NEWS ONLINE

Earthquake in China

2008-05-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

Rainy weather and poor logistics thwarted efforts by relief troops who walked for hours over rock, debris and mud on Tuesday in hopes of reaching the worst-hit area of an earthquake that killed nearly 10,000 in central China, state-run media reported.
Setting out from Maerkang in Sichuan Province at 8 p.m. Monday, the 100 or so troops had to travel 200 kilometers (124 miles) to go before reaching Wenchuan, the epicenter of the quake, also in the province, Xinhua reported. After seven hours, they still had 70 kilometers (43 miles) to go.

"I have seen many collapsed civilian houses, and the rocks dropped from mountains on the roadside are everywhere," the head of the unit, Li Zaiyuan, told Xinhua.

Added CNN Correspondent John Vause: "The roads here are terrible in the best of times ... right now they're down right atrocious. They've resorted to going in one man at a time on foot."

Nearly all the confirmed deaths were in Sichuan Province, but rescuers were hindered because roads linking it to the provincial capital, Chengdu, were damaged, Xinhua reported.

Local radio quoted disaster relief officials as saying a third of the buildings in Wenchuan collapsed from the quake and another third were seriously damaged.

The earthquake was powerful enough to be felt throughout most of China. Many children were buried under the rubble of their schools.

The Legend of Sarangan and Wurung lake

2008-05-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

Sarangan is one of village in Plaosan council, Magetan county East Java province. The village lies more less 1.200 meters on high over surface of the sea, on the bilge of Lawu Mountain, that high soar with less more 3.265 meters on high over surface of the sea. The tourism place with range 17 kilometers from the capital of Magetan county that has a thousand and one memories.
The beautiful panorama that is spread evenly everywhere, although on Mountain declivity and jungle that interesting for a rover. The fresh air of there is hunted by common people. The clear water is abundant to every outlying place that also entrance to every visitor.
The beautiful Sarangan lake and waterfall Gerojokan Sewu TIRTOSARI, also big trees is arranged there that make the visitor stay long. Beside that there are keep a thousand kinds of legend. It makes the visitor want to know what the legend is. One of tales is the occurred of Wurung lake.
If we want to go Sarangan from Magetan or From Sarangan to Magetan, we will go by a small lake that named Wurung lake. The lake lies on Gemutri village in Plaosan council. The lake looks very beautiful if we take a view from declivity of Lawu Mountain. It can adorn Sarangan tourism area from the east.
The legend of Wurung lake is in connection with Sarangan lake, moreover in one sequence of the legend. It began from Kyai Pasir and Nyai Pasir that has supernatural, they can makes a beautiful lake. After that Kyai Pasir and Nyai were changed become a big dragon called by Kyai Jaililung and Nyai Jaililung that can makes Sarangan lake. And than two dragons were fade away in eastern of Sarangan lake. Day by day, month by month and year by year the dragons not appear. But the magic always appear from time by time.
Kyai Jaililung dan Nyai Jaililung purposed to isolate them self. Because they wants to make a surprise to the people surround there. The dragons intended to make Son Lake on Declivity of Lawu Mountain.
After the dragons get a direction from Hyang Widdhi, Kyai Jaililung and Nyai Jaililung concluded the meditation to prepare everything that can support their effort. Two dragon ‘mataq aji” and they changed their self to be people. They want to make Son lake in one night. And than they began to choose the right place in order to make a lake.
They towards to east enter a jungle, go down by crag. They don’t want rash in choosing a place. And than they take concentrate to make it. But the fact was opposite, disturbance arise when they were making the lake. They heard crow, it mean the night has been ending their concentrate were disappear. And than they perforce to canceled the effort. It cause the lake named by Wurung lake, because the effort was canceled or the lake doesn’t completed yet.

Stocks retreat as oil prices keep trekking to new records; crude surges past $123 a barrel

2008-05-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street tumbled Wednesday as the price of a barrel of oil soared to a record near $124 and touched off concerns that the stock market's recent gains might have been premature as consumers grapple with rising energy and food costs. The major stock market indexes each lost more than 1.5 percent, with the Dow Jones industrial average declining by more than 200 points.

