Reuters – Chinese People's Liberation Army naval troops stand in attention at a parade ground during the annual …
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Five Chinese ships including a Chinese naval vessel harassed a U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, at one point closing to within 25 feet of the ocean surveillance ship, the Pentagon said.

A Defense Department statement said the Chinese vessels "shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity" to the USS Impeccable, which was conducting routine operations in international waters 75 miles south of Hainan Island.

The Pentagon identified the Chinese vessels as a Navy intelligence ship, a bureau of maritime fisheries patrol vessel, a state oceanographic administration patrol vessel, and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers.


The Pentagon said the U.S. ship was operated by a civilian crew under contract with the Defense Department and accused the Chinese vessels of violating international law.

"We will be certainly letting the Chinese officials know of our displeasure with respect to this careless and reckless, unprofessional ... maneuver," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

Two Chinese vessels surrounded the Impeccable, while two closed to within 50 feet waving Chinese flags and telling the U.S. Navy ship to leave, the statement said.

The Navy ship responded by spraying one of the vessels with its fire hoses, but the Chinese ship closed further to within 25 feet and its crew members disrobed to their underwear, the Pentagon said.

It said the Impeccable informed the Chinese ships by radio that it was leaving the area and requested a safe path to navigate. But two of the Chinese vessels stopped directly in front of the U.S. ship and dropped pieces of wood in its path.

"The unprofessional maneuvers by Chinese vessels violated the requirement under international law to operate with due regard for the rights and safety of other lawful users of the ocean," Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Major Stewart Upton said in a statement.

"We expect Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative activities that could lead to miscalculation or a collision at sea."

The Pentagon said the incident was preceded by days of increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray, Editing by Sandra Maler)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion in a deal that gives Merck key new businesses, access to a promising pipeline of new products and the chance to further cut costs, including eliminating about 16,000 jobs.

AP - In this May 22, 2008 file photo, Merck & Co. headquarters is seen in Whitehouse Station, N.J. ...
Merck hopes the cash-and-stock deal helps it better compete in a drug industry facing slumping sales, tough generic competition and intense pricing pressures.

The deal announced Monday would unite the maker of asthma drug Singulair with the maker of allergy medicine Nasonex and form the world's second-largest prescription drugmaker. Merck and Schering are already partners in a pair of popular cholesterol fighters, Vytorin and Zetia, although concerns about safety and effectiveness have hurt sales.





Shares of the two companies traded furiously after the announcement, with Schering's shares skyrocketing and Merck's dropping, typical for a company doing a big acquisition. At midday, Schering shares jumped $2.53, or 14.4 perent, to $20.16, and Merck shares fell $2.19, or 9.6 percent to $20.55.

The deal comes only a few weeks after Lipitor maker Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay $68 billion for drugmaker Wyeth.

Merck and Schering-Plough, along with most of their rivals, are eliminating thousands of jobs and restructuring operations to cut costs.

"There'll be no immediate changes" in staffing, Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose told The Associated Press. "Eventually, we anticipate an approximate 15 percent reduction in the combined company's headcount," implying nearly 16,000 fewer jobs.

The deal also would let Merck do the same thing Pfizer is trying to do with its acquisition -- diversify into a more broad-based health care company.

Merck is a top maker of pills and vaccines, and acquiring Schering-Plough will add strength in the prized area of biologic drugs, which are made from living cells. It will also give Merck one of the world's biggest animal health businesses and a sizable consumer health division that includes products such as allergy pill Claritin, Dr. Scholl's foot products and the Coppertone sun-care line.
Merck Chairman and CEO Richard Clark told The Associated Press the company will be "well-positioned for sustainable growth through scientific innovation."

Big drugmakers are facing slumping sales as the blockbuster drugs of the 1990s lose patent protection, complicated by a dearth of new drugs. Schering-Plough, however, has patent protection for key products until the middle of the next decade and what is considered one of the best product pipelines.

Still, analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities said the deal is mainly about Merck "buying revenue and buying earnings."
"It's a good short-term fix, but it unfortunately makes it more complicated for the long term," Brozak said.

He said it will now be more difficult for Merck to continue its strategy of buying or licensing the few promising experimental compounds available from small biotech companies, many of which are on the verge of shutting down amid the recession and credit crunch.

Brozak said he thinks the next big move likely will be a large drugmaker, perhaps J&J itself, acquiring a medical device maker. J&J already has a huge business in that field and lost a heated battle three years ago to acquire heart implant maker Guidant to Boston Scientific.

Merck and Schering-Plough said the deal will save them about $3.5 billion per year after 2011 and will boost earnings in the first full year after the deal closes. Combined with their current restructuring, they expect a total of $5.95 billion in annual savings after 2011.

"We'll double Merck medicines in (late-stage development) to 18," Clark added.
Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan said in an interview that Nasonex, Pegintron for hepatitis, cancer drug Temodar, the Nuvaring contraceptive and the two cholesterol drugs all have patent protection until 2014 or later.

