The lawsuits filed Friday against the two chief executives and four other top executives are an aggressive move by the Securities and Exchange Commission,moncler and come after a three-year investigation.
The agency has come under fire for not pursuing top Wall Street and mortgage industry executives who contributed to the financial crisis. In cases contending the deceptive marketing of securities tied to mortgages, the S.E.C. has been criticized for citing only midlevel bankers while settling with the Wall Street firms themselves. Recently, the agency drew criticism from a federal judge after allowing Citigroup to settle a fraud case without conceding wrongdoing.
The complaints
S.E.C. Fraud Case Casts Dark Cloud Over Fortress
Freddie Mac's Ex-Chief May Face S.E.C. Action (March 15, 2011)
On Friday, S.E.C. officials trumpeted their actions in the Fannie and Freddie case as part of a renewed effort to crack down on wrongdoing at the highest levels of Wall Street and corporate America.
“All individuals, regardless of their rank or position, will be held accountable for perpetuating half-truths or misrepresentations about matters materially important to the interest of our country’s investors,” said Robert S. Khuzami, the agency’s enforcement chief. “Investors were robbed of the opportunity to make informed investment decisions.”
He noted that the agency had now filed 38 separate actions stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.
The former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives have vowed to challenge the government, saying that the companies repeatedly disclosed the breakdowns of their loan portfolios.
As companies that fed both the housing bubble and Wall Street’s appetite for risk, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came under investigation quickly by federal agencies amid the financial crisis in 2008. But Freddie Mac disclosed this summer that the Justice Department’s inquiry into the company had ended without any charges. And the S.E.C stopped short of bringing actions against the two companies.
Instead, agreements with Fannie and Freddie will allow the now government-controlled companies to evade prosecution and fines so long as they cooperate with authorities. The deal does not require approval from a federal court, unlike the proposed settlement with Citigroup.
The case against the former executives, including Daniel H. Mudd, the former chief executive of Fannie Mae, and Richard F. Syron, the former chief of Freddie Mac, centers on a series of disclosures the firms made to investors at the height of the mortgage boom. The government contends that the firms played down the extent of their exposure to subprime mortgages, loans doled out to the riskiest of borrowers.
One S.E.C. complaint contends that Freddie Mac executives falsely proclaimed that the company had virtually no exposure to ultra-risky loans,Moncler Accessories - Cheap Moncler Jackets
despite internal warnings admonishing against such claims.
A separate complaint contends that Fannie Mae executives described subprime loans as those made to individuals “with weaker credit histories” while only reporting one-tenth of the loans that met that criteria in 2007. Both complaints were filed in the United States District Court in Manhattan.
Mr. Mudd, who was chief executive of Fannie Mae from 2005 until the government took control of the company in 2008, said that there had been no deception.
“The government reviewed and approved the company’s disclosures during my tenure, and through the present,” he said in a statement. “Now it appears that the government has negotiated a deal to hold the government, and government-appointed executives who have signed the same disclosures since my departure, blameless — so that it can sue individuals it fired years ago.”
The S.E.C.’s commitment to the long-running investigation — more than 100 depositions were produced over its course — highlights the major roles that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in the financial crisis and subsequent government bailout. The Bush administration took over the teetering mortgage giants in September 2008, and taxpayers have since pumped more than $150 billion into the two companies. The Obama administration has vowed to wind them down, although the timeline remains unclear.
The case against the former mortgage executives resembles an earlier action against one of the nation’s biggest lenders to risky, or subprime, borrowers. Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive and founder of Countrywide Financial, agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle federal charges along the same lines. The settlement was the largest ever levied against a senior executive of a public company, though Mr. Mozilo, who also agreed to forfeit $45 million in gains, neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing.
Success for the S.E.C. in the Fannie and Freddie case will largely hinge on the meaning of the word subprime, which the government itself has never fully defined. While the term often refers to borrowers with low credit scores, Fannie and Freddie decided to classify loans as prime or subprime based on the lender type, not the borrower’s credit score. A Wall Street bank, for instance, was usually considered a prime lender, despite extending subprime loans.
But the government’s complaint contends that this kind of disclosure masked risk. Loans not considered subprime often defaulted at higher rates than those classified as subprime.
The government contends that the executives were less than forthcoming about that extra layer of risk. Mr. Syron told an investor conference in May 2007 that the company had “basically no subprime business.”
But a lower-level executive at the firm, who reviewed Mr. Syron’s speech in advance, warned that such a statement could be misleading.
“We need to be careful how we word this. Certainly our portfolio includes loans that under some definitions would be considered subprime,” the employee said, according to the complaint. “We should reconsider making as sweeping a statement.”
Mr. Mudd, meanwhile, testifying before Congress in April 2007, broadly defined subprime as “the description of a borrower who doesn’t have perfect credit.” But at the same hearing, he told lawmakers that “less than 2.5 percent of our book of business can be defined as subprime,” which the complaint says greatly understated the firm’s exposure based on his definition that day. Mr. Mudd’s estimate omitted some $50 billion in subprimelike loans, according to the complaint.
Lawyers for the executives, however, plan to argue that the firms did in fact disclose minute details of their loan portfolios, suggesting a potential weakness in the case. During the period under scrutiny, the companies produced “monster charts” breaking down their loan portfolios by borrowers’ credit scores and how much equity they had in their homes, among other information.
Lawyers for Mr. Syron called the S.E.C.’s case “fatally flawed” and “without merit.”
“Simply stated, there was no shortage of meaningful disclosures, all of which permitted the reader to assess the degree of risk in Freddie Mac’s guaranteed portfolio,” Thomas C. Green and Mark D. Hopson, partners at Sidley Austin, said in the statement.
The lawyers note that even the federal government never settled on a definitive meaning for subprime. Indeed, in a 2007 document, multiple federal agencies declined to define it.
Lawyers for two of the other executives named in the suit have also promised to fight the allegations.
The complaints also name Fannie’s former risk officer, Enrico Dallavecchia; an executive vice president for Fannie, Thomas A. Lund; Patricia L. Cook, Freddie’s former chief business officer;cheap moncler jackets and its executive vice president, Donald J. Bisenius.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Uno dei pochi punti a favore dell'Italia
Uno dei pochi punti a favore cheap moncler jackets dell'Italia, in una giornata dove i mercati hanno continuato a preferire Madrid rispetto Roma. ''L'aumento dei tassi a lungo termine sul debito pubblico italiano rispetto a quelli spagnoli e' un segnale minaccioso'', cosi' l'economista Nouriel Roubini, ha commentato su Twitter il progressivo allargamento dello spread di rendimento tra i titoli di Stato italiani e quelli spagnoli. Nell'aste dei titoli con scadenza quinquennale, quelli italiani (Btp) sono stati assegnati ieri con un rendimento del 6,47% (+18 punti base rispetto alla precedente asta).
