"Kung Fu Panda : Secrets Of The Furious Five" - The Story Within

With Po's status as the Dragon Warrior proven to all, Master Shifu has a new challenge for him; teaching Introduction to Kung Fu class to a bunch of a rambunctious bunny children. After getting the class to come to order, Po teaches them that fighting is only part of kung fu, while its true meaning is "Excellence of Self." To explain this philosophy, Po tells stories of each of his comrades, The Furious Five, and how they faced formative challenges in their youth that helped define them as true masters of kung fu.

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PLANET HOME : An awsome documentary from GoodPlanet Foundation

GoodPlanet

GoodPlanet is a foundation that was created in 2005 (and recognized as being of public utility in 2009) to raise public awareness of environmental protection and to bring concrete solutions to the Earth’s ecological crisis. The foundation is chaired by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

The mission of GoodPlanet

GoodPlanet is working to raise awareness and propose concrete solutions in favor of our planet and its inhabitants. We are

• Sensitizing all citizens to the world’s problems, and giving each person an active role ;
• Mobilizing the economic leaders and governmental policies by explaining the association’s goals and by helping them set up sustainable development procedures ;
• Implementing programs that propose concrete answers to the environmental crisis.

GoodPlanet is member of the French « Alliance pour la planète » and the « Comité 21 », in addition to other French ecological associations. We are pleased to announce that GoodPlanet has been recognized as a public utility Foundation. This new status enables our current projects to make a greater impact.

GoodPlanet Project "HOME"

With aerial footage from 54 countries, Home is a depiction of how the Earth's problems are all interlinked, but with an only one responsible: the human. It start with the creation and the evolution of the animal species in the Earth, until the human, who starts living peacefully with nature. But the accelerate grow of population in the last 60 years and the discover of the oil, changed all.

• View The "HOME" video Online
  
• Download "HOME" video from torrent
  

Hiroshima - The Real Reason For The Atom Bomb

The material for this article is taken from three of my books: "1917 And All That: The Untaught History Syllabus. In their Own Words - A Political History Of The Cold War 1917-1983." which has also been partly serialised in British and foreign journals, and which arose out of an unpublished (and at that time unfinished) Ph.D. thesis; and "A Radical Book Of Enlightenment For The Common Man." which is a compilation of over 1,700 radical political quotes in subject and historical categories; and "Understanding The Hidden Nature Of Capitalism. - Or Marx For Beginners." including Marx's full exposure of the capitalist economic system. A fourth, non political, book is a comprehensive computer guide for writers and authors.

And yes, it is extremely biased. But when did idealistic academic or journalistic notions of being 'balanced' or 'unbiased' ever equate with veracity or reality?

I challenge those who preach a so-called 'balanced' view to come up with a negation of what is being said.

I am happy for this article to be reproduced and distributed in full provided that authorship is acknowledged, or as quotations provided that the full authorship of each quote is stated; and that the work is used for the purpose for which it is obviously intended - to inform and educate those interested in the modern history of wars, peace, anti-racism, poverty, imperialism, global trade and exploitation and the world debt crisis; in other words, humanity in this incredibly rich and abundant world.

The First Shots Of World War Three: Hiroshima And Nagasaki - Us Atom Bomb Diplomacy - An Atomic Crime.

HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI: US ATOM BOMB DIPLOMACY - AN ATOMIC CRIME. "The use of the atomic bomb cost us dearly; we are now branded with the mark of the beast."

(New York Times military observer.)

On August 6 and 9 1945 the US dropped nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; targets which had no military significance whatever.

"I cannot certify that this bomb brought us victory, but it is certain that it hastened the end of the war. We know that in this way we saved the lives of several thousand American and allied soldiers who would certainly have perished if we had not used the bomb."

(US President Truman, Oct 3 1945.)

Were the 247,000 innocent human beings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki really burned in order to save the lives of several thousand American and allied soldiers?

Not if you consider the words of US Major General C. Chennault:

"...the entry of the Soviet Union into the war (against Japan) was the decisive factor that hastened the end of the war. Even if we had not used the bomb the result would have been just the same."

(New York Times Aug 15 1945.)

Or Roosevelt, who had realised as early as 1943 that:

"With Russia as an ally in the war against Japan, the war can be terminated in less time and at less expense in life and resources than if the reverse were the case."

(Roosevelt, in his Quebec Conference document "Russia's Position.")

Or US Secretary of State Stettinius:

"Without Russia it might cost the United States a million casualties to conquer Japan."

(US Secretary of State Stettinius )

Or American critics Norman Cousins and Thomas Finletter:

"Why did we drop the bomb? Or why didn't we try it out under the auspices of the allied powers, to show its tremendous effectiveness, and on that basis, send an ultimatum to Japan, and throw the responsibility on to the Japanese themselves? Whatever the answer to that question, if the aim of the atomic bomb lay in the fact that we had to beat Japan before the Soviet Union could take part in the war (with Japan), no experiment could take place."

(Saturday Review, June 15 1946.)

Or General Groves, military director of the Manhattan project for the manufacture of the first atomic bomb:

"There was never, from about two weeks from the time I took charge, any illusions on my part, but that Russia was our enemy, and that the project was carried out on that basis. I didn't go along with attitude of the whole country that Russia was our gallant ally. I always had suspicions and the project was conducted on that basis."

(General Groves, director of the Manhattan project.)

Or Professor Joseph Rotblatt:

"In March 1944 I experienced a disagreeable shock. In a casual conversation, General Leslie Groves, the head of the Manhattan Project, said, "You realise, of course, that the real purpose of making the bomb is to subdue our chief enemy, the Russians!" Until then I thought that our work was to prevent a Nazi victory."

(Professor Joseph Rotblatt, The Times July 17 1985.)