The two companies had a combined $47 billion in revenue in 2008, nearly as much at the largest drugmaker, Pfizer Inc., which posted $48.42 billion last year. Pfizer expects late this year to acquire Wyeth, which would add more than $20 billion in revenue.

Merck has about 55,200 employees and Schering-Plough, which grew significantly with its November 2007 acquisition of Dutch biopharmaceutical company Organon BioSciences NV, has about 50,800.

Schering-Plough shareholders will get $10.50 in cash and 0.5767 Merck shares for each Schering-Plough share they own. That's a 34 percent premium to Schering-Plough's closing stock price Friday.

Stock would cover 56 percent of the deal's funding, with the other 44 percent in cash: $9.8 billion in existing cash balances and $8.5 billion in financing committed by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the companies said. The small amount being borrowed -- barely 20 percent of the price -- is a sign of the credit crunch's effects.

Clark will lead the combined company, which will be a dominant player in treatment areas including cholesterol, respiratory, infectious disease and women's drugs, as well as vaccines.
Schering sells the arthritis drug Remicade outside the U.S. and also has some rights to another in late-stage development, golimumab, under a partnership with Johnson & Johnson, which makes Remicade.

Because Schering has been making roughly $2 billion a year from that deal, Merck's acquisition of Schering-Plough is structured as a reverse merger to avoid triggering provisions in the J&J deal that might cost the new company that revenue.

As a result, Schering-Plough will be the surviving corporation but will take the Merck name and will be based at Merck's headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J.

Hassan said the three companies have a good relationship and that he "had a cordial conversation with Bill Weldon," New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J's CEO, Monday morning.
Brozak, the analyst, said "it's always possible" J&J could throw a wrench in the deal, but it's too soon to say.

A Johnson & Johnson spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Stock analysts have long pressured Clark to do a major deal to address falling sales, as blockbusters including Fosamax and Zocor for high cholesterol have seen generic competition hammer sales in the past 2 1/2 years.

Hassan will participate in planning how to combine the companies until the deal closes, expected in the fourth quarter.

Merck's sales fell 3 percent in the fourth quarter, at $6 billion, while Schering-Plough's rose 17 percent to $4.35 billion, mainly because of Organon's products.

Moody's Investors Service backed its Aa3 credit rating for Merck but revised its outlook on the rating to negative from stable. Standard & Poor's reaffirmed Merck's 'AA,' long-term rating. Both are high grades. Both Moody's and S&P put Schering-Plough's ratings on review for possible upgrade.

AP – Mourners enter Metro Community Church for a prayer service Sunday, March 8, 2009, in Edwardsville, Ill. …

Slideshow:Illinois Church Shooting
Play Video Video:Churchgoers remember slain Illinois pastor AP Play Video Video:Pastor Killed During Sermon ABC News
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – A man was charged with murder Monday for allegedly shooting a southern Illinois pastor through the heart during Sunday services.

Terry Sedlacek, 27, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery, said Stephanee Smith of the Madison County state's attorney's office.
Prosecutors didn't comment on a motive.

Sedlacek (SEHD'-lak), of Troy, allegedly strode toward the Rev. Fred Winters shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, exchanged words with him, then fired a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol until it jammed. Winters, 45, died of a single shot to the heart, the coroner said Monday.

After the shooting, the gunman pulled out a knife but was tackled by two worshippers, and all three were stabbed, police said. The gunman suffered "a pretty serious wound to the neck" while one worshipper had lower back wounds, said Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent.
Sedlacek, who suffered self-inflicted knife wounds after the shooting, was hospitalized in serious condition in St. Louis, and the judge ordered him held without bond.

Churchgoers knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said member Don Bohley, who was just outside the sanctuary when the shooting began.
A 39-year-old congregant, Terry Bullard, also remained in serious condition Monday morning. The third victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released.

Authorities said they didn't know whether Winters, a married father of two, knew the gunman.
Several visitors stopped by the church Monday — one with tear-reddened eyes who dropped off a card. All declined to comment, as did a church receptionist.

None of the 150 worshippers attending the Sunday service seemed to recognize the gunman, and investigators did not know details of Winters' conversation with him, Trent said, but they planned to review an audio recording of the service.

Winters deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene worshippers initially thought was a skit, police said.
"We just sat there waiting for what comes next not realizing that he had wounded the pastor," said Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the church.

Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace — titled "Come On, Get Happy" — and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary's side aisle before collapsing after the attack, Cunningham said.

Autopsy results showed that Winters was hit with one bullet that went straight through his heart, Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn said Monday. Nonn would not comment on the distance between the gunman and the pastor.

Trent said investigators found no immediate evidence of a criminal background for the suspect.
First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987; it now has about 1,200 members and three Sunday services, according to the church's Web site.

Winters was former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the site.

He hosted Pizza with the Pastor dinners in his home, and the church organized bowling parties for fathers and daughters, karate classes and a golf league.

The church sits along a busy two-lane highway on the east side of Maryville, a fast-growing village of more than 7,000 about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis. A farm sits directly across from the church, but subdivisions of newer homes can been easily seen from every side.