Copione opposto per la Spagna che oggi ha collocato i titoli a cinque anni (Bonos) pagando il 4,02% (-125 punti base rispetto alla precedente asta). Cosi (Berlino: XO2.BE - notizie) ' per finanziare il debito pubblico con titoli di stato quinquennali, l'Italia paga interesse superiori di 2,42 punti percentuali rispetto alla Spagna, il record dall'introduzione dell'euro. Stessa musica sui dieci anni dove l'Italia paga il 6,56% e la Spagna il 5,42%. Qui lo spread tra i titoli di Stato spagnoli e quelli della Germania (Bund), i piu' sicuri dell'eurozona, e' pari a circa 342 punti, quello invece tra Btp-Bund viaggia a 464 punti. Nei (SNP: ^NEIY - notizie) fatti il mercato considera molto piu' rischioso puntare dei soldi sul debito pubblico tricolore. Resta elevatissimo anche il premio assicurativo per coprirsi dal default (insolvenza) dell'Italia.
il Cds (SNP: ^CDSY - notizie) a 5 anni e' quotato 561 punti, non lontano dai massimi storici di 591 punti toccati lo scorso 15 novembre. Dunque per assicurare 10 milioni di euro investiti in Btp bisogna pagare ben 561 mila euro, invece per assicurarsi contro l'insolvenza della Spagna servono circa 430 mila euro. Dall'inizio dell'anno, il costo dell'assicurazione contro il fallimento della Spagna e' cresciuto del 25%, quello sull'Italia del 135%. Il mercato, spiegano nelle sale operative, si e' fatto due conti: ''Se arriva la recessione, il rapporto debito/pil dell'Italia si deteriora perche' diminuisce il denominatore, mentre il numeratore difficilmente scendera' dato che la manovra del governo e' concentrata sulla riduzione del deficit e non del debito'', spiega un trader.
Per l'Italia la Confindustria stima per il 2012 una Moncler 2011 New Jackets,Moncler Jackets,Moncler Vest on sale contrazione del Pil reale pari a -1,6%, probabile una recessione anche in Spagna, ma la crescita media del Pil spagnolo nel lungo periodo e' pari a +1,5%, quella dell'Italia arriva a malapena a +0,8%. E' vero che l'Italia si avvia a chiudere il 2011 con un deficit intorno al 4% del Pil mentre quello della Spagna viaggi al 6,5%, ma guardando al debito la situazione e' molto differente. Il rapporto debito/pil della Spagna e' del 68%, meglio anche di Germania e Francia, i cosiddetti virtuosi dell'Eurozona, mentre il Belpaese viaggia al 120%.
Lo rende noto un comunicato. La sanzione pari a 39.377.489 euro a Poste Italiane, spiega la nota, e' "per avere abusato della propria posizione dominante, con l'obiettivo di ostacolare lo sviluppo dei mercati liberalizzati relativi al recapito 'a data e ora certa' e alla notifica attraverso messo notificatore". Lo decisione e' avvenuta al termine dell'istruttoria, avviata alla luce di una denuncia di TNT (Amburgo: TNT.HM - notizie) , che ha portato a individuare una serie di condotte di Poste tese a escludere i concorrenti e a indebolirne le capacita' competitive. L'Antitrust ha "intimato a Poste Italiane di cessare immediatamente i comportamenti abusivi e di inviare entro.
Roma e Tripoli, congelati durante la guerra, ripartono dal trattato firmato nel 2008 dal governo Berlusconi. Ieri, dopo aver incontrato per oltre un’ora e mezza a Palazzo Chigi il leader del Cnt, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, il presidente del consiglio, Mario Monti, ha annunciato la decisione dei due Paesi di riattivare l’accordo che impegna Roma ha effettuare investimenti in infrastrutture nel Paese nordafricano per 5 miliardi di dollari nell’arco di 20 anni, con importanti risvolti economici per le imprese italiane impegnate nella realizzazione delle opere.
Un accordo che sembrava fortemente a rischio, a tutto vantaggio della Francia, alla luce del cambio di regime avvenuto nel Paese nordafricano dopo la caduta e l’uccisione di Muammar Gheddafi. L’intesa raggiunta ieri tra Monti e Jalil prevede anche il progressivo scongelamento dei fondi delle istituzioni libiche depositati in Italia che erano stati congelati durante la guerra.
Secondo quanto si è appreso nella giornata di ieri, per ora sarebbero già stati svincolati 600 milioni e Monti avrebbe assicurato il leader libico, che nella sua giornata romana ha incontrato anche il presidente della Repubblica, Giorgio Napolitano, sulla «massima speditezza nell’utilizzo» jackets for men.
Copione opposto per la Spagna che oggi ha collocato i titoli a cinque anni (Bonos) pagando il 4,02% (-125 punti base rispetto alla precedente asta). Cosi (Berlino: XO2.BE - notizie) ' per finanziare il debito pubblico con titoli di stato quinquennali, l'Italia paga interesse superiori di 2,42 punti percentuali rispetto alla Spagna, il record dall'introduzione dell'euro. Stessa musica sui dieci anni dove l'Italia paga il 6,56% e la Spagna il 5,42%. Qui lo spread tra i titoli di Stato spagnoli e quelli della Germania (Bund), i piu' sicuri dell'eurozona, e' pari a circa 342 punti, quello invece tra Btp-Bund viaggia a 464 punti. Nei (SNP: ^NEIY - notizie) fatti il mercato considera molto piu' rischioso puntare dei soldi sul debito pubblico tricolore. Resta elevatissimo anche il premio assicurativo per coprirsi dal default (insolvenza) dell'Italia.
il Cds (SNP: ^CDSY - notizie) a 5 anni e' quotato 561 punti, non lontano dai massimi storici di 591 punti toccati lo scorso 15 novembre. Dunque per assicurare 10 milioni di euro investiti in Btp bisogna pagare ben 561 mila euro, invece per assicurarsi contro l'insolvenza della Spagna servono circa 430 mila euro. Dall'inizio dell'anno, il costo dell'assicurazione contro il fallimento della Spagna e' cresciuto del 25%, quello sull'Italia del 135%. Il mercato, spiegano nelle sale operative, si e' fatto due conti: ''Se arriva la recessione, il rapporto debito/pil dell'Italia si deteriora perche' diminuisce il denominatore, mentre il numeratore difficilmente scendera' dato che la manovra del governo e' concentrata sulla riduzione del deficit e non del debito'', spiega un trader.
