5 Things You Didn't Know About "The Pacific"

 Based largely on Eugene Sledge's With the Old Breed and Robert Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow, HBO's The Pacific is the highly anticipated 10-part World War II miniseries that follows the U.S. Marines through some of the most hellacious battles in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, The Pacific is in some ways a companion piece to one of the most celebrated miniseries of all time, HBO's Band of Brothers (also produced by Hanks and Spielberg).

As the March 14, 2010, premiere approaches, we present five things you didn't know about The Pacific.

1- U.S. Marines will get a free screening of The Pacific

The first thing you didn't know about The Pacific is the preferential treatment shown to current U.S. Marines. Captain Barry Edwards, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Motion Picture and Television Liaison Office in Los Angeles, told the Marine Corps Times that U.S. Marines will be given a free screening at various bases across the country.

This is altogether fitting since the series will follow the highly decorated 1st Marine Division, the oldest division in the United States Marine Corps. Units of the 1st Marine Division fought in some of the bloodiest and most important battles in the Pacific, including the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Peleliu and the Battle of Okinawa.

2- The Pacific is the most expensive HBO show ever produced

Early figures for The Pacific's budget placed it at $120 million, which had been the budget for Band of Brothers, but that was in 2007. More current estimates put the figure closer to the $200 million range (Tom Hanks even hinted at $250 million), leading the Hollywood Reporter to say it was "likely the most expensive" miniseries of all time.

Competition to land the filming of the series was, therefore, understandably high. Although Hawaii had been an early contender (and had an aggressive supporter in U.S. Senator and World War II hero Daniel K. Inouye), HBO ultimately went with sites in the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria.

3- Salmonella poisoning halted production on The Pacific

Another thing you didn't know about The Pacific is the destruction wrought upon it by bacon and eggs.

Production on the miniseries came to a brief halt in early 2008 due to salmonella poisoning. While filming inside You Yangs Regional Park in Victoria, as many as 30 members of the cast and crew became ill thanks to a catered breakfast of bacon and eggs. Five people required acute medical attention at a local hospital and one was actually admitted.

The incident was serious enough to earn investigations by the local Geelong Council and the country's Department of Human Services.

4- Each episode of The Pacific begins with a battle primer

Unlike Band of Brothers, each episode of The Pacific will begin with what Deseret News writer Scott D. Pierce calls a "mini-history lesson about whatever battle is being dramatized." The point of this little lesson is to place the battle in context for the viewer. According to Tom Hanks: "There was a thought that it would be hard to get people excited about a battle over a place like Guadalcanal or Peleliu without some historical context to why our soldiers are fighting at Guadalcanal on Peleliu."

However, neither Hanks nor Steven Spielberg wanted to include these primers, feeling that they were a waste of time.

5- Actor training for The Pacific included a full-scale amphibious assault

The last thing you didn't know about The Pacific is that many nameless members of the cast went through rigorous boot camp-like training to prepare for the miniseries.

According to Capt. Dale Dye USMC (Ret), the senior military adviser for the miniseries, Tom Hanks gave him the go-ahead to "raise, train and employ actors and special ability extras" to carry out all the action necessary to make the scenes as realistic as possible. This meant isolating them from their cell phones, waking them up at 0500 hours, serving chow at noon, and -- among a number of tactical undertakings -- training them to carry out a full-scale amphibious assault.David Mikael Taclino
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Church abuse scandal reaches pope's brother

Church abuse scandals in Germany have reached the older brother of Pope Benedict XVI and are creeping ever closer to the pontiff himself.

While there has been no suggestion of wrongdoing by Benedict, the launch of an inquiry by German Catholic officials after his brother admitted he slapped children years ago is stirring Vatican fears of a major crisis for the papacy.

Benedict, 82, was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982 when he was brought to the Vatican to head the body responsible for investigating abuse cases. During that time, he came under criticism for decreeing that even the most serious abuse cases must first be investigated internally.

Since then, Benedict has taken a strong stand against abuse by clerics in the Roman Catholic Church.

Just weeks before he became pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger caused a stir when he denounced "filth" in the church and among priests — a condemnation taken as a reference to clerical sex abuse.