"Things like this just don't happen in Maryville," Mayor Larry Gulledge said. "We've lost one the pillars of our community, one of our leaders."

AP – A detail of the newly discovered portrait of William Shakespeare, presented by the Shakespeare Birthplace …

Slideshow:Portrait of William Shakespeare
LONDON – Scholars studying the life and times of William Shakespeare unveiled a portrait Monday believed to be the only authentic image of the Bard painted during his lifetime.
Experts at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust believe the painting was used as the basis for the enduring engraving of Shakespeare that graces the cover of the First Folio collection of his plays.

Paul Edmondson, the group's director of learning, said it was also used as a basis for the famous portrait of the playwright that hangs in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington.
"What makes it so important is that it's a portrait of William Shakespeare made during his lifetime," he said. "We think it was painted in 1610 and several copies of it were made early on, including the engraving. So our portrait is the primary version of one of the greatest portraits of Shakespeare."

The other images were all made after Shakespeare's death in 1616, he said, making the newly unveiled portrait unique.

Edmondson said experts are confident that the handsome, bearded man in the portrait is the author of some of the most enduring words ever written in the English language.
"We're 90 percent sure that it's Shakespeare," he said. "You'll never be entirely certain. There will always be voices of dissent."

He said scholars are convinced it is Shakespeare because so many copies of the painting were made, including the one at the Folger, and because the painting was handed down through the generations along with a portrait of the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's main patron.
He said the portrait had long been part of the Cobbe collection owned by the Cobbe family, but had not been connected to Shakespeare until 2006, when one of the family members saw the Folger Shakespeare painting on display at a traveling exhibition in London and realized the similarity between the two.

The disclosure was made on a bumper day for Shakespeare fans and devotees throughout the world: the Museum of London also announced that the foundations of the theater where Shakespeare's plays were performed, and where he himself performed as an actor, had been found in Hackney on the eastern outskirts of London.

The Museum's archaeologists had also found a piece of pottery with an image of a man who resembles Shakespeare, said spokesman Tim Morley.

"We are 99 percent certain this is the theater, it's in the right place and the brickwork is the right age," he said.

Museum officials said the rudimentary playhouse, called The Theatre, was built in 1576 by James Burbage. The site, where Shakespeare performed from 1594 to 1597, now houses an abandoned warehouse. Experts believe Romeo and Juliet was performed there.
Officials hope to build a small new theater on the site.

The newly identified portrait of Shakespeare is to be put on public display at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-on-Avon from April 23 until Sept. 6.

Over the last few weeks, the newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed and the Seattle Post Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, will almost certainly close or only publish online. Hearst has said it will also close The San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts at the paper. The most recent rumor is that the company will fire half of the editorial staff. That action still may not be enough to make the property profitable.

24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen based on the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition that they face in their markets, and industry information on how much money they are losing. Based on this analysis, it is possible that eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the United States could cease publication in the next eighteen months. (Read: "The Race for a Better Read")

1. The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The parent company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers and the Daily News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the web operation for both of the city dailies.

2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for Chapter 11. The paper may not make money this year even without the costs of debt coverage. The company said it made $26 million last year, about half of what it made in 2007. The odds are that the Star Tribune will lose money this year if its ad revenue drops another 20%. There is no point for creditors to keep the paper open if it cannot generate cash. It could become an all-digital property, but supporting a daily circulation of over 300,000 is too much of a burden. It could survive if its rival the St. Paul Pioneer Press folds. A grim race.

3. The Miami Herald, which has a daily circulation of about 220,000. It is owned by McClatchy, a publicly traded company which could be the next chain to go into Chapter 11. The Herald has been on the market since December, and but no serious bidders have emerged. Newspaper advertising has been especially hard hit in Florida because of the tremendous loss in real estate advertising. The online version of the paper is already well-read in the Miami area and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Herald has strong competition north of it in Fort Lauderdale. There is a very small chance it could merge with the Sun-Sentinel, but it is more likely that the Herald will go online-only with two editions, one for English-speaking readers and one for Spanish.

4. The Detroit News is one of two daily papers in the big American city badly hit by the economic downturn. It is unlikely that it can merge with the larger Detroit Free Press which is owned by Gannett. It is hard to see what would be in it for Gannett. With the fortunes of Detroit getting worse each day, cutting back the number of days that the paper is delivered will not save enough money to keep the paper open.

5. The Boston Globe is, based on several accounts, losing $1 million a week. One investment bank recently said that the paper is only worth $20 million. The paper is the flagship of what the Globe's parent, The New York Times, calls the New England Media Group. NYT has substantial financial problems of its own. Last year, ad revenue for the New England properties was down 18%. That is likely to continue or get worse this year. Supporting larger losses at the Globe will become nearly impossible. Boston.com, the online site that includes the digital aspects of the Globe, will probably be all that will be left of the operation.