Per l'Italia la Confindustria stima per il 2012 una Moncler 2011 New Jackets,Moncler Jackets,Moncler Vest on sale contrazione del Pil reale pari a -1,6%, probabile una recessione anche in Spagna, ma la crescita media del Pil spagnolo nel lungo periodo e' pari a +1,5%, quella dell'Italia arriva a malapena a +0,8%. E' vero che l'Italia si avvia a chiudere il 2011 con un deficit intorno al 4% del Pil mentre quello della Spagna viaggi al 6,5%, ma guardando al debito la situazione e' molto differente. Il rapporto debito/pil della Spagna e' del 68%, meglio anche di Germania e Francia, i cosiddetti virtuosi dell'Eurozona, mentre il Belpaese viaggia al 120%.
Lo rende noto un comunicato. La sanzione pari a 39.377.489 euro a Poste Italiane, spiega la nota, e' "per avere abusato della propria posizione dominante, con l'obiettivo di ostacolare lo sviluppo dei mercati liberalizzati relativi al recapito 'a data e ora certa' e alla notifica attraverso messo notificatore". Lo decisione e' avvenuta al termine dell'istruttoria, avviata alla luce di una denuncia di TNT (Amburgo: TNT.HM - notizie) , che ha portato a individuare una serie di condotte di Poste tese a escludere i concorrenti e a indebolirne le capacita' competitive. L'Antitrust ha "intimato a Poste Italiane di cessare immediatamente i comportamenti abusivi e di inviare entro.
Roma e Tripoli, congelati durante la guerra, ripartono dal trattato firmato nel 2008 dal governo Berlusconi. Ieri, dopo aver incontrato per oltre un’ora e mezza a Palazzo Chigi il leader del Cnt, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, il presidente del consiglio, Mario Monti, ha annunciato la decisione dei due Paesi di riattivare l’accordo che impegna Roma ha effettuare investimenti in infrastrutture nel Paese nordafricano per 5 miliardi di dollari nell’arco di 20 anni, con importanti risvolti economici per le imprese italiane impegnate nella realizzazione delle opere.
Un accordo che sembrava fortemente a rischio, a tutto vantaggio della Francia, alla luce del cambio di regime avvenuto nel Paese nordafricano dopo la caduta e l’uccisione di Muammar Gheddafi. L’intesa raggiunta ieri tra Monti e Jalil prevede anche il progressivo scongelamento dei fondi delle istituzioni libiche depositati in Italia che erano stati congelati durante la guerra.
Secondo quanto si è appreso nella giornata di ieri, per ora sarebbero già stati svincolati 600 milioni e Monti avrebbe assicurato il leader libico, che nella sua giornata romana ha incontrato anche il presidente della Repubblica, Giorgio Napolitano, sulla «massima speditezza nell’utilizzo» jackets for men.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
House Speaker John Boehner
House Speaker John Boehner, cheap moncler jackets Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met privately for about an hour in the Capitol Wednesday night.
There was no immediate sign that a deal was near, but the meeting could be an indication they finally are working directly with each other toward resolving the dispute that threatens to shutter the government at the end of the week and raise the payroll tax rate on working Americans at the end of the month.
The development came amid news that Senate Democrats will offer a new proposal for extending the payroll tax cut that drops a provision to tax income over $1 million, a Democratic source told CNN.
The so-called "millionaires tax" was opposed by Republicans who had blocked previous proposals by Senate Democrats to prevent the payroll tax on workers from returning to a higher rate at the end of the year.
No further details were immediately available on the new proposal, first reported by CNN, which emerged from a White House meeting between Senate Democratic leaders and President Barack Obama on Wednesday afternoon, the source said.
2011 a big year for flirting with government shutdowns
Abandoning the surtax on millionaires would be a major concession by Senate Democrats and Obama.
Obama for months has argued that the wealthy should pay what he terms their fair share of taxes.
After Wednesday night's meeting, which took place in McConnell's office, Reid and Boehner returned to their offices where they huddled with members of their leadership teams.
When McConnell left the Capitol a few minutes later he was asked for a progress report. His response was cryptic.
"We'll finish up," he said. "It's almost Christmas."
Earlier, political skullduggery spilled onto the Senate floor with Democratic and Republican leaders openly squabbling over the order of votes on the GOP payroll tax-cut plan and the spending measure needed to keep the government funded.
The inability of Senate party leaders to agree on how to proceed, let alone actually schedule votes, stymied progress on measures that both parties Moncler Men Vest,Moncler Men,moncler vest for men on sale. have said they support in concept -- holding down taxes for working Americans and determining government spending for the rest of the fiscal year.
Washington's holiday gift: More gridlock
In a rare display of overt hostility, Reid, D-Nevada, accused Republican counterpart McConnell of "living in a world of non-reality" and said the GOP payroll tax cut plan passed Tuesday by the House was "dead on arrival" in the Senate.
McConnell, R-Kentucky, shot back that Democrats wasted weeks of time with political "show votes" intended to bolster President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
The Senate, he said, should now vote first on a broad spending agreement reached by congressional negotiators to ensure that government funding continues after a previous short-term extension expires at midnight Friday.
Congress bickers as tax hike looms Paul: Pipeline a payroll compromise Obama urges payroll tax cut extension Explain it to me: Payroll tax cuts
"Quit wasting our time here in the Senate scoring points with the shutdown two days away," McConnell said.
Reid and other Senate Democrats responded that McConnell and Republicans want to avoid certain defeat on their payroll tax plan, which includes controversial provisions to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and weaken environmental regulations.
House GOP leaders are considering a move that would try to force a vote on the huge government spending bill, according to two Republican members.
In a closed-door House Republican conference meeting Wednesday, Boehner floated the option of not waiting for Democrats to sign off on a final agreement between the House and Senate on the measure.
Instead, House GOP leaders are discussing combining the spending bills for various government agencies into a single package and having a House vote on Friday.
They would then send it to the Senate and attempt to force Democrats to vote on it -- or be held responsible for a potential government shutdown.
Florida Republican Tom Rooney said leaders have not decided on that course, but are still determining whether they could get 218 Republican votes to pass it -- assuming they are unlikely to get much Democratic support.
Rooney said GOP leaders also discussed passing a short term funding measure to keep the government funded as negotiations continued, but he told reporters, "I don't sense much love for that -- it's another option."
Another Florida Republican, Allen West, said he supported the idea of the House moving ahead with its own spending bill package so federal agencies would be funded. "We can't wait," West told CNN.
After the meeting, Boehner insisted that Republican and Democratic negotiators worked out a deal on the government funding bill, but that Senate Democrats are holding action on that measure hostage to negotiations on the payroll tax cut bill moncler jackets.
