Thursday, July 23, 2009
Paralysed Kids Buried For Solar Eclipse Cure
Pakistani parents have buried paralysed children at a river bank in the hope a total eclipse of the sun would allow them to walk. Skip related content
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Two disabled girls and a boy covered up to their heads into the Indus River bank in the southern city of Hyderabad.
They stayed there for 90 minutes while a spiritual leader recited from the Koran.
The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century plunged millions across Asia into temporary darkness on Wednesday.
It triggered scenes of religious fervour, fear and excitement in India and China.
"Whenever there's a solar eclipse, I go to Hyderabad to help heal suffering humanity," said Arif Shah, who read from the Koran.
"Allah bestows powers in the paralysed parts of handicapped people during an eclipse and certainly heals them," he said.
Nadeem, the father of four-year-old Palwasha whose left side is paralysed, said he had great hopes that his daughter's health would improve.
"I don't mind if she doesn't recover fully but, if it helps her recover to a certain extent, it will be enough to make us happy," he said.
People in the southern province of Sindh believe the solar eclipse offers special treatment to people suffering from a variety of ailments.
"Our society believes in myths. Such methods are all based on myths and have nothing to do with medical science," said psychiatrist Syed Ali Wasif.
The trailer for Whiteout courtesy of IGN.
After two years stationed at Antarctica's South Pole research base, lone U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate 
Amazon to Acquire Zappos for $847 Million
By Brad Stone 
Zappos A Zappos warehouse in Kentucky. The ten-year-old online shoe company has won fans with perks like free shipping and personalized service.
Zappos A Zappos warehouse in Kentucky. The ten-year-old online shoe company has won fans with perks like free shipping and personalized service.
Amazon says it has reached an agreement to purchase the online shoe retailer Zappos.com.
Amazon says it is paying for the acquisition with 10 million shares of stock worth approximately $807 million, based on the average closing price for the 45 trading days ended July 17. In addition, Amazon said it would provide Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units.
Tony Hsieh, the chief executive of Zappos, has blogged about the deal here and said the company would maintain its independence within Amazon.
Asked whether Amazon plans to close its own Endless store for shoes and handbags, a spokesman, Craig Berman, replied via e-mail: “Amazon plans to continue building these stores and focusing on making the experience even better for our customers. There are no plans to shut down any existing stores based on the acquisition of Zappos.”
In an eight-minute video address, Amazon’s chief executive, Jeffrey Bezos, used a flip chart to pass along the lessons he had learned from running his company:
1) Obsess over customers
2) Invent
3) Think long term
When he finally got around to talking about Zappos, about six minutes into the video, he said, “Zappos has a customer obsession, which is so easy for me to admire,” he said. “I get all weak-kneed when I see a customer-obsessed company.”
Mr. Bezos also said he valued Zappos’ culture, brand and leadership, and that poised the company for a lot of growth ahead. “And that brings me to that final thing that I know: It’s always Day 1.” (Read more about Zappos’ culture in this November Bits interview with Mr. Hsieh.)
In a note to his employees, Mr. Hsieh said Zappos would continue to operate separately from Amazon. “We plan to continue to run Zappos the way we have always run Zappos — continuing to do what we believe is best for our brand, our culture and our business. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are switching out our current shareholders and board of directors for a new one, even though the technical legal structure may be different.”
HGTV has a new Dream Home. Here's how they're building it.
hgtvpro.com — HGTV's newest Dream Home is in Sandia Park, New Mexico. They're setting up a time-lapse camera so you can watch it go up.
click here to see the action: Here's how they're building it.
Man Rides Roller Coaster Track On Custom Skates
A man from Germany, Dirk Auer, rides a wodden and steel roller coaster on some custom made inline skates, Copyright To ATC productions.
World's Biggest Barbecue
Montevideo, Uruguay: 12 metric tons of beef, a mile long grill and 1,250 grill masters later a Guinness world record is set!
July 22, 2009 Stackable Lego Fridges Thwart Thieving Roomates
by Yuka Yoneda
Does it drive you crazy when people stand in front of the fridge with the door wide open, letting all the cold air escape while they decide whether they want soda, oj, purple stuff or Sunny D? If so, these neat and stackableFlatshare Fridges designed by Stefan Buchberger, a student at the University of Applied Arts in Viennacould provide you with some solace. Colorful and customizable in many configurations, each fridge brick is much smaller than a traditional fridge meaning that it takes less energy to cool and less cold air escapes each time you open the door. We love the lego-like look and there many other “cool” reasons that these funky appliances are smarter than the average icebox.
