not the Fed. But the mirrors on Capitol Hill apparently don't work, so legislators aren't aware of their own abject ineptitude. All they see are problems elsewhere, which of course require Congressional action.

[Check out the latest political cartoons]

The "Sound Dollar Act" introduced recently in the House, with a similar bill in the Senate, would end the "dual mandate" that makes it the Fed's mission to keep both inflation and unemployment in check. Up until 1977, the Fed's job was only to worry about inflation. But that year Congress directed the Fed to keep unemployment low as well, and the Fed has pursued both goals ever since.

The focus on unemployment is controversial because the Fed doesn't necessarily have the tools to do that job. Lowering interest rates, the Fed's usual method, has an indirect effect on the labor market, at best. With rates now as low as they can go and the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent, it's hard to argue that low rates have done much to reduce unemployment.

That's why the Fed has been experimenting with "quantitative easing" and other exotic types of monetary policy, which have accomplished a few things, such as boosting the stock market, but still haven't brought unemployment down by much. There's legitimate concern that so much easing might trigger runaway inflation in the future, which would mean that in the pursuit of one goal, the Fed lost sight of another.

[See 6 reasons America will rebound.]

It's possible that the Fed simply can't do much about unemployment, and should, in fact, go back to focusing only on inflation. But if that happens, there will be one huge problem: It will be nobody's job to do something when unemployment gets too high.

There are two basic ways the government can respond to an economic downturn and try to boost employment: monetary policy (the Fed) and fiscal policy (government spending). Congress controls spending, and in theory is supposed to work in tandem with the Fed to rejuvenate the economy when needed.

How much confidence do you have that Congress would do a better job of reducing unemployment than the Fed? Congress has certainly tried, by passing the 2008 bank bailouts, the 2009 stimulus bill and a bunch of tax cuts and other measures meant to get the economy back on its feet. So you could argue that Congress has been just as ineffective as the Fed. Congress has also set the economy back with last year's debt-ceiling fiasco and its inability to do anything constructive about the mushrooming national debt. Its spending bills now require the government to borrow around $1 trillion per year that taxpayers will have to pay back some day, but there's no plan for how to do that.

[How Mitt Romney Can Recover From the GOP Primaries]

Here's what Congress should be doing: Coming up with a coherent plan for paying down the debt and making Washington solvent again. Simplifying the tax code. If Obamacare gets snuffed by the Supreme Court, devising a new way to solve the huge problem of skyrocketing health costs and 50 million uninsured Americans. And if Congress were really serious about fixing everything wrong with the government, it would pass strict new laws and perhaps even a constitutional amendment limiting corporate and special-interest donations to political campaigns. If Congress were to address those problems, trust in government would rise, CEOs would feel more confident, and hiring would pick up for sure.

Here's what Congress is doing instead: Basically nothing. Huge decisions will have to be made about taxes, spending and debt within the next 12 months, but nobody's even talking about that because they don't want to frighten voters before the November elections. Instead, Congress is passing small-bore bills designed to seem serious but upset no entrenched interest. And of course each party is desperately trying to score political points and gain an edge in the elections, which is doing nothing whatsoever to make the nation better off.

The Fed is an imperfect organization, and its results over the last few years have been decidedly mixed. But Congress is far more broken than the Fed. When are we going to see a Sound Congress Act?

Rick Newman is the author of Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.

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Watch: Caught on Tape: Van Drags Woman by Purse

External links are provided for reference purposes. ABC News is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. Copyright © 2012 ABC News Internet Ventures. Yahoo! - ABC News Network

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Most Visited Theme Parks

Over four decades after its initial construction, Walt Disney World Resort is still the world's most popular theme park, claiming an annual attendance of almost 17 million to the Magic Kingdom alone.Reuters

Tokyo's Universal Studios theme park mixes the greatest elements of its Orlando and Hollywood counterparts to create a cohesive and endlessly fun theme park experience.Universal Studios

Just a few miles outside the major industrial city of Suwon sits South Korea's answer to Disneyland. Everland claims to be the world's fifth-largest theme park, attracting upward of 6.8 million visitors every year.Samsung Everland Inc.

