Koito Plunges on 150,000 Airbus, Boeing Seat Repairs (Update2)

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Koito Industries Ltd., the Japanese supplier of seats used in Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. planes, plunged a record 33 percent after saying it will repair about 150,000 seats because of falsified safety data.

The company fell by its 80 yen daily limit to 159 yen at 10:23 a.m. in Tokyo. It was the biggest intraday decline since the stock began trading in March 1988. Parent Koito Manufacturing Co., a Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate, fell as much as 13 percent, the most in more than 15 months.

Yokohama, Japan-based Koito will fix seats in some 1,000 commercial airliners and may also pay compensation, President Takashi Kakewaga told reporters yesterday. Singapore Airlines Ltd., All Nippon Airways Co. and Continental Airlines Inc. have also postponed the introduction of new planes because of the late arrival of Koito seats.

Palin Hand Notes Are Alarming, Embarrassing
February 08, 2010 04:36 PM ET | Mary Kate Cary | Permanent Link | Print
By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Take a look at Sarah Palin's hand here,

on which she apparently wrote notes on in anticipation of being asked at the Tea Party convention what the priorities of a Republican congress should be. Her hand read: "Energy ... Tax cuts ... Lift American spirit." A few thoughts:

If she had written "bread ... milk ... eggs" on her hand, or even a phone number, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. And if, say, a congressman had written "pay the electric bill," we would have thought it was charming, like Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life tying strings on his fingers to remember to make the bank deposit. We're all forgetful, we all have a million things to do, and sometimes we write reminders on our hands. I understand that.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Palin didn't write down a reminder for an everyday errand. Instead she felt she had to write down basic political priorities, core issues for the GOP. That's the problem. Imagine if President Obama were at a similar Q&A session and the camera caught the words "Hope ... Change" on his hand.

Rep. John Murtha, Iraq war critic, dies at 77

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Rep. John Murtha, the tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday. He was 77. The Pennsylvania Democrat had been suffering from complications from gallbladder surgery. He died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., with his family at his bedside, the hospital said.

In 1974 Murtha, then an officer in the Marine Reserves, became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress. Ethical questions often shadowed his congressional service, but he was best known for being among Congress' most hawkish Democrats. He wielded considerable clout for two decades as the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending.

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Murtha was a perennial target of critics of so-called pay-to-play politics. He routinely drew the attention of ethical watchdogs with off-the-floor activities, from his entanglement in the Abscam corruption probe three decades ago to the more recent scrutiny of the connection between special-interest spending known as earmarks and the raising of cash for campaigns.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.

A slump in financial stocks sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its first close below 10000 in three months as concerns about the global economy and U.S. interest-rate policy simmered.

The blue-chip measure fell 103.84 points, or 1%, to 9908.39, near its intraday low in a session that saw selling accelerate into the closing bell. The Dow was led lower by a 3.5% decline in Bank of America, while American Express fell 2.8%, Travelers fell 2.5%, and J.P. Morgan Chase fell 1.6%.

Investors weighed a report in The Wall Street Journal that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin laying the groundwork for credit tightening later in the year, bringing to a close a period of historically low interest rates that have made it easier for ailing banks to book big profits.

Market participants also kept a close eye on financial instability in Europe, where issues surrounding the creditworthiness of several countries have recently surfaced, sending shockwaves through the financial markets.

Chinese officials have recalled some 170 tons of milk powder tainted with deadly melamine in the latest evidence that products from the last industrial scandal were repackaged and placed back on the market. The milk has been found in Shanghai and throughout 6 provinces. Hundreds of thousands were sickened and at least 6 children died in the last melamine scandal in 2008. Officials have issued an emergency crackdown in a bid to locate and remove tainted milk products and have shut down two dairies.

The latest conundrum in child pornography law is restitution, as courts try to nail down whether simply possessing offending images constitutes harm to the victim—and how much that damage is worth. A year ago, a man in possession of 10-year-old pictures of “Amy” was ordered to pay her $200,000 in the first criminal case of its kind. Defense lawyers and even some experts aren’t happy about the precedent.

“Amy” has now made requests of restitution averaging $3.4 million each in 350 criminal possession cases nationwide. A Florida court ordered a man to pay her $3.5 million solely because “he possessed her image on his computer approximately 10 years after that image had been manufactured,” his lawyer complains. Questions of responsibility aside, an expert tells the AP, “it just isn’t appropriate for criminal court” to make decisions on restitution. Poppycock, says an advocate. “There’s a victim, and there’s a real harm.”

People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, an unusual but deadly cancer, researchers reported on Monday.

People who drank mostly fruit juice instead of sodas did not have the same risk, the study of 60,000 people in Singapore found.

Sugar may be to blame but people who drink sweetened sodas regularly often have other poor health habits, said Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota, who led the study.

"The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth," Pereira said in a statement.

Insulin, which helps the body metabolize sugar, is made in the pancreas.

Federal law barring lies about medals is tested

DENVER (AP) - The federal courts are wrestling with a question of both liberty and patriotism: Does the First Amendment right to free speech protect people who lie about being war heroes?

At issue is a three-year-old federal law called the Stolen Valor Act that makes it a crime punishable by up to a year in jail to falsely claim to have received a medal from the U.S. military. It is a crime even if the liar makes no effort to profit from his stolen glory.

Attorneys in Colorado and California are challenging the law on behalf of two men charged, saying the First Amendment protects almost all speech that doesn't hurt someone else. Neither man has been accused by prosecutors of seeking financial gain for himself.

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Doug Sterner, a military historian, said the law embodies the wishes of the nation's first commander in chief, George Washington. Sterner noted that Washington created the Purple Heart, the nation's first military decoration, and wrote: "Should any who are not entitled to these honors have the insolence to assume the badges of them, they shall be severely punished."

"I think that speaks to the intent of the framers," Sterner said, "that George Washington saw this kind of lie outside the scope of this freedom-of-speech issue."

White House blasts senator for blocking nominees

WASHINGTON -- Democrats are criticizing a Republican senator from Alabama for blocking every one of the president's nominees over spending disputes involving his state.

Sen. Richard Shelby has placed a "hold" on every nomination, which delays the Senate from acting on them. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Friday called the tactic a "poster child" for what's broken in Washington and said the senator is preventing qualified nominees from serving in important government positions.

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Senators frequently block individual appointments, but Shelby's blanket hold is unusual. His spokesman issued a statement about the holds Friday, citing concerns about a contract for an Air Force refueling tanker that could be built in Alabama and a new FBI explosives center that Shelby wants built there. Shelby argues the projects are critical national security priorities.