6. The San Francisco Chronicle. Parent company Hearst has already set a deadline for shutting the paper if it cannot make tremendous cost cuts. The Chronicle lost as much as $70 million last year. Even if the company could lower its costs, the northern California economy is in bad shape. The online version of the paper could be the only version by the middle of the 2009.

7. The Chicago Sun Times is the smaller of two newspapers in the city. Its parent company, Sun-Times Media Group trades for $.03 a share. Davidson Kempner, a large shareholder in the firm, has dumped the CEO and most of the board. The paper has no chance of competing with The Chicago Tribune.

8. NY Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike The New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, and Newark Star Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization. Real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level.

9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram is another one of the big dailies that competes with a larger paper in a neighboring market - Dallas. The parent of The Dallas Morning News, Belo, is arguably a stronger company that the Star Telegram's parent, McClatchy. The Morning News has a circulation of about 350,000 and the Star Telegram has just over 200,000. The Star Telegram will have to shut down or become an edition of its rival. Putting them together would save tens of millions of dollars a year.

10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is in one of the economically weakest markets in the country. Its parent, Advance Publications, has already threatened to close its paper in Newark. Employees gave up enough in terms of concessions to keep the paper open. Advance, owned by the Newhouse family, is carrying the burden of its paper plus Conde Nast, its magazine group which is losing advertising revenue. The Plain Dealer will be shut or go digital by the end of next year.

AP – Electric Time Company employee Dan LaMoore walks between three large clocks being constructed at the …

Americans will set their clocks ahead by an hour this weekend, as daylight saving time begins Sunday. "Springing forward" creates another hour of sunlight in the evening. It also has some effects on health and public safety that many people are unaware of. Interesting facts about daylight saving time include:

1. Officially, it's "daylight saving time," not "daylight savings time." But don't feel bad if you thought there was a final "s" on "saving"; far more people Google the incorrect phrase than the correct one.

2. Daylight saving time has mixed effects on people's health. Transitions into and out of DST can disturb people's sleeping patterns, for example, and make them more restless at night. Night owls tend to be more bothered by the time changes than people who like mornings, Finnish researchers concluded last year.

3. There's a spike in heart attacks during the first week of daylight saving time, according to another study published last year. The loss of an hour's sleep may make people more susceptible to an attack, some experts say. When daylight saving time ends in the fall, heart attacks briefly become less frequent than usual.

4. People are safer drivers during daylight hours, and researchers have found that DST reduces lethal car crashes and pedestrian strikes. In fact, a study concluded that observing DST year-round would annually prevent about 195 deaths of motor vehicle occupants and about 171 pedestrian fatalities.

5. A U.S. law signed by President George W. Bush in 2005 extended the length of daylight saving time by four weeks. It now begins at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March. It ends on the first Sunday in November.

6. Also in 2005, Kazakhstan abolished daylight saving time, citing negative health effects. The country's government reportedly calculated that 51.6 percent of Kazakhs responded badly to the time change.

7. Many other countries observe daylight saving time, but not all do so on the same day. That can create confusion for international travelers, business communications, and more.

8. Daylight saving can also cause confusion close to home. In March 2007, a Pennsylvania honor student was mistakenly accused of threatening his school with a bomb. He had actually called an automated line to get info about scheduled classes. Someone else made the bomb threat an hour later.

9. Two states--Arizona and Hawaii--and three U.S. territories--American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands--don't observe daylight saving time. Indiana adopted DST in 2006.

10. Local time determines when DST begins, so America's eastern time zone makes the switch before the rest of the country. This Sunday, cities like New York and Atlanta will be two hours ahead of the central time zone, instead of the usual one-hour difference, from 3 a.m. to 3:59 a.m. EDT. New York City will be four hours ahead of Los Angeles--instead of the usual three--from 3 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. EDT.

11. Daylight saving time was first used during World War I, as part of an effort in the United States and other warring countries to conserve fuel. In theory, using daylight more efficiently saves fuel and energy because it reduces the nation's need for artificial light.

12. The first American to advocate for daylight saving was Benjamin Franklin. He realized in 1784 that many people burned candles at night yet slept past dawn in the summer, wasting early-morning sunlight.

13. The effect of DST on energy use has changed over time and varies from place to place. Experts even disagree on whether DST still saves the nation energy. But so many people like to "spring forward" that it might be hard for officials to end the tradition, even if they determined it's wasteful.

So the price of food has gone up about 8% in the past year, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Stop your complaining! As my mother always told me, "I like my whine in a glass, but not at the dinner table."

I'd have more sympathy for a lot of Americans who are upset about soaring food costs if it weren't for the fact that most of them can reduce what they spend on food by about 25% if they'd only do as my mother also told me: "Shut your yap and clean your plate!" (Now you know where I get my gifts for both language and tact.)

Prepare for shock and awe (and national embarrassment): According to government sources, roughly 25% of the food Americans buy goes to waste. That's about one pound of food, per American, per day -- thrown in the trash. Sadly we've crossed the line from Land of Plenty to Land of Waste.