Or US Secretary of State Byrnes:

"...it wasn't necessary to use the bomb against the cities of Japan in order to win the war but our possession and demonstration of the bomb would make the Russians more manageable in Europe."

(US Secretary of State James Byrnes.)

Or British professor P.M.S Blackett:

"We conclude that the dropping of the atomic bomb was not so much the last military act of the Second World War, as the first act of the cold diplomatic war with the Russians."

(Prof. P. Blackett "The Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy.".)

Or even Churchill:

"It would be a mistake to suppose that the fate of Japan was settled by the atomic bomb. Her defeat was certain before the bomb fell."

(Winston Churchill "The Second World War.)

Churchill was one of those in on the beginning of the atomic bomb plans. And at the time he helped to propagate the myth:

"It is to this atomic bomb more than to any other factor that we may ascribe the sudden and speedy ending of the war against Japan."

(Winston Churchill, House of Commons, Aug 17 1945.)

Or US Secretary for War Henry Stimson, who wrote in his diary that the atomic bomb was: "to persuade Russia to play ball" and:

"The necessity of bringing Russian orgn. into the fold of Christian civilisation... The possible use of S1 [the code name for the atom bomb B.M.] to accomplish this."

(From US Secretary for War Henry Stimson's notes after talks with President Roosevelt.)

"Russian entry will have a profound military effect in that almost certainly it will materially shorten the war and thus save American lives,"

(US Secretary for War Henry Stimson.)

Or Eisenhower; when told by US Secretary for War Henry Stimson that nuclear weapons were to be used on Japan:

"I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary... Japan was at that very moment seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of face."

(Dwight D. Eisenhower.)

And later:

"It wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing."

(Eisenhower.)

The Allied powers had agreed at Yalta that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on land in Manchuria three months after the Germans were defeated in Europe. This was to give the USSR time to move the Red Army half way around the world. The German surrender was on May 8 1945, so the date for the Soviet attack was to be August 8 1945, which they kept exactly to the day. Churchill called this:

"...another example of the fidelity and punctuality with which Marshal Stalin and his valiant armies always kept their military engagements."

(Winston Churchill, House of Commons.)

But the US wanted Japan to capitulate to US occupying forces rather than Soviet. There was no time to test the atomic bomb elsewhere, even though Kure, a military target, was only 20 miles away, but was already damaged by conventional bombing and therefore would not be suitable for an "experiment." So Hiroshima, an undamaged target full of innocent civilian guinea pigs, was chosen for the "experiment" on August 6 1945.

"It seems clear that, even without the atom bomb attacks, air supremacy over japan could have exerted sufficient pressure to bring unconditional surrender and obviate the need for invasion... Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the survey's opinion that certainly prior to December 31, 1945 Japan would have surrendered even if the atom bomb had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated."

(US Strategic Bombing Survey 4, The Summary Report on the Pacific War.)

"There was not enough time between 16 July when we knew at New Mexico that the bomb would work, and 8 August, the Russian deadline date, for us to have set up the very complicated machinery of a test atomic bombing involving time-consuming problems of area preparations, etc... No, any test would have been impossible if the purpose was to knock Japan out before Russia came in - or at least before Russia could make anything other than a token of participation prior to a Japanese collapse."

(Thomas K. Finletter, Chairman of US Air Policy Committee.)

"The Americans had no bombs to waste. Apart from the static apparatus... There were just two bearing the names "The Thin Man" and "The Fat Man"."

(US historian W. Manchester, in "The Glory and the Dream.")

No bombs to waste; the "Fat Man" and the "Thin Man" had to be tested on live people and the Soviets had to be kept in their place.

Japan was already effectively defeated and had already offered to surrender. The Japanese had asked the Soviet Union to mediate in surrender terms and peace negotiations as early as March 1945.

It had been decided to use the atom bomb on Japan as early as the beginning of July 1945; and Japan's offer of surrender on July 22 1945 was therefore rejected.

"...the decision to use the atomic weapon against Japan was taken at the beginning of July, 1945. The first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6 and the offer of peace made by Japan on July 22 was not accepted till August 10."

(Attlee, in News Chronicle, Dec 5 1946.)

The US were again informed on July 28 at Potsdam, before the bomb was used, that Japan was prepared to surrender:

Stalin:"I want to inform you that we, the Russian delegation, have received a new proposal from Japan... [Japan's note on mediation was then read out in English B.M.] ... Japan is offering to cooperate with us. We intend to reply to them in the same spirit as last time."

Truman:"We do not object."

Attlee:"We agree."

(At Potsdam Conference, July 28 1945)

The Japanese also helped propagate the myth that the bomb forced them to surrender by omitting to announce their surrender offers to the Soviets:

"Already the governing classes, headed by the Emperor, are desperately trying to 'save their face' by ascribing defeat to the atomic bomb, conveniently forgetting their request to Russia to mediate with the Allies before the atomic bomb was used...

The assertion that the new American bombs brought the Japanese war to an end is a myth. As we know, weeks before the appearance of the atom bombs, the Emperor Hirohito had already asked Stalin to mediate; thus openly admitting defeat. In reality Japan had been brought down by the interruption of her sea communications by Anglo-American sea power and th edanger of a Soviet thrust across manchuria cutting off the Japanese armies in Asia from home."

(The Times Aug 16 1945.)

"The entry into the war of the Soviet Union this morning puts us in an utterly hopeless situation and makes further continuation of the war impossible."

(Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki, Aug 9 1945.)

Why the rush to use the bomb?:

"We wanted to get through the Japanese phase of the war before the Russians came in."

(US Secretary of State James Byrnes.)

Churchill knew about the US atom bomb plans. But they were kept secret from the USSR. When it was decided eventually to tell Stalin Churchill showed nothing but deceitfulness and contempt for a loyal ally:

"Still, he had been a magnificent ally in the war against Hitler, and we both [and Truman] felt that he must be informed of the great New Fact which now dominated the scene, but not with any particulars."