Sharp gains in commodities prices have drawn fresh attention from investors worried that consumers -- the lifeblood of the U.S. economy -- will be forced to pare discretionary spending to keep up with increasing costs for necessities.

Oil prices have doubled over the past year, causing gasoline prices to surge further into record terrain and strap consumers, who drive more than two-thirds of economic activity, with another financial burden.

Wall Street slid amid a cacophony of worries about the effects of rising prices. Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig in a speech late Tuesday pointed to inflation as his main concern. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday that while the worst of the credit crisis might have passed, rising gas prices will dampen the benefits from the 130 million economic stimulus checks that the government is distributing.

While some observers say recent stock market gains had come too quickly anyway, others contend the market's declines reflect more serious worries about the difficulties blanketing consumers.

Ed Peters, chief investment officer at PanAgora Asset Management in Boston, said, "It is going to be a drag if we continue to get rising prices. The oil price is just symptomatic of a broader trend."

But Stephen Carl, head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group, said that while rising oil prices appeared to rattle investors, many had also seen sizable gains from stocks in recent weeks and wanted to preserve their profits.

"Perhaps we fall away here for a few sessions," he said, noting that the Standard & Poor's 500 index's rebound to the 1,400 level might have been too hasty for some investors.

The Dow fell 206.48, or 1.59 percent, to 12,814.35, after fluctuating early in the session.

Broader stock indicators also declined. The S&P 500 fell 25.69, or 1.81 percent, to 1,392.57, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 44.82, or 1.80 percent, to 2,438.49.

Bond prices rose as investors pulled more money out of stocks and placed it in the safer confines of the Treasury market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.85 percent from 3.92 percent late Tuesday.

Light, sweet crude rose $1.69 to settle at $123.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but traded just pennies away from $124 during Wall Street trading.

The dollar rebounded against other major global currencies, and gold prices fell.

While stocks pulled back, the day was not without good news. The Labor Department said labor costs rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent during the first quarter. That's down from a 2.8 percent rise the previous quarter, suggesting that inflation pressures may be letting up.

But there have not been enough strong readings lately to give investors the nudge they need to push the Dow back above the four-month highs it reached last week. Market analyst Edward Yardeni noted that the Dow, the S&P 500 and many key individual stocks are close to their 200-day moving averages.

"Not everybody's a fan of technical analysis, but everyone knows that this is an important technical level," Yardeni said. "We need some really good bullish news to break above that average."

In corporate news, Clearwire and Sprint Nextel Corp. said they are planning to merge their wireless broadband units to create a new $14.55 billion wireless communications company. The new company is getting a $3.2 billion investment from Intel Corp., Google Inc., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks.

Clearwire fell 24 cents to $16.22 after spending most of the session higher and Sprint slipped 3 cents to $9.16.

In earnings news, The Walt Disney Co. reported late Tuesday its profit in the most recent quarter rose 22 percent despite the Hollywood writers' strike. Disney was among the handful of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow industrials to advance, rising 97 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $34.70.

Yardeni noted that while the first-quarter earnings season began several weeks ago with worse-than-expected results from General Electric Co., it ended up bringing decent numbers, with earnings excluding the financial sector rising close to 10 percent.

"There is a perception in the markets we had a great move here since March, and that we need to take a break from the rally for a while," Yardeni said. "And then we'll be set up for a summer rally."

The Russell 2000 index fell 13.58, or 1.86 percent, to 716.21.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.94 billion shares compared with 3.77 billion shares traded Thursday.

Overseas, Japan's stock market rose 0.38 percent. Britain's FTSE index closed up 0.74 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.84 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.68 percent.

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Source: -http://biz.yahoo.com/

The sarangan lake

2008-05-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

The sarangan lake included of unique lake. because The lake is lied on lawu mountain..

The Pinus forest

2008-05-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

There is Pinus forest on lawu mountain..

The fertile hills

2008-05-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

The beautiful landscape of lawu mountain. there are many fertile of hills..

The Pinus Forest

A thrive field on lawu Mountain

2008-05-06T23:47:00.000-07:00

A thrive carrot field on lawu Mountain and the other Vegetables crop...

