Former Iowa real estate agent sentenced for fraud (AP)

DAVENPORT, Iowa ? Federal prosecutors say a former Davenport real estate agent has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud banks and mortgage lenders.

The U.S. attorney's office says 57-year-old Mary Harper was sentenced on wire fraud charges on Monday in Davenport. She was ordered to pay over $185,000 in restitution and serve three years of probation.

Prosecutors say Harper participated in a scheme to skim fees and commissions from inflated real estate mortgage loans. Authorities say inflated prices were used to allow buyers to apply for and receive inflated mortgages. After the deal was closed, the sellers would pay a "kickback" to Harper and the buyers.

Six others, including two buyers, two mortgage brokers and two attorneys, were charged in the case.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111220/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ia_mortgage_fraud

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Gordy Grundy: A Definition of Success in the Fine Arts

How do you define a successful life in the arts? Is it selling a painting for six figures? Do the heavens part when you make the cover of Artforum? Does achievement come with an invitation to show at a biennale? Or is success defined by the quality, dedication and passion of the artist's journey?

Recently, an art world success Bill Radawec left this mortal coil. In the last difficult year of his life, Bill demonstrated the same courageous values that he evidenced as an artist. The following testimonials from friends and colleagues paint a portrait of the artist. This discussion allow us to define the meaning of success in the fine arts. -- Gordy Grundy

The Art Work of Bill Radawec

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Out of the Blue, the Turn Around, 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches Photo courtesy of Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art

Out of the Blue, the Turn Around, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Photo courtesy of Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art

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The Art Work of Bill Radawec

Out of the Blue, the Turn Around, 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches Photo courtesy of Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art

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Lucas Reiner is a painter who lives in Los Angeles. He writes, "I met Bill Radawec in 1994 at an opening in Tom Solomon's Garage on Fairfax Blvd. Three small paintings of mine had been included in a group exhibition. The paintings were five inch squares; grey and minimal. If you blinked, you would easily miss them. As I was standing by the paintings I saw an energetic man rapidly approaching. Everything about him was round; round face, round baldhead, round glasses. With great enthusiasm and speed, he walked towards me and introduced himself: "Hi! I'm Bill", he said. "Are these your paintings"? He took off his glasses and pressed his head close to the surface, then close to the side of the paintings to see how they were attached to the wall. We struck up a conversation about minimalism and he invited me to visit him at his apartment/gallery, Domestic Setting, which was then on Sawtelle Blvd. Bill included my work in some of the Domestic Setting shows, and our conversations continued over the course of seventeen years.

Bill had a wonderful enthusiasm for art, life, people, history, and a profoundly generous nature. He was a constant connector of people, and seemingly felt no inhibitions or self-consciousness about introducing himself to anyone and everyone. He seemed to naturally feel that everyone should know everyone else, and was exemplary in the way he treated all people the same. For this reason, I suspect Los Angeles was a bit of a frustration for him. Perhaps being from the Midwest, he couldn't square the hierarchy of the Hollywood mindset.

Bill could talk. His favorite question was, "So what else is new?" He even asked me this while he was lying in the hospital, sedated, undergoing chemotherapy. The conversations we had, especially after he moved back to Cleveland to take care of his mother and father, covered a broad range of subjects; from art world gossip to his fascination with Sammy Davis Jr., specifically the I.R.S. owning all of his assets when he died. He would speak at length about a new, epic body of conceptual work he was focused on which wove together Sammy Davis' glass eye and John Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son and the inventor of Lincoln Logs. When I saw Bill in the spring of 2011, he spoke at length about this new body of work, looking me in the eye deadpan, and explaining how Frank Lloyd Wright had fired his son from a job he had hired him to do.