SeaWorld in Orlando Florida is a marine park that offers a cross between an aquarium and an amusement park.AP

Nestled against the rocky coastline of Hong Kong's picturesque southern shore is one of Asia's most impressive theme parks, Ocean Park.Copyright Ocean Park Hong Kong

Theme parks have been a definitive element of popular culture for over half a century. With titans like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios drawing enormous crowds, the U.S. has a lot to offer, in terms of attendance and variety. 

However, other major theme parks, particularly in Asia, have emerged to rival the American mainstays. 

That got us thinking about which parks attract the most visitors. Here are the some of the top theme parks which draw the biggest crowds in the world.

Walt Disney World Resort - Florida, USA

In 1971, Disney built what is arguably the quintessential theme park. Indeed, for many of us, the mere mention of the phrase conjures up images of the iconic Cinderella's Castle overlooking the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, Fla.

Over four decades after its initial construction, Walt Disney World Resort is still the world's most popular theme park, claiming an annual attendance of almost 17 million to the Magic Kingdom alone, according to a report from the Themed Entertainment Association.

Some of the resort's most famous attractions, like Space Mountain and the Tower of Terror have become industry icons, while the sprawling Animal Kingdom and state-of-the-art Epcot theme park offer some truly unique experiences. Add to the mix the luxurious Disney resort hotel and two enormous water parks, and it's easy to see why Disney World remains number one.

Number of visitors: No overall figure for the entire resort. Magic Kingdom – 16.9 million, Epcot – 10.8 million, Animal Kingdom – 9.6 million, Disney’s Hollywood Studios – 9.6 million

Universal Studios - Osaka, Japan

Tokyo's Universal Studios theme park mixes the greatest elements of its Orlando and Hollywood counterparts to create a cohesive and endlessly fun theme park experience. Guests can experience live-action shows, amusement park rides, as well as restaurants and shops inspired by some of Universal's most famous movie franchises.

Visitors take to the high seas on a harrowing "Jaws" adventure, dodge a roaring T-Rex while careening through Jurassic Park, or soar through the air on a high flying "Spider-Man" roller-coaster.

Number of visitors: 8.1 million

Everland Resort - Yongin, South Korea

Just a few miles outside the major industrial city of Suwon sits South Korea's answer to Disneyland. Everland claims to be the world's fifth-largest theme park.

The expansive amusement park is split into distinct zones, each based on a different theme, including the European Adventure, American Adventure and Magic Land areas. Everland is also notable for its abundant natural beauty, with colorful flowerbeds and lush foliage peppered throughout the resort. Families will adore the Safari Zone featuring exotic creatures like tigers, lions, bears, giraffes and elephants, while speed demons can burn rubber on the Everland Speedway racetrack.

Number of visitors:  6.8 million

SeaWorld Orlando - Florida, USA

SeaWorld in Orlando Florida is a marine park that offers a cross between an aquarium and an amusement park. This vast 200-acre site comprises lagoons, rainforest and dozens of attractions designed to teach guests about the oceans most fascinating creatures while also providing plenty of fun. The park's star resident, Shamu, and his family of killer whales perform breathtaking shows for spectators, along with dolphins, sea lions and various other aquatic wonders. Elsewhere water rides and rollercoasters like the Journey to Atlantis and Kraken are sure to make a splash with thrill-seekers.

Number of visitors: 5.1 Million

Ocean Park Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Nestled against the rocky coastline of Hong Kong's picturesque southern shore is one of Asia's most impressive theme parks. This sprawling marine park and amusement center features dozens of thrilling roller coasters and rides as well as some exquisite natural attractions, spread across two levels connected by cable cars.

The "lowland" features a Kids' World, in addition to some of the park's most appealing attractions, including a group of elusive giant pandas. Above this area looms the "headland," which, besides offering scores of thrill rides and marine attractions, provides sumptuous views of the South China Sea.