The Fertile Hills

Sarangan Street

2008-05-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

The beautiful scene along Sarangan Street..

We Look in Surround of Sarangan Street

TRAVELING

2008-05-06T23:31:00.000-07:00

Magetan has many exiting sites that can you make refresh...

We take a Start from Sarangan Street

Oil prices fall as dollar strengthens against euro

2008-05-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Oil prices fell slightly Thursday as the dollar strengthened against the euro on a smaller-than-anticipated interest-rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 21 cents to $113.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by early afternoon in Europe.

The contract fell $2.17 on Wednesday to settle at $113.46 a barrel after the U.S. government reported that crude inventories rose more than expected last week.

In London, Brent crude futures were down 29 cents to $111.07 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The Fed said Wednesday it would cut the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to 2 percent.

The 15-nation currency bought $1.5475 in Europe, down from the $1.5642 it purchased in New York late Wednesday.

"The full direction for the dollar will, however, likely wait for (Friday) ... because many European countries are on bank holiday," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in a research note, referring to Labor Day or Ascension Day celebrations across the continent.

Interest rate cuts tend to weaken the dollar, and investors buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback falls. A weaker dollar also makes oil cheaper for overseas buyers.

But the quarter-point cut was smaller than those of recent months, suggesting the central bank might pause to see if months of powerful rate-cutting medicine and billions of dollars in stimulus checks will be enough to lift the U.S. economy out of its slump.

Oil prices fell Wednesday after the government reported a surprisingly large jump in crude oil and distillate fuel inventories last week.

In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories rose 3.8 million barrels, more than double the increase analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts had expected.

Inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose 1.1 million barrels, more than seven times the expected increase.

Investors shrugged off a 1.5 million barrel decline in gasoline inventories. In part, that's because despite the drop, supplies of gasoline remain high for this time of year. Also, demand for gasoline fell slightly over the last four weeks, on average, compared with the same period last year, EIA data show.

In other Nymex trading, June heating oil futures fell 0.32 cent to $3.1548 a gallon while gasoline prices gained 0.29 cent to $2.9092 a gallon.

Natural gas futures added 5.4 cents to $10.897 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: -http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080501/oil_prices.html

News today 8 May 2008

-Stocks retreat as oil prices keep

GM to lay off 3,550 by axing 1 shift each at 4 pickup, large SUV factories due to weak sales

2008-04-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

DETROIT (AP) -- The dwindling U.S. auto market and an accelerating shift from trucks to cars has brought grim layoff news to four General Motors Corp. factories.

The company announced Monday that it plans to cut one shift each at pickup truck and large sport utility vehicle plants in Flint and Pontiac, Mich.; Janesville, Wis.; and Oshawa, Ontario, resulting in about 3,550 layoffs.

The world's largest automaker by sales said the cuts, to take effect this summer, were brought on by weak demand due to high gasoline prices and an economic downturn.

GM said it will make about 88,000 fewer pickups and 50,000 fewer big SUVs this calendar year because of the cuts. The layoffs represent just over 4 percent of GM's hourly manufacturing work force of about 80,000 in North America.

The announcement came after stock markets closed. GM shares rose 56 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $21.94 Monday, then lost 3 cents in after-hours trading.

"With rising fuel prices, a softening economy and a downward trend on current and future market demand for full-size trucks, a significant adjustment was needed to align our production with market realities," GM North America President Troy Clarke said in a statement.

For about the past three years, the U.S. auto market has been shifting from pickup trucks and SUVs to cars and crossover vehicles, but the trend picked up in recent months due to gas prices that have reached $3.60 per gallon, on average.

GM expects the layoffs to begin July 14 at the Flint, Janesville and Pontiac plants, and Sept. 8 at Oshawa. Most of the factories had already seen layoffs and production cuts due to a parts shortage from a two-month strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.

GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the company will eliminate shifts with 750 workers each at Flint and Janesville, 1,150 workers in Pontiac, and 900 workers in Oshawa. Final numbers must be worked out with unions, he said.

Laid-off workers will get unemployment benefits and supplemental pay that total 80 percent of their normal 40-hour gross pay, said GM spokesman Dan Flores.