Bill's support, encouragement, and gentle guidance played an unexpected role in my life, and I will be forever being grateful for his friendship. His enthusiastic belief in people, generosity of spirit, and his willingness to share that spirit of belief was his gift to those who knew him. I loved him and will miss him. -- Lucas Reiner

Bennett Roberts is an art dealer in Los Angeles who is looking for the next diamond. He writes, "Bill was a great person and will be missed by all that knew him. Bill loved anything having to do with Art. The making, selling, displaying, talking about and thinking art. He loved looking, and seeing, and feeling, but he especially enjoyed the people (his friends) whether he knew them personally or not, who made, discussed and lived for Art. For these reasons and many others our friend Bill will be remembered and missed forever" -- Bennett Roberts

Jeanne Patterson is a Los Angeles based artist and founder of Domestic Setting. She writes, "Being totally immersed as an artist to Bill meant not only making one's work but being very active outside the studio, going to openings and seeing shows, to be Constantly engaged in art viewing, conversing and connecting people with one another. He was a firm believer that your studio should be ready at all times to have the work looked at. He was constantly on the phone with artists, dealers and writers all over the country and was on a first name basis with them.

From early on, he was very supportive of my work and I can truly say he was like a brother to me. With Bill you got the real deal, whether you liked that or not, he was an individual. He was very witty and had a very quick mind and he could always make me laugh. After he moved to Cleveland we would have long conversations late at night. He was excited to hear what was going on with Domestic Setting and enjoyed hearing news of mutual friends. He was like a sponge and took it all in, generous and told the most amazing stories. I miss the guy. -- Jeanne Patterson

Susan Landau is a former art dealer turned jewelry designer. She writes, "I had the most eye opening experience with Bill R. After my gallery closed in the early 90's, I opened my house to show wonderful art. Bill and I became acquainted at this point. He curated practically all the shows and introduced me to his posse of art folks. It was such a delight mixed with hilarious Bill "things". Like when the shows came down and new work was to be installed, Bill was not at his best. He seemed to be lacking spackling skills so he solved the problem by asking each artist to spackle their own "holes". As precise as his drawings were, he didn't mind lumps under white paint. -- Susan Landau

Jane Hart is curator of Exhibitions, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood and founder Lemon Sky projects and editions. She writes, "I met Bill Radawec shortly after moving to Los Angeles from New York City in 1990. Right away we struck up a friendship and I greatly appreciated his upbeat personality and unquenchable enthusiasm for contemporary art and artists. I attended many of the wonderful shows he organized at domestic setting and felt that he was truly pursuing the spirit of collaboration and inventiveness that I had longed for in my move to the West Coast. He invited me to curate a show in the summer of 1993 at both domestic setting spaces: his apartment and Jeanne Patterson's home. I was thrilled with the opportunity and used it as a platform to do a major project entitled "A Vital Matrix." It was a large group show devoted to artists and their relationship to nature and included many L.A. artists as well as future art stars like Gregory Crewdson, Matthew Ritchie and Jim Hodges among others. For me this was a trans-formative moment in my professional life working within the art world. I found my voice as a curator. I have Bill to thank for this -- as it was due both to his generosity and trust in me. There was a show, color catalogue and boxed set of the participating artists editions (which sold out immediately.) The show brought many people together. Bill and I loved that!

Throughout the 13 years that I was in Los Angeles, Bill introduced me to so many superb artists. He was a conduit in that way-- always putting people together. This was especially the case when I was Director of the pioneering digitally based fine arts publishing company Muse [X] Editions. Bill delighted in bringing artists over to our studio/facility -- many went on to publish and/or produce editions with us. Bill was also a key inspiration for me to open my own alternative "in home" gallery in 1996 up in Beachwood Canyon, lemon sky: a project space, which has continued in various manifestations both in L.A. and since I moved to Miami in 2003.

Most importantly though, Bill was devoted to his own art and all the various series he produced over the years. Each smartly imbued with wit and true originality. Bill was one of a kind...I am so grateful that we were friends and colleagues. Together with many other artists, curators and critics vital to Los Angeles' development as an art capital in the 1990's we shared exuberant experiences as the scene unfolded. They were the best of times. -- Jane Hart

Photos published courtesy of the Shaheen Gallery and Lucas Reiner.

-------------------
GORDY GRUNDY is a Los Angeles based artist and writer. His visual and literary work can be found near www.GordyGrundy.com.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gordy-grundy/a-definition-of-success-i_b_1160575.html

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Hopes fade for the missing in Russia rig accident (AP)

MOSCOW ? Hope was running out Monday for scores of oil workers missing for more than a day in remote, freezing waters off Russia's east coast after their floating platform capsized and sank during a severe storm.