Amongst roommates, the subject of edible property is often a touchy one. If you’re sick of arguing over who ate whose pad thai or why someone keeps leaving cartons of Silk with one droplet left in them in the fridge, why not save yourself the heartache by having a separate compartment for your personal grub? Great for college kids who are constantly moving around campus, fridge cubes are less likely to be discarded after student life is over since the option to expand is always available.
Like to keep your organic wines chilled but don’t mind if your veggies are less than icy? Saving energy by grouping your foods by how cold you need them to be and storing them in dedicated cubes is just another solution that Flatshare Fridges bring to mind.
In terms of configuration, the refrigerator consists of a base station can accommodate up to four stacked modules. Plus each module can be customized with a variety of skins and add-ons. Flatshare Fridges aren’t available to the public yet, but we sure hope they are in the works!
Via Toxel
Unexpected Wedding Entrance
Those of you who find me a bit wordy (looking at you, Whalen) are going to get a break today. I was struggling for an idea for a post all morning. Frustratingly struggling, in fact. I even called some people to vent about it. And then I came across the video embedded below via Twitter.
Watch it. You might cry. You may get up and dance. You may break into instantaneous giggle fits. You may even be slightly horrified. But while you’re watching and tapping your feet, notice the look in the attendees’ eyes. Hear their laughs. Look at the faces of the bride and everyone else involved. Feel what’s happening in that room.
That’s what happens when you do something people aren’t expecting. When you don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the pomp and circumstance of it all. When you finally stop taking yourself so seriously. When you embrace the moment, remember what life used to feel like and go for it.
Your customers will probably expect you to act a certain way today. The same old greetings, the same service, the same old promises, etc. Maybe today you should surprise them. Answer the phone differently. Offer them something extra. Show them another side of you. Let yourself get carried away and swept up.
Spectacular: HD Aquarium Video viewed 740K+ times in a week
Shot by: http://jonrawlinson.com
The music is "Please don't go" by Barcelona. PLEASE BUY THIS SONG ON iTUNES: http://bit.ly/1zAVu
This was shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan. http://www.kaiyouhaku.com/en/
Download the 720p HD version here: http://bit.ly/PzwUi
Download iPhone/iPod version here: http://bit.ly/GCVm7
Download the desktop wallpaper: http://bit.ly/19rTC5
Buy the album Absolutes by Barcelona on the iTunes store: http://bit.ly/o57OL
The main tank called the 'Kuroshio Sea' holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's second largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank.
WE MUST PROTECT OUR OCEANS!
This was shot using a Canon 5DMKII with a 28-135mm lens.
You should visit my website: http://jonrawlinson.com
Florida Panthers Fan Exposes Herself On Live TV
Total Pro Sports - Whenever I go to hockey game its always entertaining to see what people will do to try and get themselves on the big screen.
There are always the drunk guys, the fat guys and the drunk fat guys. Sometimes there are attractive drunk women that steal the show and at a recent Florida Panthers game, that is exactly what happened. An enthusiastic young lady decided that rubbing herself and exposing her breasts to the crowd was a great way to show her support for the home team. What a true fan.
I bet that prior to this game the woman featured in this video was just an anonymous member of society, now because her fine public performance she has become an Internet star. Not everyone is lucky enough to become a star on the net, but this lady definitely has the "talent" to take her all the way.
Check out the video here:
Florida Panthers Fan Exposes Herself On Live TV
18+ Uncensored Video Below
Michael Jordan Shares NBC Air Time With Inflatable Penis
Total Pro Sports - While watching sports, we often become fixated on what is happening in the field of play, but sometimes a simple gaze beyond the athletes and into the crowd will uncover great things. In some instances you may catch a woman flashing the players, or maybe a horny husband grabbing at his wife's breasts. And then there are those crazy guys behind home plate at Blue Jay games.
Well this weekend we were confronted with another great spectator moment at the American Century Celebrity Championship in Tahoe.
Michael Jordan is one of the most popular sports figures of the century, and with that being the case, you would expect him to attract a rather large gallery. Among those in attendance at the par 3 17th was everyone's favorite...The inflatable penis!
Is it me or does the woman hoisting the large male member seem to know how to handle it quite well. Let the search begin for the lovely lady with the large inflatable penis.