(Winston Churchill "The Second World War.")

"I am in entire agreement with the President that the secrets of the atomic bomb shall, so far as is possible, not be imparted to any other country in the world. So far as we know there are at least three and perhaps four years before the concrete progress made in the United States can be overtaken."

ET(Winston Churchill, Aug 16 1945.)

The last thing the US wanted was for Japan to capitulate to the USSR. The US also did not want the Japanese people to have the opportunity to opt for socialism:

"Anxious as we were to have Russia in the war against Japan, the experience at Potsdam now made me determined that I would not allow the Russians any part in the control of Japan... force is the only thing that the Russians understand."

(US President Truman, in his diary, July 1945.)

"It is quite clear that the US do not at the present time desire Russian participation in the war against Japan."

(Churchill, to Eden.)

"[It is] now no longer necessary for the Russians to come into the Japanese war; the new explosive alone was sufficient to settle the matter. Furthermore, we now had something in our hands which would redress the balance with the Russians... [Churchill could now say to the USSR B.M.:] If you insist on doing this or that, well... [the "well" and a pause meant an atom bomb B.M.] And then where are the Russians!"

(Churchill's Chief of Staff in the war Field Marshal Lord Alan Brooke, talking about Churchill, in his war diaries.)

"We should not need the Russians. The end of the Japanese war no longer depended on the pouring in of their armies... We had no need to ask favours of them... I minuted to Mr. Eden: 'It is quite clear that the United States do not at the present time desire Russian participation in the war against Japan'."

(Winston Churchill, in "The Second World War.")

This fear of Japan becoming socialist is even more apparent when you consider that Japan's and Germany's war debts and reparations were not only waived but millions of dollars of US capital as "Marshall Aid" was pumped into these countries, as well as Britain and the rest of Western Europe. This also helped to prevent the possibility that these nations might have "gone communist".

"If the bomb was dropped in a desperate hurry on August 6, it must have been because Truman was determined to drop it before the Russians had entered the war... But that was not all: the bomb, as is so clearly suggested by Truman, Byrnes, Stimson and others, was dropped very largely in order to impress Russia with America's great might. Ending the war in Japan was incidental (the end of this war was clearly in sight anyway), but stopping the Russians in Asia and checking them in Eastern Europe was fundamental."

(British historian Alexander Werth "Russia At War.")

"The bomb might well put us in a position to dictate our own terms at the end of the war."

(US Secretary of State James Byrnes.)

The human cost of the US trying to obtain a political position where it could dictate its own terms was right from the start played down and hidden from view by the US; while subjecting the human and physical remnants and survivors of the bomb to tests to assess the effects of nuclear bombing. Medical tests were conducted by the US not for the benefit of the Japanese victims, but purely for US military experiments. Let no one be fooled by attempts to play down the effects of nuclear bombing, such as radiation effects, which last for generations.

"I am an atomic bomb survivor (Hibakusha) from Hiroshima.

On August 6, 1945, forty-two years ago, an A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the USA. The bomb, containing only 1 Kilogram of uranium but equal in power to 13,000 tons of TNT, fell on Hiroshima with a bomb blast faster than sound and with heat rays exceeding 2,000 degrees centigrade on the ground within a radius of 600 meters. In an instant it blew down buildings, houses and people in Hiroshima, destroying everything...

On the ground, numberless people had fallen, groaning or crying for water, without anyone to help them. The neighbourhood was so full of agonising cries, it was hell on earth.

That same day, some 9,000 12-year-old schoolboys were also engaged in work in the city, under the national mobilisation law. In the instant of the A-bomb explosion, most of them were charred to death. Those who narrowly escaped being killed were left naked, their clothes burnt off. With their blistering skin peeling, they tottered about in the sea of fire, and plunged into the river. When they looked up from the water, they had already lost their sight. Embracing each other by the shoulder, red and stripped of skin, they were washed away toward the sea, crying "Mama, help!" The bodies washed toward the sea on the seven rivers running through the city, turning the river surface dark, have never been recovered.

Even if the cry, "Mama, help!" had reached their mothers, who could have helped them in that "hell"? The hell, in which you could not save even your own children, that is A-bombing.

People who survived the bombing, and those who entered the city to search for relatives or help victims were struck down by radiation and died after losing their hair and bleeding.

Three days later, on August 9, another A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The two A-bombs completely destroyed the two cities, massacring the people without discrimination...

A-bombings allow us neither to live nor die as human beings. A-bombs are... basically intended for total destruction... which we human beings must never allow to exist.

After the end of World War II, the US occupational forces and the Japanese government tried to conceal the real condition of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the public by suppressing all reports on the damage of these two cities caused by the A-bombs. This caused delay in relief work for victims and prevented the effects of nuclear war from being known to the world as well as formation of international opinion for the banning of nuclear weapons...

We do not want anyone to ever again go through the pain of nuclear war which we were made to suffer. "Never make hibakusha again" - this is our hibakusha's heart-felt desire. This is our wish to which we are determined to devote our lives. For that purpose, we must prevent nuclear war and eliminate nuclear weapons entirely...

Japan formerly invaded our neighbouring Asian countries and did them serious harm...

Japanese women have been widening the range of their movements for the protection of peace and life, with the slogans:

"Mothers who give birth to life also wish to nurture and protect life" and "Let us join hands so as to make no more Hibakusha."

(Sakao Ito, NIHON HIDANKYO Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations, in Women of the Whole World, journal of the Women's International Democratic Federation.)

Japanese women's horrific tales of the bombing have made 12 volumes collected by the women's peace committee of the Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai. One of the stories is of Mayumi Yoshida; the long extract shows many aspects of life and what conditions and government attitudes in the West are likely to be after a nuclear bombing:

"I have written this for the sake of my older sister, Yuriko, who has suffered a fate more cruel than death. I have written in the hope that no other children like Yuriko are born into this world.