Maria Dubrovskya, spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry in Russia's Far East, said rescue workers have pulled out 10 bodies from the Sea of Okhotsk. Russian news agencies are reporting that more bodies have been seen in the water, but the rescue team has not been able to retrieve them.

Fourteen people were plucked alive from the icy waters immediately after the accident and taken to a hospital.

Forty-three men are still listed as missing but chances of their survival are negligible as the water temperature in the area is 1 degree Celsius (33.8 Fahrenheit).

The Emergencies Ministry said there are four vessels, one helicopter and one airplane in the area searching for the missing men. Helicopter shots from the area on the NTV television channel showed nothing floating on the partly ice-bound sea.

Russia produces most of its oil onshore and it hasn't seen any significant oil platform accidents in the past years.

The floating oil rig capsized Sunday morning as it was being towed about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off the coast of Sakhalin Island amid a fierce storm. It started sinking after a strong wave broke some of its equipment and the portholes in the crew's dining room.

The Kolskaya platform ? 70 meters (226 feet) long and 80 meters (262 feet) wide ? was built in Finland in 1985, and is owned by Russian offshore exploration firm Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka. It has recently done some work for Russian energy giant Gazprom. It was on its way to a port in the Far East when it capsized.

There has been no report of environmental damage, but any is likely to be negligible because the rig only carried a small amount of fuel.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111219/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_oil_platform

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Russian oil platform capsizes; 4 dead, 49 missing (AP)

MOSCOW ? An oil drilling platform capsized Sunday in the Sea of Okhotsk off Russia's east coast, leaving four workers confirmed dead and 49 missing.

The Emergencies Ministry said in a statement Sunday that there were 67 people aboard the platform as it was being towed about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off the coast of Sakhalin Island in stormy conditions. It said 14 people had been rescued.

A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry in the Far East, told the Associated Press that the rescue team has found four lifeless bodies in the water, but has not yet retrieved them.

The search operation is hampered by a fierce storm in the area. The Transportation Ministry said the platform started sinking after a strong wave broke some of its equipment and portholes in the crew's dining room.

The Investigative Committee on Sunday opened a probe into the accident and said that it might have happened because of a breach of safety regulations or due to the weather conditions.

There were no reports of environmental damage and it would be unlikely since the platform was not drilling for oil when it capsized.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_oil_platform_capsizes

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Analysis: Apple struggles to take bigger bite out of China (Reuters)

HONG KONG (Reuters) ? Apple Inc's share of China's booming smartphone market has risen sharply in the past two years, but for now the company that sells the iconic iPhone is being outpaced by nimble rivals.

It is not that Apple's iPhones and iPads are losing favour among Chinese consumers. The iconic products are flying off the shelves at Apple's five flagship stores in Shanghai and Beijing, unauthorized sellers, and even from fake shops dressed up to look eerily like the real thing.

The problem facing Apple seems to be timing.

Network technology is not sufficient to fully support iPhone and iPad capabilities, while other handset makers supply phones that support the various mobile standards used in China.

A tie up with another telecoms service provider would help catapult Apple sales. But the biggest by far, China Mobile Ltd with more than 600 million subscribers, may not have matching technology in place commercially until late 2012 or 2013.

In the absence of that, Apple's relatively rigid global pricing structure and limited range of models are allowing more flexible competitors to grab market share at a faster pace.

Apple's smartphone market share has more than doubled since the first quarter of 2010, but others are doing better. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's market share has more than quadrupled over the same period.

"Apple's strategy in China is to capture the higher-end segment, which is a big enough market for it to tackle," said Jane Wang, an analyst at UK research firm Ovum.

"It has cut prices of some of its products, which will definitely be more affordable for some budget-conscious consumers, but it's only going to go so far in lowering prices."

China has more than 950 million mobile phone users, more than Europe's entire population, and its economy is expected by many to overtake the United States as the world's largest in 10 to 15 years.

Although Apple makes laptops, desktops and iPods, it generated about half its sales from iPhones in the fourth quarter, making the product key to success in China.