Update: Thanks to our friends over at Busted Coverage who interviewed Elizabeth The Giant Penis Holder.
Im christian and go to church pretty regularly.. I love Jesus…you know, so this is VERY unlike me, to the point that people do not believe that I would be caught hold a giant wee wee! Plus Im going to be a teacher.judgers.
It was funny though.
I was chased on the beach by a woman sherriff who told me to hand over the "inflatable penis", this was AFTER the bachelorette, Sam, rushed MJ on the green with the inflatable penis.
MJ was hysterically laughing.
We ran back to where we were standing and a male cop was coming over to talk to us so the bachelorette handed it over to me and everyone started yelling "RUN" so I ran over to where MJ was putting and started to jump up and down.
That was the shot that you got and was on tv.
I guess the network called the sheriff to get that inflatable penis!!.
I went back over to where the bachelorette was and they told me to run away again because I was really being pursued and out of no where a woman cop starts chasing me, so I run down to the water to throw it in the water,and at this moment everyone on the beach is watching and yelling at me to throw it in the water!
So I do!!
I am soooo not a rebel but I was under pressure and the cop was like" I could arrest you for that" and I said oh please dont!
so she tells me to grab it out of the water and deflate it…which I start to do, but I am taking my time..and just as I was about to open the hole to let the air out a friend runs up to us and takes it from me and jumps in the water and swims back to the boat. !!
That was HILARIOUS.. SO the cop and I and another girl are just standing there and I apologize to her and tell her how good she looks with a gun and we walk back to heckle tony romo. I am married and it was my future sister in law's bachelorette party.
Meanwhile back at the boat, where the rest of 24 girl bachelorette party was, harbor police comes up the to 5 boat barge and tells the girls that "they might as well have a sign that says stupid bachelorette party " and that we are all " stupid dumb girls" all becuz of the inflatable penis" and that people have been calling in and complaining.
HE THREATEND to breathalize the people on the boat if we didnt deflate it. SO the girls ont he boat had to deflate it and by that time we had to return the boats to the rental place. We were the talk of the town.!
Elizabeth Holding The Inflatable Penis
Minors in R.I. can be strippers
PROVIDENCE –– Rhode Island teens under 18 can’t work with power saws or bang nails up on roofs. But dance at strip clubs? Sure. Just as long as the teens submit work permits, and are off the stripper’s pole by 11:30 on school nights. It’s enough to surprise even those in America’s mecca of striptease and sin –– Las Vegas. “Everybody buzzes about ‘Nevada and Sin City, tsk, tsk,’ ” said Edie Cartwright, spokeswoman for the Nevada attorney general’s office. “But we regulate it.” Providence police recently discovered that teen job opportunities extend into the local adult entertainment world while they were investigating a 16-year-old runaway from Boston. The girl told detectives that she worked at Cheaters strip club this spring, and the police got tips about other underage girls working at another club on Allens Avenue. That’s when the police found that neither state law, nor city ordinance bars minors from working at strip clubs. Those under 18 can’t buy pornography, and no one may take pictures or film minors in sexually suggestive ways. But the law doesn’t stop underage teens from stripping for money. Even if the police saw underage boys or girls on stage at a strip club, they wouldn’t be able to charge them or the club owners with a crime. “I’ve been doing this a long time,” said youth services Sgt. Carl Weston, “and I can’t find anything that says it’s illegal for a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old to take her top off and dance.” State law says that anyone who employs a person under 18 for prostitution or for “any other lewd or indecent act” faces up to 20 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines. But that isn’t enough to prevent underage girls from working in strip clubs, said senior assistant city solicitor Kevin McHugh, who researched the issue a dozen years ago when a teenage dancer was found at a raided strip club. The term “lewd or indecent” is subjective, McHugh said, and is applied to behavior that’s protected by the First Amendment. “Since we have strip clubs in Providence,” McHugh said, “citizens don’t consider [stripping] lewd.” With the age of consent at 16 in Rhode Island, the police worry that teenage strippers could take their business to the next level and offer sexual favors –– and it wouldn’t be illegal. State law currently allows indoor prostitution, and two bills intended to ban it have stalled in the General Assembly. State and federal child labor laws dictate the number of hours and times of days that minors may work, and forbid certain jobs considered to be hazardous. For example, those under 16 can’t work on ladders or pump gas. Youths age 16 and 17 can’t work in manufacturing or excavation. “Nowhere does it say anything about a kid not being able to strip,” Weston said. Establishments with city liquor licenses need to keep the teenagers from the booze, but not the stage. “You can’t serve alcohol if you’re under 18,” Weston said, “but you can be the target of a man’s groping hands at age 16.” But a Rhode Island teen stripper won’t find work in Massachusetts, where state law prohibits anyone from hiring minors under 18 for live performances involving sexual conduct. Other states have had mixed encounters with the issue. After a 12-year-old girl was found dancing nude in a club in Dallas last year, the city council swiftly passed rules barring minors from strip clubs and automatically revokes for a year licenses for sex businesses caught employing or entertaining minors. But an Iowa county judge ruled last year that a striptease by a 17-year-old girl at a strip club was artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. The state attorney general’s office has asked the state Supreme Court to review the ruling. Nevada, meanwhile, doesn’t let anyone under 18 work in casinos or in public dance halls where there is alcohol — and there are no strip clubs in Nevada without one or the other, or both, said Cartwright, of the attorney general’s office. Minors aren’t even allowed to deliver mail to brothels. When questioned about Rhode Island’s law, Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, offered a copy of the current state law but did not comment for this article. But Weston, of the Providence police, was adamant that the law should be changed. “It leads to a societal breakdown,” he said. “These are just little girls.”