Recently, one of our readers suggested 10 easy ways to reduce food waste (thanks Mrs. Green!). Here's five more ways to cut your food costs -- and your carbon footprint:

Shop for groceries no more than once every two weeks. Time and again, studies confirm the obvious: Q.) How to keep yourself from buying too much stuff? A.) Shop less frequently. Grocery shopping is no different, but the key is to shop smart in order to avoid spoilage. Cook two or three meals' worth of each recipe at the beginning of the two-week period, and immediately freeze the extra portions for the second week. Freeze any meat that you won't be eating within the next 48 hours.

Use up fresh fruits and vegetables first, and then supplement them with just-as-healthy frozen as you get into the second week. Check expiration dates on dairy products before you buy them; in most cases you can find products that will remain fresh for two weeks or longer. The idea is to always USE UP what you buy before you shop again.

Think layovers, NOT leftovers. Raise your hand and repeat after me: "I solemnly swear to consume the remaining portions (if any) of meals I failed to previously consume within 24 hours of my failure to consume them." Eat 'em for breakfast, pack 'em for lunch, or host a hors de-yester-jour happy hour with friends.

How to handle restaurants. Establishments are frequently guilty of "over serving" in order to justify higher prices (call me a cynic). So order only from the appetizer menu or split a single ginormous entrée. And remember, doggy bags and leftovers have replaced Gucci bags and makeovers; green -- and cheap -- are the new cool.

Social therapy. I can't see myself ever paying for therapy (although my poooor wife has offered more than once to take up a collection for me). The best therapy for curing wastefulness is not only free, but it even helps others who really need it: Volunteer one day out of the year at a local food kitchen for the needy, and then see how much food you throw away.

The raising, processing, packing, distribution, sale, and waste disposal associated with the food we eat -- or don't eat -- leaves a sasquatch-sized carbon footprint on old Mother Earth. Save your money, save the planet ... just shut your yap and clean your plate.

It's not what you earn, it's what you keep that often dictates your standard of living. With that in mind, take this quick tour of the ten cities in the nation that have the lowest overall tax burden. These cities came out on top (er, at the bottom, really) of the 2007-2008 District of Columbia survey of state and local tax burdens for the largest city in each state, plus D.C.

More from Kiplinger.com » 15 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions» What the Stimulus Means for You» Simple Tips to Help You Save Big in 2009

Tax rankings are based on 2007 tax return computations for a two-income couple earning $75,000 with one school age child. The real property tax is a function of housing values, real estate tax rates, assessment levels, homeowner exemptions and credits. The auto tax figure assumes the couple owns two cars and is based on the estimated registration fees, state and local gasoline taxes, and personal property taxes, if any.


No. 1 Anchorage, Alaska
Income tax: $0Property tax: $2,572Sales tax: $0Auto tax: $165
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 3.6%(National median tax burden: 8.5%)
Urban Facts: Taxes? Residents of Anchorage actually receive an annual "dividend" payment derived from levies on state oil drilling operations.
In sheer geographic size, the city of Anchorage is larger than the state of Rhode Island. It is home to 42% of all Alaskan residents.

No. 2 Manchester, New Hampshire
Income tax: $0Property tax: $2,349Sales tax: $0Auto tax: $493
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 3.8%
Urban Facts: New Hampshire's favorable tax structure and Manchester's proximity to Boston makes it an attractive residence for flinty New Englanders.

No. 3 Cheyenne, Wyoming
Income tax: $0Property tax: $1,326Sales tax: $1,512Auto tax: $665
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 4.7%
Urban Facts: Levies on mining and oil account for nearly half of the Equality State's tax revenues. Cheyenne is in close proximity to the geographical center of North America.

No. 4 Seattle, Washington
Income tax: $0Property tax: $1,698Sales tax: $1,561Auto tax: $457
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 5.0%
Urban Facts: Seattle may be a tax-friendly city, but it also has a high cost of living, well above the national average.
The median home sales price was $375,000 for last quarter of 2008, compared to $200,000 at the national level.

No. 5 Las Vegas, Nevada
Income tax: $0Property tax: $2,251Sales tax: $1,072Auto tax: $486
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 5.1%
Urban Facts: Gaming taxes account for 27% of the state's general revenue funds.
The city's rapid growth a few years ago that drew more than 5,000 new residents every month was propped up on subprime lending. Now Las Vegas has the highest foreclosure rate among U.S. cities.

No. 6 Jacksonville, Florida
Income tax: $0Property tax: $2,456Sales tax: $1,284Auto tax: $195
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 5.2%
Urban Facts: The state intangibles tax on certain investments was repealed in 2007.
Jacksonville is the third-most populous city on the East Coast, after New York City and Philadelphia. (Other cities such as Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami have larger metropolitan area populations.)