Yuriko is one of twenty-two cases of severe microcephaly caused in foetuses whose mothers were exposed at close range to radiation from the atomic bomb. She limps because both pelvic joints are dislocated. She has a speech disorder. Her body is the size of a middle-school pupil, though she is thirty-six. Her mental abilities are arrested at the level of a two-year-old... She is incapable of taking a bath, going to the toilet, or doing anything else unassisted.

Yuriko smiles when she is happy and pouts when she is displeased...

Television movies are her greatest joy...

Why has she been condemned to such a condition? Life is given equally to all. Who was it that twisted and deformed my sister's life this way?

On the day of the bombing, Mother was happily anticipating Yuriko's birth. But, then, in a flash of fiendish light, the bomb invaded even the sanctity of the womb and led a mother, an unborn daughter, a whole family down a long path of suffering...

Mother... had her baby boy, Masaaki, strapped to her back... she was temporary blinded by a sudden flash of light... the buildings and the fifty workers who had been there just seconds earlier had vanished. Mother saw an immense fire... Before long a drizzle of black rain began falling...

Mother took Masaaki down from her back, only to find that virtually countless slivers of glass were buried in his bloody head...

Mother fell ill a few weeks later...

No one knew of atomic-radiation sickness... On August 29 Masaaki died, but his name is not listed among the atomic bomb victims since the cause of death was reported as gastric obstruction...

The child growing in her womb was some consolation for Masaaki's death.

It was five or six years before her death that Mother began complaining of pains... This was the beginning of her struggle with the monster known as atomic-radiation sickness...

One day, when Yuriko was sitting next to her watching television, Mother stretched out her thin arm and took her by the hand. Laying it on her side, she said, "Yuriko, it hurts here. Rub my side for a little while, won't you?" There were tears in her eyes.

"Is it very bad Mother - " I started to speak to her but stopped midway, realising that the tears were caused not by physical pain but by love and worry for a child that would be left behind...

[Yuriko B.M.] was born... apparently a perfectly healthy baby

Yuriko's first and second birthdays passed. My parents' third daughter was born, and still Yuriko neither spoke nor walked... But when her younger sister was already prattling and toddling about, Yuriko still showed no signs of development...

They went on hoping that one day she would speak and walk normally...

Worried about what would happen to Yuriko after their deaths, Mother and Father once sent a letter to the United States government by way of the American commander of the Iwakuni Air Force Installation, hoping to make arrangements to ensure Yuriko's livelihood. The Japanese government had passed a nominal law related to medical treatment for atom-bomb victims but showed no inclination to aid them financially. This is why Mother and Father decided to apply to the nation responsible for the bombing. Their request was shelved without action...

In June 1968 Yuriko was at last officially recognised as an atomic-bomb victim.

In the hope that it would help the drive to outlaw nuclear weapons, each August 6 Mother and Father took Yuriko to the site of bombing and passed out leaflets... Some of the people to whom I handed the leaflets looked annoyed and immediately threw the leaflets away...

In the middle of December, Mother had grown weaker and could no longer see out of her left eye.

About three days before her death, the attacks of excruciating pain abated, and she grew so tranquil that we were unable to tell the exact time of her death...

Before the end she frequently said that she had gone on living because of Yuriko. But at last her determination and strength were exhausted. I shall never forget watching Yuriko, who did not understand what death meant, sitting beside Mother and murmuring, "Momma sleep, Momma sleep."

On January 4 of the next year, Father received a letter saying that, though Yuriko had been recognised as an atom-bomb victim, Mother was not: she had not been sufficiently examined. The letter was dated December 25, 1978, the day before her death... This letter symbolises the heartlessness of government policy in dealing with atom-bomb victims.

Now, sitting alone with Father, Yuriko points to Mother's photograph and says over and over again, "Momma dead, Momma dead." Like a clock stopped forever at 8.15, the moment the bomb fell... She and all others like her show how the misery of that abysmal moment persists into the future. All the millions of words spoken and written in the name of peace are necessary, but people should come to see my sister and hear her murmur, "Momma dead, Momma dead.""

(From "People Should Come to see my Sister." Mayumi Yoshida. Soka Gakkai Buddhist organisation, Japan.)

Victims of the US atomic crime; not only were the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 'liberated' from the choice of opting for socialism or capitalism by being burnt alive; but more importantly: they were the expendable guinea pigs in the first military acts of the Cold War.

British school and college history syllabus teaching and books do not contain any of this information.

All the material and information I have presented here is readily available to historians, writers, journalists, teachers, educators and syllabus publishers. Although I have spent many hundreds of hours gathering it all together, I did not have to look very far to find any of it.

When as a trainee history lecturer, it was suggested I take the class on a trip to the Tower of London and then set them an essay on what life was like for a soldier in King Charles' Army centuries ago. Very useful knowledge that! A sociology of the past perhaps? But certainly not history in its most important sense; unless history is to mean anything old or 'interesting' that you can do in evening classes, like antiques, flower arranging or basket weaving. When instead I taught real history, learning from the past in order to change the future, the collective life-experience of humanity, I was got rid of. The head of the history department complained that the students had remarked that I made them think; which the head of history had probably never done in a lifetime of teaching. I ended up washing and cleaning and emptying human surgical waste in a hospital.

Unless teachers learn to be brave and intellectually honest (difficult when they have a mortgage and bills to pay), future historical, social and economic education and popular 'knowledge' will also not refer to the US or British history and continuing complicity in global plunder, exploitation, domination and control, wars of aggrandizement and acquisition, causing the deaths and devastation of the homes and lands of millions of people - the thousands of children under the age of two who will die tonight through simple lack of food, clean water, medicine and education - the untold millions of unnecessary deaths among the overwhelming majority of humanity on this incredibly rich and abundant and ultimately sustainable earth.