Number of visitors: 5.1 million

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Group: Escaped Chinese Activist in U.S. Protection

A Chinese activist who exposed forced abortions and other atrocities in his home country has escaped house arrest in his province and is under the protection of U.S. officials, a Christian human rights group said Saturday.

The announcement about blind activist Chen Guangcheng by the Texas- based ChinaAid group comes just days before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit Beijing.

The 40-year-old Chen exposed forced abortions and sterilizations in Chinese villages that are part of the country’s one-child policy.

He fled April 22 from his guarded home in Shandong province in eastern China. Activists said local supporters took Chen away by car, then delivered him to others who brought him to Beijing.

Chen had been held in his home since his release from prison in September 2010.

Neither the United States nor China has confirmed the reports of Chen’s fleeing or his whereabouts.

However, ChinaAid President Bob Fu told Fox News on Saturday he has confirmed reports that Chen is under diplomatic protection in Beijing and that officials are involved in “high-level negotiations about the next step.”

Fu hopes Chen’s departure will be a catalyst for large talks about human rights conditions in China, regardless what happens before Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner visit there Thursday and Friday for talks on global economics and topics including the violence in Sudan.

“Given Mrs. Clinton’s repeatedly telling China to release him, I’m optimistic this will help the diplomatic push,” Fu said.

He called the development a “pivotal moment” for U.S. human rights diplomacy.

“The Obama administration must stand firmly with (Chen) or risk losing credibility as a defender of freedom and the rule of law,” Fu added.“ If there is a reason why Chinese dissidents revere the U.S., it is for a moment like this."

He also said the case should be handled like that of professor Fang Lizhi.

In 1989, Lizhi, whose speeches inspired student protesters throughout the 1980s, fled with his wife to the U.S. Embassy after China's military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. He stayed there for 13 months while the countries discussed his fate.

Chen's case comes as the U.S. is looking for help from China on many worldwide issues, such as trying to restrain North Korea and Iran on their nuclear ambitions, and push Syria to observe a cease-fire in the fighting in that country.

Fu and Chinese-based activists said Chen's his wife and 6-year-old daughter are still at the family's home.

Chen recorded a video as a direct address to Premier Wen Jiabao, condemning the treatment of him and his family and accusing local Communist Party officials by name. Activists sent the video Friday to the overseas Chinese news site Boxun.com, which posted part of it on YouTube.

Activist Hu Jia met with Chen after his escape and said people with Chen later called him.

If Chen is in the U.S. Embassy or with U.S. officials at another location, it is not known how he would be able to leave or where he could go without Chinese permission. There was no extra security outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Saturday.

Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, posted a photo Friday on Twitter of Chen and Hu together. Chen is wearing the same clothes he wore in the video. Both men are smiling.

China's media have been silent on the case, and most words related to Chen and his village have been blocked online. Chinese political analysts have declined to comment.

A self-taught lawyer blinded by fever in infancy, Chen served four years in prison for revealing the abortions and sterilizations in his and surrounding villages. Since his release, local officials confined him to his home, beating him up on several occasions.

Chen is widely admired. Even Hollywood actor Christian Bale tried to visit, but was roughed up by locals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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One-Time Poster Child for Missing Children Sentenced for Child Rape

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California cab driver thrown in trunk after pickup

Published April 28, 2012

Associated Press

PITTSBURG, Calif. -- Authorities say a cab driver was robbed at gunpoint and then thrown into the trunk of his cab and driven around by three people he picked up from the Pittsburg-Bay Point Bay Area Rapid Transit Station.

The suspects apparently asked the driver to take them to an apartment complex in Antioch on Thursday night. But authorities say they then robbed him of money, jewelry and a cell phone and forced him into the cab's trunk.

The driver was eventually dropped off in Oakland. He was not injured.

 Police are looking for the yellow cab, a Ford Crown Victoria emblazoned with the words, "Antioch Pittsburg," and the number "36."