No. 7 Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Income tax: $0Property tax: $2,760Sales tax: $1,518Auto tax: $294
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 6.1%
Urban Facts: In fiscal year 2007, lottery gaming put $110 million in the state till to provide a 30% property-tax relief.
Sioux Falls has the largest shopping center between Minneapolis and Denver.
No. 8 Phoenix, Arizona

Income tax: $1,241Property tax: $1,401Sales tax: $1,849Auto tax: $588
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 6.8%
Urban Facts: Tax information for Phoenix includes the entire metropolitan area which extends to cities of Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale and Peoria. But housing prices and local tax can vary significantly from locality to locality.
No. 9 Billings, Montana

Income tax: $2,559Property tax: $1,865Sales tax: $0Auto tax: $689
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 6.8%
Urban Facts: Billings taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of less than $30,000 can exclude up to $3,600 of their pension income from state taxes.
Dubbed locally as the "Magic City," Billings is supporting growth by dunning its energy, agriculture, and transportation industries.

No. 10 Chicago, Illinois
Income tax: $2,019Property tax: $1,023Sales tax: $1,624Auto tax: $478
STATE & LOCAL TAX BURDEN: 6.9%
Urban Facts: Chicago's effective real-estate tax rate of .70% and various exemption programs keep real property tax low. Just keep in mind that this surprisingly tax-friendly city doesn't offer the same breaks for other cost-of-living expenses.

AP – Amir Izzat, center wearing black turban, spokesman of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad, briefs the media …
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he hopes U.S. troops can identify moderate elements of the Taliban and move them toward reconciliation.




Asked in an interview with The New York Times if the United States is winning in Afghanistan, Obama said "no," while adding "our troops are doing an extraordinary job in a very difficult situation."

"But you've seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think ... in the southern regions of the country, you're seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously," Obama said in the interview, which was posted Saturday on the Times' Web site.

"The national government still has not gained the confidence of the Afghan people," he said. "And so it's going to be critical for us to not only, get through these national elections to stabilize the security situation, but we've got to recast our policy so that our military, diplomatic and development goals are all aligned to ensure that al-Qaida and extremists that would do us harm don't have the kinds of safe havens that allow them to operate."

There may be opportunities to reach out to moderates in the Taliban, but the situation in Afghanistan is more complicated than the challenges the American military faced in Iraq, Obama said.

U.S. troops were able to persuade Sunni Muslim insurgents in Iraq to cooperate in some instances because they had been alienated by the tactics of al-Qaida terrorists.
Obama cautioned that Afghanistan is a less-governed region with a history of fierce independence among tribes, creating a tough set of circumstances for the United States to deal with.

The idea of cooperation with some in the Taliban has been talked about for many months by American military commanders including Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command.
"If you talk to Gen. Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us," said Obama.

"There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region, but the situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex," Obama added.

Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Washington could accept a political agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban if the insurgents will lay down their arms and accept the government's terms.

At the same time, Obama left open the possibility that U.S. operatives might capture terror suspects abroad without the cooperation of a country where they were found.

"There could be situations — and I emphasize 'could be' because we haven't made a determination yet — where, let's say that we have a well-known al-Qaida operative that doesn't surface very often, appears in a third country with whom we don't have an extradition relationship or would not be willing to prosecute, but we think is a very dangerous person," he said.

Obama added that the U.S. doesn't torture its suspects and noted in some cases those being held would have an opportunity to challenge their detention in federal courts.

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Kate Hudson's unruly updo, metallic cape, matching mini, and bow-enhanced bustier all bombed at Milan Fashion Week.

NBA highlights are the foundation of a strong blog breakfast, and although I'm bitter about waking up each morning, that changes quickly after a nutritious YouTube video. And oatmeal. Don't forget the oatmeal.
Well, today we eat like kings, thanks to Chris Paul's effort in the kitchen against the Mavericks last night. There are plenty of excellent dishes to choose, from CP3's behind-the-back dribble no-look to his touch-the-clouds lob to this undressing of poor Jason Terry on the break. Take your pick, pass the sugar and eat up.


Tyson Chandler was left impressed: "Incredible. He made one of the best moves I’ve ever seen in my life — on an NBA player. I was at halfcourt and I just stopped. I couldn’t even finish the break because I had never seen anything like that."

We have good news and we have bad news. The good news: Your sunny days are about to get longer. The bad: You're gonna get less sleep this weekend. Daylight- saving time is back and folks are eager to know when to switch their clocks, as well as why they have to.

When does daylight-saving time start this year?First off, the answer is Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 a.m. According to a military website, the change always occurs on the second Sunday in March (it used to be in April). Over the past week, searches on "when is daylight savings time 2009" have soared 1,658%. Related queries on "daylight savings time 2009" and "spring ahead" also posted big gains in the Search box.

Why do we have daylight-saving time?Some folks believe it helps us save energy. With longer daylight hours, there's less of a need for folks to turn on the lights. Sounds like small potatoes, but collectively, the use of less energy is a big deal. In recent years, other studies have contradicted the claims that more daylight = less energy consumed. Still, for now, it looks like daylight-saving time is here to stay. Oh, and by the way, it's "daylight-saving," not "daylight-savings."

When did it start originally?According to WebExhibits, Benjamin Franklin originally conceived of the idea. In the United States, daylight-saving time started in 1918 during World War I. It proved unpopular, and, according to an energy website from the state of California, the initiative was repealed shortly thereafter. It was later brought back during World War II, and has stuck around in one way or another ever since. It became law in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act.