From Brian Mitchell. Evolution.

Responses and criticisms welcomed. Reply to my personal e-mail if you prefer. My replies to criticisms will be posted.

"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds." (Bob Marley, Redemption song.)

"The most remarkable thing about the world is that you can understand it." (Einstein.)

"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set I go into the other room and read a book." (Groucho Marx.)

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as night the day, that thou canst not be false to any man." (Shakespeare. Hamlet.)

"And if we were all capable of unity to make our blows stronger and infallible and so increase the effectiveness of all kinds of support given to the struggling people - how great and close would the future be." (Che Guevara.)

HP Mini 1101: yet another new netbook

Hewlett-Packard is serious about the netbook market, announcing three new HP Minis running XP, Linux, and Vista…and including an option for 1080p video playback.

Hewlett-Packard is serious about the netbook business, and has announced three new additions to its HP Mini line. The HP Mini 1101 will be available with a user’s choice of XP or Vista, the 110 Mi will sport Linux, and the 110 XP will offer Windows XP and be available with an optional video accelerator the company claims can handle 1080p video content.

“With these new HP Minis, we’re enhancing the customer experience by adding compelling features that allow users to interact with their Mini in a fun way,” said HP’s VP and general manager for consumer notebooks Kevin Frost, in a statement. “Our broad portfolio of mini companion PCs truly offers customers choices to fit every need and every personality.”

All three models will be powered by either a 1.6 Ghz or 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N270 or N280 processor, with the Mini 110 and Mini 1101 offering a number of built-to-order options. All models feature a 5-in0-1 media card reader and VGA output.

The HP Mini 110 XP will support up to 1 GB of memory and will be available with either a 160 GB hard drive or a 32 GB SSD; available options will include WWAN support for mobile connectivity and an optional Broadcomm Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator HP says enables the Mini 100 XP to handle 1080p video content. Meanwhile, the Mini 1101 will be available with either XP Home, XP Pro, or Windows Vista and will be available with either 3- or 6-cell batteries, along with an HP Mobile Broadband option. The Mini 110 Mi will run a Linux operating system and will support up to 20 GB of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive.

The Mini 110 XP and Mini 110 Mi should be available in the U.S. on June 10 in a “black swirl” design for $329.99 and $279.99, respectively; pink and white editions of the Mini 110 XP should land in early July, although pricing hasn’t been set. The Mini 1101 will be available in high-gloss black on June 1 for $329.

Sony Ericsson Yari, Idou and Aino: three new cell phones

Sony Ericsson announced three new phones on Thursday, all of which will eventually appear in the United States. Sony also announced a new sideloading movie service that will be compatible with two of the company’s newly announced phones.Sony Ericsson’s U.K. division announced the three phones in the U.K., which will ship to “selected markets,” including the United States, in the fourth quarter.

The three phones are the Satio, which was previously known as the Idou, the 12.1 megapixel cameraphone that wowed audiences at the Mobile World Congress; the Yari, a phone designed for “gesture gaming; and the Aino, which boasts an 8.1 Mpixel camera and the ability to control the Sony PlayStation 3. Sony did not announce prices on any of the models.

Both the Yari and Satio/Idou will be built in both U.S. and European versions, with the U.S. versions compatible with AT&T but not with T-Mobile. The Aino will come in one model, but it looks like that model will be compatible with AT&T.

Sony’s new movie service, dubbed PlayNow, will make its debut on both the Satio/Idou as well as the Aino. However, PlayNow will only be available in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and in the U.K., at least for now.

Sony is positioning all three phones as entertainment devices, but with different slants on the concept. PlayNow, by contrast, is designed to an overarching service that add value to multiple models.

PlayNow is a service to download movies via a PC and then “sideload” them to the phones via a USB cable. Using a desktop browser, users will be able to visit the Sony PlayNow web site and choose from about 15 movies at any one time. Sony will add four new titles every month, subtracting the same amount, the company said. Users can download and watch 60 movies in a 12-month period; each movie can be watched as many times as a user likes for 90 days.

Sony has positioned the Yari as the ultimate phone for mobile fun, with a number of innovative new features. Sony claims that the Yari will be the first phone to allow “gesture gaming” outside Japan, which apparently involves moving the user’s body to play a number of games that will either be preloaded or can be downloaded. It’s not clear, however, which games will be included, or how these gestures will actually be incorporated.

The Yari will measure 100 x 48 x 15.7 mm, with a weight of 115 grams. The slider phone will include a 2.4-inch screen capable of 240 x 320 resolution. Inside will be 60 Mbytes of storage, plus a microSD slot for an included 1-Gbyte card. The Yari will ship in Achromatic Black and Cranberry White early in the fourth quarter.

Features will include the gesture games, which will be controlled with gestures and an arcade-style “A” and “B” button, as well as a 5.0-Mpixel camera with face detection and geotagging. A2DP stereo Bluetooth will be included, as well as the ability to shake the phone to shuffle tracks. The Yari will also include the ability to place a “music call,” apparently allowing a friend to listen to the same track over the phone.

The Aino can also be considered a gaming phone, albeit in passing. Sony is positioning the phone as a complement to its PlayStation 3 console, allowing it the ability to access content stored on the console via Wi-Fi, a capability previously reserved for Sony’s PSP mobile gaming device. The Sony Media Go software also allows content to be transferred from the PC to the phone via Wi-Fi.

The Aino measures 104 x 50 x 15.5 mm, weighing 134 grams. The slightly larger size also translates into a larger 3-inch screen, with a 240 x 432 screen with 16 million or “true” color playback.