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'The Scream' Sale Could Continue Global Art Shift

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is seen as it is hung for display at Sotheby's Auction Rooms in London on April 12, 2012.

For lovers of moody expressionist depictions of psychological angst, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event. On May 2, Sotheby's will auction off one of the four main versions of Edvard Munch's The Scream—the last privately owned version of the famous masterpiece.

There are few who can hope to compete in the bidding for the pastel-on-board work. It is expected to go for at least $80 million, but to a certain class of buyers, the actual worth is priceless. For cities hoping to soon be among major world art centers, purchasing such a renowned piece would be a big step in that direction.

[Hitler's Records of Nazi Art Plunder Resurface]

"If you want to build a world-class museum, which is what Qatar and Abu Dhabi are doing and the Chinese government is doing in Beijing, when you think of a museum you think of an iconic work," says Don Thompson, author of The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art. "If I say 'Louvre,' you think of one painting, right? So you need something like that."

Qatar is among the most talked-about potential bidders for The Scream as it attempts to fill out its art collections. The country spent $250 million on Paul Cezanne's The Cardplayers earlier this year—the highest price ever paid for a work of art.

But the international art market is not just shifting in the upper bounds of the stratosphere. Among smaller private collectors, the market is also shifting, particularly toward China.

"The increase in the number of Chinese billionaires (and millionaires) has led to an increase in demand for fine art. I've witnessed this myself at art auctions." says Carol Marie Boyer, Associate Professor of Finance at Long Island University, in an e-mail.

[NYC Photo Exhibit Captures Warhol As a Young Artist]

The Chinese are at the top of the art world, in terms of both buying and selling. According to artprice.com's Art Market Trends 2011 report, China was the No. 1 country in terms of fine art auction sales revenue, with 41.4 percent of that revenue, to the U.S.'s 23.6 percent and the United Kingdom's 19.4 percent. And of the 10 top-selling artists in 2011, six were Chinese.

For all their prolific spending, what are these buyers getting? China's growing upper crust, as well as buyers worldwide, are sometimes seeking out pieces that are as much investments as collection pieces. For them, asset appreciation and artistic appreciation can go hand in hand.

"The people who invest in art stick in the range of $50,000 to $1 million. ... Basically it's a beauty contest. You're trying to choose an artist who will be more popular five years from now," says Thompson.

Even for those who plan to keep their art, value can be important.

"Most private collectors do not intend to sell, though they are invariably delighted if the value of their collection, or at least some pieces in their collection, appreciate in price," e-mails Bruno Frey, full professor of economics at the University of Zurich.

As for what those returns look like, the art world has its ups and downs like any stock market. Recently, the market has proven resilient. As the Financial Times reported earlier this year, the Mei Moses Fine Art Index, a popular index of art values, shows that art has far outpaced the S&P 500 over the last decade, with an average annual return of 7.8 percent compared to 2.7 percent for the S&P.

However, like market, art is subject to substantial volatility. According to the Mei Moses index, art grew at an annual rate of over 30 percent from 1985 to 1990, but then went on to fall by 65 percent from 1991 to 1995.

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Budget crackdown targets 'away game' execs

Treasurer Wayne Swan was in relaxed mode yesterday at home with his family in Kedron, Brisbane, as he anticipates a budget surplus of at least $1.5 billion and promises to spare ordinary families the brunt of the pain by targeting the wealthy and closing a lucrative tax-free loophole. Picture: Steve Pohlner Source: The Sunday Telegraph

Executives claiming tax-free cash for living away from home will reportedly be targeted in the May Budget.

Measure tightens rules of away-from-home allowance Execs will have to prove they rent or own second home Forecast to save $1bn, but mining staff exempt

TAX breaks for the rich will be slashed in the May Budget, with a crackdown on executives claiming tax-free cash for living away from home.

Pledging to protect low- and middle-income earners from the pain, the Budget razor gang has targeted the lucrative loophole to deliver at least $1 billion in savings.