Where don't they have daylight-saving time?Perhaps the word "uniform" is a bit much, because daylight-saving time isn't everywhere. For example, it isn't observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and most of Arizona. Why Arizona? According to NPR, the "Grand Canyon State" tried it for a year in 1967, and didn't like it. The state legislature asked for an exemption and it was given. Apparently, the squeaky wheel really does get the grease. Or in this case, an extra hour of sleep.

AFP – US President Barack Obama waves after landing on the South Lawn aboard Marine One, on March 6, at the …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama promised on Saturday to do "all that's necessary" to boost the economy and warned, in an opening shot at critics of his budget proposals, that the country had tough choices ahead.

Obama, who has rolled out a series of proposals to address the economic crisis since taking office on January 20, expressed confidence those initiatives would work even as jobless figures rise and the economic picture worsens.

"From the day I took office, I knew that solving this crisis would not be easy, nor would it happen overnight, and we will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead," he said in his weekly radio address.

"My administration is committed to doing all that's necessary to address this crisis and lead us to a better day."

While touting his stimulus bill and measures to prevent home foreclosures, the president also previewed a potential fight over his $3.5 trillion budget for fiscal year 2010.

"Like every family going through hard times, our country must make tough choices," he said. "In order to pay for the things we need -- we cannot waste money on the things we don't."

Obama, a Democrat, made clear one thing the country needed was healthcare reform, saying that process would help reduce the massive budget deficit and spur economic growth.

The White House hosted a summit on Thursday to kick-start the process of reducing healthcare costs and expanding coverage to uninsured Americans. U.S. healthcare costs have grown to $2.5 trillion annually and the ranks of the uninsured have swollen to 46 million people.

Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, in the weekly Republican radio address, warned of too much government involvement in the healthcare system.

"Some people are spending a lot of time talking about how to spend more of your money on bigger government run programs," Blunt said. "I'm concerned that if the government steps in it will eventually push out the private health care plans millions of Americans enjoy today."
Obama's budget, released last month, includes a 10-year $634 billion reserve fund to help pay for his healthcare reforms.

In his radio address, Obama linked budgeting procedures under previous administrations to callous behavior on Wall Street that helped cause the financial and economic crises.

"We've inherited a budgeting process as irresponsible as it is unsustainable. For years, as Wall Street used accounting tricks to conceal costs and avoid responsibility, Washington did, too," he said.

"These kinds of irresponsible budgets -- and inexcusable practices -- are now in the past."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney)

AP – Pakistani security officials examine a police vehicle at the site of car bombing in Badaber near Peshawar, …


ISLAMABAD – Three separate bombings killed 15 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, while authorities investigated reports that a pilotless U.S. drone crashed elsewhere in the militant-plagued region bordering Afghanistan.
The bombings, coming days after gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team, were a fresh reminder of the militant threat in Pakistan, where Western leaders worry that a growing political feud could distract the government from tackling the extremists head on.

Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are believed to use pockets of Pakistan's northwest as bases to plan attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The U.S. has used drones to fire missile strikes against militants in the area, prompting protests from Pakistani officials who say the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment.

Saturday's reports of a drone crash came from Angoor Ada village in South Waziristan, a tribal region where the main Pakistani Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is based.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said authorities were investigating the reports. Two intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said their informants and agents had yet to locate wreckage.
The U.S. rarely discusses the missile operations, and the drones are believed to be CIA-operated. Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, declined to comment on reports of the crash.

Militants have staged numerous attacks against Pakistani security forces in recent years, but one Saturday — a car bombing — was unusual in that a body was used to lure police, officials said.

Local police chief Rahim Shah said police went to the Badaber area after an unknown caller told them of a body in a parked car. Residents and police had recently evicted militants from the area, prompting threats of retaliation.

"They found the white car. They also saw a body inside, but when they were pulling it out, the car bomb went off," Shah said. Seven police and a bystander were killed.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed three civilians and wounded four troops Saturday in the town of Darra Adam Khel.

In the Khyber tribal region, a suicide bomber killed four people and wounded five at a mosque that served as a headquarters for the militant group Ansarul Islam, government official Sadiq Khan said. Ansarul Islam is the rival of another extremist group, Lashkar-e-Islam, Khan said.

Pakistan has staged military offensives in parts of its northwest, recently declaring it had defeated insurgents in the Bajur tribal region, but is also pursuing peace talks with militants in the region's Swat Valley, where it has promised to impose Islamic law.

Western leaders worry that Swat could turn into a militant haven, but Pakistan has persisted with the talks. On Saturday a top regional official said authorities decided to release 12 Taliban militants.

The 12 had been arrested "on charges of extremism," Syed Mohammad Javed said. "We are now setting them free.

" In violence elsewhere in Pakistan, heavily armed gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in the eastern city of Lahore last Tuesday, killing six police and a driver and wounding several players before fleeing unscathed.