The Aino provides assisted GPS, and the ability to access DLNA devices on the network. A 8.1-Mpixel is also included, with a 16X digital zoom. It also packs a wireless Bluetooth headset as well as a charging stand. It will ship in either Obsidian Black and Luminous White.

The Satio/Idou appears to be identical to the model that Gearlog tested out at the Mobile World Congress.

Facebook hit by phishing emails again

For the second time in a week, Facebook users have been hit with an e-mail phishing attack that attempts to obtain their passwords to the social networking site. Users who saw “Hello” in an e-mail subject line Thursday and clicked on a Web link that said “areps.at” or “brunga.at” were taken to a fake Facebook log-in page, where they were asked for their passwords.

Those behind the attack are looking to use passwords to gain access to users’ Facebook accounts which include personal information, as well as links to information about family, friends and business associates.

They’re also hoping that those passwords are the same for users’ other accounts, including bank accounts, which could “have more financial viability” for thieves, said Laura Mather, managing director of operational policy for the Anti-Phishing Working Group. The group is comprised of law enforcement, business and computer security professionals.

The latest Facebook phishing scam is “not widespread and only impacted a tiny fraction of a percent of users,” said Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt. “We’ve been updating our monitoring systems with information gleaned from the previous attacks so that each new attack is detected more quickly.”

Some Facebook users said they knew of several other users who also received the suspicious e-mails.

“We have already blocked links to these new phishing sites from being shared on Facebook, have had them added to the ‘block’ list of the major (Web) browsers and have begun working with partners to have the sites taken down completely,” Schnitt said. “We’re also cleaning up phony messages and ‘Wall’ posts and resetting the passwords of affected users.”

Facebook and other social networking sites, including MySpace and Twitter, have had problems previously with phishing. But Facebook, the largest of such sites, with more than 200 million users, seems to have been more of a target for the phishing attempts in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, the company said on its security blog that in conjunction with MarkMonitor enterprise security firm, “we’ve responded to over 1,400 phishing sites, including over 240 since the beginning of this year.”

Last week, some Facebook users found similar phishing e-mails in their in-boxes with the “Hello” greeting and the body of the message telling them to “Check 121.im” with “121.im” as the Web link that went to a fake Facebook page. Many of them logged in, giving their passwords.

“To combat these threats, we need users’ help, too,” Schnitt said. He said it is important for users to have an up-to-date Web browser that has strong anti-phishing features, such as Firefox 3.0.10 or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8.

Plastic Money Revolution In Bangladesh

Plastic Money business is definitely going big time in Bangladesh. More and more local and international financial institutions are exhibiting enthusiasm in this direction. It reflects prospects in Bangladesh market in accommodating numerous credit card competitors operating on the circuit, ensuring healthy and competitive card business deals.

Carrying wads of cash for a weekly or monthly shop is risky and not having enough when you get to the till is embarrassing. Those days are gone when we had to carry loads of cash and plan our shopping sprees. To keep their money secure is an age-old problem. The 21st century solution is plastic.

Today credit and debit cards have largely replaced cheques as alternatives to cash. Both are reasonably secure compared to cash and are widely accepted.

Credit cards are financial instruments, which can be used more than once to borrow money or buy products and services on credit. Basically banks, retail stores and other businesses issue these.

A number of banks in Bangladesh are encouraging people to use credit card. The concept of credit card was used in 1950 with the launch of charge cards in USA by Diners Club and American Express. Credit card however became more popular with use of magnetic strip in 1970.

Credit card in Bangladesh became popular with the introduction of foreign banks in the country. Although credit card was introduced in Bangladesh in 1997 by a local bank namely National Bank.

There are thirteen banks and one financial institution issuing Credit Cards in Bangladesh. They are-Standard Chartered Bank, National Credit & Commerce (NCC) Bank, Premier Bank, Prime Bank, Arab Bangladesh (AB) Bank, Dhaka Bank, Southeast Bank, National Bank, The City Bank, United Commercial Bank, Mercantile Bank, EXIM Bank, One Bank and Lanka Bangla.

In addition to credit cards, debit cards are now being introduced in Bangladesh. Money spent using these cards is deducted automatically from a bank account.

Debit cards in particular are rapidly growing more popular. In fact debit cards look like credit or ATM cards, but work like cash or a personal cheque. By definition you can't run up credit on a debit card; you must have money in your account. In short they offer you the transactional convenience of a credit card, without a credit facility.

According to Mohammad Anisur Rahman, officer of National Credit & Commerce(NCC) Bank, "a credit card has many advantages that make it preferable to paper money in many countries. The expansion of credit facilities holds great promise for spurring the growth of the Bangladeshi economy and pulling it out of recession."

He added that, currently there are more than two lakhs credit card holders in Bangladesh. In case of salaried persons, two copies of photos, six months bank transaction, the TIN certificate and salary certificate is sought and in case of businessmen, an including photos, TIN certificate, bank transaction and trade license/ partnership deal or article of memorandum is required. The other optional things, which are necessary for applying cards, are passport id, voter id, driving license, commissioner certificate, any utility bill and other card statement copy.

The growth of credit cards has had an enormous impact on the economy-changing buying habits by making it much easier for consumers to finance purchases and by lowering savings rates (because consumers do not need to save money for larger purchases).

Technology advances have facilitated the use of credit cards. Merchants are now connected to banks by modem, so purchases are approved rapidly; on-line shopping on the Internet is possible with credit card payment. Credit card companies are also experimenting with smart cards that would act like a small computer, storing account and other information necessary for its use. An alternative to credit cards is the debit card, which is used to deduct the price of goods and service directly from customers' bank balances.

When you applied for your very first credit card you probably told yourself it was an important step in your financial future. Having a credit card is an essential part of building credit and cards come in handy in the case of an emergency too.

But after a few weeks-or even days-you found yourself charging lattes and late-night pizzas on your card. Suddenly "emergencies" consisted of clothes, meals and other things you just couldn't live without. Before you knew it, these charges that seemed so small at the time, had quickly added up to a sum that was too large to pay off all at once.