The government is also expected to defer some Defence spending and tighten the Medicare safety net rebates to deliver a surplus.

But the deepening crisis over the scandal engulfing Speaker Peter Slipper could endanger the government's surplus pledge, with key Independents offering "no guarantees" on savings measures.

Workers will be forced to prove they rent or own a second home interstate to claim part of their salary as living away from home allowances. The tax-free cash will also be limited to one year only instead of the current arrangements where it can be claimed indefinitely. But fly-in, fly-out staff, including mining workers, will be exempted and will continue to get the perk.

The move to tighten the tax loophole follows plans to double the tax on super contributions for workers earning over $300,000 in the Budget. A triple whammy of a new means test for private health insurance, the flood levy and no compensation for the carbon tax is already in place for high-income families.

Highly paid executives are securing thousands of dollars tax-free under the current system. In one case cited by the Australian Taxation Office, an executive earning $957,000 was also claiming a tax-free accommodation allowance of $273,000 a year. The government banned foreign executives from claiming the allowances last year.

While the lion's share of the benefits are claimed by the wealthy, other workers securing the living away from home allowances will also be hit. But the Treasurer has said struggling families will be spared the pain.

"Our approach is very simply this - that we will do everything we possibly can to look after low- and middle-income earners. The restraint is spread across a whole range of spending areas. But we will try and do it as fairly as we possibly can."

Australian Council of Social Services spokeswoman Cassandra Goldie urged the government to close the tax loophole for living away from home allowances: "People are able to use this tax arrangement to essentially reduce their tax liability".

Unions described the proposed carve-out of fly-in, fly-out workers as "clever".  "Frankly, it's clearly been exploited. It's just a rort," ACTU's Tim Lyons said.

"Any tax breaks that more than triples in the place of five years suggests some clever tax agents and accountants are involved. Requiring people to actually have a second residence to claim it is just common sense in my view. At the moment you can claim it without having a second home.  It's a bit ridiculous."

Surplus 'on track'

Mr Swan described the Coalition as "headless chooks" for their reaction to previous Budget cuts for welfare payments to people earning over $150,000 a year.

"They were perfectly reasonable and at the end of the day those who kicked up a storm and ran around like headless chooks actually ended up supporting those measures in the Parliament. They actually supported it," he said.

The Treasurer said the government was "on track" to deliver a Budget surplus, forecast at $1.5 billion at the mid-year economic update received late last year. That figure is expected to be revised upwards but the Treasurer will not know the final figure until closer to the Budget. He said a Budget surplus was crucial to putting downwards pressure on interest rates.

"One of the objectives of a surplus is to give maximum room to the Reserve Bank for flexibility to cut rates."

But Mr Swan said the government faced a Herculean task as revenues had fallen since the last update.  "Revenues are down further than we expected in the mid-year update which came through at the end of last year. That's made the preparation of the Budget more difficult.

"But you've got to keep that in perspective. You would rather be in Australia bringing down a Budget with unemployment on 5.2 per cent with a huge investment pipeline and solid consumption than being in any other developed economy where unemployment is almost twice that.

"I think Australians do know that relative to many of the developed economy we are in a far better position.  We've got to keep it that way by bringing the Budget back to surplus."

Mr Swan urged the Parliament to take a "mature" approach to the Budget.

"We believe we can get them through the Parliament because the goal here is the economic security of Australian families. You're just assuming the Coalition will be so economically reckless that they will vote against the Budget. Well, we will just have to wait and see."

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6 Tips for a Budget-Friendly Home Makeover

If a home renovation or redecorating project is on your schedule this season but you’re stressed about costs, make sure you’re taking advantage of some great deals and discounts available in your area. Even a few small investments for your home can increase your home’s value. Small, inexpensive home decorating projects can freshen up your living space and create a whole new ambiance. Whether you’re looking to update your main living areas, repaint the entire house, or want to refurbish rooms with new furniture and decor, you don’t have to spend thousands to create a new, designer-inspired look.