Embryonic-like cells repair damaged mouse hearts
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ordinary cells reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells can help repair damaged heart tissue in mice, researchers reported on Monday in a study that shows a potential practical use for the experimental cells.
When injected into mice whose hearts had been damaged by a heart attack, the new cells helped improve both the structure and function of the heart. Eventually the hope would be to patch up seriously ill heart patients using their own cells.
"It was obvious to the observer which animals had been treated and which ones hadn't," said Dr Timothy Nelson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, whose study appears in the journal Circulation.
The team used a promising new type of embryonic-like stem cell called an induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPS cell, made from ordinary cells. Many teams are using this new technology to look for ways to repair the body, a fast-growing field of research known as regenerative medicine.
Nelson and colleagues tested the technology as a way to regenerate heart muscle damaged by a heart attack.
"We're taking advantage of a diseased tissue environment that is sending out a distress signal that is asking the tissue to repair itself," Nelson said.
"When we put these iPS cells in, they are able to respond."
Like embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells have the ability to form any kind of cell in the body. Because they come from adult tissue, their use is less controversial than embryonic stem cells, which come from days-old embryos.
There are several ways to make iPS cells, but Nelson's team used a method in which a virus is used to transplant genes that turn back the clock on the cells.
For Nelson, the point was not making the cells, but seeing whether they could make any difference in damaged heart tissue.
'WOW FACTOR'
Instead of coaxing the iPS cells into a specific type of heart tissue, they used the iPS cells in their most embryonic-like state.
Nelson said two weeks after they had transplanted the cells, they started making different types of heart tissue, including heart muscle, blood vessels and the cells that line blood vessels.
"They were able to respond to this damaged environment and spontaneously give rise to the appropriate tissues and create new tissues within that diseased heart," he said. "That is a key wow factor of this paper."
Nelson said heart cells continued to grow for four weeks, and the mice that got the iPS cells got better.
Both the structure and the function of their hearts improved compared to animals injected with cells that form scar tissue, he said.
The treated animals were able to move better, and an ultrasound found significant improvement in the ability of the heart to pump blood.
Nelson said the finding shows promise for human treatments. IPS cells could in theory be made using a patient's own skin, allowing grow-your-own transplants with no risk of rejection.
Currently, no iPS cells are being used in people because scientists are still working on safe ways to make them, and several teams have made progress.
Nelson said it may take several years, but he thinks the technology could be used to help people in need of heart transplants.
Taco Bell Chihuahua Dies
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She charmed millions without ever saying a word, and managed to make fast food tacos adorable. Gidget, the Chihuahua best known for her Taco Bell ad campaign, died from a stroke on Tuesday night at age 15.
"She made so many people happy," says Gidget's trainer, Sue Chipperton. PEOPLE met both Gidget and Sue at a Hollywood animals photo shoot in February, where the pup was a consummate pro and delighted the crew with her playful nature.
The mostly retired actor lived out her days lying in the sun – "I like to joke that it's like looking after a plant," says Chipperton – and entertaining at shoots when her trainer brought her along. "Gidget," says Chipperton, "always knew where the camera was."