The good news, if there is any, is that you aren't alone. Credit card debt can sneak up on anyone quickly, but if you don't get it under control right away, it can be quite detrimental to your financial future. It really isn't as hard as you might think; it just takes persistence and dedication. Here are some tips to get you on your way to being debt free.

Most people have heard the rule that you should always put at least 10% of every paycheck into savings. Instead of building up a savings account, however, those with debt should put all their extra money towards credit card payments. If you're truly serious about getting out of debt, putting every penny toward your bills makes better financial sense than setting aside money in a low interest rate savings account.

Another important tip to remember is that you should always pay off your higher interest rate credit cards first. On the highest interest rate debt, always pay as much as you can possibly afford. At the very least, you should always pay the minimum but funnel any additional money into paying this debt off first. On the lower interest rate debt, continue to make timely minimum payments. Once you have paid off your higher interest rate debt, begin to apply that money to pay off your second debt. Continue to make minimum payments on any other cards as well-always allocating the most money to your highest interest rate debt. Doing this will have a snowball effect; eventually, you will see your debt diminish.

If you are able, it is helpful to pay more than the minimum payment each month. The minimum payment is usually two to three percent of your balance and is made up of 90% interest, with only 10% going towards reducing the principal. Pay a little more than the minimum and you will be surprised at how fast the balance decreases.

Also, do not be afraid to ask your credit card company for a better deal. Lenders are very competitive these days, so it cannot hurt to call and negotiate a lower rate or ask them to eliminate the annual fees. When you speak to the customer service executive, tell them that you are going to close your account if your request is not met. Remind them that other cards are offering you lower rates and no fees.

Some says that plastic money can be convenient and liberating, but it also comes with a lot of hidden traps and added responsibility. Many consumers are unable to take advantage of these benefits because they carry a balance on their credit card from month to month. Many find it hard to resist using the old "plastic" for impulse purchases or buying things they really can't afford.

Some things to remember
When deciding on the right card, consider the cost involved in holding it and the benefits enjoyed from it. The credit card company will always make their features sound unique and amazing. Whenever in doubt, it is advisable to ask the right questions and demand explanations for features you don't understand.

There are many things that the banker didn't tell you when he "gave" you a credit card: For example, because of the interest charged, the credit on one's card can work out to be extremely costly land completely invisible if you don't read the statements carefully. And then there are interest rates, processing fees, joining fees, annual fees, add-on cards, transaction fees, late fees, credit limits, besides a host of other smaller issues, which can make life on credit quite expensive.

Always retain sales/charge slips to compare with the amount specified on the billing statement. If your card ever gets stuck in the ATM, do not reveal your PIN even to the connected bank official/institution. It would suffice to let him/her know that your card has got stuck in the ATM.

If you forget you PIN, contact card issuing bank/institution and intimate then of the same. The bank will then send you a new card with a new PIN on receipt of which you should immediately cut up your old card.

The banker will also make the late payment fee sound ridiculously low, but you will hear another story if you ask what it amounts to on an annual basis. Also, remember that each card has a different spending limit. Make sure you know what it is and compare it to what others are offering.

Remember, your card often covers health and accident insurance. So don't forget to claim it when the need arises!

Debit cards, which allow you to make purchases by directly debiting your account, can save you a lot of trouble from unpaid bills. But there are other unknown facts about their usage.

Interest charge: As you know, on the due date, you can choose to pay your entire outstanding amount at one go, or delay by paying a "minimum amount". But by doing that, you automatically loose the free credit privilege, until you pay off the balance amount. The amount rolled over will get charged an interest. And you will be charged for every little purchase you make in the future, until you pay the entire outstanding amount! Banks will answer this concern by introducing revolving credits and interest-free days, but what they won't mention is the fact that they can change interest rates as they please. And often the special offers are for a short period, or strict "conditions apply". And last but not least, after this year's union budget was passed, we have more to be careful about: The standard service tax rate has increased.

Annual fee: All card issuers charge an annual fee (depending upon the type of card - standard, gold, or platinum), which is payable at the start of the year. In order to attract customers, as a privilege, this fee is sometimes waived for the first one year. But when the time comes for renewal, the banker never asks if you wish to continue using their services or not - he renews it and charges you.

Withdrawing money: Few people are aware that when you withdraw from an ATM with your debit card, the transaction is free only if you are using your own bank's network. As a safety measure, you are also allowed to withdraw only up to a certain limit at a time. The machine normally displays the allowed amount when you log on your request. This depends on the sum you have in your account and/or the amount of currency the machine holds at the moment of withdrawal.

Avoid card fraud

Extra copies of charge slips: When processing your credit card, a dishonest merchant may decide to imprint extra copies of the charge slip and after submit them on phony charges. So watch clerks process your credit payments. Open your credit card bills each month and check the listed purchases.

Discarded charge slips: Sometimes, people may collect copies of your discarded charge slips from the waste basket, and order merchandise by mail. So always tear them up before throwing them away.

Unsigned credit cards: Stealing and using credit cards that have not been signed is another potential fraud. So when you receive a new or replacement card, sign on the back as soon as it is activated. Always be sure to store it in a safe place. Cut up expired cards before disposing of them.

On the Internet: Software to protect you and your privacy is a part of most web sites. When ordering online, check if you are on a secure server by looking for a security symbol such as an unbroken key or padlock symbol at the bottom of your Internet browser window. These symbols indicate that any information you may send to the web site, including your credit card numbers, is encrypted or put into computer code prior to transmission.

Theft of credit cards: If your credit card is lost or stolen, contact your bank or issuing institution immediately. Your monthly statement should list the phone number of whom to contact. You do not have to pay for any unauthorized charges made after you have notified the issuing bank or institution. Don't ever agree to pay any unauthorized charges, even if the bank suggests bearing part of them.