Here are six tips for your budget-friendly home makeover:

1. Shop the Vintage Stores

If you’re looking to add a few key pieces of decor to a room on a smaller budget, head to some vintage or antique stores in your area to pick up gently used accent furniture and unique pieces of decor. These are great destinations for bargain hunters and it’s unlikely that you’ll find anything similar to standard items at big-box stores and home goods stores in your area. Items like upholstered chairs, framed paintings, or even some old-fashioned lamps can add some character and personality to any room.

2. Update Furniture as a DIY Project

Slip covers on sofas, new cushions on bar seats, and a fresh coat of paint on tables and desks can freshen up your furnishings without a heavy cash investment. Instead of replacing these key pieces of furniture with new items, set aside a couple of days to update everything and give it a new look. Sofa covers and new pillows can completely change the look of your living room without too much effort—or monetary investment. A few coats of fresh paint in a new color could be just what you need to update tables, chairs, and accent furniture around the home. New color combinations can revitalize your living space.

3. Paint Accent Walls

When you’re working with a tight budget, repainting every wall inside the home (or putting up wallpaper in every room) can be expensive. Pick out just one wall in each room to decorate instead. A pop of color on a single accent wall can really freshen up the living area and even make it look bigger. Think about what colors elicit different emotions—light blue can be calming and a good match for a baby room while orange can be energizing and a good match for a fitness room. Make sure to pick out colors that complement existing decor and also liven up the space.

4. Create More Space with Mirrors

If you can’t afford to shell over the cash for a room expansion, add some mirrors to different wall spaces to reflect the light. Strategically-placed mirrors can end up making a very small area seem much larger. You can use a set of tiled mirrors in a cascading pattern, or set up longer wall mirrors across an empty wall to create the illusion of more space. You can find all types of mirrors at most big-box stores and search online for mirrors that are cut in a unique design or custom-ordered.

5. Be Creative with Shelving

Hanging shelves and wall shelves can serve double duty as a piece of decor and also have functional purposes. Cascading “floating” shelves down the wall of a stairwell or on an empty wall are easy on the eyes and can also be used to display photographs and collectibles. Smaller shelving units can be valuable space savers in a small office or even in a bedroom. Larger book cases and cubicle-style shelves can help keep your living space more organized and also add some more clean lines to a room. Be creative with your use of different types of shelves to balance out a room and freshen up the space.

6. Enhance the Lighting

An expensive lighting system can completely change the look of a room, but you don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to create some special effects. A few strategically-placed lamps can add some dimension to a room and enhance the living space. Play with different types of light bulbs to get just the right amount of illumination you want for each room. Light dimmers can also help to change up the ambiance and mood in a certain area.

Sabah Karimi is a frequent contributor to consumer blog Wise Bread and Yahoo! Shine.

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Obama Targets Diploma Mills that Market to Vets

President Barack Obama speaks at University of Colorado Boulder.

By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — President Barack Obama reached out to a generation of young soldiers Friday as he added new protections for veterans and military families misled or bilked by career colleges and technical programs that target their federal education benefits. "They don't care about you," he declared, "they care about your cash."

Obama signed a broad order that partially addresses growing complaints about fraudulent marketing and recruiting practices aimed at military families eligible for federal education aid under the GI Bill.

[See Photos of President Barack Obama's Re-election Campaign.]

Sounding outraged, Obama said some of these schools go after military men and women "just for the money." And citing what he called "one of the worst examples," Obama said a college recruiter enrolled Marines with brain injuries who couldn't even remember what courses they had signed up for.

"That's appalling, that's disgraceful," Obama said. "They're trying to swindle and hoodwink you."

In remarks that echoed some of his election-year rhetoric, Obama said he made troops and veterans a promise that America would fight for them just as they fought for their country. He addressed what he called the "9/11 generation," both in the military and out, as he listed accomplishments of his first term.