There was no immediate sign that a deal was near, but the meeting could be an indication they finally are working directly with each other toward resolving the dispute that threatens to shutter the government at the end of the week and raise the payroll tax rate on working Americans at the end of the month.
The development came amid news that Senate Democrats will offer a new proposal for extending the payroll tax cut that drops a provision to tax income over $1 million, a Democratic source told CNN.
The so-called "millionaires tax" was opposed by Republicans who had blocked previous proposals by Senate Democrats to prevent the payroll tax on workers from returning to a higher rate at the end of the year.
No further details were immediately available on the new proposal, first reported by CNN, which emerged from a White House meeting between Senate Democratic leaders and President Barack Obama on Wednesday afternoon, the source said.
2011 a big year for flirting with government shutdowns
Abandoning the surtax on millionaires would be a major concession by Senate Democrats and Obama.
Obama for months has argued that the wealthy should pay what he terms their fair share of taxes.
After Wednesday night's meeting, which took place in McConnell's office, Reid and Boehner returned to their offices where they huddled with members of their leadership teams.
When McConnell left the Capitol a few minutes later he was asked for a progress report. His response was cryptic.
"We'll finish up," he said. "It's almost Christmas."
Earlier, political skullduggery spilled onto the Senate floor with Democratic and Republican leaders openly squabbling over the order of votes on the GOP payroll tax-cut plan and the spending measure needed to keep the government funded.
The inability of Senate party leaders to agree on how to proceed, let alone actually schedule votes, stymied progress on measures that both parties Moncler Men Vest,Moncler Men,moncler vest for men on sale. have said they support in concept -- holding down taxes for working Americans and determining government spending for the rest of the fiscal year.
Washington's holiday gift: More gridlock
In a rare display of overt hostility, Reid, D-Nevada, accused Republican counterpart McConnell of "living in a world of non-reality" and said the GOP payroll tax cut plan passed Tuesday by the House was "dead on arrival" in the Senate.
McConnell, R-Kentucky, shot back that Democrats wasted weeks of time with political "show votes" intended to bolster President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
The Senate, he said, should now vote first on a broad spending agreement reached by congressional negotiators to ensure that government funding continues after a previous short-term extension expires at midnight Friday.
Congress bickers as tax hike looms Paul: Pipeline a payroll compromise Obama urges payroll tax cut extension Explain it to me: Payroll tax cuts
"Quit wasting our time here in the Senate scoring points with the shutdown two days away," McConnell said.
Reid and other Senate Democrats responded that McConnell and Republicans want to avoid certain defeat on their payroll tax plan, which includes controversial provisions to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and weaken environmental regulations.
House GOP leaders are considering a move that would try to force a vote on the huge government spending bill, according to two Republican members.
In a closed-door House Republican conference meeting Wednesday, Boehner floated the option of not waiting for Democrats to sign off on a final agreement between the House and Senate on the measure.
Instead, House GOP leaders are discussing combining the spending bills for various government agencies into a single package and having a House vote on Friday.
They would then send it to the Senate and attempt to force Democrats to vote on it -- or be held responsible for a potential government shutdown.
Florida Republican Tom Rooney said leaders have not decided on that course, but are still determining whether they could get 218 Republican votes to pass it -- assuming they are unlikely to get much Democratic support.
Rooney said GOP leaders also discussed passing a short term funding measure to keep the government funded as negotiations continued, but he told reporters, "I don't sense much love for that -- it's another option."
Another Florida Republican, Allen West, said he supported the idea of the House moving ahead with its own spending bill package so federal agencies would be funded. "We can't wait," West told CNN.
After the meeting, Boehner insisted that Republican and Democratic negotiators worked out a deal on the government funding bill, but that Senate Democrats are holding action on that measure hostage to negotiations on the payroll tax cut bill moncler jackets.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
At any given moment last year on America's streets and highways
Inspired cheap moncler jackets by recent deadly crashes — including one in which a teenager sent or received 11 text messages in 11 minutes before an accident — the recommendation would apply even to hands-free devices, a much stricter rule than any current state law.
The unanimous recommendation by the five-member National Transportation Safety Board would make an exception for devices deemed to aid driver safety such as GPS navigation systems.
A group representing state highway safety offices called the recommendation "a game-changer."
"States aren't ready to support a total ban yet, but this may start the discussion," Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, said.
NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman acknowledged the recommendation would be unpopular with many people and that complying would involve changing what has become ingrained behavior for many Americans.
While the NTSB doesn't have the power to impose restrictions, its recommendations carry significant weight with federal regulators and congressional and state lawmakers. Another recommendation issued Tuesday urges states to aggressively enforce current bans on text messaging and the use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices while driving.
"We're not here to win a popularity contest," she said. "No email, no text, no update, no call is worth a human life."
Currently, 35 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, while nine states and D.C. bar hand-held cellphone use. Thirty states ban all cellphone use for beginning drivers. But enforcement is generally not a high priority, and no states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers.
A total cellphone ban would be the hardest to accept for many people.
Leila Noelliste, 26, a Chicago blogger and business owner, said being able to talk on the cellphone "when I'm running around town" is important to self-employed people like herself.
"I don't think they should ban cellphones because I don't think you're really distracted when you're talking, it's when you're texting," she said. When you're driving and talking, "your eyes are still on the road."
The immediate impetus for the recommendation of state bans was a deadly highway pileup near Gray Summit, Mo., last year in which a 19-year-old pickup driver sent and received 11 texts in 11 minutes just before the accident.
NTSB investigators said they are seeing increasing texting, cellphone calls and other distracting behavior by drivers in accidents involving all kinds of transportation. It has become routine to immediately request the preservation of cellphone and texting records when an investigation is begun.
In the past few years the board has investigated a train collision in which the engineer was texting that killed 25 people in Chatsworth, Calif.; a fatal accident on the Delaware River near Philadelphia in which a tugboat pilot was talking on his cellphone and using a laptop computer, and a Northwest Airlines flight that sped more than 100 miles past its destination because both pilots were working on their laptops.
Last year, a driver was dialing his cellphone when his truck crossed a highway median near Munfordville, Ky., and collided with a 15-passenger van. Eleven people were killed.Moncler Handbags,moncler handbags calfskin,moncler women Handbags on sale.
The board said the initial collision in the Missouri accident was caused by the inattention of the pickup driver who was texting a friend about events of the previous night. The pickup, traveling at 55 mph, hit the back of a tractor truck that had slowed for highway construction. The pickup was rear-ended by a school bus that overrode the smaller vehicle. A second school bus rammed into the back of the first bus.