German church officials said Wednesday they will examine what — if anything — Benedict knew about abuse during his time as Munich archbishop.

"We do not know if the pope knew about the abuse cases at the time," church spokesman Karl Juesten told The Associated Press.

He said the church "assumes" Benedict knew nothing of such cases, but that current Munich Archbishop Reinhard Marx will be "certainly investigating these questions."

Juesten, the liaison between Roman Catholic bishops and the German government, said the German Bishops Conference had asked parishes and church institutions in the country to examine all allegations of the sexual and physical abuse.

Separately, the Regensburg Diocese told AP it will investigate allegations of physical and sexual abuse that have swirled around a renowned choir led by the Benedict's brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger. So far, the sex abuse allegations predate Georg Ratzinger's term as choir director.

Vatican officials have been unable to hide their alarm about the possible implications for the papacy.

"There is certainly the suspicion that there are some out there out to damage the church and the pope," said a Vatican official, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The Vatican has spoken up several times in recent days to defend the church as having acted "promptly and decisively" regarding the German abuse scandal. But it also noted that problems of sex abuse spread across society and are not limited to the Roman Catholic Church.

When Benedict became pope in 2005, the Vatican was reeling from a massive sex abuse scandal in the US church. The new pope promised a policy of zero tolerance as he went on to apologize and pray with some of the victims while traveling in the United States and Australia.

The pope has been working on a letter to be read to Catholics in Ireland, where a government report detailed decades of physical and sexual abuse in church-run schools. The letter is expected to be released shortly.

The pope held his weekly public audience Wednesday but made no mention of the sex abuse scandal.

Georg Ratzinger, 86, said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he slapped pupils as punishment after he took over the Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir in the 1964. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it.

The slapping of students and other forms of corporal punishment were common in Catholic schools in Germany and other countries in that era. Such punishment was later banned.

The Regensburg Diocese has reported two cases of sexual abuse at the choir, stemming from 1958 and 1959. And across Germany, more than 170 students have claimed they were sexually abused at several Catholic high schools.

Ratzinger has repeatedly said the sexual abuse allegations date from before his tenure as choir director. Asked in the interview Tuesday whether he knew of them, Ratzinger insisted he was not aware of the problem.

"These things were never discussed," Ratzinger told Tuesday's Passauer Neue Presse German daily. "The problem of sexual abuse that has now come to light was never spoken of."

Jakob Schoetz, a spokesman for the Regensburg Diocese, told AP that the diocese is appointing an independent investigator — an attorney — to examine allegations of physical and sexual abuse at the choir.

"The independent lawyer will thoroughly go through all existing legal papers, all court decisions and any information available," Schoetz said. "We expect to publish first results within the next two weeks."

Franz Wittenbrink, 61, who sang in the Regensburger Domspatzen choir from 1958 to 1967, said he was physically abused on a regular basis by the priests at its boarding school.

"Severe beatings were normal, but Ratzinger did not belong to the group of more sadistic abusers," Wittenbrink said in a phone interview with the AP from Hamburg. "But I do accuse him of covering up the abuses."

Wittenbrink said all boys suffered some physical abuse but a "selected group" of students was also abused sexually.

Another former choir boy at Domspatzen told the Bild daily that he and other boys were sexually abused by teachers at the choir's boarding school in the 1950s. Manfred von Hove was quoted as saying he "finally wants to have answers and find out who was responsible for the cover-up at the time."

He said he planned to sue the Regensburg Diocese for compensation.

Rudolf Neumaier, a student from 1981 to 1982 at the Etterzhausen elementary school in Pielenhofen — considered a feeder school for the choir — told the AP he was slapped there, witnessed corporal punishment of other boys, and saw then-director Johann Meier hit an 8-year-old boy with a chair.

Neumaier, who went on to join the Domspatzen choir in Regensburg in 1982, stressed he did not witness or hear about any abuse at the choir boarding school itself. But he said he personally told choir director Georg Ratzinger about the violence at the elementary school and Ratzinger did nothing about it. "He chose not to listen," Neumaier said.

Ratzinger said Tuesday that boys had told him about being mistreated at the Etterzhausen school but he did not understand how bad it was.