The U.S. technology giant's sales in Greater China -- mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- have been skyrocketing. Fourth-quarter revenue increased four-fold to $4.5 billion, out of a global total of $28 billion.

Demand is so strong in China that smuggling of real iPhones and sales of fakes are on the rise. Copy-cat stores masquerading as real Apple outlets -- and selling genuine Apple products -- have sprouted up everywhere from Beijing in the northeast to Kunming in the southwest.

PRICE WARS

The relatively high price of iPhones is a major deterrent, giving market inroads to rivals such as Samsung and local rivals Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, analysts said.

Chinese consumers can typically buy a smartphone from other brands at below 2,000 yuan ($308).

A basic iPhone 4 costs double that -- 3,988 yuan in China. Apple is selling its lower-end iPhone 3GS at 2,888 yuan, which will likely draw some budget-conscious consumers.

But it has not been enough.

In the third quarter, Huawei overtook Apple as the No.3 smartphone vendor in China.

Apple now trails Nokia Oyj, Samsung and Huawei, which all have a wider range of products targeting various segments of customers.

In fact, Apple's smartphone market share shrank to 10.4 percent in the third quarter from 13.3 percent in the previous quarter. Samsung's shot up to 19.2 percent from 14.6 percent and Huawei to 11 percent from 7.3 percent.

Nokia, the market leader, is fast-losing traction. It holds top slot with 26.8 percent share but that has dropped from 36.2 percent in the previous quarter and 71.4 percent a year earlier.

"At the end of the day, Apple will only go so far to lower the pricing because if they go too low, it's going to damage their iconic brand," said Michael Clendenin, managing director at China-focused technology advisory firm RedTech Advisors in Shanghai.

DIFFERENCE

The real missing link in Apple's approach to China is a tie up with China Mobile, the country's top mobile carrier by far, analysts said.

Apple's current partner, China Unicom, is a distant second with 192.4 million mobile subscribers.

"I think a good strategy for Apple is to try and seal deals as soon as possible with the other two China telecom operators," said Ovum's Wang.

However, so far negotiations with China Mobile and fixed-line giant China Telecom, which also has a mobile network with 120 million subscribers, have been protracted.

The main sticking point has been the terms of the agreements, which could range from revenue sharing that would allow both parties to split money from data charges to simple bulk purchases.

However, even with another partner, Apple must contend with another barrier -- China's slow uptake of 3G technology.

Only about a tenth of China's almost 1 billion mobile phone subscribers use 3G. Most users make phone calls and send text messages.

The best immediate option for Apple may be China Telecom, which uses a CDMA technology that the iPhone can use.

China Mobile though uses its homegrown proprietary 3G technology called TD-SCDMA. To tap that, Apple would have to design an iPhone just for China Mobile's network.

"It's quite meaningless for China Mobile and Apple to sign an agreement based on the current TD-SCDMA network. Using the 4G TD-LTE technology that China Mobile is developing will be more feasible," said Kevin Wang, research firm iSuppli's director of China research.

China Mobile is conducting trials on its 4G network, with a commercial launch expected to take place late next year or early 2013. Its commercial 4G rollout will be a precursor to an agreement with Apple, analysts say.

"Apple still has the upper hand. Even though Jobs is not around anymore, Apple's products will still remain quite popular, so they have more bargaining power," said Wang from Ovum.

The slide in Apple's market share may prove temporary or until it can sign a deal with a Chinese telecoms network. Similar deals in other countries have propelled sales sharply.

In the meantime, Chinese have found a way to own an Apple iPhone and still subscribe to China Mobile services. In fact, 10 million China Mobile subscribers use an iPhone because some vendors will cut the service provider's SIM card so that it can fit into an iPhone.

(Additional reporting by Melanie Lee in SHANGHAI; Editing by Charlie Zhu and Brian Rhoads)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/tc_nm/us_apple_china

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Congress leaders hope deal near on gov't shutdown (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Shifting from confrontation to cooperation, congressional leaders expressed optimism Thursday that agreement was near on extending this year's payroll tax cut, renewing unemployment benefits and averting a federal shutdown.