The pickup driver and a 15-year-old student on one of the buses were killed. Thirty-eight other people were injured. About 50 students, mostly members of a high school band from St. James, Mo., were on the buses heading to the Six Flags St. Louis amusement park.
Missouri had a law banning drivers under 21 years old from texting while driving at the time of the crash, but wasn't aggressively enforcing the ban, board member Robert Sumwalt said.
"Without the enforcement, the laws don't mean a whole lot," he said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported earlier this year that pilot projects in Syracuse, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., produced significant reductions in distracted driving by combining stepped-up ticketing with high-profile public education campaigns.
Before and after each enforcement wave, NHTSA researchers observed cellphone use by drivers and conducted surveys at drivers' license offices in the two cities. They found that in Syracuse, hand-held cellphone use and texting declined by a third. In Hartford, there was a 57 percent drop in hand-held phone use, and texting behind the wheel dropped by nearly three-quarters.
However, that was with blanket enforcement by police.
The board's decision to include hands-free cellphone use in its recommendation is likely to prove especially controversial. No states currently ban hand-free use although many studies show that it is often as unsafe as hand-held phone use because drivers' minds are on their conversations rather than what's happening on the road.
Hersman pointed to an Alexandria, Va., accident the board investigated in which a bus driver talking on a hands-free phone ran into a bridge despite his being familiar with the route and the presence of warning signs that the arch was too low for his bus to clear. The roof of the bus was sheared off.
The board has previously recommended bans on texting and cellphone use by commercial truck and bus drivers and beginning drivers, but it had stopped short of calling for a ban on the use of the devices by adults behind the wheel of passenger cars.
The problem of texting while driving is getting worse despite a rush by states to ban the practice, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week. In November, Pennsylvania became the 35th state to forbid texting while driving.
About two out of 10 American drivers overall — and half of drivers between 21 and 24 — say they've thumbed messages or emailed from the driver's seat, according to a survey of more than 6,000 drivers by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
However, the survey found that many drivers don't think it's dangerous when they do it — only when others do.
At any given moment last year on America's streets and highways, nearly one in every 100 car drivers was texting, emailing, surfing the Web or otherwise using a hand-held electronic device, the safety administration said. Those activities were up 50 percent over the previous year.
Driver distraction wasn't the only significant safety problem uncovered by NTSB's investigation of the Missouri accident. Investigators said they believe the pickup driver was suffering from fatigue that may have eroded his judgment. He had an average of about five-and-a-half hours of sleep a night in the days leading up to the accident and had had fewer than five hours of sleep the night before the accident, they said.
The pickup driver had no history of accidents or traffic violations, investigators said.
Investigators also found significant problems with the brakes of both school buses involved in the accident. A third school bus sent to a hospital after the accident to pick up students crashed in the hospital parking lot when that bus' brakes failed.
However, the brake problems didn't cause or contribute to the severity of the accident, investigators said.
Another issue involved the difficulty passengers had getting out of the first school bus after the accident. Its doors were unusable and passengers had to exit through an emergency window. The raised latch on the window kept catching on clothing as students tried to escape, investigators said. Cheap moncler jackets,moncler jackets for men,moncler jackets for women on sale save up to 60% off.Escape was further slowed because the window design required one person to hold the window up in order for a second person to crawl through, they said.
The unanimous recommendation by the five-member National Transportation Safety Board would make an exception for devices deemed to aid driver safety such as GPS navigation systems.
A group representing state highway safety offices called the recommendation "a game-changer."
"States aren't ready to support a total ban yet, but this may start the discussion," Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, said.
NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman acknowledged the recommendation would be unpopular with many people and that complying would involve changing what has become ingrained behavior for many Americans.
While the NTSB doesn't have the power to impose restrictions, its recommendations carry significant weight with federal regulators and congressional and state lawmakers. Another recommendation issued Tuesday urges states to aggressively enforce current bans on text messaging and the use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices while driving.
"We're not here to win a popularity contest," she said. "No email, no text, no update, no call is worth a human life."
Currently, 35 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, while nine states and D.C. bar hand-held cellphone use. Thirty states ban all cellphone use for beginning drivers. But enforcement is generally not a high priority, and no states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers.
A total cellphone ban would be the hardest to accept for many people.
Leila Noelliste, 26, a Chicago blogger and business owner, said being able to talk on the cellphone "when I'm running around town" is important to self-employed people like herself.
"I don't think they should ban cellphones because I don't think you're really distracted when you're talking, it's when you're texting," she said. When you're driving and talking, "your eyes are still on the road."
The immediate impetus for the recommendation of state bans was a deadly highway pileup near Gray Summit, Mo., last year in which a 19-year-old pickup driver sent and received 11 texts in 11 minutes just before the accident.
NTSB investigators said they are seeing increasing texting, cellphone calls and other distracting behavior by drivers in accidents involving all kinds of transportation. It has become routine to immediately request the preservation of cellphone and texting records when an investigation is begun.
In the past few years the board has investigated a train collision in which the engineer was texting that killed 25 people in Chatsworth, Calif.; a fatal accident on the Delaware River near Philadelphia in which a tugboat pilot was talking on his cellphone and using a laptop computer, and a Northwest Airlines flight that sped more than 100 miles past its destination because both pilots were working on their laptops.
Last year, a driver was dialing his cellphone when his truck crossed a highway median near Munfordville, Ky., and collided with a 15-passenger van. Eleven people were killed.Moncler Handbags,moncler handbags calfskin,moncler women Handbags on sale.
The board said the initial collision in the Missouri accident was caused by the inattention of the pickup driver who was texting a friend about events of the previous night. The pickup, traveling at 55 mph, hit the back of a tractor truck that had slowed for highway construction. The pickup was rear-ended by a school bus that overrode the smaller vehicle. A second school bus rammed into the back of the first bus.
The pickup driver and a 15-year-old student on one of the buses were killed. Thirty-eight other people were injured. About 50 students, mostly members of a high school band from St. James, Mo., were on the buses heading to the Six Flags St. Louis amusement park.
Missouri had a law banning drivers under 21 years old from texting while driving at the time of the crash, but wasn't aggressively enforcing the ban, board member Robert Sumwalt said.
"Without the enforcement, the laws don't mean a whole lot," he said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported earlier this year that pilot projects in Syracuse, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., produced significant reductions in distracted driving by combining stepped-up ticketing with high-profile public education campaigns.
Before and after each enforcement wave, NHTSA researchers observed cellphone use by drivers and conducted surveys at drivers' license offices in the two cities. They found that in Syracuse, hand-held cellphone use and texting declined by a third. In Hartford, there was a 57 percent drop in hand-held phone use, and texting behind the wheel dropped by nearly three-quarters.