The assault bore some resemblance to November's terrorist rampage in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai. The Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for that attack, in which 164 people were killed.

The group's chief spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi, in a call Saturday to The Associated Press denied it was involved in the attack on the Sri Lankans. The group also denies involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The Sri Lankans were attacked in Punjab province, the stronghold of Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.

The federal government recently dismissed the provincial government, led by Sharif's brother, after a court disqualified the Sharifs from elected office. Their party plans to participate in a massive march on the capital in the coming week organized by lawyers calling for an independent judiciary.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Friday it was "vital" for Pakistani politicians to stop feuding and "unite against the mortal threat that Pakistan faces, which is a threat from its internal enemies.

" Sharif showed no sign of backing down Saturday, encouraging Pakistanis to join the march and warning President Asif Ali Zardari he would lose support if he does not restore the deposed chief justice and reduce some presidential powers.

"Zardari, you will have to pay a heavy price," Sharif warned.
In response, federal Information Minister Sherry Rehman, a ruling party member, said Pakistani politicians should think about the "larger interest," "see the dangers this country is facing, and do not engulf it with flames of instability."
___
Associated Press writers Munir Ahmad and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Sherin Zada in Mingora contributed to this report.

AP – In this Oct. 22, 2008 file photo, Theresa Gratsch, a Ph.D. research specialist, views nerve cells derived …

WASHINGTON – Eight years of frustration are close to an end for scientists seeking ways to use embryonic stem cells to combat illness and injury.

On Monday, President Barack Obama plans to reverse limits imposed by President George W. Bush on using federal money for research with embryonic stem cells.

The long-promised move will allow a rush of research aimed at one day better treating, if not curing, ailments from diabetes to paralysis — research that is has drawn broad support, including from notables like Nancy Reagan, widow of the late Republican President Ronald Reagan, and the late Christopher Reeve.

But it stirs intense controversy over whether government crosses a moral line with such research, and opponents promptly denounced the move.
Obama will hold an event at the White House to announce the move, a senior administration official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy had not yet been publicly announced.

Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can morph into any cell of the body. Scientists hope to harness them so they can create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases — such as new insulin-producing cells for diabetics, cells that could help those with Parkinson's disease or maybe even Alzheimer's, or new nerve connections to restore movement after spinal injury.
"I feel vindicated after eight years of struggle, and I know it's going to energize my research team," said Dr. George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Children's Hospital of Boston, a leading stem cell researcher.

But the research is controversial because days-old embryos must be destroyed to obtain the cells. They typically are culled from fertility-clinic leftovers otherwise destined to be thrown away.

Under Bush, taxpayer money for that research was limited to a small number of stem cell lines that were created before Aug. 9, 2001, lines that in many cases had some drawbacks that limited their potential usability.

But hundreds more of such lines — groups of cells that can continue to propagate in lab dishes — have been created since then, ones that scientists say are healthier, better suited to creating treatments for people rather than doing basic laboratory science.

Work didn't stop. Indeed, it advanced enough that this summer, the private Geron Corp. will begin the world's first study of a treatment using human embryonic stem cells, in people who recently suffered a spinal cord injury.

Nor does Obama's change fund creation of new lines. But it means that scientists who until now have had to rely on private donations to work with these newer stem cell lines can apply for government money for the research, just like they do for studies of gene therapy or other treatment approaches.

The aim of the policy is to restore "scientific integrity" to the process, the administration official said.

"America's biomedical research enterprise experienced steady decline over the past eight years, with shrinking budgets and policies that elevated ideology over science. This slowed the pace of discovery and the search for cures," said Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan's Center for Stem Cell Biology.

Critics immediately denounced the move.
"Taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for experiments that require the destruction of human life," said Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council. "President Obama's policy change is especially troubling given the significant adult stem cell advances that are being used to treat patients now without harming or destroying human embryos."

Indeed, there are different types of stem cells: So-called adult stem cells that produce a specific type of tissue; younger stem cells found floating in amniotic fluid or the placenta. Scientists even have learned to reprogram certain cells to behave like stem cells.

But even researchers who work with varying types consider embryonic stem cells the most flexible and thus most promising form — and say that science, not politics, should ultimately judge.

"Science works best and patients are served best by having all the tools at our disposal," Daley said.

Obama made it clear during the campaign he would overturn Bush's directive.
During the campaign, Obama said, "I strongly support expanding research on stem cells. I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on
funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations.

" He said he would lift Bush's ban and "ensure that all research on stem cells is conducted ethically and with rigorous oversight."

"Patients and people who've been patient advocates are going to be really happy," said Amy Comstock Rick of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research.

The ruling will bring one immediate change: As of Monday, scientists who've had to meticulously keep separate their federally funded research and their privately funded stem cell work — from buying separate microscopes to even setting up labs in different buildings — won't have that expensive hurdle anymore.

Next, scientists can start applying for research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The NIH already has begun writing guidelines that, among other things, are expected to demand that the cells being used were derived with proper informed consent from the woman or couple who donated the original embryo.