If used wisely, a credit card can provide convenience and allow you to make purchases with nearly a month to pay for them before finance charges kick in.

History Of Banking Business

Banks have influenced economies and politics for centuries. Historically, the primary purpose of a bank was to provide loans to trading companies. Banks provided funds to allow businesses to purchase inventory, and collected those funds back with interest when the goods were sold. For centuries, the banking industry only dealt with businesses, not consumers. The name bank derives from the Italian word banco "desk/bench", used during the Renaissance by Florentine bankers, who used to make their transactions above a desk covered by a green tablecloth.

The first banks were probably the religious temples of the ancient world, and were probably established sometime during the third millennium B.C. Banks probably predated the invention of money. Deposits initially consisted of grain and later other goods including cattle, agricultural implements, and eventually precious metals such as gold, in the form of easy-to-carry compressed plates. Temples and palaces were the safest places to store gold as they were constantly attended and well built. As sacred places, temples presented an extra deterrent to would-be thieves. There are extant records of loans from the 18th century BC in Babylon that were made by temple priests/monks to merchants. By the time of Hammurabi's Code, banking was well enough developed to justify the promulgation of laws governing banking operations.

Ancient Greece holds further evidence of banking. Greek temples, as well as private and civic entities, conducted financial transactions such as loans, deposits, currency exchange, and validation of coinage. There is evidence too of credit, whereby in return for a payment from a client, a moneylender in one Greek port would write a credit note for the client who could "cash" the note in another city.

Pythius, who operated as a merchant banker throughout Asia Minor at the beginning of the 5th century B.C., is the first individual banker of whom we have records. Many of the early bankers in Greek city-states were “metics” or foreign residents. Around 371 B.C., Pasion, a slave, became the wealthiest and most famous Greek banker, gaining his freedom and Athenian citizenship in the process.

Next, emerged some particular purpose oriented banks like the Bank of Venice (1171) and the Bank of England, which looked after the loans to the government, and the Bank of Amsterdam (1694) was formed to receive the gold and silver deposits. With the development in the business sector, the banking sector also developed proportionately and the eighteenth and nineteenth century experienced the rapid growth in this sector.

Modern Western economic and financial history is usually traced back to the coffee houses of London. The London Royal Exchange was established in 1565. At that time moneychangers were already called bankers, though the term "bank" usually referred to their offices, and did not carry the meaning it does today. There was also a hierarchical order among professionals; at the top were the bankers who did business with heads of state, next were the city exchanges, and at the bottom were the pawn shops or "Lombard"'s. Some European cities today have a Lombard street where the pawn shop was located.

Banking offices were usually located near centers of trade, and in the late 17th century, the largest centers for commerce were the ports of Amsterdam, London, and Hamburg. Individuals could participate in the lucrative East India trade by purchasing bills of credit from these banks, but the price they received for commodities was dependent on the ships returning (which often didn't happen on time) and on the cargo they carried (which often wasn't according to plan).

In the modern times, the banking sector developed with the developing sector of trade and commerce. Today, there are different types of banks has been established for different purposes. These are the types of banks operating in today's market:

• Commercial banks: This type of banking includes national and state-charted banks, stock savings banks, and industrial banks. This kind of banking service has provided many services to the society which includes,the basic functions of savings, providing loans, dealing in time deposits, etc. The reserve requirements of these banks are totally different from the mutual saving banks.

• Mutual savings bank: This type of banks provides some limited type of loans and deals in savings and other deposits. But recently the modifications has been done and now, these banks are also providing a huge number of facilities. In these banks, the investment and loan amount depends on the available customer's deposits.

Once, the national level banks started rolling, the concept of international banking emerged. Actually, the growth in the trade and commerce, the growth in the exchanges between countries, the multi-national trades, etc. demanded some kind of international organization to carry out the business smoothly. So, the following international banks were formed in order to fulfill the demands of the modern global market:

• World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development): It was founded in 1945 with the view to approve loans to private investors and to the governments of different countries.

• IMF (International Monetary Fund): The bank has been involved in simplifying the process of debt clearance between the nations. It has also provided valuable suggestions to the members in the field of international banking.

• The European Central Bank (European monetary system): Has been founded in 1998 to handle the joint monetary policy of those European countries, which have adopted a single currency.

There are several organizations, which have developed in the recent times and which are performing some of the orthodox banking operations, but these are not under the supervision of state or federal banking authorities. These organizations are also serving the society in the same manner as the traditional banks serve. Some of these organizations are:

• Savings associations
• Loan associations
• Finance companies
• Mortgage companies
• Insurance companies
• Credit unions
• Investment bankers
• Credit securities
• Brokers and dealers in securities

Oldest private banks

• Monte dei Paschi di Siena 1472 - present, the oldest surviving bank in the world. Founded in 1472 by the Magistrate of the city state of Siena, Italy.
• C. Hoare & Co founded 1672
• Barclays, which was founded by John Freame and Thomas Gould in 1690 and renamed to Barclays by Freame's son-in-law, James Barclay, in 1736
• Rothschild family 1700 - present
• Wegelin & Co. Private Bankers 1741 - present, the oldest Swiss bank, founded in 1741 in St. Gallen, third largest private bank in Switzerland
• Hope & Co., founded in 1762

Oldest national banks

• Bank of Sweden — The rise of the national banks, began operations in 1668
• Bank of England — The evolution of modern central banking policies, established in 1694
• Bank of America — The invention of centralized check and payment processing technology
• Swiss banking
• United States Banking
• The Pennsylvania Land Bank, founded in 1723 and receiving the support of Benjamin Franklin who wrote "Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency" in 1729.
• Imperial Bank of Persia (Iran) — History of banking in the Middle-East