Drug czar: Feds won't support legalized pot
The federal government is not going to pull back on its efforts to curtail marijuana farming operations, Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Wednesday in Fresno.
The nation's drug czar, who viewed a foothill marijuana farm on U.S. Forest Service land with state and local officials earlier Wednesday, said the federal government will not support legalizing marijuana.
"Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine," he said.
Kerlikowske said he can understand why legislators are talking about taxing marijuana cultivation to help cash-strapped government agencies in California. But the federal government views marijuana as a harmful and addictive drug, he said.
"Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit," Kerlikowske said in downtown Fresno while discussing Operation SOS -- Save Our Sierra -- a multiagency effort to eradicate marijuana in eastern Fresno County.
CRAIG KOHLRUSS / THE FRESNO BEE
A Fresno County Sheriff's department investigator stands with his AR-15 in front of an illegal marijuana garden found by officers on Monday, July 20, 2009. Officers moving in to shut down such gardens never know what they will be walking in on. Sometimes the suspects are armed and waiting. Other times, the sites are vacated upon arrival.
Illegal marijuana farms scar Sierra landscape
Video: Pot gardens in Fresno County SierraMarijuana plants valued at more than $1.26 billion have been confiscated and 82 people arrested over the past 10 days in Fresno County. The operation started last week and is continuing.
By comparison, Tulare County's leading commodity -- milk -- was valued at about $1.8 billion in 2008.
Officials say the marijuana-eradication operation will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the exact amount won't be known until agencies can add up staffing, vehicle and other costs.
In Operation SOS, more than 314,000 plants were uprooted in 70 gardens -- numbers expected to rise as the enforcement action continues. Agents also seized $41,000 in cash, 26 firearms and three vehicles.
Planning for the operation began in February and focused on marijuana crops being backed by Mexican drug cartels, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
Mims said many cartels are involved, but she would not name any because the investigation is still under way. All but one person arrested was from Mexico, officials said.
One hundred growers may still be on the loose, said Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Rick Ko. Many may have gotten rides out of the area, but some could still be in the Sierra, Ko said.
Last year, Fresno County deputies seized 188,000 marijuana plants.
In just one week, nearly twice as many plants were seized, Mims said, "so you can imagine how many we were missing."
Statewide, more than 5.3 million plants were seized in 2008, or two of every three confiscated in the United States, said Bill Ruzzamenti, director of the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
"The amount of drugs out there scares most of us," he said.
Volunteers are going into the gardens to clean up trash, dead animals and pesticides to return the land as close to its original condition as possible. But it could take years for the land to recover, because little can be done once fertilizers and pesticides seep into the ground or stream beds.
"For every acre of marijuana grown, 10 acres are damaged," said George Anderson with the California Department of Justice.
The reporter can be reached at mbenjamin@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6166.
Oakland, California, passes landmark marijuana tax
- Story Highlights
- 80% of voters choose to impose tax on Oakland's medical marijuana facilities
- Oakland, California, becomes first U.S. city to impose such a tax
- Cannabis club leader says he supported effort; he'll owe about $350,000 next year
- People opposed to medical marijuana facilities say tax sends wrong message
OAKLAND, California (CNN) -- Oakland's bid to become the first U.S. city to tax proceeds on medical marijuana passed Tuesday by a landslide vote.
About 80 percent of people voting in the Oakland election approved the new medical marijuana tax.
About 80 percent of voters chose to impose the tax on Oakland's medical marijuana facilities, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
Some celebrated the news at Oaksterdam University by hand-rolling large marijuana cigarettes or stuffing cannabis into pipes. The school trains students for work in the medical marijuana industry.
"It is important because the city of Oakland is facing a massive deficit like many jurisdictions in California," said Steve DeAngelo, a leader of one of the city's cannabis clubs. "And we decided to step up to the plate and make a contribution to the city in a time of need."
DeAngelo, one of the people who led the effort to get the tax approved, said his business will now have to pay more than $350,000 from the new tax next year. 
Watch report from CNN's Dan Simon »
Oakland's City Council was also behind the move.
"Given that the medical cannabis dispensaries are something that was legalized in California, why not have revenue from it?" said councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan.
There was no formal opposition to the effort, but some drug fighters say the tax sends the wrong message.
"The taxation of a federally unlawful drug is just not something that the community should accept," said Paul Chabot of the Coalition for a Drug Free California. "With the state in dire straits in finances and the country looking for ways to pay down debt, looking at illegal drugs is the absolute wrong thing to do."