However, that was with blanket enforcement by police.
The board's decision to include hands-free cellphone use in its recommendation is likely to prove especially controversial. No states currently ban hand-free use although many studies show that it is often as unsafe as hand-held phone use because drivers' minds are on their conversations rather than what's happening on the road.
Hersman pointed to an Alexandria, Va., accident the board investigated in which a bus driver talking on a hands-free phone ran into a bridge despite his being familiar with the route and the presence of warning signs that the arch was too low for his bus to clear. The roof of the bus was sheared off.
The board has previously recommended bans on texting and cellphone use by commercial truck and bus drivers and beginning drivers, but it had stopped short of calling for a ban on the use of the devices by adults behind the wheel of passenger cars.
The problem of texting while driving is getting worse despite a rush by states to ban the practice, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week. In November, Pennsylvania became the 35th state to forbid texting while driving.
About two out of 10 American drivers overall — and half of drivers between 21 and 24 — say they've thumbed messages or emailed from the driver's seat, according to a survey of more than 6,000 drivers by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
However, the survey found that many drivers don't think it's dangerous when they do it — only when others do.
At any given moment last year on America's streets and highways, nearly one in every 100 car drivers was texting, emailing, surfing the Web or otherwise using a hand-held electronic device, the safety administration said. Those activities were up 50 percent over the previous year.
Driver distraction wasn't the only significant safety problem uncovered by NTSB's investigation of the Missouri accident. Investigators said they believe the pickup driver was suffering from fatigue that may have eroded his judgment. He had an average of about five-and-a-half hours of sleep a night in the days leading up to the accident and had had fewer than five hours of sleep the night before the accident, they said.
The pickup driver had no history of accidents or traffic violations, investigators said.
Investigators also found significant problems with the brakes of both school buses involved in the accident. A third school bus sent to a hospital after the accident to pick up students crashed in the hospital parking lot when that bus' brakes failed.
However, the brake problems didn't cause or contribute to the severity of the accident, investigators said.
Another issue involved the difficulty passengers had getting out of the first school bus after the accident. Its doors were unusable and passengers had to exit through an emergency window. The raised latch on the window kept catching on clothing as students tried to escape, investigators said. Cheap moncler jackets,moncler jackets for men,moncler jackets for women on sale save up to 60% off.Escape was further slowed because the window design required one person to hold the window up in order for a second person to crawl through, they said.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Ce qui se passe en réalité
M. Kent moncler jackets for women a blâmé "l'incompétence du gouvernement libéral" de l'ancien Premier ministre Jean Chrétien pour avoir signé l'accord sans pour autant prendre les mesures nécessaire à la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Maintenant, a-t-il affirmé, il est beaucoup trop tard pour que le Canada parvienne à remplir les obligations imposées par le Protocole de Kyoto.
Le Canada devait impérativement informer les Nations Unies avant la fin de l'année de sa décision de se retirer du processus de Kyoto, sans quoi il aurait été légalement tenu de payer des pénalités pour le non-respect des mesures de réduction des émissions de carbone.
"Pour le Canada, Kyoto fait partie du passé. Par conséquent, nous invoquons notre droit légal à nous retirer officiellement du Protocole", a déclaré M. Kent aux journalistes au siège de la Chambre des communes.
"Il est maintenant clair que le Protocole de Kyoto n'est pas une solution viable pour l'avenir", a-t-il ajouté.
M. Kent a tenu ces propos environ deux heures après son retour de la conférence de Durban, un sommet qui vise à établir de nouvelles normes en matière de réduction des émissions de carbone cheap moncler jackets.
Le Canada, comme les autres signataires du Protocole de Kyoto, était tenu de ramener ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre en dessous des niveaux de 1990, et de fournir un financement aux pays en développement pour les aider à réduire leurs émissions. Le Canada a ratifié cet accord en 1997.
Le gouvernement conservateur canadien, élu en 2006, a promis de réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 17% par rapport à 2005. Cette réduction doit se faire d'ici 2020.
La députée Megan Leslie, porte-parole du Nouveau Parti démocratique en matière d'environnement, a critiqué la décision de M. Kent devant le Parlement au nom de l'opposition.
"Ce qui se passe en réalité, c'est que notre gouvernement se soustrait à ses obligations internationales. Nous sommes comme un enfant qui ne réussit pas en classe, et qui préfère abandonner l'école avant que les mauvaises notes n'arrivent", a expliqué Mme Leslie.
Réagissant à l'annonce du gouvernement canadien du retrait du Protocole de Kyoto, la présidente nationale du Conseil des Canadiens Maude Barlow a critiqué cette décision giubbotti moncler outlet 2012.
Le Canada devait impérativement informer les Nations Unies avant la fin de l'année de sa décision de se retirer du processus de Kyoto, sans quoi il aurait été légalement tenu de payer des pénalités pour le non-respect des mesures de réduction des émissions de carbone.
"Pour le Canada, Kyoto fait partie du passé. Par conséquent, nous invoquons notre droit légal à nous retirer officiellement du Protocole", a déclaré M. Kent aux journalistes au siège de la Chambre des communes.
"Il est maintenant clair que le Protocole de Kyoto n'est pas une solution viable pour l'avenir", a-t-il ajouté.
M. Kent a tenu ces propos environ deux heures après son retour de la conférence de Durban, un sommet qui vise à établir de nouvelles normes en matière de réduction des émissions de carbone cheap moncler jackets.
Le Canada, comme les autres signataires du Protocole de Kyoto, était tenu de ramener ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre en dessous des niveaux de 1990, et de fournir un financement aux pays en développement pour les aider à réduire leurs émissions. Le Canada a ratifié cet accord en 1997.
Le gouvernement conservateur canadien, élu en 2006, a promis de réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre de 17% par rapport à 2005. Cette réduction doit se faire d'ici 2020.
La députée Megan Leslie, porte-parole du Nouveau Parti démocratique en matière d'environnement, a critiqué la décision de M. Kent devant le Parlement au nom de l'opposition.
"Ce qui se passe en réalité, c'est que notre gouvernement se soustrait à ses obligations internationales. Nous sommes comme un enfant qui ne réussit pas en classe, et qui préfère abandonner l'école avant que les mauvaises notes n'arrivent", a expliqué Mme Leslie.
Réagissant à l'annonce du gouvernement canadien du retrait du Protocole de Kyoto, la présidente nationale du Conseil des Canadiens Maude Barlow a critiqué cette décision giubbotti moncler outlet 2012.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
The push is clearly on from the Hornets and Magic
The push is clearly on from the Hornets and Magic,giubbotti moncler outlet who know their 26-year-old stars are unlikely to sign extensions to stay beyond this season.