Greg Gardner, an analyst with the Oliver Wyman Group, said the cuts look like "a realistic assessment."

"The full-size pickup and SUV market is not going to rebound anytime soon," he said. "It looks like that they don't plan on making up very much of the production loss due to the American Axle strike."

Gardner said GM's announcement reflects the industry's overall production forecast this year, down to about 15 million light vehicles from an earlier forecast of 15.5 million.

The Flint, Pontiac and Oshawa plants make the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, while Janesville manufactures the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon big SUVs.

GM said it did not forecast how many of those vehicles it expected to make this year, but it sold about 1.1 million of them in the U.S. last year, according to Autodata Corp.

GM said pickup sales overall are down 15 percent through March, while sales of large SUVs are off 26 percent.

Jesse Toprak, chief industry analyst for the auto information site Edmunds.com, said GM has a 92-day average supply of large trucks. A 60-day supply is considered optimal in the business.

Toprak said the automaker will lose about $4.4 billion in gross sales because of the production cuts, but it's nearly impossible to determine the impact on GM's net profits.

The production cuts should help GM keep its inventory under control, said Catherine Madden, an analyst with the consulting firm Global Insight.

The cuts come as 74,000 U.S. workers represented by the United Auto Workers face a May 22 deadline to decide on GM's latest round of buyout and early retirement offers.

AP Business Writer Jeff Karoub in Detroit contributed to this report.

Source: -http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080429/gm_cuts.html

Earthquake in China

Oil prices recede after surging close to $120

2008-04-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

LONDON (AFP) - Record-breaking oil prices fell on Wednesday after spiking near 120 dollars per barrel, as international concern mounted over soaring energy costs and the world's top producer appealed for calm.

Traders were also on tenterhooks ahead of the weekly US energy inventories report, which has the potential to push prices beyond the psychological barrier of 120 dollars.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, shed 33 cents to 117.74 dollars a barrel. The May contract had struck a record high 119.90 before expiring Tuesday.

London's Brent North Sea crude for June delivery lost 42 cents to 115.53 dollars on Wednesday, after hitting a lifetime peak of 116.75 on Tuesday.

Prices soared to historic heights on Tuesday as an attack on crude pipelines in Nigeria further tightened global energy supplies, which are under intense pressure with crude cartel OPEC refusing to raise short-term output.

Additional support came from the weak US currency, which makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for foreign buyers and stimulates demand. The euro surged past 1.60 dollars for the first time on Tuesday.

"Oil has eased back to below 118 dollars a barrel amid profit taking after crude prices have gained just over 18 percent this month," said analyst Nimit Khamar at the Sucden brokerage in London.

"However, markets remain sensitive to the situation in Nigeria and on fears that a strike at a refinery in Scotland could hurt supply."

Talks resumed on Tuesday in London to avert a planned strike at one of Britain's key oil refineries which threatens to disrupt fuel supplies across Scotland and northern England.

Officials from the Unite trade union sat down with managers from Ineos, which owns the Grangemouth refinery between Glasgow and Edinburgh, for discussions over the industrial action planned for Sunday and Monday.

"Market sentiment is bullish in the immediate term," added Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.

"The weak US dollar, real supply disruption in Nigeria... are pushing prices higher."

Later on Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration releases its weekly report on American energy stockpiles for the week ending April 18.

The release is a focal point because the United States is the biggest energy consumer in the world, followed by number two China.

In Rome on Tuesday, ministers from 74 countries at the International Energy Forum said prices should be at acceptable levels for producers and consumers to ensure global economic growth, particularly in developing countries.

US President George W. Bush also expressed concern at the impact of high price levels on consumers.

Saudi Arabia's petroleum minister, Ali al-Naimi, called Tuesday for calm in the face of runaway oil prices, and added that the world was not running out of crude.

The root of the problem was primarily due to "limited capacity along the entire supply chain.... at its heart, this is not an energy resource issue; it is primarily an investment issue," he said at the Rome forum.

Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which on Tuesday said that it plans to increase its production capacity by five million barrels per day (bpd) by 2012. Current OPEC output stands at about 32 million bpd.