The measure, passed in special mail-in election Tuesday, imposes a 1.8 percent gross receipts tax on the four licensed medical cannabis dispensaries in Oakland.
These facilities would have to pay about $18 in taxes for every 1,000 in marijuana sales.
Porsche ousts CEO, paving way for VW merger
Wendelin Wiedeking, chief executive for the last 16 years, is leaving the sports car maker.
STUTTGART (Reuters) -- Sports car maker Porsche conceded a months-long power struggle to mass-market rival Volkswagen by axing its chief executive and saying it would raise at least €5 billion in equity as the two prepared for a merger.
After an all-night meeting of its board of directors, Porsche said Wendelin Wiedeking, Germany's best-paid executive and its CEO for the past 16 years, along with finance chief Holger Haerter, would quit the group immediately.
Their hasty exit will be sweetened by payoffs of €50 million and €12.5 million, respectively.
Wiedeking, who had opposed selling Porsche to Volkswagen, which would have helped the company reduce the debt he had run up in a botched attempt to take over VW, will be succeeded by Porsche's production head Michael Macht, the board said in a statement early on Thursday.
The meeting of the non-executive directors, which include the Piech and Porsche families that between them control Porsche, approved Wiedeking's proposal to raise fresh equity -- either in cash or through a contribution in kind -- and endorsed talks to sell a stake to the Gulf state of Qatar.
"This should lay the foundations for the creation of an integrated automobile group consisting of Porsche SE and Volkswagen," Porsche said.
It was unclear from Porsche's statement who would contribute to the capital increase and whether it would be taken up by Qatar. A Porsche spokesman declined to comment further.
The board's unanimous approval signals that the powerful Porsche and Piech clans may be open to surrendering some of their influence at the maker of the 911 sports coupe.
Between them they control 100% of Porsche's voting shares and have resisted selling a stake to an outsider.
Joining forces
A source at Volkswagen, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters it was still open whether oil-rich Qatar would take a stake in the Porsche SE holding company or directly in Volkswagen, or in both groups.
The issue was due to be discussed by Volkswagen's own board of directors, which gathers for an extraordinary session on Thursday in Stuttgart, where Porsche's Zuffenhausen headquarters are based, rather than its own headquarters in Wolfsburg.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, declined to comment.
The moves came as Porsche enters the final stretch of negotiations with Volkswagen to create what both sides have called an "integrated" auto group, in which Porsche would essentially become the 10th brand in Volkswagen's sweeping automotive empire.
Porsche SE, the holding company that controls sports car maker Porsche AG, needs to bolster its finances after accumulating more than €10 billion in debt through its botched attempt to seize control of VW.
Porsche was forced to abandon attempts to win control over 75% of VW, leaving it with a stake of nearly 51%. The failed takeover attempt opened the door to Ferdinand Piech, VW's powerful chairman and himself a part-owner of Porsche, to turn the tables on Porsche.
The Porsche and Piech families had been at loggerheads for months over how to resolve the company's debt woes and the role VW would play. Piech has pushed for VW to take over Porsche, on condition that Porsche fixes its finances first. 
Office in the middle of the forest
Talk about environment friendly place for firms and offices. On the other hand imagine all the fresh air and peace you can get while working, no traffic, no air pollution, etc. You can surely expand your mind, creativity and motivation while working in these circumstances. While we are at it, this family is living in a cave
July 22, 2009 Solar-Powered Moon Rover to Explore Apollo Landing Site
Solar power doesn’t have to be limited to Earth-based gadgets — at least, not if Carnegie Mellon roboticist Dr. William Whittaker has anything to say about it. Whitaker and Astrobiotic Technology have teamed up to develop a solar rover prototype that will explore the Apollo moon landing site and find out how materials used in the mission have fared over all these years. The rover, which has been entered in the competition for the $25 million Google Lunar X Prize, features two motors in the hub of each wheel, a flat radiator tilted up to the sky on one side, and a half-cone of solar generators on the other side to power the wheels, run computers, and beam stereo HD video back to us on Earth. There’s just one problem left to figure out: how to protect the rover from minus 240 F lunar nights. The team is experimenting with different ways to package lithium ion batteries to be able to function after two weeks of exposure to air that is nearly as cold as liquid nitrogen. Stay tuned to find out the results of the team’s experiments when the solar rover lands on the Apollo moon site in 2011!
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