The deal for Paul that the NBA nixed Friday for "basketball reasons" was reworked and being reconsidered by the league. But the Lakers apparently had enough, feeling the distraction was too great over whether players would be with the team or traded.
So they elected to pull out of the three-team deal and instead sent forward Lamar Odom and a 2012 second-round draft pick to the Mavericks in exchange for a protected 2012 first-round draft pick and an $8.9 million trade exception.
The Lakers can use the trade exception and the draft pick to go after Howard in a trade with the Magic. A Lakers' trade for Howard likely would include center Andrew Bynum going to Orlando.
"If I'm here, I'm looking forward to the season," Bynum said. "If they were able to pull a move like that off, it would be great for the organization, and I'd be in Orlando hooping."
At the camp Sunday, Kobe Bryant was asked about an Odom trade: "I don't like it. He's great at bringing guys together. I trust management knows what they're doing … but it's tough. … I've known Lamar for a long time. He's a big presence for us in the locker room, just from a team chemistry standpoint. …
"Pau (Gasol) is still here, and we're all thankful for that. It's hard when you've been through so many battles with players to just see them go somewhere else. It's tough."
Bryant also didn't like it that Odom would be going to the Mavericks, who eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs last season: "We were supposed to come back and get them back."
The Hornets, meanwhile, are left with trying to find a trade that will be approved for Paul, with the Clippers a likely spot, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported. Hornets coach Monty Williams also said the lingering trade reports are a distraction for his team.
Hornets Coach Monty Williams said Chris Paul's lingering trade uncertainty is a major distraction "I don't know if I have a right answer to give you guys because I have my opinion. I have five children moncler jackets and a wife and my opinion may cost me a lot of money."
And Howard admitted Saturday to asking for a trade, likening his request to a divorce that only one party wants.
"I've done everything for this city. I don't think people understand the magnitude of love I have just for this city," he said. "It's beyond basketball. I think people, anybody should understand that. For me this has just not been a city I enjoy playing basketball in. I love everybody here, that's why it's been so tough."
But he said recent playoff disappointments played a role in asking out.
"I've been back and forth," he said. "Mainly because the people here really care for the city. Nobody's gonna understand that. And if you hate me because of a jersey, then you never really loved me. That's how I feel."
Magic general manager Otis Smith obviously would like to keep Howard but said he is exploring options.
"When you invest seven years in a player and that's what he decides, then you have to deal with that from that angle. But it's not the end of the world," Smith said. "Like I said before, the Orlando Magic franchise is what it's about. We like to make this into an individual game, but the fact of the matter is it's a team sport. And we'll continue to move forward. "
Smith said there is no timetable or deadline for a trade.
When this all first developed, Hornets general manager Dell Demps thought he had a great deal arranged originally:
Paul to the Lakers; Odom, 32, to the Hornets and Gasol to the Rockets, who would have sent forward Luis Scola, 31, guards Kevin Martin, 29, and Goran Dragic, 25, and a first-round draft pick to New Orleans.
All things considered, Demps originally came away with a fine haul, maybe the best he will get for losing Paul.
But the NBA didn't see it that way — and was skewered across all platforms for its heavy-handed decision.
"Of course, Dell and (coach) Monty (Williams) were very upset when everything fell through," a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. "They had spent a lot of time on it and they thought cheap moncler jackets was a great deal for the team."
The deal for Paul that the NBA nixed Friday for "basketball reasons" was reworked and being reconsidered by the league. But the Lakers apparently had enough, feeling the distraction was too great over whether players would be with the team or traded.
So they elected to pull out of the three-team deal and instead sent forward Lamar Odom and a 2012 second-round draft pick to the Mavericks in exchange for a protected 2012 first-round draft pick and an $8.9 million trade exception.
The Lakers can use the trade exception and the draft pick to go after Howard in a trade with the Magic. A Lakers' trade for Howard likely would include center Andrew Bynum going to Orlando.
"If I'm here, I'm looking forward to the season," Bynum said. "If they were able to pull a move like that off, it would be great for the organization, and I'd be in Orlando hooping."
At the camp Sunday, Kobe Bryant was asked about an Odom trade: "I don't like it. He's great at bringing guys together. I trust management knows what they're doing … but it's tough. … I've known Lamar for a long time. He's a big presence for us in the locker room, just from a team chemistry standpoint. …
"Pau (Gasol) is still here, and we're all thankful for that. It's hard when you've been through so many battles with players to just see them go somewhere else. It's tough."
Bryant also didn't like it that Odom would be going to the Mavericks, who eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs last season: "We were supposed to come back and get them back."
The Hornets, meanwhile, are left with trying to find a trade that will be approved for Paul, with the Clippers a likely spot, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported. Hornets coach Monty Williams also said the lingering trade reports are a distraction for his team.
Hornets Coach Monty Williams said Chris Paul's lingering trade uncertainty is a major distraction "I don't know if I have a right answer to give you guys because I have my opinion. I have five children moncler jackets and a wife and my opinion may cost me a lot of money."
And Howard admitted Saturday to asking for a trade, likening his request to a divorce that only one party wants.
"I've done everything for this city. I don't think people understand the magnitude of love I have just for this city," he said. "It's beyond basketball. I think people, anybody should understand that. For me this has just not been a city I enjoy playing basketball in. I love everybody here, that's why it's been so tough."
But he said recent playoff disappointments played a role in asking out.
"I've been back and forth," he said. "Mainly because the people here really care for the city. Nobody's gonna understand that. And if you hate me because of a jersey, then you never really loved me. That's how I feel."
Magic general manager Otis Smith obviously would like to keep Howard but said he is exploring options.
"When you invest seven years in a player and that's what he decides, then you have to deal with that from that angle. But it's not the end of the world," Smith said. "Like I said before, the Orlando Magic franchise is what it's about. We like to make this into an individual game, but the fact of the matter is it's a team sport. And we'll continue to move forward. "
Smith said there is no timetable or deadline for a trade.
When this all first developed, Hornets general manager Dell Demps thought he had a great deal arranged originally:
Paul to the Lakers; Odom, 32, to the Hornets and Gasol to the Rockets, who would have sent forward Luis Scola, 31, guards Kevin Martin, 29, and Goran Dragic, 25, and a first-round draft pick to New Orleans.
All things considered, Demps originally came away with a fine haul, maybe the best he will get for losing Paul.
But the NBA didn't see it that way — and was skewered across all platforms for its heavy-handed decision.
"Of course, Dell and (coach) Monty (Williams) were very upset when everything fell through," a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. "They had spent a lot of time on it and they thought cheap moncler jackets was a great deal for the team."