Global supply worries were stoked after Anglo-Dutch oil group Royal Dutch Shell reported an output loss of 169,000 bpd from sabotage of its key pipelines in southern Nigeria.

Source :-http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/commoditiesenergyoilprice

Budget Airline Skybus Shutting Down

2008-04-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday April 5, 6:26 am ET
By Meghan Barr, Associated Press Writer
Low-Cost Carrier Skybus Airlines Shutting Down and Plans to File for Bankruptcy Protection

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines is shutting down Saturday and plans to file for bankruptcy protection next week, becoming the latest of the nation's airlines to fall because of rising fuel costs and a slowing economy.

The announcement Friday came less than a year after Skybus started up at Port Columbus International Airport, offering several $10 flights. The airline's situation worsened in recent weeks, said Skybus spokesman Bob Tenenbaum.

Fuel prices and the worsening economy combined to be insurmountable for a new carrier, said chief executive Michael Hodge.

"We deeply regret this decision, and the impact this will have on our employees and their families, our customers, our vendors and other partners, and the communities in which we have been operating," Hodge said in a statement.

The airline makes 74 daily flights to 15 U.S. cities, Tenenbaum said. It has about 350 employees in Columbus and 100 at a second hub at Piedmont-Triad International airport in Greensboro, N.C. Employees learned of the shutdown Friday night.

The final flight, taking off from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was scheduled to touch down in Columbus just before 1 a.m. Saturday, Tenenbaum said.

He did not know how many passengers would be affected but said the company has flights scheduled through Sept. 2. They are eligible for a full refund.

The airline said that all flights were to be completed Friday and that it plans to file Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Skybus is pulling the plug less than two weeks after CEO Bill Diffenderffer resigned to pursue a book-writing career. He was succeeded by Hodge, the company's chief financial officer for the past year.

Skybus has endured some bumps since it began flying May 22, 2007. Over two days during Christmas week, the airline canceled as many as a quarter of its flights because of problems with two of its planes. Recently, it has been dropping flights and destinations because of high fuel costs.

Skybus offered at least 10 seats for $10 on every flight. The airline advertised an a la carte, pay-per-service flying experience. Checking a bag cost $12 at the ticket counter, for instance, while boarding with the first group of passengers cost $15.

"Most airlines tell you you're not paying for baggage, but the fact is, you are paying for it," Tenenbaum said. "It's built into the cost."

The announcement adds to a string of bad news for airlines, which have been hurt by a slowing economy, high fuel prices and maintenance concerns.

ATA and Aloha Airlines both stopped flying this week after filing for bankruptcy protection. American, Southwest and Delta airlines have all had to cancel flights recently to address safety concerns about some of their aircraft.

http://www.skybus.com/

HOT NEWS
- Oil prices recede after surging close
- GM to lay off 3,550 by axing 1 shift each at
- Oil prices fall as dollar strengthens against euro

Downtown

2008-03-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Magetan is known as clean and presentable city. Although the city is rather desolate but it has ADIPURA esteem. That is a pride for Magetan democrats, and the air in there is still fresh. No pollution there, because we know that Magetan is rather include in a desolate city. And affluence the city is always emitted.

Sport

2008-03-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

GOR Magetan (Sport Building)
Democrats in Magetan included fond in sport activities. There is a largest GOR (Sport Building) in east java. It proved that the democrats in Magetan are like sport activities. The popular sports in there are foot ball and badminton. But mostly they are likes foot ball, because foot ball is known as rabble sport.

Economic

2008-03-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

DPRD Building

Democrats in Magetan have variety in their living hood. Based on geographic situation Magetan stated on the cant of Lawu Mountain. Mostly as farmers, they are produces a fresh vegetable in good quality. But the other living hood is craft and employee.

HOME

2008-03-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Magetan Post is a media that gives us information about surround of the cities in Indonesia, Especially in Magetan. We bring topics that can make us know wherever site has a good potential. But the most important things that we know about small sites which has a good potential in tourism. Minimally we think how if those sites can be visited by tourists. Because it very pity that no one come and enjoy the sites. But all of those are depending on the local government, they made up the site or not. But who is should be keeping and visiting, exactly us. Because The God gives us the beautiful sites, we should always keep and we do not destroy it.