First, the president and first lady Michelle Obama paid tribute to fallen soldiers, walking slowly hand in hand along the Fort Stewart Warriors Walk, a wide path lined with 441 memorial trees. At the base of each tree sits a granite marker with a soldier's name.

Though there is little the federal government can do to shut down diploma mills, the new protections would make it harder for postsecondary and technical schools to misrepresent themselves to military students.

The main target of the White House action is for-profit colleges and universities that market heavily to military families because of the easy availability of federal money under the GI Bill.

Some postsecondary schools try to attract current and former military service members using deceptive military-themed websites that appear to be government-run or connected to the GI Bill benefit system, administration officials said.

[Read: Gas Prices Grow More Under Obama Than Carter.]

Commercial sites like GIbill.com, for instance, give the appearance of being generalized information sites about the benefit but in fact direct users to a narrow list of mostly for-profit institutions.

Colleges — not all of them for-profits — advertise on such sites and pay outside companies for recruiting leads, hoping for a piece of the estimated $9 billion the new G.I. Bill is expected to pay out this year to educate nearly 600,000 veterans.

Much of the advertising is tied closely to online searches for terms like "GI Bill." As a result, the Obama administration wants to trademark the term "GI Bill" so it can't be used as an enticement.

Quality at for-profit colleges varies widely, and many are a good fit for students, particularly adult learners looking for flexible scheduling and specialized career training that often requires a certificate but not a degree.

The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which represents for-profits, said in a statement it was disappointed that Obama "decided to bypass the Congress" with an executive order.

"Career-oriented institutions proudly serve military and veteran populations and work with congressional leaders in a bipartisan manner to address concerns about veteran education across all sectors of higher education," the lobbying group said.

Obama was introduced by Sgt. Johnnie Marshall, one of several soldiers who met with the president privately before his remarks. Marshall enrolled in two online courses at a for-profit school only to learn the school had accreditation problems. He has since transferred to Central Texas College.

Among those in the crowd was Pfc. Benjamin Root, 25, of Dubuque, Iowa, who said his home mailbox gets clogged with flyers and brochures from vocational and technical colleges. "Colleges can be very aggressive trying to recruit active-duty soldiers and veterans because we have government benefits," Root said. "If they can do anything to safeguard those benefits, that would be great."

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Mexico police help search for missing Arizona girl- Four missing children found suffocated in Mexico

Published April 28, 2012

Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. –  The search for a 6-year-old Arizona girl who disappeared from her family's home has extended to Mexico, authorities said Friday.

U.S. Marshals have been in touch with Mexican law enforcement officials who are checking hotels, bus terminals and other businesses as they help look for Isabel Mercedes Celis, according to Tucson police. A photo of the first-grader is being circulated in Mexico as well.

Police began looking at the possibility that Isabel could have been taken there because of Tucson's close proximity to the border, Lt. Fabian Pacheco said.

The girl's parents reported her missing last Saturday, saying they last saw her in her bedroom the night of April 20 and discovered she was missing the next morning, according to police.

Police say a window was open with the screen pushed aside.

"We can say it's highly unlikely Isabel got up and walked out on her own. I would definitely say our investigation gears toward that -- that someone is responsible for the disappearance of Isabel," Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said.

Officers also said Friday that they are searching for five possible witnesses, who appear on surveillance footage posted to police department's official Youtube channel.

The video, which runs a little more than a minute, shows two males and three females -- walking in a parking lot in the direction of the Celis home last Saturday between 1 and 1:30 a.m.

Villasenor said they are hoping to identify anyone on the video in case they are potential witnesses or have information useful to the investigation.

Villasenor advised the public to come forward if they notice anyone who showed changes in normal activities or behavior Saturday or the days since.

Investigators spent Thursday night combing through the lake at a local park with sonar equipment. They said they were acting on a tip, but wouldn't elaborate.

Officers also searched bodies of water in other city parks.

Pacheco said police are also looking for any video from a baseball game that Isabel's family attended the night before she disappeared.