Criticism of the Catholic church has been heavy in Germany, whose relations with the Vatican had already been jolted last year when Benedict lifted the excommunication of an ultraconservative British bishop who denied the Holocaust.

The Vatican moved to defuse criticism after German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said Monday a Vatican secrecy rule has played a role in a "wall of silence" surrounding sexual abuse of children.
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Burglar uses church equipment to view porn

Second-degree burglary charges have been filed against an Ames man who broke into a church where he allegedly used the institution's electronic equipment to watch pornography.

Police allege the 55-year-old man broke into the First Christian Church on Thursday. After gathering items from around the building, he is believed to have gone to the basement to spend the night.

Police summoned to the church Friday by staff, found the man trying to haul away a garbage can filled with food, kitchen utensils, clothes, electronic equipment and a 26-inch flat-screen television.

Police Cmdr. Mike Brennan said the man used the electronic equipment to watch pornographic movies that were found on him when he was arrested.

The man was being held at the Story County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.

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BPO Recruit Faster

Private and public stakeholders of the Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) industry recently launched a national standardized test for applicants, allowing firms to recruit faster and jobseekers easy access to open positions.

The test — called the BPAP [Business Processing Association of the Philippines] National Competency Test (BNCT) — remains voluntary, at least for now, said the BPAP, the private sector-led umbrella organization of BPO and IT-enabled services companies in the country.

However, if all BPO companies will require applicants to take the test in the future, then it will effectively become mandatory, a BPAP official said.

The test is also seen as a move to establish national exams similar to GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) or NCEE (National College Entrance Examination) for BPOs.

The government’s main ICT body, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), provided the seed fund amounting to P62 million. A testing firm, Assessment Analytics Inc., developed the system for the exam.

The test “will allow us to make a bigger pond because currently, we’re fishing in open water and it’s getting more difficult to make a catch," BPAP chief executive officer Oscar Sañez said.

He added that outsourcing giant India has done the same thing.

With the BNCT, proponents said the need for first-level testing will be eliminated. The cost of recruitment will be cut down because the selection will be targeted to those who possess the specific ratings they require.

A BPAP executive said the proposed testing fee for the BNCT is P500, which is cheaper than the usual test — which costs anywhere from P800 to P1,000 — that BPO companies administer by themselves.

The test will measure a student’s basic skills, such as English proficiency, computer literacy, perceptual speed, and accuracy, and learning ability, the BPAP said. They will be given a grade for each competency.

Another objective that the exam seeks to achieve is to help schools develop and design a curriculum, particularly on “campus-based bridging programs," that is on a par with industry standards.

In a related press event, an executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines said the local outsourcing industry needs a high benchmark for quality in order to sustain its reputation as a major BPO hub.

“India has far more BPO workers than the Philippines, but on a per capita basis, Filipino workers earn three times as much as their Indian counterparts," said Richard Mills, chairman of the Canadian business group.

The Canadian chamber partnered with BPAP to stage the fourth edition of International ICT Awards-Philippines meant to honor outstanding BPO companies in the country.

The awarding ceremonies will be held on March 25, 2010 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.

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Loop Holes on Internet Explorer

Microsoft on Tuesday warned that hackers are targeting a freshly-uncovered weakness in some earlier versions of its Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser software.
Microsoft said it is investigating a hole that cyber attackers are taking advantage of in IE 6 and IE 7.
"At this time, we are aware of targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability," Microsoft said in an advisory posted along with a routine release of patches for Windows and Office software.
"We will continue to monitor the threat environment and update this advisory if this situation changes."
Hackers could use the flaw to remotely seize control of computers. The new IE 8 Web browser and an old IE 5 version are not affected, according to the US software colossus.
The warning came less than two months after Microsoft released a patch for an IE 6 software hole through which China-based cyber spies attacked Google and other firms.
No matter which Web browser people use, upgrading to the most current version promises to increase protection against hackers.



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PNP Dir. Gen. won't Support New AFP Chief if...

Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa will not back the newly designated military chief, Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, should he attempt to install President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as holdover president in the event of a failure of the May 10 election.
“According to the Constitution, we must have a new president after June 30,” Verzosa told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday.
The PNP chief also vowed to thwart unlawful attempts to undermine the electoral process in May and the takeover of any government institution, especially the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The 120,000-strong police organization has enough resources to “protect the rights of our people” and will remain loyal to the Constitution, Verzosa said.
“We will not support any unconstitutional acts. We will do all things to preserve our democracy and the democratic processes,” Verzosa said. “That’s why it’s very important that our Supreme Court is intact,” he added.
There was no reason, he said, to suspect that Ms Arroyo would use the Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP) to create an artificial power vacuum.
Nonetheless, the PNP has been preparing for the possibility of failure of elections, he said.
Verzosa said he had directed PNP lawyers to study the legal implications. “We are considering all scenarios, including failure of elections. We are getting ready with our legal actions,” he said.
Even his close ties to Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, one of Ms Arroyo’s most trusted lieutenants, will not sway him into obeying illegal orders, he said.
Asked what he would do if Bangit installed Ms Arroyo as holdover president after June 30 in case of failure of elections, the PNP chief said he would seek guidance from the Supreme Court.
Ms Arroyo’s term ends on June 30 when the newly elected President takes his oath of office.
Some sectors have expressed fears that sabotaging the automated elections either through massive power outages on Election Day or manipulation of results could lead to failure of elections in which no new president is proclaimed by June 30.
What would he say to Ms Arroyo if she herself ordered him to let her remain in Malacañang after June 30? He said: “Ma’am, I think it’s not right.”
Ms Arroyo is accused of corruption, violation of human rights, among other things, and may face suits after she steps down. Her decision to run for a congressional seat in Pampanga, which she is expected to win, is aimed at giving her some form of immunity, according to analysts.
Bangit’s appointment as new AFP chief of staff fueled speculations that Ms Arroyo would try to hold on to power by using the military in disrupting the coming elections.
A member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1978, Bangit took over the AFP leadership from Gen. Victor Ibrado who bowed out of service Wednesday after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.
Oplan August Moon
Verzosa doused insinuations that Ms Arroyo might appoint Director Roberto Rosales, Metro Manila police chief, to replace him soon as part of the so-called “Oplan August Moon.”
The purported plot was supposedly aimed at installing members of PMA Class 1978, which adopted Ms Arroyo as its “mistah” (classmate), in key positions in the PNP and AFP to let the President have total control of the police and the military.
Ambassadorial post
Verzosa dismissed as speculation the stories that he was offered an ambassadorial position for him to opt for an early retirement and let Rosales take the helm of the PNP.
“This is actually the first time that I heard of such rumors,” he said, smiling.
Verzosa said he was bent on finishing his police career on Dec. 25 (his 56th birthday) while working for the attainment of the PNP’s Integrated Transformation Program.
“I want to leave the PNP as a more credible, efficient and competent organization. That would be my legacy,” he said.
Power outages
Rumors about the looming failure of elections were further amplified by power outages across the archipelago and questions over the ability of the Comelec to conduct the country’s first automated elections nationwide.
The PNP has been talking with other sectors to ensure the orderly conduct of the local and national elections.
Asked if the PNP could protect the people in the event of an election failure, he answered: “Yes, definitely. But we need your support.”
Guard vs deliberate delay
Verzosa urged the public to stay vigilant and help the police in guarding against groups plotting to damage the country’s democratic institutions.
Aside from possible technical glitches of the precinct count optical scan machines, Verzosa said the people must be wary of individuals who might deliberately delay the voting inside polling places.
Under the automated elections system, three to five polling precincts were clustered into one. Each clustered precinct would have about 1,000 registered voters.
The Comelec said it decided to “cluster” the precincts to save on the cost of leasing the voting and counting machines.
In previous elections, in which voting and counting were done manually, there were about 200 voters for every precinct.
“Some groups or politicians might order their supporters to intentionally stay longer inside the precinct to cast their ballots to prevent others from voting,” Verzosa said.
“If that happens, then we will have problems there,” he added.
Manual voting areas
The police will strictly monitor areas where the Comelec might implement manual voting, according to Verzosa.
He said election commissioners would furnish the PNP with the list of these places in the next few days.
The police and the military are closely working with the Comelec in enforcing election laws, according to the PNP chief.
“Everything we are doing, such as the conduct of checkpoints, the enforcement of the gun ban and limiting the security escorts of politicians, are aimed at ensuring the success of the elections,” Verzosa said.
Asked what would constitute an illegal act, he replied: “The capture of government agencies, the violation of the right on domicile and even the (control) of the media.”
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City Public School in U.S. Closed Due to Online Threat