"We can extend payroll tax relief for American workers and create new jobs and keep the government running and, frankly, we can do it in a bipartisan way," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters, a turnabout from weeks of partisan sniping from both sides.

"No more show votes," Boehner said after praising earlier remarks by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that lingering disagreements on a mammoth spending bill could be easily resolved. "It's just time to legislate."

Reid opened the Senate's morning session by saying he and the chamber's top Republican have held talks to resolve remaining disputes. With lawmakers itching to return home before the holidays, Reid said he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hope they can reach a deal "that would get us out of here in a reasonable time, in the next few days."

Standing just across the aisle, McConnell agreed with Reid ? a stark contrast to recent days, when the two have fired sharp partisan volleys at each other.

"We're confident, optimistic we'll be able to resolve both on a bipartisan basis," said McConnell, referring to one bill that would renew the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits, and a separate spending measure that would keep federal agencies open.

President Barack Obama applied pressure of his own, saying Congress "should not and cannot" go home until it had resolved the issues.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to extend these items, the payroll tax cut, u.i. before holidays," he said, using the abbreviation for unemployment insurance. "There's no reason the government should shut down over this, and I expect all of us to do what's necessary in order to do the people's business and make sure that it's done before the end of the year."

In part, the turnabout reflected the calendar: 160 million Americans would get a sudden tax increase on Jan. 1 if the payroll tax cut was not renewed, and most government agencies would close this Saturday without agreement on spending legislation.

The drive to broker agreements also underscored a sense that weeks of partisan battling, in which each party accused the other of causing tax increases and a federal shutdown, had finally run their course.

"We've done enough back-and-forth, the Republican leader and me, staking out our positions, and our positions are fairly clear to the American people," Reid said.

A clear sign of movement came late Wednesday, when aides said Democrats were abandoning their demand for a surtax on millionaires to help finance payroll tax cuts.

Like congressional leaders, White House press secretary Jay Carney also expressed optimism Thursday about bipartisan compromise. "We believe a deal can get done," he said.

Though Obama has said repeatedly the wealthy need to "pay their fair share," Carney said the White House was open to other ways to pay for unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut, and he downplayed what had been a key Obama argument.

"The president's priority has not been how it's paid for or raising taxes. It's been lowering taxes for the vast majority of Americans," Carney said.

On a separate spending dispute, House Republicans had said Wednesday night that they would try pushing a massive $1 trillion spending bill through the House on Friday, relying only on GOP votes, to prevent a federal shutdown. Reid said Thursday that he believed remaining partisan disputes on that bill could be quickly settled.

The pre-Christmas wrangling caps a contentious year in a capital hindered by divided government, with Democrats controlling the White House and Senate while Republicans run the House. Lawmakers have engaged in down-to-the-wire drama even when performing the most mundane acts of governing, such as keeping agencies functioning and extending federal borrowing authority, tasks that are only becoming more politically delicate as the calendar nears the 2012 election year.

The GOP-run House approved its version of a payroll tax cut bill this week, but it drew solid opposition from Democrats and Obama in part because it would force work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries, which Obama would rather delay. They are also unhappy that the bill is financed by cuts to civilian federal workers, Obama's health care overhaul bill and other programs that Democrats say would avoid meaningful contributions from the rich.

In one instance of cooperation, the Senate was expected to give final congressional approval Thursday to a $662 billion defense bill that would allow the administration to prosecute terrorism suspects in the civilian justice system.

The White House had initially issued a veto threat against the bill over language requiring the military to handle some terrorism suspects. An agreement was reached by including a provision ensuring that the role of domestic law enforcement agencies would be unchanged.

The spending bill would finance the Pentagon and nine other Cabinet-level departments, as well as scores of smaller agencies. It would trim the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency, foreign aid and Congress itself while providing funds to combat AIDS in Africa, patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, operate national parks and boost veterans' health care.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_rdp

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Mugger Rejects Victims' Non-iPhones [Crime]

If you're worried about getting your phone snatched on a dark sidewalk, here's a top security tip: don't own an iPhone. A spat of attempted phone-jackings at Columbia University have one thing in common: thugs don't want your Android. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/dulW9RHAbss/mugger-rejects-victims-non+iphones

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