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Chinese legal activist in US protection, group says

BEIJING –  A blind legal activist who fled house arrest in his rural China village is under the protection of U.S. officials and high-level talks are taking place between the countries about his fate, an overseas activist group said Saturday.

The whereabouts of Chen Guangcheng -- amid unconfirmed reports that he sought protection at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing -- could be a major political complication for the two countries, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other top U.S. officials due to arrive in China this coming week for the latest round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

"Chen is under U.S. protection and high-level talks are currently under way between U.S. and Chinese officials regarding Chen's status," said a statement from the ChinaAid Association. It cited a source close to the situation.

Texas-based ChinaAid and its founder, Bob Fu, have been active in promoting Chen's case and confirmed Friday that Chen had escaped to Beijing from where he was being held in his village in Shandong province in eastern China.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing declined to comment Saturday, as have U.S. officials in Washington.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told a briefing earlier Saturday on the upcoming talks with the U.S. that he had no information on Chen's case.

"Your question does not come within the scope of today's briefing. So I have no information to give you," he said when asked about Chen.

Fu said Chen's case was a benchmark for the United States and its human rights image around the world.

"Because of Chen's wide popularity, the Obama administration must stand firmly with him or risk losing credibility as a defender of freedom and the rule of law," he said in the statement.

"If there is a reason why Chinese dissidents revere the U.S., it is for a moment like this," Fu said.

But the case comes as the United States is looking for help from China on many issues around the world, such as trying to restrain North Korea and Iran on their nuclear ambitions, and push Syria to observe a cease-fire in the fighting in that country. Bilateral disputes over trade, China's currency and U.S. relations with Taiwan are also issues that likely will be part of the talks, scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Fu and Chinese-based activists say Chen slipped away from his intensely guarded home on the night of April 22, was driven away by activists and then handed over to others who brought him to Beijing.

Chen recorded a video as a direct address to Premier Wen Jiabao, condemning the treatment of him and his family and accusing local Communist Party officials by name. Activists sent the video Friday to the overseas Chinese news site Boxun.com, which posted part of it on YouTube.

Activist Hu Jia met with Chen after his escape and said the people with Chen later called him. "They said, 'He is in a 100 percent safe place,"' Hu said. "If they say that, I know where that place is. There's only one 100 percent (safe) place in China, and that's the U.S. Embassy." Claims of Chen's location could not be verified.

Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, posted a photo Friday on Twitter of Chen and Hu together. Chen is wearing the same clothes he wore in the video. Both men are smiling.

Chen's escape, if ultimately successful, would boost a beleaguered civil rights community, which has faced rising arrests and other harassment over the past year.

If Chen is in the U.S. Embassy or with U.S. officials at another location, it is not known how he would be able to leave or where he could go without Chinese permission.

In 1989, when Fang Lizhi, whose speeches inspired student protesters throughout the 1980s, fled with his wife to the U.S. Embassy after China's 1989 military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, he was forced to stay there for 13 months while the countries discussed his fate.

Chen's case is more complicated because his wife and 6-year-old daughter are still trapped in Shandong.

Fu said Chen's case should be handled through negotiations, like Fang's, and that his family should not suffer any reprisals.

China's media have been silent on the case, and most words related to Chen and his village have been blocked online. Chinese political analysts have declined to comment.

A self-taught lawyer blinded by fever in infancy, Chen served four years in prison for exposing forced abortions and sterilizations in his and surrounding villages. Since his release in September 2010, local officials confined him to his home, despite the lack of legal grounds for doing so, beating him up on several occasions.

Chen was widely admired by rights activists at home who last year campaigned to publicize his case among ordinary Chinese and encourage them to go to Dongshigu village and break the security cordon. Even Hollywood actor Christian Bale tried to visit, but as with many others he was roughed up by locals paid to keep outsiders away.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups called on the Chinese government to ensure the safety of Chen and his family, saying they had been abused during 18 months of illegal house arrest.

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