A vague threat apparently posted by an Australian on two social networking sites led to the lockdown on Wednesday of all schools in the busy Midwestern US city of Minneapolis, officials said.
City officials received a phone call early Wednesday alerting them that a young man planned to "shoot up" an unspecified school and then kill himself, police said.
Officials decided to place all schools on a "code yellow" lockdown as a precautionary measure while investigating the validity of the threat.
The lockdown, which affected around 34,000 students at 60 schools in the Minneapolis public school system, meant children were kept in their classrooms while outside visitors were strictly limited.
"We took this very seriously," Minneapolis police spokesman Jesse Garcia told reporters.
"We err on the side of caution," added Minneapolis Public Schools spokesman Stan Alleyne.
"The schools operated as normally as possible but we just had more security."
The unprecedented measure was lifted at the end of the school day and busing proceeded as normal, school officials said.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis's twin city of St. Paul, the Cretin-Derham Hall Catholic School was also locked down after it received an e-mail notification of the threat.
"It was determined that the source of the threats was the same," St. Paul police Paul Schnell told Agence France-Presse.
"The source of the threat originated out of Australia."
Schnell said authorities were still trying to determine who was responsible for the threat and did not identify the social networking sites involved.

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Slow Printing of Ballot causes Alarm

 Yet another glitch in the May 10 automated elections looms.
The National Printing Office (NPO) is unlikely to produce the required 50 million ballots for the elections and may have to acquire more machines to do the job, or print 15 million ballots for manual polling for the shortfall, officials said Wednesday.
In an urgent memorandum dated March 1 to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) project management office, Esmeralda Amora-Ladra, head of the poll body’s printing committee, said that the four NPO machines were not operating at maximum capacity.
The daily output is disappointing, leading her to suggest that the Comelec should prepare contingency measures, including the printing of ballots for manual elections.
The memorandum, made available to the Inquirer, noted that as of March 1, some 7.9 million ballots for the electronic balloting had been printed. Of the number, 5.3 million were accepted as “good ballots,” while the rest have yet to be checked.
“Granting that 7,878,480 (printed minus quarantined ballots) are all good ballots, we still have to print a total of 42,845,254 for a period of 54 days. This means, we should be able to have a daily production of 793,430,629, more or less, per day from four printers, which is impossible!” the memorandum read.
Smartmatic-TIM, Comelec’s joint venture partner in the first nationwide automated elections, has leased to the commission four Kodak VersaMark VL 4000 printers, each capable of printing 200,000 ballots.
Ladra said the printers’ daily output was only 650,000 or 162,500 each. At this capacity, she said only 34.1 million ballots would be printed by April 25, when the Comelec starts to ship out the ballots. There will still be 8.9 million ballots to be printed.
Alternative: Manual ballots
She said the Comelec should ensure that a fifth printer from China should be operational before April 5, the original schedule of its operation. If the machine starts printing the same day, it will take until May 1 to complete the 42 million ballots, Ladra said.
“Or in the alternative, prepare for the printing of 8,996,443 or for 15 million manual ballots, more or less, for places which have to vote using manual elections for lack of material time,” Ladra said.
The 15 million ballots correspond to the 30-percent manual balloting that the Comelec expects will not be covered by the electronic vote under its fall back position—or Plan B—for a hybrid polling, officials said.
Manual vote preparation
She reminded the Comelec that it would take a month to procure the materials and prepare for the printing of blank ballots for the manual elections.
In the previous elections, voters had to write the names of their choices on the blank spaces. With the automated balloting, voters will have to fully shade the oval space beside the names of their candidates.
Some poll watchdogs and information technology experts have warned the Comelec that conducting a fully automated elections will be difficult and that it should prepare for contingency measures in case some areas have to resort to manual balloting.
The delayed schedule of the ballot printing, originally set for January, has prompted adjustments in the process.
Last month, it was revealed that 1.8 million ballots for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao did not have NPO security marks as it did not have enough time to perfect the marks when printing started in the first week of February.
Too complicated
Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said Ladra‘s memorandum would be discussed in the steering committee on Thursday. He noted that Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM had planned to increase the production of ballots at the NPO.
Larrazabal, the steering committee head, said Smartmatic-TIM had deployed Kodak technicians to the NPO.
“At the start, the production was not as high as predicted, but it’s okay now,” he said, noting that the four machines produced 700,000 ballots Wednesday. Larrazabal said that the ballots printed had reached 12 million.
The suggestion that the Comelec should prepare for manual elections was nixed, he said.
“It’s off the table,” Larrazabal said, noting that it would be too complicated to conduct manual and automated elections because of different rules and different materials.
Comelec commitment
The Comelec, he said, is committed to print all 50 million ballots.
Larrazabal said the agency also was looking at leasing smaller Kodak printers. He noted that there were Kodak printers in Clark, Pampanga, that the Comelec can use, although it was still unclear if they will be placed at the NPO plant in Quezon City.
He said that the NPO facility may lack space for the ballots and the machines. “We are looking for more space at the NPO,” he said.
Although the printers will be of different model, Larrazabal said the quality of the ballots will be the same.
77K ballot boxes
Also on Wednesday, Smartmatic-TIM and Comelec officials said they were expecting 77,000 ballot boxes from Taiwan to arrive in Manila before May. Some 10,000 ballot boxes have been stored at the PhilPost Distribution Center in Manila.
The ballot boxes will be stored at the PhilPost warehouse until they are shipped out to the Comelec regional hubs just days before May 10, Larrazabal said.
At present, 5,000 ballot boxes are already at the PhilPost Distribution Center, with another 5,000 expected Thursday, officials said.