Thursday, December 8, 2011
New Orleans will also receive the Knicks’ first-round draft pick in 2012 from the Rockets
A three-team deal sending Paul from cheap moncler jackets to Los Angeles was completed in principle Thursday night, according to a team executive involved in the talks. The Lakers will send Lamar Odom to New Orleans and Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets, who in turn will send Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic to the Hornets.
New Orleans will also receive the Knicks’ first-round draft pick in 2012 from the Rockets, who acquired it in a previous trade.
The trade came together just as Commissioner David Stern was announcing the ratification of a new labor agreement that was intended to promote parity and boost the league’s small-market teams. But nothing in that agreement can prevent veteran stars from exercising their considerable leverage, as Paul did.
Paul can become a free agent next summer, and it was well known that he wanted to play in one of the league’s glamour markets, New York or Los Angeles. Rather than lose Paul for nothing, the Hornets moved to trade him quickly.
For the Lakers, the trade re-energizes an aging lineup that was swept by the Mavericks in the 2011 playoffs after winning back-to-back titles. Paul will join Kobe Bryant to form the N.B.A.’s most lethal backcourt, and will eventually replace him as the face of the franchise.
Paul, just 26 years old, has been elected an All-Star four times in his first six seasons, averaging 18.8 points and 9.9 assists for the Hornets. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft and is widely regarded — along with Deron Williams — as one of the N.B.A.’s top two point guards.
The parameters of the deal were first revealed by Sports Illustrated early Thursday. The deal’s completion and final details were first reported Yahoo Sports.
None of the teams could comment Thursday because the league was still technically in a moratorium period while it adopted the new labor agreement. The trade can become official after the league reopens for business at 2 p.m. Friday. Despite a league edict that banned even handshake dealsMoncler Women Vest,cheap moncler women vest,moncler vest for women sale. a number of teams and players agreed to terms.
Tyson Chandler, who helped the Dallas Mavericks win the championship last June, is nearing a deal to join the Knicks, according to two people involved in the talks. Caron Butler, his teammate, plans to sign with the Clippers, according to multiple reports.
Shane Battier, one of the league’s top defenders, announced on Twitter that he would sign with the Miami Heat. Mike Dunleavy Jr. reached an agreement with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Tayshaun Prince, one of the last remaining pieces of Detroit’s 2004 championship team, will re-sign with the Pistons. Greg Oden, the injury-plagued Portland center, will accept a one-year qualifying offer to stay with the Trail Blazers.
The Mavericks will have lost two key free agents, while a third, J. J. Barea, continues to play the market. Dallas is believed to be protecting salary-cap space for next summer, when Williams and Dwight Howard could be available.
Paul had hoped to force a trade to New York, to join his close friend Carmelo Anthony, but the Knicks did not have the assets to make a deal with the Hornets.
The Hornets play in one of the league’s smallest markets and have struggled financially for years. The franchise is currently owned by the league, which bought out the previous owner, George Shinn, for a reported $300 million last year. Shinn, frustrated with efforts to sell the team to a local buyer, chose to sell it to the league rather than continuing subsidizing the losses.
Now the Hornets, a playoff team in three of the last four years, are starting overly competitively. Martin, 28, is one of the league’s best scoring guards, and the 31-year-old Scola is a skilled and rugged power forward. The versatile Odom, 32, was a key member of the Lakers’ championship teams in 2009 and 2010.
Cheap moncler jackets,moncler jackets for men,moncler jackets for women on sale save up to 60% off. They could form the nucleus of a solid playoff team, or be flipped in future trades.
New Orleans will also receive the Knicks’ first-round draft pick in 2012 from the Rockets, who acquired it in a previous trade.
The trade came together just as Commissioner David Stern was announcing the ratification of a new labor agreement that was intended to promote parity and boost the league’s small-market teams. But nothing in that agreement can prevent veteran stars from exercising their considerable leverage, as Paul did.
Paul can become a free agent next summer, and it was well known that he wanted to play in one of the league’s glamour markets, New York or Los Angeles. Rather than lose Paul for nothing, the Hornets moved to trade him quickly.
For the Lakers, the trade re-energizes an aging lineup that was swept by the Mavericks in the 2011 playoffs after winning back-to-back titles. Paul will join Kobe Bryant to form the N.B.A.’s most lethal backcourt, and will eventually replace him as the face of the franchise.
Paul, just 26 years old, has been elected an All-Star four times in his first six seasons, averaging 18.8 points and 9.9 assists for the Hornets. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft and is widely regarded — along with Deron Williams — as one of the N.B.A.’s top two point guards.
The parameters of the deal were first revealed by Sports Illustrated early Thursday. The deal’s completion and final details were first reported Yahoo Sports.
None of the teams could comment Thursday because the league was still technically in a moratorium period while it adopted the new labor agreement. The trade can become official after the league reopens for business at 2 p.m. Friday. Despite a league edict that banned even handshake dealsMoncler Women Vest,cheap moncler women vest,moncler vest for women sale. a number of teams and players agreed to terms.
Tyson Chandler, who helped the Dallas Mavericks win the championship last June, is nearing a deal to join the Knicks, according to two people involved in the talks. Caron Butler, his teammate, plans to sign with the Clippers, according to multiple reports.
Shane Battier, one of the league’s top defenders, announced on Twitter that he would sign with the Miami Heat. Mike Dunleavy Jr. reached an agreement with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Tayshaun Prince, one of the last remaining pieces of Detroit’s 2004 championship team, will re-sign with the Pistons. Greg Oden, the injury-plagued Portland center, will accept a one-year qualifying offer to stay with the Trail Blazers.
The Mavericks will have lost two key free agents, while a third, J. J. Barea, continues to play the market. Dallas is believed to be protecting salary-cap space for next summer, when Williams and Dwight Howard could be available.
Paul had hoped to force a trade to New York, to join his close friend Carmelo Anthony, but the Knicks did not have the assets to make a deal with the Hornets.
The Hornets play in one of the league’s smallest markets and have struggled financially for years. The franchise is currently owned by the league, which bought out the previous owner, George Shinn, for a reported $300 million last year. Shinn, frustrated with efforts to sell the team to a local buyer, chose to sell it to the league rather than continuing subsidizing the losses.
Now the Hornets, a playoff team in three of the last four years, are starting overly competitively. Martin, 28, is one of the league’s best scoring guards, and the 31-year-old Scola is a skilled and rugged power forward. The versatile Odom, 32, was a key member of the Lakers’ championship teams in 2009 and 2010.
Cheap moncler jackets,moncler jackets for men,moncler jackets for women on sale save up to 60% off. They could form the nucleus of a solid playoff team, or be flipped in future trades.
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