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Richest Man Today!

Carlos Slim Helu takes No. 1 spot on Forbes World's Billionaires list as a record 164 10-figure titans return to the ranking amid the global economic recovery.
For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil (AMX), Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World's Billionaires.
Slim's fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.
That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft (MSFT) cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world's richest 14 of the past 15 years.
Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates' holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade (CAE) also soared with the rest of the markets.
Buffett's fortune jumped $10 billion to $47 billion on rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK). He ranks third.
The Oracle of Omaha shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs (GS) and $3 billion in General Electric (GE) amid the 2008 market collapse. He also recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) for $26 billion.
In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.
This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.
U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks — but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires, down from 45% a year ago.
The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44% a year ago.
Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains. The region added 104 moguls and now has just 14 fewer than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.
The new billionaires include American Isaac Perlmutter, who flipped Marvel Entertainment (MVL) to Disney (DIS) for $4 billion last December. The Spider-Man mogul netted nearly $900 million in cash and 20 million shares of Disney in the transaction.
Also new to the ranking: 27 billionaires from China, including Li Shufu, whose automaker, Geely, announced plans to buy Swedish brand Volvo from Ford in December. The deal is expected to close in March 2010.
Finland and Pakistan both welcomed their first billionaires.
For the first time China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the U.S. with 89.
Russia has 62 billionaires, 28 of them returnees who had fallen off last year's list amid a meltdown in commodities. Total returnees to the list this year: 164.
Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
Thirty members of last year's list fell out of the billionaire's club. Moguls who couldn't make the cut: Iceland's Thor Bjorgolfsson, Russia's Boris Berezovsky and Saudi Arabia's Maan Al-Sanea.
Another 13 members of last year's list died. Among the deceased: real estate developer Melvin Simon and glass tycoon William Davidson.


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Bryant's Late Heriocs, Snaps 3 Game Losing Streak

 Kobe Bryant never gets tired of being the Lakers’ closer.
And though he savored the chance to stop Los Angeles’ longest losing streak in nearly three years with yet another flawless game-winning shot, Bryant is hoping he won’t have to bail out the Lakers quite so frequently in the final weeks before they defend their title.
Bryant hit a 17-foot jumper with 1.9 seconds left, and the Lakers rallied in the fourth quarter to snap their three-game losing streak with a 109-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.
Chris Bosh(notes) hit a 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left to tie it for the Raptors, who outplayed the champs for most of the first three quarters before losing on yet another big shot by Bryant, who scored 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter.
Two days after missing a last-second shot in Orlando, Bryant didn’t hesitate to take the ball again on the wing. Bryant, who missed a shot at the buzzer in Los Angeles’ loss at Toronto in January, eluded Antoine Wright’s(notes) defense and glided nearly to the baseline for a graceful jumper.
“That’s my responsibility here, to close things out,” Bryant said with a shrug. “The same shot in Orlando, and I missed it.”
Wright’s failed desperation shot set off a celebration for the Lakers, who haven’t lost four straight since April 2007. Yet the streamers hadn’t fallen from the Staples Center roof before Bryant began criticizing the Lakers’ latest lackluster effort.
“This thing tonight was garbage,” he said of the Lakers’ effort, adding his account of the positives from the win: “None.”
Andrew Bynum(notes) scored 22 points and Pau Gasol(notes) had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who returned from a winless road trip to beat Toronto for the eighth straight time at Staples Center.
Lamar Odom(notes) had 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and several big fourth-quarter plays for the Lakers, who pushed their suddenly tenuous lead over Dallas atop the Western Conference standings back to three games while winning their only home game in a 16-day stretch.
“In the second half, we picked it up and it paid off,” Gasol said. “We’ve got to start building on our confidence and really stepping it up. So far lately, we’ve been struggling. We’ve been playing well in stretches, but not consistently, and we’ve got to figure that out.”
Bosh scored 22 points in his second game back from a seven-game injury absence, and Andrea Bargnani(notes) had 21 as the Raptors opened a four-game road trip by struggling from the field in the final minutes of their sixth loss in seven games. Jarrett Jack(notes) added 18 points, but Toronto managed just four field goals in the final eight minutes.
“They’re the defending champs for a reason and everything,” Bosh said. “It’s always tough bouncing back (from injury), but I just wanted to get a feel, and I didn’t want to force anything.”
Bryant put the Lakers ahead on two free throws with 3:54 left, and Derek Fisher(notes) stole Hedo Turkoglu’s(notes) pass and hit two free throws with 30 seconds left to put Los Angeles up by four. Odom missed a free throw moments later to give Toronto a chance to tie it, and Bosh coolly nailed his second 3-pointer of the game after hitting just six all season previously.
“It’s no secret that (Bryant) is going to take the shot there,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “We’ve all seen it happen. We dodged one in Toronto when he had a shot at the buzzer, and tonight we ran two guys at him and he still makes it.”
An only-in-L.A. moment also factored in the final decision moments earlier, when Toronto’s Jose Calderon(notes) went racing to the sidelines to save a loose ball with 1:48 to play. Before Calderon could get there to attempt an out-of-bounds save, the ball was tipped away by Lapo Elkann, the Fiat heir and international playboy watching from a courtside seat.
Elkann, who apologized to Calderon right away, got a loud ovation when he was shown on the overhead scoreboard moments later.
“It was a tough play, because it was a two-point game,” Calderon said. “What was he going to do, though?”
Los Angeles lost at Miami, Charlotte and Orlando over the previous five days, with an embarrassing blowout loss to the Bobcats sandwiched between two tight games in Florida. Bryant’s various injuries and his teammates’ struggles both played roles in the slide, which allowed the streaking Mavericks to eliminate most of Los Angeles’ conference lead.
In a good sign the Lakers were getting back to business, Ron Artest(notes) had shaved his head bald. On Sunday in Orlando, the colorful forward unveiled a Rodmanesque yellow dye job with the word “Defense” apparently written into it in purple in three languages.
NOTES: The Lakers will finish the regular season with 11 of 17 on the road, including Friday’s game in Phoenix to open a three-game trip. … Lakers G Sasha Vujacic(notes) returned from an eight-game absence with a sprained right shoulder, playing just three minutes. … Besides Elkann, courtside fans included actors Eddie Murphy, Jason Statham, Mark Valley, Russell Brand and Noah Wyle.


David Mikael Taclino
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